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DOCTRINAL ERROR | RICK GODWIN |
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DOCTRINAL ERROR | RICK GODWIN |
| American Minister and Religious Television Personality |
| BIRTH - DEATH | Not available. |
| EDUCATION | B.A., University of South Carolina. |
| MINISTRIES |
The Eagle's Nest Fellowship - Pastor/Founder, San Antonio, Texas. Eagle's Nest Christian Fellowship |
| MAJOR WORKS |
To Hell with The Devil, . Training For Reigning, . Exposing Witchcraft in the Church, . Flying Higher, . |
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Rick Godwin, a former Baptist pastor and former associate of James Robison, claims to have
found enlightenment and a higher level of spirituality through the teachings he encountered at
Fuller Theological Seminary under the teaching of John Wimber,
the founder of the Vinyard Fellowship of
churches. Rick Godwin, reacting to his "...very strict, legalistic and fundamentalist background," has embraced fully the charismatic movement and all of its peripheral elements, including the teaching of John Wimber, stating that, "He was the key man to launch what was called The Third Wave, touching Baptist and evangelical Christians who would always be suspicious of Pentecostals." He also said of John Wimber, "He was a great thinker and a good theologian." In consideration of the statement that John Wimber "...was a great thinker and a good theologian," one might view the information on the On Doctrine website about, John Wimber. Speaking of a Bible conference in which he invited John Wimber to speak, he says, that "...I was dry, hungry and also suspicious because of my roots, but John's style and character appealed to me. Since then, I became a bigger and better and more effective person." So, it would appear that the performance of ministry is all about fulfilling the desires and aspiration of Rick Godwin rather than being attentive to the word and a conduit for the written revelation of God to man. Rick Godwin would never survive as a pastor in China or Russia where the congregation might be five to twenty-five people. He aspired to a greater reputation as "...a bigger and better and more effective person." His vision is "...to have a relevant, contemporary church, an expression to the world." With that in mind, he states that, "A crisis we have in business, politics and the Church today is that we don't have many visionary leaders. But I'm looking for that to change in the new millennium." Rick Godwin would consider himself now to be a visionary leader and he sees that visionary leadership as coming through the charismatic movement, because he believes it to be relevant to the generation of today, primarily because of the emotional nature of what is presented and the fact that it is geared to meeting the personal desires and aspirations of the individual. He says, "I think God is raising a breed of young men who are daring to find a contemporary way to be relevant. Truth never changes, but the packaging does." He states his purpose as follows: "I feel God has designed every purpose with a destiny before they got here, and when they knew God first as Lord, God would release that dream. You build your future around that gifting and purpose and God allows all of us corporately and individually to make a difference in our world." He states that he would like to be remembered as follows: "I would like to be remembered as someone who inspired others to fulfill their god-given purpose and destiny. To inspire people to dream big, take risks and never subscribe to a victim mentality. Take personal responsibility for your life. Its all related to choice. I can't help what happens to me, but I can choose how I respond to what happens to me. So I do not accept a victim mentality. I do not blame anybody but myself. So whether it's my marriage, my ministry or my walk with God, I am personally responsible." Deeply involved in the emotional charismatic movement, one of his friends is the heretical, egotistical, false prophet Benny Hinn who said of Rick Godwin, "When I've been away from my church, I have given Rick my pulpit more than anyone else." Benny Hinn has spoken numerous false prophecies and has stated that a person who is a Christian is a "little messiah". Benny Hinn curses those who oppose him, even those who do so on Biblical grounds, and wishes that he had a "Holy Spirit machine gun" with which he could shoot them all. Rick Godwin's first mentor, John Wimber the "good theologian," accepted the inane actions associated with the Toronto Blessing as being the work of the Holy Spirit. Attributing the laughing, barking, oinking, shouting, trances and other phenomenon to the action of the Holy Spirit is heresy that is very close to blasphemy. However, by accepting the belief in continuing revelation, these activities are accepted because they are claimed to be from God and those in the pastoral positions claim that they are revelations. When the belief in continuing revelation is accepted, no claim of revelation can be refuted, even if it is rejected by Scripture, because the definition of a revelation is that which was not known or established prior to it being given. Belief in continuing revelation will always lead to false doctrine and heresy. Another mentor to Rick Godwin has been Australian and charismatic leader Kevin J. Conner, who believes, like all charismatics, that there is continuing revelation from God. Kevin J. Conner makes four distinctions regarding continuing revelation or prophecy: 1. The Spirit of Prophecy to which all believers have access and express in their own language. 2. The Gift of Prophecy which is given only to a select few believers. 3. The Office of a Prophet which is "..a distinct ministry to represent God before mankind." 4. The Prophecy of Scripture which Conner says is no longer given, having already been stated in the Scripture. The first three types of prophecy are "fallible" and must be judged by the fourth, which is the Scripture. So, Kevin J. Conner falls into the trap which he sets for himself, in that the Scripture itself judges the prophet and a prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:20-22. If a prophecy is false, or "fallible" by Kevin J. Conner's definition, then the prophet is a false prophet in all prophecies and, in the times of the Old Testament, should be put to death. It is not acceptable to believe that God would give a prophecy to an individual knowing that the person would corrupt or misstate that prophecy. If the prophecy is given by God, then it will be transmitted correctly as He wishes it to be. It is also a heretical view to indicate that there are words from God that are "Scripture" and words from God which are not as important, but are "prophecies" that do not attain the stature of Scripture. Again, Kevin J. Conner's words must be judged against Scripture just like he claims for prophecies, and his teaching fails the test. The Scripture regarding the words spoken by God is not only confirmed by the words of the prophet Moses, but by the words of Jesus Christ in quoting those words: He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.What Kevin J. Conner attempted to do was create a theology that would justify the claims by charismatics of today that they could utter prophecies and, at the same time, explain why some, if not most, of those prophecies never came true or were obviously false or doctrinally in error. By indicating the prophet or the prophecy was "fallible" or that the prophecy given was not as important as Scripture, he attempted to cover over the failures and errors of modern day "prophets" and in so doing committed himself to a heretical view. Every word that comes from God is Scripture and equal in importance and content. To say otherwise is to deny the words of Jesus Christ Himself, which is blasphemy. Rick Godwin has placed himself in the middle of the charismatic movement and adopted as his mentors and associates those who corrupt and confuse the message of the Scripture. John Wimber, who adopted various doctrines without regard to their false nature, Kevin J. Conner who doesn't believe that all words of God are important or that a prophet must be 100% accurate, and Benny Hinn who is a proven false prophet. Rick Godwin has adopted what he considers to be the more exciting and fulfilling world of the charismatic schemers, placing emotion and sensation in front of doctrine and precept, which opens the person to accept any type of false doctrine and teaching in the name of the Holy Spirit. by Gary A. Hand On Doctrine RESOURCES On this website: CHARISMATIC BELIEF BENNY HINN TORONTO BLESSING VINEYARD FELLOWSHIP JOHN WIMBER |
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