[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1 Tim. 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Timothy identifies several things for our following discussion:[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]
(1) the time of this occurrance(in the latter times or latter days before Christ's return); [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](2) who he is talking about(some who fall away from a prior knowledge of the truth); and [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](3) the catalyst of this activity(deceitful or false spirits).[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]A SPECIAL NOTE: WE REGULARLY RECEIVE COMMENTS FROM INDIVIDUALS WHO DISPUTE THE INFORMATION PRESENTED BELOW. THE INFORMATION PRESENTED BELOW IS AVAILABLE IN THE OPEN ETHER FOR ANYONE WHO DESIRES TO FIND THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS INDIVIDUAL AND HIS VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND BELIEFS.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]SUCH CRITICS OF THE OPEN TRUTH TURN A BLIND EYE TO INDIVIDUALS SUCH AS EBY WHO BELIEVE(AND STATE AS MUCH) THAT MAN CAN BECOME AS GOD(MSOG, Latter Rain and Sonship Heresies which are not taught in the Bible). [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Eby does not believe in a heaven as portrayed in the Bible - he is interested in creating a heavon on earth, much like the Reconstructionists hope to do. THE MSOG AND Reconstructionists have far more in common than is commonly recognized. He states in his writings that there is no Second Coming of Christ, that Bible Study is wrong..and the list goes on.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We are told in Timothy 3:16 that scripture is given for "correction" and "reproof" as well as "doctrine". We quote scripture below which clearly contradicts Eby's theology. It is not "un-Christian" to correct one who is in conflict with clear bible teaching. It is a command that we are to follow which is clearly different from saying that someone is a "fool", or "cheater" or worse. When we put on the whole armor of God, it is not only to protect us from Satanic influences but also to protect ourselves from those who profess to be Christian but have found "another gospel" and are promoting it to the unsuspecting world. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]For those who do not believe that Eby is involved in the MSOG and Latter Rain heresies(which were rejected by the Assemblies of God liberal congregations many years ago) only need to research these two topics anywhere on the Internet to find what we have stated below is true and opposed to clear bible teaching on the end times and how man's relationship to God is to be understood prior to and following the Second Return of Jesus Christ.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]J Preston Eby said:[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]"In 1948 -- the very year that Israel became a nation -- another great deluge fell from heaven, a mighty revival then called the 'Latter Rain.' In this Restoration Revival God did a work which far transcended the work started in the Pentecostal outpouring of more than 40 years before. All nine gifts of the Spirit, the five-fold ministries of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, spiritual praise and worship, and the end time revelation of God's purpose to manifest his sons, a glorious church, to bring in the kingdom of God, all of this and much more was restored among God's people." ([/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The Battle of Armageddon, Part IV, J. Preston Eby, Kingdom Bible Studies, September 1976, pg. 10; quoted in Richard M. Riss, "The Latter Rain Movement of 1948 and the Mid-Twentieth Century Evangelical Awakening", pg. 197, April 1979.) [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]And, for those who read this memorandum who do not believe that Eby teaches the heresy that man in this world cannot become as God and perform tasks relegated to Christ alone need to read this:[/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=-1](the Latter Rain movement is) " a people, being prepared for the coming THIRD OUTPOURING which shall finally bring the FULLNESS, a company of overcoming sons of God who have come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ to actually dethrone Satan, casting him out of the heavenlies, and finally binding him in the earthlies, bringing the hope of deliverance and life to all the families of the earth. This third great work of the Spirit shall usher a people into full redemption--free from the curse, sin, sickness, death and carnality." J. Preston Eby - as quoted in Latter Rain by Richard Riss, (Mississauga, Ont:Honeycomb Visual Productions), 1987, pp. 80-81[/SIZE]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]This is not only heresy - but blasphemy as well - taking on the unique tasks of Christ and performing them by way of "later day apostles and prophets" who are presumed equivalent to Christ Himself![/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Some background on J. Preston Eby [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]J. Preston Eby was born into a Mennonite family in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. While still a toddler, he claims his parents received the "baptism in the Holy Spirit" through the witness of some Pentecostal followers in the area. Eby does not indicate that his parents accepted Christ as Saviour but presumably were "baptised in the spirit" simply by the "laying on of hands" as is the practice of the Pentacostal church. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]In his twelfth year Eby claims he was filled with the Spirit – again, without any statement of faith. He further claims that in that same year the Holy Spirit sovereignly unfolded to his understanding the truth of "the reconciliation of all things" and "all men unto God" . [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Interestingly, no one else around him, including his parents who supposedly had who received the same "spirit"– embraced this revelation; they were unable to understand or deal with this information. If such revelations were indeed from God, one would think no such problem should have existed. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Through those early years Eby kept this so-called "truth" to himself. Later he came into contact with a group known as the "Latter Rain" which had been expelled as heresy from the Pentacostal movement just prior to 1950. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The Latter Rain was a precursor to the current Charismatic movement with emphasis on the body of Christ, gifts of the Spirit, laying on of hands, impartation, five-fold ministry, prophetic ministry, spiritual worship, the kingdom of God, and going on to perfection, unto fullness of sonship to God, and the Manifest Sons of God(MSOG) heresy.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]
