Jeremy Riddle and Ben Fitzgerald
THRON Konferenz June 20th, 2019, Eimeldingen Germany
For research purposes I attended the THRON Konferenz in Baden-Württemberg (Eimeldingen). Entrance was free on the evening of June 20th. I was invited to attend to give my feedback and opinions on the event. In this session Jeremy Riddle, worship leader from Bethel, was presenting. The house seemed to be quite full, although there were some empty seats still. All speakers who spoke in English were translated into German. As a fluent speaker of German, I am convinced that the translations for this presentation fell short. It was not the translators fault. Translations were inadequate because the language of these speakers and people within the New Apostolic Reformation or Word of Faith background have a certain very tricky, special speech pattern, and peculiar vocabulary. They also spoke often right over the translators, and did not give them time to finish sentences. Riddle's presentation was on the Holy Spirit. But before Riddle took the stage, following the worship set, Ben Fitzgerald, from Awakening Europe, first spoke. He began by saying that the Bible says,
“The fountain of God is there for breakthrough.”
Fitzgerald did not provide a scriptural reference. But I presumed he was referring to this scripture in Zechariah 13:1. It says, “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness (Zechariah13:1 ESV).” Here Ben Fitzgerald took this Old Testament verse out of context and takes the phrase within the verse that he wants to proof text out of context. However, it is clear that this verse is referring to the House of David and cleansing them from sin, and not speaking of our personal breakthrough. This is typical New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) practice. Proof texting Bible verses, or "eisegesis" is taking something out of context to “prove” your point, when the passage has nothing to do in actuality with the point you are trying to make.
Fitzgerald went on to say, “God calls himself the God of the breakthrough.” He did not allude to where he got this information. I am not aware of any scripture where God calls himself the "God of the breakthrough." Explaining God wrongly is exceptionally problematic. As pastors or teachers, we will incur stricter judgement, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness (James 3:1).” I humbly fear for what judgement he might incur for describing God with a name wherewith he has not named himself. We cannot just give God names that we want him to have. It would not be prudent or wise to call God something that he has not called himself in scripture. It is especially precarious to say that God has called himself something when he has not.
Ben went on to say that, “God spoke to me...He wants to remove something in front of you.” This is also a habit of New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) or Word of Faith teachers to say that God just told them something. Then the deeper theological question comes, does God speak to man outside of scripture anymore? Does man receive “revelations” like the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) would have us to believe? Every new Apostle or Prophet on the scene these days seems to have God talk to them directly and seemingly daily. And if God did say this, “He wants to remove something in front of you.” What does that mean? I presume he means removing a difficulty. Does God serve our personal agenda of taking difficulty out of our lives? God is sovereign and may have left that difficulty in front of you for your good and his glory.
Ben went on to say that, "I can sense him in the room for that breakthrough." I presume that he was talking about those pesky difficulties that he heard God tell him that he wanted to remove. He then led the whole audience in a time of “prayer, declaration, and shifting atmospheres.” He asked the audience to pray for their neighbors for “back pain, sin, breakthrough in finances,” etc. This was not even 15 minutes into the session, and the theme of healing and financial breakthrough came up. All the words he used here are New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) buzzwords and catchphrases. At that time, Fitzgerald said, “Keep the lights down so no one can see you who you’re praying for.” I thought this was a bit strange. Why not see the person you are praying for? The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) use tactics like this to manipulate participants into an emotional response. It would seem rather normal to be able to look at the person that you are praying for, but it is not about that, it is about the breakthrough and the feeling, so controlling the atmosphere is key. He kept on urging people to pray that God would bring breakthrough in finances, which is also a key New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) theological position that the atonement of Jesus Christ secured your health, wealth, and prosperity here in this life.
Fitzgerald then confirmed the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and Word of Faith theological position by saying something to the affect that, “he can wash away sickness.” As I looked around the audience, I located three people sitting in wheelchairs. I wondered if the atonement promise of health, wealth, and prosperity were also available for them as well? But probably not, I noticed one of the people leaving the evening in the same wheelchair that they came in. I found it interesting that Ben laid hands on his interpreters head, heart and back to head and heart again for several minutes. He then laid his hands on his interpreters head for long time. Did anyone lay hands on Ben? Of course not. In this way the leaders of this movement exercise a form of control over the followers of the movement. It is a power play that all the Apostles and Prophets of this movement use to keep people subject to their need for another healing, another event where they could be blessed. This makes the followers of this movement sort of like drug addicts, who are always looking for the next "fix." Why couldn’t the interpreter pray for Ben’s breakthrough on the stage?
Then I noticed something begin to happen. People started laughing, speaking In tongues, and making odd noises. This is also often practiced in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement as a sign of the work of the Holy Spirit. However, it is a made-up affect. The Holy Spirit worked in the New Testament through speaking in tongues, but it is forbidden in the New Testament to speak in tongues without an interpreter (1 Corinthians 14:28). Ben continued to manipulate the music, manipulated lights, and manipulated people to keep praying. What do the music and lights have to do with us praying was my thought? Scattered laughter continued, which is also not a New Testament sign of the Holy Spirit. during this tie several other people in the audience waved banners.
Ben finished up his time by declaring, “give him a shout of praise give him a Deutsch shout of praise.” And asking the audience to just shout. No "words" of praise just a shout. He then asked, “Who had a breakthrough? who was washed?”
