![]() Hello AG supporters! Next week we are releasing two 50-minute episodes as a preview of American Gospel: Spirit & Fire (which is a 10+ episode docuseries). The episodes are titled “Grave Soaking” and “The House of Generals” and will be live-streamed on AGTV on Wednesday October 25th, 2023. They will be available for subscribers to watch through Tuesday October 31st, 2023. We’re deciding to make these available for a number of reasons, but the main reason is to reward our patient supporters, and to build excitement and support for the project. Unfortunately this good news is connected with some bad news. As many of you know, my goal in this project has been to include charismatic voices that I disagree with, which has included Dr. Michael Brown. During the episode review process, Dr. Brown has decided to withdraw his participation in this project, meaning I am no longer able to use the 10+ hours of footage that we shot together (1 interview, 2 roundtable discussions). This issue has created a huge roadblock in the progress of this project, which I’ll explain below. The episodes that Dr. Brown reviewed are titled “The Attraction” and “The Encounter”, which critique the documentary films of Darren Wilson, and explain their impact on individuals who were led into the NAR movement through his work. These episodes focus on essential issues, like true and false conversion, regeneration, the nature of true repentance, adoption & identity, the wrath of God, the nature of man, and evangelism through the lens of the “encounter gospel” (which includes discerning true and false miracles, faith healing manipulation tactics, etc.)— all things that both cessationists and continuationists are able to agree upon. I included both Michael Brown and Daniel Kolenda in these episodes, where they both were in agreement with the critiques of everyone else— that the “encounter gospel” is unbiblical, and can lead to false conversions. Dr. Michael Brown reviewed and approved how I used his content in the episode, but he began to point out issues with how others in these episodes had categorized ministries that Dr. Brown was involved with as “NAR” (Dr. Brown disagreed with that label or categorization, and viewed that as harmful to those ministries). I offered Michael the opportunity to include his objections to the points that he disagreed with, but he declined to do so. I also offered to allow him to add a video disclaimer to the beginning of the episode, where he would warn of the “false” statements, or the divisive and destructive nature of the episode(s), but after speaking with his colleagues, he ultimately decided to remove himself from the project. You can read his explanation of his decision below: “When Brandon reached out to me, he explained that he wanted “to create an honest and balanced film, and,” he wrote, “I think your participation is a step toward making that a reality.” He also stated to me in writing that, “My goal is to not make this film become a Strange Fire 2.0. I want more charismatic perspectives to be heard from someone in the continuationist group, and you are one of the few people who responds to charismatic critics.” He also assured me that, “I will not be able to use your interview in the series until you review the project (how you are edited among others), approve of it, and sign your appearance release. If you have any issues, I am willing to fix them (by allowing you to respond with further commentary, etc.), or accepting that you no longer wish to be involved with the project.” Having spent many hours in good faith filming for the project and urging Brandon to make fair editorial changes, I had to drop out because, in my view, AG3 is Strange Fire 2.0 on steroids and is anything but “honest and balanced.” Those wanting to know my own views on the subjects in question can consults my books, broadcasts, articles, and sermons (in full, rather than excerpted in sound bites).” What I had also communicated to Dr. Brown was that there would be people involved in this project who he has considered to be “hyper-critics” who are also critical of him (his discernment, associations, etc.). Many of the questions that he answered in our interview together were in response to these issues. He also knew that he was participating in a project where people would have disagreement/debate over how the “New Apostolic Reformation” is defined or whether or not it exists (he recorded a 3-hour roundtable discussion with Holly Pivec and Doug Geivett on this very issue). Yet it was this very issue (NAR), and my refusal to edit/remove the opinions and statements of others (while inviting him to add more of his own comments to correct what he viewed as false), which caused him to begin questioning his involvement. Another issue that caused a further rift in our discussions was the fact that I told him that I was creating a whole episode on the topic of “grave soaking.” Dr. Brown responded to this news by concluding that this project was a “Strange Fire 2.0 on steroids” much like he did in this public