In this section the Holy Spirit led me to use Rick Joyner’s
own quotes; those that he has made about himself in “The Final Quest,” to
throw further light on his walk with God over the years.
10 i) Joyner has listened to Branham’s deceptive teachings since childhood: Joyner claims that as “a child” he had “read about...
and listened to... recorded messages,” of an “evangelist” whose “teachings
had gone seriously awry,” (p. 144). In Chapter
7 of these notes we
discovered that this evangelist was none other than William Branham, who
most people now recognise as one of the most deceived ministers of the modern
era. Not surprisingly Joyner doesn’t actually name Branham but from
the description and dates mentioned there really can be no one else he is
describing. It appears that this has had a significant influence on Joyner’s
spiritual beliefs and outlook ever since. Although Joyner now recognises
that some of the teaching he had listened to had been false, (it is impossible
not to), he clearly hasn’t realised the full extent of the deception
that Branham had been caught up in and has continued to adhere to many of
these errors ever since. Joyner claims “I became a Christians in 1972,” (p.
9); he did not, therefore, find faith until several years after listening
to these false teachings. Being an unbeliever and a child at that time Joyner
is unlikely to have weighed Branham’s teachings against scripture
and would not have been able to test them with any discernment from the
Holy Spirit. These teachings appear to have remained at the heart of Joyner’s
beliefs even after he found faith, right up until the present time in 2012.
In “The Final Quest” Joyner calls the church back to this deceived
evangelists message, claiming that in the past “the church could not
hear him” but “his message ... must be recovered,” (p.
145). A large, loose knit, cult like, group of “Christians” who
follow Branham’s teachings still exists today. They are known as the “Brahamite’s” or “The
Messengers.” They believe that they will become Gods chosen, empowered
prophetic elite in the end times. In the featured video on Joyner’s
Morning Star website, in Oct 10th 2012, Joyner claims that one of the first
things he believes that the Lord showed him after his conversion, when he
started getting visions, was “A main calling that I’ve had is
to find and identify some of these Messengers of Power and help them along
their way.” Joyner would have been well aware that the term “Messengers” was
used to describe the Branhamite’s. Joyner’s visions have therefore
been sending him off course from the very beginning of his Christian walk.
From the very start the enemy has been steering Joyner towards joining with
other followers of Branham. In that same Oct 2012 video Joyner claims that
all the “Messenger’s” that he has met so far “are
a mess that is one characteristic of every one.” These must surely
include Paul Cain, who was once a close associate of Joyner and the leading
Kansas City Prophet until 2006. Cain has claimed that he ministered with
William Branham whilst he was still alive and that Branham had been the
greatest prophet since bible times. A few years prior to 2006 it was discovered
that Cain was an alcoholic living a drunken, illicit drug using and homosexual
lifestyle. Another “Messenger” is surely Todd Bentley who Joyner
helped fast track back into ministry after Bentley was discovered to have
been having an affair during his “Florida Outpouring” “revival” in
2008. Bentley had also lied about the miraculous power present during those
three months of meetings. He claimed that over thirty people had been raised
from the dead as coffins were placed in front of T.V sets screening his
televised meetings live on the “God Channel.” No evidence has
ever been offered to back this up. Bentley also harks back to Branham’s
teachings and spiritual methods in ministry. See this video, (link), in
which Bentley claims that “an angel comes to me about seven days before
I’m commissioned into full time ministry, fourteen foot tall angel.
William Branham in 1946 has the angel of the Lord visit him. The winds of
change, the angel of the winds of change.” Cain, Bentley and Joyner
are therefore “Branhamite’s.” Joyner believes they,* and
others like them, are the “Messengers,” an elite group of set
apart believers who will move in phenomenal prophecy and power in the end
times, “the dreaded champions” “the Lords army,” and
future “judges” who will rule the church, as depicted in Joyner’s
first dream in “The Final Quest.”
*Unlike Todd Bentley Paul Cain appears
to have fallen out of favour with Joyner after rejecting Joyner’s
offer to oversee his restoration process in 2006. Not much has been seen
or heard of Cain since.
10 ii) An
excessive desire for mystical, visionary experiences: Joyner writes “I
have prayed for twenty-five years to be caught up into the third heaven like
the apostle Paul,” (p.45). Surely such a longing is not healthy
or the right emphasis for the Christian life? It appears that Joyner has
been seeking,
and longing, for the same type of mystical spiritual experiences that Branham
had been getting when he was alive. Branham’s visions were far more
frequent and nothing like those received by the Apostle Paul. Joyner’s
visions mirror Branham’s not St Pauls. These however are what led
Branham into deception. Such an attitude and wrong emphasis can open a person
up to
deceptive spiritual experiences and another spirit altogether.
10 iii) Spiritual
experiences that exalt the self: Joyner tells us that during
one of his experiences of heaven “the entire host of heaven seemed to
stand at attention, and I knew I was the centre of their attention” (p.110).