After the shout, Ben began to introduce Jeremy Riddle. He said, “Jeremy Riddle is the father of the worship movement.” He cannot be serious in this claim. There are hundreds of worship leaders and artists that could be put in front of Riddle. I will admit that he is an accomplished artist with several albums to his name. This was an offense to so many Christian artists before him like, Larry Norman, Keith Green, Rich Mullins, Phil Keagy, Delirious, just to name a few. This, too, is common among NAR supporters to publicly praise and honor each other without any particular reason. Especially in front of bigger audiences, so that people cannot question him (Riddle), because he is the "father of the worship movement", even though this cannot be true. Then he told us to “Stand up and honor Jeremy Riddle.”
Above is the Video Recording of Jeremy Riddle's Remarks
Jeremy Riddle then took the stage, and began to speak. One of the first things he said was, “It is very powerful in this room.” If you are not familiar with Riddle he is one of the many worship leaders at Bethel Church in Redding, CA. One of their main teachings is that we can guard and are jealous for the presence of God. and when we guard the presence and are jealous for it then God grants more of his presence. So, Riddle pointing out that he thought that the room was powerful is a hint at that theology, and a hint of what would come. It is a subtle setup for the audience to be prepared for what would happen at the end of his presentation (Holy Spirit Baptism). He then said, “God is moving in Europe but especially in Germany.” No real explanation of this, but I imagine he is referring to the Awakening events in Europe being put on by Ben Fitzgerald’s organization which have definite ties to Bethel and the NAR.
Riddle began by saying, “Let’s spend some time singing.” He asked everyone to just sing a nice tone. There were no words put forth, just sing a melody. At that time Riddle started bending, bowing, and rocking his body back and forth. He asked the people just to lift up a voice. He asked people to sing no real song just said “let it rise” let the high praise rise. While the audience sang he said something very interesting. He said, “Sing like you are shifting something.” This is a very high point of emphasis in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and the worship movement that it encompasses. I would like to make one caveat here. Not all modern worship movements believe or ascribe this theology. The prevailing belief in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and Bethel type worship is that worship music is something that can shift things in the heavenly realms, can break bondages (as seen in Fitzgerald’s introduction), and otherwise “shift destinies.” This prevailing theology of worship has taken the place of historical Christianity’s view on worship. Worship being the expression of homage, adoration, thanksgiving, and prayers of all kinds to God because he is worthy of it, not because it can or would “shift” something. Riddle, while the audience was singing, became more exaggerated in swinging his arms, and rocking back and forth.
At this point, I though this is exactly like a Bethel service, or any other New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) style service. With the laughter, the swaying, swinging arms, bobbing back and forth and the command to sing like you are shifting destinies. All the terminology, and motions were present like that of a typical Bethel or New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) service. Riddle was swinging his arms like that was going to move or shift something. He was pushing his arms forward like he is pushing something onto the audience. He was rocking side to side, left and right, and rocking back and forth. Then the definitive Bethel expressions started to appear in the audience. People started the crying out loudly by saying, “woah” or “schew,” and more laughter was sprinkled throughout the audience.
Riddle then said, “It is going to take leaders who have the ambition to release the sound in the people” This is also a Bethel theme and also a theme in a Bethel published book “The Physics of Heaven.” This book claims that there is a sound from heaven that needs to be released in and through people. The book is an attempt at Christian and New Age syncretism. Syncretism is the mixing of non-Christian religions with Christianity. Riddle further said, “There is a sound of praise that needs to be unlocked, and it is waiting on leaders to set it free.” It is hard to understand exactly what he is talking about, but I assume it has to do with the strange practice of finding some esoteric sound buried deep within us, and I guess good worship leaders can bring that sound out of people.
Riddle then began to get into his theme. He said that he had already prepared something, but was asked last-minute to speak instead on the Holy Spirit. He expressed his inexperience in relation to the topic when he said that he was just beginning to understand the Holy Spirit. I thought right away, “if you don’t know how to teach on the Holy Spirit then tell the leadership of the conference that you are not knowledgeable or experienced enough to speak on the subject and sit down, and let some experienced pastor or theologian speak on the subject. There are plenty of great theologians and pastors who are highly qualified and know the scriptures way better than Riddle handled the subject. He had hardly any biblical references and taught very little from the “good ol’ book,” from whence we know who the Holy Spirit is and how he operates. I would recommend world renown theologian Sinclair Ferguson’s series on the Holy Spirit.
Riddle went on to say, “I want to release the Holy Spirit tonight.” At that point my heresy meter spiked all the way to 10. I am afraid that no-one has the power to release the Holy Spirit. He is God. He is neither controlled nor commanded by ANY MAN! This is extremely unbiblical, and blasphemous. God cannot be "released" by any man. “The Lord is in the heavens he does whatever he pleases (Psalm 115:3).” “Yahweh does whatever he pleases in heaven on earth, in the seas and all the depths (Psalm 135:6).” “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail (Proverbs 19:21).” “Who is there that speaks and it happens, unless the Lord has ordained it (Lamentations 3:37).” “He shows mercy to those he wants to, and He hardens those he wants to harden (Romans 9:18).” God reveals throughout scripture that he is beholden to no man, and will act only at his sovereign will, not because Riddle says he will release the Holy Spirit at a certain conference.