Many people today claim they have the divine authority and ability to "impart" the Holy Spirit, ministry gifts and callings into people's lives. Are they right? Can people bestow the Holy Spirit into another believer's life or is that an act that God initiates? Can people become prophets via impartation? Where did this belief and practice come from and who are the people making these claims? What sort of "manifestations" come by way of these impartations or spiritual experiences?[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Critics of this article simply don't connect the dots between "manifestations" which come by way of the "impartations" which are part and parcel of the MSOG and Latter Rain heresies that Eby subtly promotes in his writings. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Eby claims The Lord pressed him into a deeper understanding of "sonship"(MSOG Theology) and the kingdom of God, already planted within him as a seed through the "visitation of the Lord" as Latter Rain. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Along the way he became associated with Gerald Derstine and The Gospel Crusade in Sarasota, Florida, serving as an associate minister with him for eight years, first co-pastoring and later pastoring the Revival Tabernacle in that city.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Eby fails to tell about the details of his association with Gerald Derstine's fraudulent "ministry" where for [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]seven years Derstine and his ministerial staff(including Eby) duped his followers with sensational accounts of miracles, mass conversions and subsequent martyrdoms among Arab Muslims in Israel and the West Bank. Eby's supporters have no comeback for this period in his background.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Together with Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcast network, Derstine's supporters were solicited to contribute almost $3 million in one year alone, including $500,000 for the "First Church of the Martyrs," a structure which they claimed was a shelter for the widows and children of some 35 new believers violently killed for leaving Islam.(reference: Sara Diamond, Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1989). [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Derstine's regional ministry leader now acknowledges that there were no such martyrs and no sincere Muslim converts associated with the ministry. The reports were all fabricated. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In one pamphlet published by Gospel Crusade, Mohammed Rawidan, the ministry's first "convert" claimed that the body of a martyred infant turned into dust in his hands, and then into a large, white bird, which flew to heaven. A copy of the infant's death certificate showed she had died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and was buried normally.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In the light of these and other fraudulent revelations, Gospel Crusade suspended two top officials and withdrew from circulation literature, videotapes and the religious best-seller, "Fire Over Israel." [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Evangelical leaders in Israel repeatedly warned Derstine that the reports were false, but [/FONT][/SIZE][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]
Derstine said he published the reports [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]"without any inkling it was (all) a lie." [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]According to Phil Derstine, son of the founder and Gospel Crusade president, an "accountability procedure" is being put into place. But Gerald Derstine still claims that spiritual discernment, not intellectual discernment is the qualification for judging his ministry. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Not to be able to discern, in seven years, that the accounts of these miracles were indeed false, is not a sign of a Christian walk or conversion; God gives the true Christian spiritual discernment to be able to rightly divide the word as well as clearly identify falsehoods and misleading doctrine. To continue in such a deluded condition is indeed an indication that the ministry in question is not on track with bible doctrine.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Eby of course fails to mention any of this in his "testimony" and ministerial background writeups.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]For Eby, if he claimed such "spiritual discernment"( 1 Corinthians 12:8-11), if and when he received the Holy Spirit as he claimed, it is strange that God would have led him into a fraudulent minstry such as Gospel Crusade---and for eight(8) years at that![/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Conclusion: Eby's "conversion" and reception of "the spirit", including spiritual discernment, were likely paranormal and received from a source other than God.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]We are told to:[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]"...believe not every spirt, but test(try) the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Eby obviously did not do any checking up or testing the spirit of Gospel Crusade. God is not the author of confusion and is not in the business of misleading individuals who are sincere in their desire to serve Him. Eby obviously was not communicating with God.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In 1976 Eby went into a full-time writing ministry directed to those who he claims are "called and chosen as "elect of God" to grow up into the full stature of Jesus Christ as sons of God". This is the Manifest Sons of God(MSOG) heresy which is spreading rapidly throughout much of the Charismatic movement, including the late John Wimbler's Vineyard church. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The anti-semitic MSOG movement that Eby claims to govern his ministry incorrectly and boldly appropriates the title "elect" from that of the remnant of Israel described during the Tribulation's Time of Jacob's Trouble, and applies it to themselves in true Replacement Theology fashion.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Eby's writing ministry includes a monthly message titled KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES as well as a number of booklets on various subjects. We discuss this subject below.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]AN OVERVIEW OF THE FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD WAVE[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The reason we review Eby's writings here is to alert the public to his multiple deviations from orthodox Christian teachings. Again and again, he relies on special revelations(from God, he presumes) regarding a wide range of subjects, including the establishment of the prideful and man-oriented Kingdom Now or Dominionism theologies which are infecting many mainstream Protestant and Evangelical churches.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The Latter Rain or First Wave movement of the late 40's that grabbed Eby and that has held him spiritually captive these many years had given birth to numerous other sub-teachings. The Manifest Sons of God(MSOG) was divided into two major sects. The Walk, and the Body of Christ. The Walk came out of the Latter Rain Movement under the “apostleship” of John Robert Stevens.[/SIZE][/FONT]