When a brother in the Lord teaches false doctrine and confesses that he was wrong and changes his ways and false teachings, we as the body of Christ are to forgive him and restore unity. But when a man vaults himself up to the position of latter-day apostle and prophet and presumes to speak for God Himself to the church and predict a future event, then that event had better come true and that prophet had better be 100% accurate in his prophesy. If not, it is no longer up to the church to forgive him, but only God Himself. The church is clearly told in Scripture to, at least, no longer pay attention to that prophet when he says he is speaking God's words.

The Bible is clear on this:

De 18:20-22 "But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him."

This precept is not countermanded in the New Testament. I believe that this is for our own protection. I have seen, especially of late, "words of knowledge" and "prophetic" messages to the church getting way out of hand. Some Christians mistake human intuition and even demonic voices, whether actually correct or incorrect, for the "still small voice" of the Spirit. Sometimes people are "proclaiming", "declaring" and "speaking things into being" so loudly it becomes almost impossible for them to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit anymore. It is a dangerous thing to promote what you are saying as a direct word from God.

Ezekiel was so clear in painting a picture for us about false prophets, who at the time were prophesying that the remnant of Israel need not go into bondage, as the Lord had commanded them to, in Babylon. God makes it clear, through Ezekiel, that he will take care of those who pretend to speak for Him but have only made it up out of their imagination. The following passage is Ezekiel 13.

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: `Hear the word of the LORD!
3 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!
4 Your prophets, O Israel, are like jackals among ruins.
5 You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the LORD.
6 Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. They say, "The LORD declares", when the LORD has not sent them; yet they expect their words to be fulfilled.
7 Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, "The LORD declares", though I have not spoken?
8 "`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign LORD.
9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.
10 "`Because they lead my people astray, saying, "Peace", when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash,
11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth.
12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, "Where is the whitewash you covered it with?"
13 "`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury.
14 I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the LORD.
15 So I will spend my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, "The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it,
16 those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign LORD."'
17 "Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them
18 and say, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own?
19 You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live.
20 "`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds.
21 I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
22 Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives,
23 therefore you will no longer see false visions or practise divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the LORD.'"

Brownsville AOG of Pensacola, FL has been painting whitewash on the walls of this revival from the beginning. This letter from Rev. John Kilpatrick is simply another stroke of that brush. It is a vain attempt, in the "prophesy, repent, prophesy" tradition of Benny Hinn, to back down from a direct proclamation that was made by them where they were crystal clear that they were speaking for God Himself. Here is the relevant quote from Rev. Kilpatrick's letter which can be read in it's entirety at the Brownsville AOG "revival" site.  (Since the writing of this article they took his response letter down but you can still see it because we thoughtrfully saved it for posterity on our web site. This is because we knew from past experience that it would be taken down pretty quickly.)

(Kilpatrick Letter 6/17/97:) "When I said, "I'm going to prophesy as a man of God that the Lord bring you down in 90 days," I was not speaking that as a prophet but as a shepherd putting something in the ears of God. I did not say, "Thus saith the Lord"; it was a "Thus saith John Kilpatrick," putting these words into God's ears in the context of the message I was bringing. Let me reemphasize again that was me speaking."

(Kilpatrick Message 4/6/97:) "You're all gonna have to pardon me for being beside myself, but I got a word from the Lord last night."

If Kilpatrick was not speaking as a prophet, then why did he make this statement in his message? These were the very first words of the message that Kilpatrick delivered where he cursed Hank Hanegraaff. Is this or is this not a "word from the Lord"? Either it is a word from the Lord and Kilpatrick was telling the truth and we will see the results of that prophesy come July 4, 1997, or it is not a word from the Lord and he was lying, therefore He is a false prophet.

(Kilpatrick Message 4/6/97:)"If you want to keep any kind of a semblance of a ministry, you better back off from this revival and what God is doing. You better back off, because I'm going to prophesy to you that if you don't, and you continue to put your tongue in your mouth on this move of God, within 90 days the Holy Ghost will bring you down. I said, within 90 days the Holy Ghost will bring you down."

What exactly does "I'm going to prophesy" mean to John Kilpatrick? What does it mean to those in his church that were listening to him? I think it means exactly what it means! You cannot take back this false prophesy now that it has escaped your lips. You are now a full-fledged FALSE PROPHET! I urge all who read this never to listen to the teaching of this man again. He cannot be trusted. Nor do I advise that Christians even go to Brownsville at all. Deception is rampant there. Don't expose yourself, your children, or your church to this deception!