Riddle then continued, that he loves how Bill Johnson talks about the “presence” of the Holy Spirit. Bill Johnson is pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, CA and so-called Apostle in the NAR As seen in this video below...In the "Apostolic Alignment" ceremony of Todd Bentley, Johnson is named as an Apostle of the movement.
Bill Johnson's prophecy at Todd Bentley's "Apostolic Alignment" service
Because of this he connects himself and confirms that he is a follower and adherent Bill Johnson’s teaching. Johnson unquestionably has precarious teachings on the Holy Spirit. In that context Riddle said, “When his (The Holy Spirit’s) heart is moved, when he loves something he manifests more of his presence. He trusts us with more of his presence.” I wondered where such an idea is in the Scriptures. I cannot think of a single place where such an idea is talked about in the Bible. I know why I cannot think of a place; it is because there isn’t one. The Bible never gives us such ideas about the Holy Spirit and His presence being more manifested when he loves something. First of all, the idea that you can earn God’s presence is secretly hidden in this statement, and second the Holy Spirit is the Third Eternal person of the Godhead and so that means he has the same attributes as God, omnipresence being one of those characteristics. Riddle seldom in his talk ever gave scriptural support. He gave really only experiential support for his questionable and problematic teaching on the Holy Spirit.
He alluded to two things that come up when he said he talks about the Holy Spirit. He said people are either apprehensive or ignorant. This is very subtle, but in saying this he blames mainstream evangelical Christianity for their “quenching the Holy Spirit.” In NAR terms, being apprehensive and ignorant about how the Holy Spirit works, is the worst thing you could do as a Christian. Riddle promoted another half-truth in saying that The Holy Spirit is the one person of the Godhead that is here with us on the earth. It is true that the Holy Spirit has been left here on the earth, but to say he is only here on the earth is limited and a half-truth. Again, the Holy Spirit is an omnipresent being just like every other person of the godhead. Jesus was the only one who limited his godly prerogatives of omnipresence while he spent his time here on earth.
Riddle further stayed away from any Biblical teaching on the spirit when he used an illustration that the Holy Spirit is like our mother. He said that we are born of the Spirit, so ignoring the Holy Spirit is like ignoring your mom. This is not what the Bible is referring to when Jesus says we must be born of the Spirit. I presume Riddle is referring to John 3, he did not say where he got that idea of being born of the Spirit. I will help him out. It stands in John 3:5-8, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In this passage Jesus is alluding to the regeneration that the Holy Spirit provides. Which is one of the works of the Spirit that Riddle seemed to neglect in his presentation. Jesus never refers to the Spirit being your mother. This is how the NAR frequently handles biblical concepts. If NAR leaders ever preach the passage in question, they stretch the idea so far out of its biblical concept that it is no longer what the Biblical authors intended. Riddle here never preached the passage, he just took a biblical idea and illustrated it with his own thought.
Riddle began to finally speak about the Bible and described the book of Acts. He never really preached from it he just described the stories in it. He said that in comparison to Acts we don’t have it (life in the Holy Spirit) figured out. He then said, We have no idea about the harvest that we would see when we would yield to the Holy Spirit. I am not sure where he gets this idea from either. I am not aware of any scripture that promises a greater harvest of souls based on our yieldedness to the Holy Spirit. These are manipulation tactics to get people to yield to the Holy Spirit in ways that the NAR define. And by yielded they mean laughing, “Schewing”, “Woahing”, “falling out in the Holy Spirit,” being “slain in the Holy Spirit,” and the like. In that context he encouraged his listeners to read the book of Acts and see only the pages where the Holy Spirit is mentioned
Riddle further used material from Bill Johnson. He said that there was a very deep theological reason that we need to be refilled time after time by the Holy Spirit. He said, “Why do we need to be filled again and again is that we leak.” This is nearly a word for word quote from Bill Johnson and terribly aberrant. He of course never mentioned where this theological reasoning comes from biblically.
Riddle then went on to ask what a person full of the Holy Spirit looks like? A question quickly arose for me. Should we be putting an emphasis on how people appear who are filled with the Holy Spirit or is filling with the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the spirit the outworking? Does a person filled with the Holy Spirit look a certain way? No, they have righteous fruits (Ephesians 5:18-21; Acts 4:29-31; Galatians 5:22-23). Riddle continued to talk about stories in the book of Acts. He said, “Stephen was full of the Spirit the only way that they could shut him up was to kill him.” A question that I have in regard to Stephen was, “did they stone him for being full of the Holy Spirit?” No! They stoned Him because the filling of the spirit led to bold proclamation of the gospel, and because he called them to repent, and they would not. Riddle also talked about the Acts character Philip. He alluded to the fact that Philip was full of the Holy Spirit, and met the Ethiopian Eunuch. As a note here, Phillip through the power of the Holy Spirit, proclaimed to the Ethiopian that Jesus was the answer to the scripture he was reading. The Ethiopian received Christ as a result of the Spirit illuminating the scriptures, and using Philip as his ambassador. He described how Philip was carried away to Azatos. Philip was “carried away” to Azatos because the gospel was needed there not because it was cool to be “translated” to another place, as he claimed. This is a practice often alluded to in the NAR. They claim that when they are “in the Spirit” they can be translated to other places physically. Out of body experiences, “translation” experiences, Astral Projection, and Portal travel are practiced by some in the NAR, and Bethel. This is also referred to in the book “The Physics of Heaven,” and a practice that is encouraged in many presentations at Bethel by Kris Vallatton and leader of Bethel’s “School of the Prophets,” Dan McCollam.
