Several months ago Truth Matters dealt with the UPC and its derivatives, a.k.a. "Oneness" Pentecostals. We proved that the UPC is a bible-based cult. Without going into great detail suffice it to say that the UPC believes in salvation by works, that one can loose their salvation, that one must be baptized by immersion in Jesus name only and speak in other tongues in order to be "fully saved."
   T.D. Jakes also comes from a Oneness Pentecostal background and both of these men have refused to state publicly that they have renounced their former heretical beliefs. When these men have been pressed on their understanding of the Trinity of God, they both have responded using unclear terminology which can be parsed to support either a Sabellian stance or the orthodox Trinitarian belief. Neither man has given a simple statement indicating they are now Trinitarians. According to the Charisma article Tenney "honors his spiritual heritage," which simply means he honors a cultic organization.

•  Mr. Tenney’s initial belief system was formed by cultists.
•  He only recently "left" the UPC.
•  According to my research he has not obtained any sound theological training since leaving the UPC, ergo he has not aftempted to replace the aberrant doctrine with sound doctrine, which indicates that he still believes much of what he was taught from childhood.
•  Mr. Tenney has not publicly recanted his former UPC beliefs. He still says he holds this cult group in "honor."

    The God Chasers is published by Destiny Image Publishers which is headquartered in Shippensburg, PA. The founder of Destiny Image is Don Non who publishes only charismatic extremist authors, or books which support the current "holy laughter" revival.
   ICCDM is on the Destiny Image electronic mail list service, so we receive regular updates as well as his newsletter. Don Non is the gentleman who stated that the way in which Christians are to test the validity of spiritual experiences is solely by their "fruit." Here is one of his statements:

    I take the time to cite these endorsers of The God Chasers because it reveals who supports the concepts within the book itself. All of these people I have cited are charismatic extremists of the most egregious variety. All of these individuals filly endorse holy laughter, spiritual drunkenness, restored apostles & prophets, being slain in the spirit, new revelations from God, gold dust & fillings. And now, The God Chasers.

    The aphorism nothing happens in a vacuum is certainly true for our spiritual lives. The directions we take are always based on something, and something drove Mr. Tenney to the conclusions in his book:

    Tenney felt a worsening emptiness in his soul. He was in a funk, frustrated and depressed. On the same page he goes on to say he was "sick of church." His statement, which no doubt is an honest assessment of his emotional condition, should have been recognized by him as warning signs of potential spiritual danger. People historically have chosen wrong directions and made wrong decisions when they got caught up in the realm of subjective feelings, good or bad.
   Tenney considers the origin of his depression as being "divine," yet isn’t it just as possible that its origin was demonic? To me it is obvious that his low emotional state was not from God, but that he was "set-up" by the enemy of his soul. Why do I say this? Because Tenney did not turn to God’s Word for solace, instead he began to seek after subjective non-biblical experiences to meet his needs.
    In the midst of his funk he was speaking at a friend’s church. During one Sunday morning service the following event occurred which is the cause of this book being written:

    Tenney immediately steps up to the microphone and tells the people "in case you are not aware of it God has just moved into this place." Oh really? What does he base this on? He interprets the pastor being thrown back 10 feet "effectively separating him from the pulpit," and then the pulpit falling down and breaking in two pieces as being proof God had arrived!

    Where does he get this concept of the tangible terror of God’s presence? In the KJV there are five verses which use the word terror and none of them have anything positive for those on the receiving end of it (see Isa. 10:33; Eze. 26:21; Eze. 32:32; 2Co 5:11; 1Pe 3:6;). The Bible does plainly teach that in the presence of the Lord is "fullness of joy," (see Ps. 16:11).
    There is yet another possible interpretation of these events, one never considered by extremists — God was not the origin at all, but demonic forces were behind these events (see 2 Thes. 2:9). The only effective weapon the Christian has been given to battle Satan and his forces is the Word of God (remember Jesus’ desert temptation! power encounter with Satan, what weapon did He use? —"it is written" — Matt. 4:4,7,10).
   Satan’s goal has always been to stop the proclamation of God’s Word. If he cannot totally stop the preaching (which commonly happens in today’s "revival" services, I speak as a personal eyewitness), then he will attempt to mislead the preacher/teacher into misinterpreting or misapplying the Word so it has no positive effect in the spiritual lives of the hearers.
    In this service the pastor is knocked into an altered state of consciousness for over 2 hours (remember — strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered?). The Word of God is effectively stopped and complete pandemonium breaks out in the congregation. Here are some examples:

    There are many problems with this account, The emphasis on water baptism seems to incredible to be genuine. No one asked to be baptized in the Book of Acts as purely a response to a mystical power encounter. On the contrary, they were commanded to be baptized (see Acts 10:48).
    Next we see "prominent" people coming up to Mr. Tenney (who was taught salvation via water baptism in the UPC, and also taught the need for folks to be re-baptized) and getting re-baptized in water! Why would he have these Christians, who were previously water baptized "join with the parade of the unsaved" as they made their way to the baptismal fount? Could it be he still clings to the false concept of salvation via water baptism?
    Most troubling of all is his closing statement in the quote — "there was no sermon." He reiterates this comment on page 10 "As I said, there wasn‘t any preaching." I have researched accounts from the Azusa "revival" to the present and for some strange reason many Pentecostal/charismatic people consider it to be a powerful service when the Word of God is not proclaimed! This is evidence of demonic direction, not the Holy Spirit. People are saved through "the foolishness of preaching" (1 Cor. 1:1 8;21). People are not saved by paranormal power encounters which cannot be validated by the context of scripture. Mr. Tenney would have us believe that all of the events he recounts are proof of the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit. I am sad to say, I see exactly the opposite transpiring. I see a wholesale deception taking place in the lives of people who lack a solid biblical understanding of God and His Word.