There are numerous other examples of this type of self centred spiritual
experience, with Joyner always appearing to be the centre of everyone’s attention
throughout ”The Final Quest,” with the Lord, angels and deceased
saints constantly praising him instead of God being given the glory. Joyner
writes, “As I began to walk through the room,
all the angels bowed in salute,” one even tells Joyner “We are your servants”,
(p.68).
However angels are the Lord servants, not any mans. We see from scripture
that angels bow to God alone and no one else. These experiences appeal to
the flesh and parallel the spirituality of the New Age not that of the Holy
Spirit or the ways of the Kingdom of God as described in scripture.
10 iv) Unable
to hear God clearly: Joyner writes “I have never been
able to trust my own heart... It is subject to so many conflicts. I am too
subject to delusions, deceptions, and selfish ambitions. It is hard for me
to even hear the Lord speaking to me above its clamor,” (p. 74). As
Joyner admits this then surely he should not be promoting his visions to the
rest of the body of Christ until he has gained some discernment? His call
for others to follow his example and “open our own hearts and minds
to realms we do not now even know exist. This is what Satan is attempting
to counterfeit through the New Age Movement,” (p.127), is particularly
dangerous in the light of this.
10 v) Bored
when worshipping Christ: Joyner tells us that “I
had struggled so much with boredom during worship services... when I had allowed
my mind
to wander, or had occupied myself with other things,” (p. 41).
However, true worship is never boring as this is the time we take our eyes
off ourselves,
give glory to God and experience His presence the
most. Joyner will have also been around during the charismatic renewal on
the 1970’s and 80’s when there was a stronger move of Gods Spirit
in the western world and when times of worship were often phenomenal. One
has to die to the self to experience the Lord in worship though and as we
have seen Joyner’s spiritual experiences are self centred throughout “The
Final Quest.” The fact that Joyner found worshiping God boring suggests
to me that there must have been something very wrong with his attitude and
walk with God. Joyner says “I remembered how I had once thought it must
have been boring for those angels who did nothing but worship Him continually
before the throne,” (p. 41).
10 vi) Self
centeredness, delusions and falseness: After believing he had
just met several great Christian leaders from the past in heaven, who had
confessed to Joyner the some pretty awful secret sins concerning their bad
attitudes whilst they had been alive, (with no evidence of these having ever
having occurred in the real world), Joyner then appears to be lulled into
a false sense of security himself and confesses to “delusions and self
centeredness that have so perverted my life,” (p. 120). Joyner also
claimed that as an older Christian and leader, “I began to see how much
of my own life was built on facades of a projected image that belied who I
really was,” (p. 100), “I had used people for my own purposes,
or even used the name of Jesus to further my own ambitions or to make myself
look better,” (p. 102).
10 vii) Self
delusion: Joyner, ”What you see
with the eyes of your heart is more real than what you see with your physical
eyes” I
had myself made this statement many times,” (p. 42), “I was gripped
both with wonder and a terrible fear that I might wake up at any moment and
find it was all just a dream,” (p. 44).
10 viii) Rejected
by other leaders in the past: Whilst in “heaven” Joyner
tells us that he saw several deceased Christian leader who he had “esteemed
a great man of God.” Joyner claims that in the past he had “wanted
to be disciple,” of this man but that “Like
a number of others I had tried to get close enough to learn from, I was
an irritation to him
and he had finally asked me to leave,”(p. 92). It is quite
an extreme response for a leader to actually ask a believer to leave like
this. It appears
that he did not just reject Joyner as a disciple but wanted no further
fellowship with him, effectively banning Joyner from his church. In reality
there must
have been a very serious reasons for this, more than just Joyner being
an irritation to him. Something weighty must have been causing the irritation.
Could it have been Joyner’s self centred and New Age attitude towards
spirituality, or some of the false doctrines and spiritual practices that
Joyner adhered to? According to Joyner this leaders decision had clearly
not been a hasty one because he had “finally" asked Joyner to leave,
indicating that he would have had time to have become well acquainted
with Joyner’s attitude and beliefs. Joyner claims that this particular
leader told Joyner that he “would one day embarrass me and my ministry,” (p.
93), so it must have been more than just an irritation with Joyner. Joyner
claims that a “number” of leaders had responded to him like
this. Perhaps Joyner only ever really found a spiritual home and place
where he
could fit in amongst the extreme and wayward Kansas City Prophets Movement
later on in life? Today Joyner is the head of his own organisation “Morning
Star Ministries,” (a strange choice of name since it is one of the
descriptions of Satan before his fall).
10 ix) Lacking
a teachable spirit: Joyner told the same supposed “apparition” of
the “great man of God,” (p. 92), that “I was so arrogant
that I deserved the rejection. I know that my rebellion and pride has kept
me from having a real spiritual father,” (p. 93). Joyner still doesn’t
have such a spiritual father today but nonetheless claims, on the basis
of his visions and dreams, that he will become our spiritual father as
a great
judge over the global church in the future.