At This point it is important to note In relation to the practice of traveling physically to other locations via teleportation or portal travel, the argument arises that things like this happened in the Bible. That is true, but the purpose was not for euphoria, or because of an intense worship time, but rather for the Gospel to travel over cultural thresholds. Here Philip was commanded by the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch. Directly after the Ethiopian eunuch had been baptized, Philip was “carried away” to Azotus to preach the Gospel further. God wanted the gospel to travel over another particular Gospel threshold. Another occurrence was when Peter had his vision; he was directly thereafter taken to Cornelius’ house to preach the Gospel. This vision that Peter had was meant to break him of his view that the Gospel was only for the Jews. There were specific reasons God displayed His power in these ways in the Bible.
The next few things that he said were correct and good. He described that the sending out of the Paul and Barnabas was at the Spirit’s direction. He further described that the Holy Spirit was the main mover in the early church. However, he did not stay on course for very long. Nearly the next sentence was that “there is a shift happening now.” By this I am sure he is talking about the NAR and the alleged move of the Spirit within it. How do I know this? What other move of the Holy Spirit would he be talking about? The move of the Holy Spirit in the “frozen chosen” Presbyterian church? Or the “Bedside Baptists?” Of course, he is not noticing any of the Spirit’s move in any of those other traditions. This was a blatant plug for the NAR and all those affiliated.
Riddle went on to seek to prove that the Holy Spirit is moving because the third most sung song in US churches is a song called “Holy Spirit.” I don’t know how this is evidence that The Holy Spirit is moving more than what is described in the Bible. What bothered me continually in his presentation is that he used stories and illustrations like this ad nauseum. If a speaker gives one or two examples of the Spirit’s move that is one thing but his whole presentation was one illustration and example after another, not once did he exegete, or exposit a passage of scripture on the Holy Spirit.
Riddle moved on then to speak about Lonnie Frisbee. Riddle said, Frisbee planted churches and a movement exploded. According to Riddle, Lonnie Frisbee would walk in a room and with one word would release the Holy Spirit on a whole congregation. Riddle said Frisbee was just obedient to listen to the Holy Spirit and did what he said and when he did what the Holy Spirit said then everyone fell on the floor. By this I assume that Riddle is talking about people being slain in the Spirit. There is not one single Biblical passage where we see any such practice for Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit. People who are filled in the New Testament usually proclaim the word of God, preach, or worship with “Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Beside one of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control not loss of control, shaking, falling on the floor, or uncontrollable anything. The Holy Spirit brings order not chaos, or loss of self-control (1 Corinthians 14:33; Galatians 5:22-23). Here is an article from Costi Hinn (Benny Hinn’s Nephew) on the unbiblical practice of being “slain in the Spirit”
Lonnie Frisbee (article about the troubled Lonnie Frisbee) was one of the founders of the Calvary Chapel movement (Charismatic church, and the father of some of the other modern charismatic churches in the Charismatic Movement). Lonnie had a torrid past before he came to Christ. After a long stint as evangelist, and founder of Calvary Chapel, he returned to his homosexual lifestyle, and later died of Aids from those homosexual encounters. Although he seemed to be a great evangelist, he had a dark secret, and later in his life went back into the life of sin again. The question obviously comes, is such a licentious character able to carry the presence as Riddle claims? That means anyone who was living a homosexual lifestyle could be a carrier of the Holy Spirit and could, according to Riddle, deliver the Holy Spirit with one word, and lay a whole congregation flat on their backs? This is often done by NAR leaders and teachers. They ignore the incredibly dark side of “evangelists,” “faith healers,” and starters of the Charismatic Movement most of whom had a very “unchristian” and unrepentant backgrounds (i.e. Charles Parnham had ties to the KKK and allegations of sodomy; Smith Wiggelsworth blamed people for their own sickness and not being healed saying their sin was the root of their sickness; Aimee Semple McPherson was divorced twice, had alleged affairs, and drug use, and lived a lavish lifestyle; Kathryn Kuhlman had also alleged affairs, married a divorced man, and then quickly divorced him because of the backlash; Kenneth Hagin had clear connections to the false religion of Christian Science; Kenneth Copeland lives an opulent lifestyle with a claimed net worth of $760 million dollars). These are the kinds of people that the NAR revere as “Generals.”
Riddle then said something quite outlandish, He said, “The Holy Spirit has been offended, but he is getting over it.” I wondered, “How has the Holy Spirit been offended and how is he getting over it?” Could he provide a chapter and verse for such a claim? This claim implies that the Church, up to this point, has offended the Holy Spirit through neglect. Has God in his word ever expressed such an idea? That he is offended through neglect of His Spirit? And that he is getting over his hurt feelings? I cannot think of a single instance in the Scripture where the Holy Spirit is getting over his hurt feelings of feeling neglected. The Holy Spirit is never neglected, His plans are never frustrated. God saves and draws men to himself at his pleasure. No man can resist the move of the Spirit, and we cannot hurt his feelings through neglect.