video below: If you don’t have the ability to watch the video above, I’ll describe what Dr. Brown attempts to do. In the video he presents a recent instagram photo of Dr. Steve Lawson wearing the robe of Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones. In the caption, Lawson writes: Dr. Brown acknowledges that Steve Lawson is obviously joking (Dr. Lawson doesn’t believe an actual anointing was literally in Lloyd Jones’ robe or Bible), but Dr. Brown uses this example to jokingly mock critics of grave soaking, saying: “The heresy of Bible rubbing and cloak wearing!” He also later equates what Lawson was doing (joking) to what Bethel has done in their grave soaking teaching and practice (not joking). Finally, he brings up his conversation with me (without mentioning my name, or the film specifically), and shares a conversation he had with me, where I apparently called grave soaking “communication with the dead.” Sadly, Dr. Brown put words in my mouth that I’ve never said. I’ve never called this practice “heresy” or described it as “communicating with the dead” or “receiving revelation from the dead.” The episodes that I created explicitly reject that straw man characterization and direct viewers to the key issue, which is seeking impartation of anointing or mantles from the dead. In other words, Dr. Brown created a straw man of a “heresy hunter” in order to make his point. When I told Dr. Brown that I would be responding publicly to his statements, he claimed that he was not specifically speaking about me, but about grave soaking critics in general. But his words specifically point to the “individual” who is a filmmaker making an episode on the topic of grave soaking: “I was interacting with someone producing some films and they're they're going to do this 30-minute episode on Grave Soaking, or this one-hour episode, whatever it was, on Grave soaking. I thought, “Why?” Leaders at Bethel have repudiated it. Leaders at Bethel, where some people who practice it say it's say it's wrong, say it's unbiblical. Why? Why on earth would you put out a whole video about… especially when it represents a fringe of a fringe, of a fringe of a fringe, of a fringe of a fringe, of a fringe practice. But I also said to this individual, “But hang on, the thing itself, you're blowing out of all proportion!” It's not some: “I am going to commune with the dead. I am going to get revelation from the dead...” No! it's people with a misguided practice! But it's not that markedly different from what Steve Lawson did— putting on the D. Martin Lloyd-Jones pulpit outfit, putting his hand on the pulpit bible that he used, and saying maybe some of it will rub off on me.” —Dr. Michael Brown - 'From Grave Soaking to Bible Rubbing' (9/12/23) Keep in mind that Dr. Brown made these comments about our conversation and these episodes without ever having watched them. Part of my reasoning for wanting to release a preview of these episodes is so that viewers can see my work and decide whether or not Michael Brown was correct in his objections. Is my work divisive, destructive, filled with lies, or out of context clips? I’m confident that any objective viewer will see the truth after watching what we've put together. In the process of creating this episode, the one “Grave Soaking” episode was later split into 2 episodes: ”Grave Soaking” (Part 1) and “The House of Generals” (Part 2). Why would I spend so much time on this “fringe of a fringe, of a fringe” issue? First, you cannot read an article about Bethel Redding without coming across the topic of “grave soaking,” so it had to be addressed. Second, this issue goes beyond the practice of “grave soaking” into the broader topic of a biblical view of anointing, seeking impartations of additional mantles, or anointings through people, locations (graves), etc. (which apply to charismatic practices beyond Bethel Redding). This practice is foundational to understand Bethel’s culture of pursuing revival through risk-taking, their theology of favor, and the overemphasis on the practice of impartation in the broader apostolic and prophetic movement that this series is critiquing. Finally, the truth about this issue has remained obscured (whether intentionally or not), including through the interview with Bill Johnson conducted by Dr. Michael Brown. Has Bethel actually been honest about their involvement in this practice? Have they repented of this practice? These episodes will walk you through all of the available evidence, including eyewitness testimony from former Bethel students, and an examination of Bethel’s own claims in their 25-minute “Rediscover Bethel” podcast on this issue. In sum, the content is so long and thorough because I’m trying to be fair in examining all of the evidence. Thankfully, I chose a docuseries format that allows me to go into this level of detail, without neglecting detail in other topics. So Michael Brown’s claims that I am blowing this out of proportion (“straining a gnat and swallowing a camel”) while ignoring other important issues— are false.