    Biblical truth and doctrinal truth are denigrated from the book’s introduction to its last chapter. Tenney believes in the erroneous concept of "Present Day Truth" (PDT).
    The Bible is where God has been, but the goal of Tenney’s God Chaser is to go beyond the Bible to where God is.

    The Bible is the past, it is where God has been. Biblical truth is God’s tracks, the trail He has left. However, true God Chasers are not content just to study God’s truths (the Bible), they want to know Him.
    To begin with Mr. Tenney’s view of truth is incorrect. God & truth are inseparable. Truth is one of the aspects of God’s nature, theologically referred to as His verity:

    Truth by its very nature is eternal and unchanging. If something was ever true, it is true today. Somehow the God Chaser (who is not content to study the passé truth of the Bible) is seeking a direct experience of God apart from the Scriptures. The God Chaser, according to Tenney, knows there is more to knowing God than the Bible can supply.

    The Bible is more than enough to satisfy the soul of this variety of God Chaser. Tenney’s God Chaser must be fed a diet of present truth. Where does this truth come from? What form does it take? How can it be verified as being true? These are questions Mr. Tenney does not answer.
    What is especially upsetting is the manner in which he continually refers to the Bible. In just two pages he has referred to it as: (1) dusty truth and (2) the moldy pages of what God has done. The past is interesting and it has its place in Tenney’ s thinking, but what is of paramount importance is to see what God is doing now.

    Tenney makes a non-existent distinction between "past" and "present" truth. Since God Himself is the fount of all truth, and He is eternal, neither past, present or future — how can "truth" be considered past or present? To believe such a thing is epistemological suicide!
    According to the "Tenney interpretation" most of what the Church has studied is the Bible (aka past/dusty/moldy truth) but knows little of present truth. Present truth accordingly exists somewhere outside the confines of the 66 books which all truly orthodox Christians call the "Bible."

    I have never heard anyone claim to know all about God. Tenney is advocating some other means than biblical study as the method by which we can know God. As a former charismatic extremist I am very familiar with his line of reasoning which can be boiled down to the following statement:

    This is a false argument, it presupposes that knowing about God through His Word is something different than really knowing God. The only manner in which any believer can know truly know God is through His Word. It is by His Word that we are to judge any and all spiritual experiences. The reason for the confusion and heresy within any Christian group is very simple — they have sought to know God apart from the scriptures and the end result has always been disastrous.

    Tenney continues to downplay the centrality of biblical study in the life of the believer. He continues to refer to God’s holy and inerrant Word as "old" love letters. What he does not tell the reader is what they are to study in order to come to this subjective alleged knowledge of God. Tenney, like all extremists bases his argument solely on experience and not solid biblical footings:

    This is one of the favorite arguments of the extremist "personal experience is superior to rationality." Tenney’s view can be restated in the following manner: "I’ve had an experience and you cannot talk me out of it regardless of what the old love letters may state to the contrary."
   Muhammad had an "experience." Joseph Smith alleged to have seen an angel, Kenneth Hagin claims Jesus appeared to him 9 times, Mary K. Baxter claims Jesus took her to hell for 40 days, "Rev." Moon claims Jesus appeared to him and told him complete His "failed" mission. All these folks had "experiences" and all of them were deceived by them, and went on to deceive others based on the powerful effect their experiences had on them.
   Experience is not the final court of appeal. In fact, experience is the weakest argument anyone can make.

Romans 10:14-15
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things!

Deut. 6:6-9
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy chilthen, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

    In Chapter 7 of his book Tenney states that "in our present state we are in no position to affect anything," (pg. 101). We need to enter into this mystical realm of the manifest presence of God in order for the Church to progress. I guess the last 2,000 years of Church history and the incalculable advances of the Church in the world really do not count. He has come up with a new term to bolster his views called "presence evangelism,"

    Charismatic believers in general have always been seeking the next "move" of the Spirit or a higher "level" in God because their current practices and experiences do not satisfy their souls. This spiritual ennui is now transpiring as the Toronto/Pensacola phenomena is winding down. Various leaders have been sticking their spiritual fingers in the air seeing which way the wind of the Spirit is now blowing. I believe that Tenney’s book about striving to manifest a mystical presence and experience a non-biblical pseudo-intimacy with God is part of the "next move."
   Tenney is on the cover of the March Charisma magazine, which automatically gives his book global exposure and carries the charismatic imprimatur. He has already been making the "revival rounds." The Toronto web site has pictures of him teaching at TACF (http:// www.tacf.org). There are now a myriad of web sites pushing his book and threads of God Chasers sharing their experiences.
   Tenney has no obvious love or even deep appreciation for the Bible, this is apparent from his many snide comments regarding Scripture. He comes from a cultic background, which he has never formally renounced and he is promoting experiences which God has never promised to grant His people.
   Tenney also is making a ton of money off his "God Chasers Network." Like the Promise Keepers before him, Tenney is selling God Chaser license plates, other books, t-shirts, mugs, etc…I am not opposed to anyone selling a product they have produced. But it seems that an entire industry sprang up "overnight" regarding this latest craze. When this too peters out, and it will, Mr. Tenney will be left quite a bit richer and a great deal more deceived.
   The growing popularity of his book is further proof that many of God’s people lack a solid biblical foundation in their lives. This lack of doctrinal understanding has left them open to spiritual deception.