Riddle then claimed that he saw all of Heaven break into a meeting just when someone invited the Holy Spirit in. This is another typical NAR and Bethel theology where they take the single phrase out of the Lord’s prayer, “on earth as it is in heaven,” to mean that the same things that happen in heaven should also happen here in earth (i.e. healing). However, does heaven break into this earth? Is that the goal of the Christian life? Our goal as Christians it to get to heaven through salvation found in Jesus, not for us to get heaven to come to earth. But it certainly has become the goal of Bethel and many other NAR churches, training centers, and events such as Awakening Europe. This is plainly incorrect of Bethel, and Bill Johnson. Johnson has said, “What's the will of God? On earth as it is in heaven. If it exists there, it's supposed to exist here.” (Bill Johnson quote from the Bethel website) My obvious question arises, “so there is no sin at Bethel, no marriage, no tears, no pain, or the like? Because those things do not exist in Heaven, so they should not exist here on earth?” No, those things will only truly take place when our redemption is finalized and we have left this decaying earth, corrupted by sin to enter our perfect eternal rest.
Riddle continued his stories about how the Holy Spirit works by telling a story that a man touched a friend of his and said, “Woah!” He then immediately began to prophecy over his friend. He said he read this man’s thoughts. I am sorry but this is in no way the biblical gift of prophecy. I cannot think of one instance outside of Jesus Christ God’s eternal son who read the thoughts of a man, or “knew men’s hearts.” This sort of thing actually sounds more like the practice of a medium, spirit channel, New Age, or Spiritism rather than the biblical gift of prophecy. I do not see a precedence in scripture that Christians should read a person’s thoughts.
Riddle confirmed his confidence in this type of Holy Spirit activity when he said, “I’ve seen too much to ever go back to the normal life that I lived before.” This was confirmation that he is steadfast and a totally convinced member of the NAR and the “signs and wonders” movement. He continued to say we were never meant to do church without the Holy Spirit. My critique of this statement was to ask, “does he mean that up to this point the church of Jesus Christ has not had the Holy Spirit?” According to the Bible, one task of the Holy Spirit is to seal people in their salvation until the day of redemption. One could conclude that he means the church of Jesus Christ has not had the Holy Spirit as an active mover in the Church up to this point. If this is correct, that the Holy Spirit has not been present in churches, then no-one in those churches, where the Spirit is absent, have had the Holy Spirit seal them in Christ. If the Holy Spirit has been absent from Church then have any people in those churches truly been saved? This is subtly very elitist, and condemns other Christian churches of not actually really being Christian. Extrapolating from his statement, we could ask if he believes if any Christians were truly saved before the Azusa Revival? He went on to state that the spiritual life, and Church is boring without the Holy Spirit. Again, the elitist attitude comes forth. Are churches boring that live without the Holy Spirit like Riddle imagines it? With this statement, he has insulted probably about two thirds of Christianity who don’t live with the Holy Spirit as he presented it.
Riddle then moved into a section on how to discover how the Holy Spirit speaks to people. Again, it was glaringly obvious that the Bible was omitted from this list of how the Holy Spirit speaks. He started off this section by saying that, “the way the Holy Spirit speaks is different for everyone” I thought, “what if I say that the Holy Spirit speaks to me through drug induced trances (Drunken Glory Movement).” He just speaks to me differently than you. If we are all being spoken to by the Holy Spirit differently than each other, then how do we know who has actually heard from the Holy Spirit, and not our own feelings, or worse yet some other spirit? The way most leaders and people in this movement confirm the Spirit spoke to them is when someone says, “God told me.” He further elaborated on how the Holy Spirit works by speaking of Bill Johnson and one of his teachings, which is “hosting the presence.” By this he means being attentive and aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence as hosts. We should pay attention to the Holy Spirit because he is a guest.
He described an illustration that Bill Johnson uses of a white handkerchief on his shoulder. Riddle asks us to imagine if that white handkerchief would be a dove, you would take every step in awareness of the dove. These illustrations are subtle, in its reference to a dove. What person did the Holy Spirit descend upon in the form of a dove? Jesus! His theology of little gods is confirmed with such illustrations. The dove of the Holy Spirit can also descend on you, like he did on Jesus. You can "host the presence," like Jesus did if you treat the dove with awareness and attention like you would a guest. You can be just like Jesus who had the Holy Spirit descend on Him in the form of a dove. Riddle furthermore explained how the Holy Spirit speaks through atmosphere, strong feelings, audible voices, seeing pictures, having impressions. He curiously left out the primary way God the Holy Spirit communicates with people, through the Bible. He then tried to explain how to find out if it’s God speaking to you. He said that the way that you confirm if it was the Spirit speaking was to take “a big fat risk!” This is also a large theme at Bethel. They teach similarly that you should step out and take risks to confirm if it is really the Holy Spirit leading or not. This could be incredibly damaging to the believer to only know if the Holy Spirit is speaking to you or not by taking a risk. This is horribly inaccurate, and can lead people to think that the Holy Spirit has spoken to them when their risk that they took actually works out. This whole section ignored one of the greatest theological principles that Christians have had since the reformation “Sola Scriptura” meaning that we can only truly know God’s will through scripture alone.