(Kilpatrick Letter 6/17/97:) "I want to emphasize also that I did not wish you any harm personally. I was talking about your ministry, I was saying, "God bring down your platform for crying out and associating us with a cult." I did not nor do I wish you any harm. I ask your forgiveness if you thought I meant any harm to you personally. Honestly, before the Lord, I had your platform in mind, not the person Hank Hanegraaff."

(Kilpatrick Message 4/6/97:) "And I want to tell you something else. If you don't want your head to start shaking - you make fun of somebody in the choir shaking [Note: Hank Hanegraaff has never made fun of her, but has repeatedly expressed concern due to the physical and mental problems that can come out of shaking one's head so vigorously for hours at a time for over a year and a half] - come here a minute, girl. Come down here a minute. Hurry up. Hurry up. [Note: Would you want to be spoken to in that way?] If you don't want your head to do like this, you better lay your mouth off of her. I know this girl. She's a godly girl. She's a school teacher, and she lives a godly life."

Does this sound like Kilpatrick "did not wish (Hanegraaff) any harm personally"? He threatens Hank Hanegraaff with the Parkinson's disease-like shakes that he has so liberally distributed to little girls in his congregation. Doctors have already said that this type of shaking, which occurs for hours at a time, will eventually produce all kinds of neuralogical problems later in life for these young people. This was a threat from a man who cares more about promoting himself as a latter-day apostle and prophet than the welfare and eternal condition of little girls in his congregation. He really ought to start any true repentance letter by asking all the children he has caused to have demonic manifestations and nightmares THEIR forgiveness.

(Kilpatrick Letter 6/17/97:) "This is by no means to be interpreted as an attempt to wiggle out of a prophecy. I would like to grant you the right to continue to count down the days and continue to comment about the 90 days. It's ammunition that I gave you in April. I only want you to know -- it was me speaking that and not a "thus saith the Lord."

You can be sure that Hank Hanegraaff, as well as the rest of the Christian church, will continue the countdown that YOU STARTED. No way to "wiggle out" now! As soon as you said that you were speaking for the Lord, you started an inevitable chain of events that are no longer in your control, nor the control of the Church. Your tongue has spoken "I'm going to prophesy". Let this be a lesson to every Christian out there. Be VERY careful when you assume to speak for God directly.

(Kilpatrick Message 4/6/97:) ... "I want to close by giving ten proclamations about how things are going to be. Mr. Hanegraaff, and all other devils, listen up. ... I'm speaking this not just to you, friends, to impress you, but I'm saying this as a man of God from behind this holy desk in this holy environment of a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And I'm not saying this to you, but I'm saying this for the ears of God. And here's what I'm saying. This revival shall not diminish and this revival shall turn into a national awakening."

This shows the true heart of this man, I believe. He has the audacity to put his money into the big vending machine in the sky and expect to get out a product called "national awakening". He is not only speaking here to the people in his church or the Church at large, but now he presumes to speak directly to God, ordering Him to "not diminish" the revival. How dare he raise his voice to God! If I were in his shoes, I would get down on my knees right now and beg forgiveness of the Father for presuming to order God around. Yearning for revival and praying for it are one thing -- commanding God to bring it is another.

(Kilpatrick Letter 4/6/97:) "What's going on at the Brownsville Revival is about holiness and repentance. Those themes are the most prevalent characteristics of this visitation of the Holy Spirit. Every revival brings to the surface impurities. It has brought impurities in my life to the surface -- and it's ugly to have to deal with them. In keeping with the spirit of this revival I want to lead the way with public repentance."

I must wrap this commentary up with a comment on the above quote. I have gone much further into the details of this "counterfeit" revival before in my article "A Different Gospel?", so I won't get into those details here. But since Kilpatrick assumes that a revival is going on and He is commanding God to let it continue and grow into a "national awakening", I must point out that, to begin with, there is no "holiness and repentance" revival going on in Brownsville. This is a continuation of a lie they have been posting all over the Internet and national Christian media about the revival. This revival is about getting "slain in the spirit", "doing carpet time", "laughing hysterically", and "shaking and deep bowing". A revival born of repentance has people crying and sorry for their sins and accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord. There may even be those who fall to their knees in worship and fear of the Lord. But when people start chanting "More, more, more" with their hands on people's foreheads with catchers waiting to catch them from behind -- when the largest part of the messages are devoted to prepping the audience to receive this "anointing" -- when people lay on the floor and growl, cry, shake, make all kinds of animal noises, vomit ectoplasm, speak in tongues with no interpretation -- when men preach from the pulpit and curse those who disagree with them to hell and call them "devils" -- this is no revival of God, it is a circus where the enemy has free reign to come in and deceive even the elect, if that is possible.

Copywrite Sandy Simpson, 6/22/97
This article may be freely distributed.