10 x) A
failure as a Christian? Joyner tells us that “most of my life
had been a failure,” (p. 118). However if a Christian has been serving
the Lord for years how can this be the case? Surely others will have been
helped by the person’s prayers and service even if this wasn’t
publically recognised. Jesus Christ taught us that the woman who gave
her last two coins had given more than all the others put together and
that
many who appeared to be last on earth will be first in heaven. Those Christians
who think becoming great, well known, popular, or dominant as a leader
within the church is the sign of success have the wrong attitude and are
being
carnal
minded about this not spiritually minded.
10 xi) Joyner’s
Attitudes towards other believers: Joyner claims that
as a young believer “I had never had compassion for filthy street preachers,” (p.153),
and said that he had “scorned” other believers who he saw as spiritually
inferior to himself, “Many of us had scorned them as we climbed to higher
levels” (p.52). However, in 2012, Joyner is still promoting visions
that picture any Christian who won’t accept his visions as part of Satan’s “horde
from hell,” (p. 16), and is claiming that those who persist in disagreeing
with him will be “transformed into the contorted image of the demons
themselves,” (p.26). Joyner’s visions pour contempt on ordinary
Christian’s today claiming the “demons were urinating and defecating
upon the Christians they rode. This slime was their pride,” (p. 21).
As we have seen he even claims his arrows of new revelation will “wound
many of our own brethren”, (p. 129), wounding the Christians who
disagree with him. So, under the surface, concerning his attitude to other
Christians,
has anything really changed?
10 xii) Attacking
other ministries: After Joyner’s visit to “heaven,” in
which believes he met several well known and respected deceased Christian
leaders from the past, who confess to secret sins, Joyner then reveals more
of his own secret sins. Joyner declares, “I recalled how I had allowed
disgruntled former members of a church to spread their poison about that church
without stopping them. I knew that by just allowing them to do this without
correcting them I had encouraged them to continue... I had even repeated many
of their stories, justifying it under the guise of enlisting prayers for them,” and
that there had been, “a great flood of other such incidents,” (p.
109). Surely this is far worse that what one would expect from a normal leader
or your average Christian even? There is no mention of Joyner ever apologising
to those he has harmed either. He claims that “I had not seen such ruthlessness
and cruelty as I was now seeing in my own heart,” (p. 109). We must
remember that this is coming from someone who is still calling for harmful
spiritual warfare against other believers as part of a Christian civil
war today.
10 xiii) The
battlefield park and a warlike attitude: Joyner informs us
that as a young man he used to often seek God, and received one of his
first visions,
in “the middle of a battlefield park near my apartment”, (p.150).
This battlefield was probably used during the American Civil War which encompassed
the nation in the past, (I checked and found that three of the four National
Battlefield Parks preserved in the USA today were used during the American
Civil War). As a young man and young Christian Joyner would have been very
impressionable back then. Could Joyner’s exaggerated desire for visions,
as he sought the Lord on this battlefield, have left him open to warlike spiritual
influences and imaginations, leading to him confusing carnal battles and the
American Civil War with the battles fought for salvation and Gods Kingdom?
Is this not at least a possibility that we should consider? Joyner writes “Just
as the American civil war at times looked like it would destroy the entire
nation, what is coming upon the church will at times appear as if it will
be the end of the church,” (p.37). Could spending time on that battlefield
have sown seeds and predisposed Joyner to believe that a “Great Christian
Civil War”, (p. 22), was necessary even though this contradicts scripture?
It is likely that repeatedly opening up to the spiritual realms on this battlefield,
with the wrong attitudes, would have opened Joyner to the wrong spiritual
influences. These may have then borne their bad fruit later on in Joyner’s
dream and his call for “a great civil war“ in “the church,” (p.
37). Could identifying an earthbound attitude toward spiritual warfare perhaps
also help explain why Joyner has more recently chosen the retired Lieutenant
General, Jerry Boykin, (former US deputy secretary of defence), as his spiritual
strategic adviser when this man doesn’t appear to have any experience
beyond the average Christian concerning such issues in Gods Kingdom?
10 xiv) Engaging
in spiritual warfare against other Christians: Does this
reflect the teachings of Jesus or the fruit and love of the Holy Spirit?
Joyner, “I
fired off a few arrows, as did some of the others. Almost all of them hit
Christians,” (p. 25), “I started to wonder if the next battle
would be against our own brothers again” and “We did wound many
of our own brethren”, (p. 129).
10 xv) Wrong motives
and doubts: Near the very end of the Christian spiritual
civil war Joyner states that “Since first coming to the mountain, and
fighting in the great battle, I now think that most of the right things I
did, I did for the wrong motives,” (p. 63). That means that almost everything
Joyner did throughout the entire battle he thinks was either wrong, or done
for the wrong motives. Near the end of the battle Joyner is told by one of
the great white eagles “What you are feeling now is the true faith,” but
Joyner replies “Faith?” “I’m talking about serious
doubts!” (p. 63). Then Joyner then claims “I have judged so many
people and so many situations wrongly,” (p. 64).
The next section looks at Joyner’s membership of the Catholic Order
of the Knights of Malta which has put him under the spiritual authority
of the Catholic Pope. It is surprising so few Christians are aware of
this.
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