Riddle continued to propagate the Bethel and NAR type understanding of supernatural ideologies when he said, “I can feel something be released in the atmosphere.” This is commonly said in the NAR and Bethel teaching. What is not clear is what exactly in the atmosphere is being released. This is esotericism, spiritism, and approaches forms of Occultism. Does the Holy Spirit ever release stuff in the atmosphere? Does he move stuff in the atmosphere? Is it anywhere revealed in the scriptures that a task of his is to change or release stuff in atmospheres? This is made up language, fictitious teaching, and obviously a spurious assertion.
Riddle then went on to tell a story of when the Holy Spirit told him that if he gave everything he had, to sing a bridge of a song, then something is going to breakthrough. This is also a NAR Bethel teaching that healing and breakthrough takes place in worship, or what they call the “manifest presence of God.” He told a story that the Holy Spirit was telling him to sing with everything he had, and the Holy Spirit would give breakthrough. The question is, does the Holy Spirit work more or give greater breakthrough when we sing louder with all our gusto? He actually used that word “gusto.” I cannot see this either in scripture that the Holy Spirit will work according to our “gusto” in singing. There is no chapter and verse for this teaching that I am aware of. Again, Riddle explained all of how the Holy Spirit works through his own experiences, and never exegeted or exposited a single scripture. He said that he then sang with all his gusto, and as soon as he did, “electricity shot through the building and we sang for 45 minutes more.” He said that power was released to break addiction as they sang and proclaimed that addiction would be broken. I also do not see any biblical precedent for such a view of the work of the Holy Spirit. This is huge in NAR circles that worship breaks bondage, addiction, and provides breakthrough. This is wholly an unbiblical teaching. Worship is our expression of worth, homage, adoration, and thanksgiving, because God is worthy of it, not because it can break addiction or something insipid like that.
Riddle continued on with his litany of falsehoods, when he explained that the Holy Spirit will give you little impressions that unlock heaven in a room. I though right away No! Heaven is heaven, and this is earth. Heaven will not come to earth! We will go to heaven, as a result of being saved. This is right in step with “Kingdom Now” Theology. NAR proponents believe that Heaven will, and is taking place now, as we pull the realities of heaven here to earth. This aberrant theology has been condemned by the Assemblies of God denomination, the largest charismatic denomination in the world. However, Bethel and other NAR churches, and teachers persist in teaching this theological perspective that we can pull heaven into our earthly existence.
Riddle then taught the audience how to know what the Holy Spirit wants from us. He said to ask “Holy Spirit” what you should do? I found it interesting how he left the definite article off of the title of “the Holy Spirit” a few times. This is also common NAR practice. I have heard many NAR leaders say we don’t call God “The Father” and Jesus “the Jesus” so why do we call Holy Spirit “the Holy Spirit”? By doing this they intend to make the Holy Spirit more personal, but in doing so they make him too personal and not holy and “other” as God describes himself in scripture. Like Riddle, Jenn Johnson is a worship leader at Bethel. She has said, “he’s (The Holy Spirit) like the genie in Aladdin. He’s blue, and he’s funny, and he’s sneaky, and he’s courageous, and he’s everywhere, and he’s wonderful. That’s who he is to me.” In taking the definite article away from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit they take away his specificity. Definite articles are integral in language grammatically. Using the indefinite or no article at all indicates or removes the specificity of the subject. The Holy Spirit is specifically described in scripture in definite detail. When they remove the definite article, they can bring him down a peg and describe him virtually however they want like Jen Johnson in this video. (Below: Jenn Johnson teaching that “Holy Spirit” is like the blue Genie in a bottle).
Jenn Johnson teaches that the Holy Spirit is like the Genie from Aladdin
We should be properly bothered when the definite article is removed because linguistically and Theologically it is supposed to be there when describing or explaining God The Father, God the Son, and God The Spirit.
Riddle went on to encourage the audience to teach their kids how to hear the voice of God. Again, it was all about hearing the voice of God. I want to reiterate that the main way that we hear God’s voice is in and through the Bible? He has woefully neglected this most important aspect of listening to God’s voice. It is completely incorrect to make a presentation on how to hear the Holy Spirit and literally not once mention the Bible as even one way we can hear from God. Riddle went on to say, “If we would just know the lengths God would go to let us hear his voice.” Not to beat the same drum, but I thought, “yes, God really did go to extraordinary lengths to let us hear his voice, HE HAD PEOPLE WRITE HIS THOUGHTS DOWN AND PUT THEM TOGETHER IN A BOOK IT’S CALLED THE BIBLE!” The Scripture is all sufficient (Proverbs 30:5-6; Hebrews 1:1-2; Ephesians 2:20; Revelation 22:18-19; Matthew 5:18; Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:24-25; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Riddle continued with illustrations of how the Holy Spirit works, instead of scriptures to describe his work. He said, If you were a boss, you would fire people who don’t ask what you thought. And he related that to us never asking the Holy Spirit what he thinks. Is Riddle implying that the Holy Spirit should fire or leave us, because we don’t ask him what he thinks? Riddle then tried valiantly to bring scripture into his presentation. Unfortunately, he misquoted the scripture that he used. He tried to quote 1 Corinthians 12:31 which says, “But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.” Riddle however said, “Earnestly desire all the spiritual gifts.” This is a well-known and documented practice of NAR leaders, teachers, Apostles, and prophets. They either misquote, or rearrange Biblical verses to proof-text and prove their theological perspectives. Here Riddle badly misquoted the verse and took it out of context. He took out the word “higher gifts” and inserted his word “all.” By this Riddle hoped to display that we should really desire “all the Spiritual gifts.” It is ironic that the context just before Paul asks the rhetorical series of questions, to show that not all have or can have every spiritual gift. Paul writes, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way (1 Corinthians 12:29-31 ESV).” The obvious answer to this series of questions is, “no we cannot all have every gift.” Paul goes on in chapter 13 to describe the greater way, which was love, not seeking greater gifts. Love is the more excellent way he is talking about in chapter 12. But riddle would have us believe that the greater more excellent way is having “all the spiritual gifts.” This is why we need people trained in exegetical, expository preaching, because people can misquote and mishandle God’s word. Throughout the presentation, when Riddle did handle the Bible, he only misquoted, or mishandled it.