Dr. Brown’s assessment of my project’s honesty and balance is based on 2 episodes (a fraction of the entire series) where everyone essentially agreed on the main issues. After he began overemphasizing smaller, debatable differences, encouraging me to change the views/experiences of others, and declining to accept my invitation to add further commentary (to provide more balance), I quickly realized that his involvement was only going to hinder the project’s completion. While I am frustrated at the missed opportunity to create a balanced presentation, and the massive loss of content (as well as time and money), I am also very relieved that I no longer have to deal with the time commitment related to communicating with Dr. Michael Brown. Daniel Kolenda also followed his lead in departing from the project. Ultimately, both were not comfortable being involved in a project that critiques errors within ministries or people that they are friends or partners with. So how do I move forward, given this roadblock in the projects’ progress and release? I will still attempt to critique and respond to Dr. Brown’s (and Kolenda’s) arguments using public “fair use” footage (from his radio/Youtube program, etc). I spent a lot of time having others respond to Dr. Brown's arguments, so I now I may need to do extra work to have others help explain his arguments. Will you ever get to see the debates that Dr. Brown and others participated in (with Justin Peters, Jim Osman, Sam Storms, or Holly Pivec & Doug Geivett)? That’s up to him. If you’re a charismatic or cessationist and are disappointed in his decision (and I know that many are, and will be), I would advise you not to attack him on social media. He will only see that as further proof that he was right to remove himself from the project. I am thankful for the time that Dr. Brown and Daniel Kolenda gave me, and have great respect for their passion and willingness to help me understand their perspectives, but I am very disappointed in how this all concluded. Thank you for everyone who has been involved with this so far, for the prayers and encouragement. Please continue to pray for me— for wisdom as I navigate this project to the finish line, which realistically will not be finished by the end of this year due to this recent setback. I currently have five one-hour episodes completed, and hope to have more freedom to show previews like this in the near future! -Brandon Kimber Update: You can watch the post-episode discussion on these issues here:
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Hello AG supporters! I have some exciting news for those who have been anticipating the release of AG3: Spirit & Fire. Next week we will be releasing two 50-minute episodes as a preview of this 10+ episode docuseries. The live-stream will begin on the evening of Wednesday 10/25 and will be available for AGTV subscribers only. They will only be available to watch until 10/31. The entire series is not finished, but we are releasing these episodes as a way to reward our patient supporters who subscribe to AGTV and make our productions possible. We’ll have more details— like the names of the episodes— at the end of this week!
-Brandon Kimber Hello AG supporters! I wanted to give an update on what I'm working on. I have four one-hour episodes in progress. Two of them are 95% complete, and the other two are still in rough form, but nearing completion. For context, “American Gospel: Spirit & Fire” is shaping up to be a 10+ episode series. The series will begin by explaining the debate regarding the existence of the New Apostolic Reformation; is it a real movement or a myth? It will also lay foundational work for understanding the Biblical views of apostles and prophets and where the new apostolic and prophetic movement goes beyond the debate between cessationists and continuationists into error that both groups can agree upon. The 2 episodes that I chose to edit first are titled, “The Attraction” and The Encounter.” Both episodes follow the stories of people who were drawn into the NAR movement through the films of Darren Wilson (director of Finger of God, Furious Love, Father of Lights, Holy Ghost, Holy Ghost Reborn, and The God Man), examine his understanding of the gospel and his promotion of “encounter evangelism.” The episodes also dive into Biblical truths like regeneration, adoption, true and false conversion, and the nature of true repentance. Recently, Darren Wilson was interviewed on The Remnant Radio (where his work was promoted favorably), and he had this to say about his critics: “Maybe it’s time to start giving people a little bit of... little bit more grace than we normally do, especially like the online heresy-hunters. Maybe just be little bit open-minded, you know? And maybe just try to meet these people and talk to them.” -Darren Wilson I have tried to communicate with Darren (through his friends) to explain my differences, and have invited him to defend his work in this series, but he has declined to communicate with me. Darren appears to have incorporated some of our criticism into the marketing of his new film, "The God Man": Darren writes: “I’ll admit, my films have always been a little controversial. I've been called the devil, a deceiver, a liar, and even someone masquerading as an "angel of light". I've had a certain very large Christian retail chain refuse to stock my films simply because Bill Johnson was in them. So I'm pretty used to people saying no to my films before they've ever even seen them. But something is different with The God Man. We're seeing people and ministries coming on board to support this film after they've seen it that we never would have dreamed would have supported me in the past. Regardless of what you think of them, the fact that they are willing to put the reputation of their ministries and names behind a movie like this is truly amazing. Joel Olsteen's ministry supports it. Pray.com is partnering with us to promote it. David Harris Jr, a conservative political voice supports it. Kathie Lee Gifford supports it. The Belonging Co supports it. The Whosoevers support it. Shoot, Fathom Events, which isn't even a faith-based company is pushing it into theaters alongside us. All that to say, there is something special about this film that even people outside our "charismatic" world is seeing. Jesus is glorified. Jesus is lifted up.” Just for your information, we do not claim that Darren is a devil disguised as an angel of light in these episodes. We do however critique his encounter with a dark angel named "Breakthrough" (who he claims he saw behind his eyelids, vibrating with energy) that he claims told him to make his first movie, "Finger of God." Darren's mention of Joel Osteen's endorsement of his film as a good thing is an unfortunate reflection of the shallow gospel that can be seen in each of his films. I hope to publish a longer critique of "The God Man" (and his other films) in the future. In another AG3 episode titled, “The Greatest,” we’re exploring Bethel’s view of man’s nature and identity for both believers and unbelievers, and what it means to follow Christ’s example. You can see a clip of that episode here: We also have a full episode devoted to the “Grave Soaking” controversy, which examines all of the evidence (both old and new) of Bethel’s involvement in that practice, their responses to criticism, compared to eyewitness testimony.
Please continue to keep our team in your prayers! Thank you for the support! -Brandon Kimber & The AG Team Hello American Gospel supporters! I am writing to give you an update on the progress of AG3: Spirit & Fire and to answer some of the questions related to its estimated release date. First, I would recommend that everyone watch my recent interview with Chris Rosebrough, where much of this is explained. You can find that interview here on AGTV:
https://www.watchagtv.com/videos/ag3interview-kongsvinger Earlier this year, during the release of the extended 12-minute preview, I gave an estimated release date of late Spring, which is a little over a month away. At this point in my progress, I have completed two 1-hour episodes in the docuseries (with progress on other episodes), which is essentially equivalent to a single film. Those episodes are being reviewed by a few individuals with whom I disagree and who appear in the docuseries. I'm inviting further commentary from them in order to make these episodes as fair as possible. Because AG3 is a docuseries, I'm expecting to make at least 10 episodes, and I have enough content for even more than that. At this point, I'm not sure how that will impact the release. The major issue I have is that I must get permission from those who appear in opposition interviews in order to release anything. This could mean I may have to wait until all of the episodes are at least finished in rough form, or perhaps I would be able to release some episodes as I complete them (so long as I'm given the green light). All that being said, my estimate has been pushed back until late Fall at this point. I know that is disappointing for many. Trust me, I want this to be completed more than anyone, but it has to be done within the constraints that I mentioned above, as well as the constraints of being a small team working on such a large project. As many of you know, in addition to working on AG3, we're also running and maintaining a streaming service (AGTV), which is essentially helping support us in the completion of this docuseries. In other news, last month we finished filming an almost 4-hour roundtable discussion with Justin Peters, Jim Osman, Michael Brown, and Sam Storms, which was very successful. That roundtable has been transcribed, and a sound mix is almost completed. I'm hoping that perhaps I can release content like this in an uncut form before the total docuseries is completed. Thank you to everyone who continues to support us with prayer, and through subscribing to AGTV (and for being patient with the release of AG3). In the meantime, I will try to keep you all more updated with examples or previews of some of the content that I am working on. Below is an edit I recently did on the topic of Kris Vallotton’s encounter with Michael the Archangel: https://www.watchagtv.com/videos/ag3-krisv-angelmichael-rough Description: Kris Vallotton of Bethel Church, claims that Michael the Archangel appeared by his bedside in wrestling tights, and in a bad mood. But does this description of an angelic encounter match the description of angels that we see in Scripture? -Brandon Kimber Next week we are recording our final roundtable discussion for “American Gospel: Spirit & Fire” with Michael Brown, Sam Storms, Justin Peters, and Jim Osman. We’ll be discussing where we differ and agree on the topics of discerning false teachers and false prophets, as well as the work of the Holy Spirit today. Please join us in prayer that this discussion would be fruitful, and edifying for everyone involved. Our goal is to have a respectful, and God-glorifying discussion.
If you’re familiar the American Gospel films you’ll know that we’ve attempted to be fair in our representation of those we are critiquing. In the first film, you’ll notice a lot of text graphics which say something like, “[insert person] declined [or did not respond to] an interview request.” In AG2: Christ Crucified, we were more successful in getting some opposition interviews to agree to appear in the film, including Bart Campolo, a secular humanist. Our approach with people like Bart is to give them the ability to review and approve of how we have edited their interview before they sign their appearance release (Bart describes his experience here: http://www.watchagtv.com/videos/campolo-recommend). We think that overall, this approach is a helpful way to discern truth and error, when two opposing views are contrasted side by side with Scripture. In AG3: Spirit & Fire, we’ve continued with the same approach in interviewing people like Dr. Michael Brown, Dr. Randy Clark, and Will Hart (hopefully a few more people will agree before AG3 is finished). Some of our viewers have brought up concerns with this approach, which we do understand. However, we think it’s healthy to have these people involved no matter how difficult the process may be. We need to know and understand the arguments from the other side for a number of reasons. First, this can ensure that our critique of their positions is honest and fair, and we can avoid being dismissed for taking people out of context. Second, this approach can help our arguments to be stronger, or perhaps help us to see weaknesses or errors in our own beliefs compared to Scripture. Third, we think this approach can help open up this content to a wider audience for the purpose of evangelism, or challenging other Christians who may be in error. Finally, if we were to release this content without any input from those we disagree with, they would likely spend a lot of time commenting and critiquing this project from the outside after its release, just like many did with the Strange Fire Conference in 2013. Instead of spending the time responding to their critiques, why not allow them to critique our perspective, and respond to that within the film? As you can imagine, this approach has made it very difficult to create a trailer for the project. The point of a trailer is to tease the content of a full-length feature film, not to spoil everything, or present every argument that will appear in the final film. A normal trailer is around 2 minutes in length, which makes it impossible to address every argument, or to be completely balanced (in hearing the opposing argument) on every single point. All of this has created the need to create a longer, extended preview, in order to have more time for differences to be explained. At the end of this 12-minute preview, we allowed Dr. Michael Brown and Dr. Randy Clark to add a summary of their disagreements and concerns