Riddle’s next subject was to explain that we need discernment between spirits in our churches, regions, countries, states? Bethel and the NAR teach a theology called “territorial spirits.” That there are demonic spirits that are in charge of certain regions, and that we as Christians need to go into regions and take back “dominion” of those regions from those spirits. This theology belongs to the “7 mountains mandate” and the theological perspective called “Dominionism” or “Kingdom Now” theology. Which has fallen under heavy critique beginning with the Assemblies of God denomination calling it aberrant in 2006.[1]
Riddle continued, “We can’t be creeped out by spiritual things it’s not New Age’s territory it’s our territory.” This was the icing on the cake that I had been waiting for. This claim is so unfathomable that no one can deny its error anymore. This is syncretism. Syncretism is the mixing of other spiritual practices (i.e. Spiritism, New Age, and other occult practices) foreign to Christianity, with the Christian faith. With this statement, Riddle falls in line with the prevailing thoughts coming out of Bethel that the New Age and its practices actually belong to Christianity and we need to reclaim them. If this does not confirm that this form of teaching is aberrant theology, then nothing will. Is the Occult religion of The New Age our territory as Christians? Absolutely not! Such practices are strictly forbidden in the Bible. Riddle’s teaching is in line with the New Age occult book “The Physics of Heaven.” This book was produced and put out by Bethel, and chapters written by Bill Johnson, Beni Johnson, and forward by Kris Vallatton, who are all senior leaders at Bethel.
Riddle continued further by saying, “we need to learn the art of yielding. The greatest opposition to the Holy Spirit is not theological, but control. We want to have control we want predictable outcomes. We don’t control the Holy Spirit we yield to him we give up control.” He then asked everyone to stand up and he would “release” the Holy Spirit. He then asked the manipulative question to make the audience ready for his brand of Holy Spirit by saying, “God wants to move, but will he find yielded people?” No man is capable of releasing the Holy Spirit. This language sounds sort of like the Holy Spirit is caged or incapable of working in people’s lives without Riddle or another person’s intervention to release him. Again, the third person of the eternal trinity is beholden or commanded by no man!
Riddle’s presentation came to a close, and then for nearly 45 minutes Ben Fitzgerald and Jeremy sought to ask for the “Fire of God to fall down.” Again, we cannot release the Holy Spirit. I found it interesting that many people went forward to receive the Baptism of the Spirit who I had recognized as being Christians for years? This is also a deviant teaching called the “second work of grace.” The biblical teaching is that you are baptized and sealed in the Holy Spirit at the moment you believe in Christ.
Jeremy and Ben then stood on the stage together. Jeremey challenged the audience to come forward if they wanted to receive the baptism of fire. He spoke in tongues on stage without an interpreter, which is forbidden in 1 Corinthians 14:28. He then had the audience roar, shouting, dancing, and mostly acting undignified. He even sang the song “Undignified.” It was a circus of Holy Spirit tricks and antics. He said at the end he did not like tricks or gimmicks. He expressed that he wasn’t going to trick people into receiving the Baptism of fire. I thought right away, “if you don’t like tricks and gimmicks then turn off all the trick machines. Turn off the music, smoke machine, and lights, and turn all the normal lights on, and see if the people respond in the same way. It was total manipulation tactics. Did the early church have fancy colored lights, smoke machines, dim lighting, and lovely background music to receive Pentecost? The atmosphere is controlled precisely to receive the desired response. These are just a few of the notes that I made where Jeremy errs greatly. He has taught that the Holy Spirit is a force to be manipulated to our advantage, not that he is a HOLY Spirit who is to be revered, and honored. It was all about hearing the voice of God and forgetting the main way we hear his voice “Sola Scriptura (through the scriptures alone). The Bible is the main way we hear from God, and the Holy Spirit illuminates, and clarifies who God is through his word. The Holy Spirit also glorifies Jesus, not us. I understood from him that the Holy Spirit will do a lot for you, but that is not accurate. The Holy Spirit’s primary function is to glorify Jesus. He does a lot for Jesus.
“Interestingly the Holy Spirit does perhaps His most significant work where prying eyes can never see. Creation (Genesis 1:2), The conception of the Lord Jesus (Luke 1:35), The Resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Romans 8:9-11), The regeneration of the believer (Titus 3:5). He loves to do things in personal secrecy. That is part of His humility. Part of His modesty (quote from Sinclair Ferguson).” But Riddle and the rest tried to parade the Holy Spirit around on the stage. He does his best work where prying eyes never see, not on a stage where everyone can see how “spiritual” those leaders are that can “release” the Holy Spirit.
Toward the end of the session Ben Fitzgerald said something very important and it says a lot about what he and the NAR believe and teach. He said, “I felt like tonight was the theological end of something and the theological beginning of something else.” What could this possibly mean? What theology ended? Which one began? I can only speculate, but I imagine he means that all theological questioning of the movement must be put to the side. Don’t question, don’t apply discernment to your faith, and definitely don’t check after us in your Bibles, like the Bereans did with Paul. He could also mean still worse that all that theology that you have learned up until now, you can put that to the side now that you have an experiential theology—the right theology.
How does the Holy Spirit truly act? How does he truly work? To help us further understand the mysterious, powerful, and wonderful work of the Spirit I want to share a few ways He truly works in believers, the church, and the world. First, and foremost the Holy Spirit works to glorify and reveal Jesus to the world by turning men's hearts towards Christ (John 16:14). In that way He works powerfully and supernaturally (1Corinthians 2:14). He works through believers by giving them spiritual gifts (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4). He works in an orderly fashion not in chaos and disorder (1 Corinthians 14:33). He works in ways so that we receive the message, and the message of the Spirit is to convict people of sin and guilt (John 16:8). He works by coming alongside believers to empower them (named the “Helper” in John 16:7). He indwells believers and seals them unto salvation until the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17). He fills people with himself to live sanctified and holy lives (Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:16-21). In other words, a filled and indwelled believer will live holy, sanctified, and victorious over sin. He leads us into all truth (John 16:13). He comforts us and doesn't leave us alone like orphans (John 14:18; 2 Corinthians 1:4). The Spirit gives us words to pray when we have not the words. He groans with us with groans too deep for words (Romans 8:26-27). The Spirit will never lead us to do anything that would contradict the Scripture. Lastly, He works into believers the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 22-23).
I don't claim to have experienced all the ways that the Holy Spirit works in believers, the church, and the world. I also don't claim that I even know all the ways that the Holy Spirit works. That is the mystery. This list that I have accumulated of ways that the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit works is neither exhaustive. I share this short list of the Holy Spirit's work to at least give us a minimum framework for how the Holy Spirit does work in the lives of believers, the church, and the world. I do want to be clear. The Holy Spirit will not work in contradiction to this brief list. However, on almost every point Riddle and Fitzgerald contradicted what the Bible has to say about how the Holy Spirit does work. Scripture reveals that these are the ways He does work. Furthermore, my experience is not authoritative. My experience doesn't validate the scripture; the scripture validates my experience. The church of Jesus Christ must remain faithful to embrace the ways that God has revealed in His word how He does work. In my opinion, Riddle and Fitzgerald strayed greatly from theological orthodoxy and a biblical understanding in their presentation of the nature and work of the Holy Spirit.
Before this conference I expressed my concerns at what might happen at this event as a result of inviting these particular speakers. These two keynote speakers, in my opinion, stand outside orthodox Christian theology with their presentations. Before this conference took place, I expressed my concerns, in great detail in relation to the errors that these speakers have taught in their public ministries. Unfortunately, my concerns were never addressed. Before the conference I warned leadership that these speakers were tenuous at best, and outside the scope of theological orthodoxy at worst. My fears and concerns were proven right in my attendance of just this one evening event. I am often accused that I cannot speak to the problems with Bethel Church in Redding, CA, because I have not been to there. I have come to the conclusion that my research and observation over the last 20 years has proven to be enough. The research and the work that I have done in writing my book “Divergent Theology” stands up under tough scrutiny. It is accurate. Furthermore, now that my book is being published and translated into German with CHRISTLICHE VERLAGSGESELLSCHAFT DILLENBURG, it is validation that what I have written stands up under strict theological scrutiny. Bethel, the NAR, Jeremy Riddle, and Ben Fitzgerald are who I thought they were. I do not need to go to Bethel to see the problems close up and personal. They are clear. The research is clear. Every time that I attend a new event with Bethel and New Apostolic leaders or speakers, the false teaching is more and more confirmed. They are who I thought they were.
I hope and pray that this paper has been a help to all who would seek to understand more about what these men teach, and how their connection to the NAR is deep. Their teaching is virtually the same thing as if Bill Johnson himself stood on the stage and preached. I hope and pray that this service that I am providing the Church in Germany (and Europe) will be a blessing in helping discern between truth and falsehood. I also write this to you so that you know that the critique that was originally expressed about the speakers for this conference were confirmed during this presentation by Riddle. The THRON conference was not all great like I am sure some are saying. The critique that I, and I am sure many others, are confirmed in Riddle and Fitzgerald's false teaching about the Holy Spirit, his work and activity. God bless you as you try to think through all the aspects of this complicated movement.
Greetings in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
In His Grip,
Richard Moore
Acts 20:24
*I recorded the presentation in its entirety. Below is the full 2:07 minute session*
[1]“Endtime Revival-Spirit-Led and Spirit-Controlled” August 11, 2000, General Council of the Assemblies of God, accessed November 3, 2016, https://ag.org/Beliefs/Topics-Index/Revival-Endtime-Revival--Spirit-Led-and-Spirit-Controlled
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