that didn’t make it into the main body of the trailer. Much of what they say, we disagree with, and we plan to address many of their points within the final docuseries. In response to some of their criticisms, it’s important for our audience to remember that they are critiquing a preview* of a docuseries (*a small teaser of something that is much larger and more detailed) which is still a work in progress. So any claims of us taking Scripture out of context, or taking those we are critiquing out of context, are premature. We plan to go into great detail about these issues in the full series, including the controversial issue of “grave-soaking” (which is shown briefly in the preview). Here are some other important questions to consider in response to some of their points: Does the doctrine of cessationism itself necessarily lead to a shipwrecked faith or apostasy? Regarding judging the fruit of a movement, is it Biblical to equate church growth to church health? Are we to judge quantity of fruit, or quality of fruit? As you can see, the differences in perspectives here are big, and require a lot of time and nuance to fully understand. Lord willing, this April we will conclude our production with a final roundtable discussion with Justin Peters & Jim Osman discussing their differences with Dr. Michael Brown & Dr. Sam Storms. Please continue to pray for the production of this project. We do not like giving estimated release dates, due to the nature of all of the issues above and size of the project, but we we are hoping it will be done by the end of Spring, 2023. -Brandon Kimber & the AG Team A massive theological movement has been sweeping through the Church in recent decades. Millions of professing Christians around the world believe that God is restoring the lost offices of apostle and prophet to church government. They claim these restored apostles and prophets are needed to usher in a global end times revival by delivering new revelations and performing great signs and wonders. This modern apostolic and prophetic paradigm has been called the “New Apostolic Reformation.” Though there is some debate over that label (NAR), the core issues place a demand on all Christians to respond to these claims of authority. Has Christ Himself sent these new apostles and prophets to His Church? “American Gospel: Spirit & Fire” will compare and contrast the true person and work of the Holy Spirit with the manifestations and prophetic revelations attributed to Him by leaders in the modern apostolic and prophetic movement. For all of our followers who are anticipating some AG3: Spirit & Fire news, here is an update! For the past few months we have been working on a ten-minute extended trailer of AG3 (in addition to progressing with work on the final docuseries), to give you a preview of the content of this project. As many of you know, we have been working to include opposition interviews in this series (similar to what we did in AG2: Christ Crucified), including charismatic leaders like Dr. Michael Brown, Dr. Randy Clark, etc. The goal in working with these men has to been to ensure their perspective is fairly represented, so our audience can see both positions articulated in a debate style format, which includes both individual interviews as well as some roundtable discussions. One of the final roundtable discussions that we need to film (that has been approved, but not yet scheduled) is with Justin Peters and Jim Osman vs. Dr. Michael Brown and another guest. Keep in mind that this project started in 2019, and will be released in 2023 (five years later, and 10 years after the ‘Strange Fire’ conference). At this point, there have been about 70 interviews, and 7 roundtable discussions filmed. As you can imagine, this process has been a challenge and has slowed down progress in ways that we didn’t anticipate (it was much easier to do in 'AG2: Christ Crucified' with progressives, or atheists), which makes it difficult to predict a final release date at this point. In addition to the volume of the content captured, there is much involved in behind-the-scenes conversations, and trying to coordinate public discussions between people who disagree. But we believe that the overall result will be worth it, and will result in much stronger content, which will challenge both sides of this debate over how we discern truth and error in the teaching and practices from the modern apostolic and prophetic movement, as well as the person and work of the Holy Spirit, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Recently, this ten-minute preview has been approved by every opposition interview except one. Please continue to pray for us, and this process— for wisdom and favor in the midst of disagreement. We are still working to make some additional changes, along with creating the final music. We will be publishing a 3-minute version of that extended preview shortly. Once the extended version is completed and approved, it will be published exclusively on AGTV (for a limited period of time, for subscribers only), and then later will be freely available to the public. AGTV Trailer link: https://www.watchagtv.com/american-gospel-spirit-fire/season:1/videos/ag3-spirit-fire-trailer-1-short Thank you all for your prayers, patience and support! -Brandon Kimber Director of American Gospel: Spirit & Fire |
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