It isn't often that a pastor of a thriving church has the courage to admit that he has been deceived by false teachings and practices. However, such is the case with Ted Brooks, pastor of Victory Life Church in Alberta, Canada.

Brooks, who details his journey from deception to truth in his book, I Was A Flakey Preacher, boldly confronts the extreme practices of his own Charismatic background, strongly challenging many false concepts which have found wide acceptance in his own Christian tradition. Now he is committed to teaching other Christians how to discern between the true and the false through discernment seminars and an Internet ministry. Testingthespirits.com Quoting from the words of Jesus Christ found in Matthew 24:4-5, which states in part, "Take heed that no man deceive you, for many will come in my name, saying `I am Christ and will deceive many,'' Brooks shares the following startling revelation in his book. "If we interpret this to mean we are to watch out for those who would say of themselves, `I am Christ,' then this verse will apply to only a few people. We will then place this warning far from the reach of our own hearts. But if we read it without the quotation marks, it takes on a whole new meaning. We are to be aware that even though a person can declare or confess with their lips that Jesus is the Christ, it also means that same person can deceive us. If you think about this verse in this way, then it applies to all Christians, and in particular Christian leaders. We all come in His name, we all declare that He is the Christ; but it also means that if we do not heed the warning, we can either be deceived or deceive others...This is the unpleasant part of my testimony,'' he writes. "I was a dangerous leader to follow because I came in Jesus' name, I zealously preached that Jesus was the Christ, but I also led many people into confusion and deception.'' During a recent interview, Brooks shared details of his journey from spiritual deception to the illuminating light of the truth of God's Word. Reflecting on his past experiences, he claims that his religious background and training made him more susceptible to various types of unbiblical manifestations. "I was raised in a Pentecostal church in which I was exposed to many strange manifestations which were heartily accepted as the power of God,'' Brooks says. "As I grew as a Christian, I progressed into many new extreme teachings found in the Charismatic movement.'' Describing the spiritual phenomenon from which he has now parted company as "Charismania,'' a term which mainline Christianity uses to describe some of the extreme practices and teachings of the Charismatic movement, Brooks described some of the manifestations that he become involved in. "Our meetings often included dancing, shouting, falling under the power of God and many new manifestations which would have shocked any uninformed visitors,'' he points out. The proliferation in recent years of extreme practices such as people barking like dogs, roaring like lions, rolling on the floor, laughing uncontrollably and falling down "drunk in the spirit'' has caused many Christian observers to question the validity of these spiritual manifestations. While some proponents of these practices claim that the Holy Spirit is responsible for these manifestations, the Bible clearly states that one of the fruits of reasoning and judgment are seriously impaired. How, then, could the Holy Spirit produce similar manifestations in a Christian, to the point that that individual, under the influence of such phenomena, cannot even drive home from a church service in his own power? What if the police stopped that person under the suspicion of drunk driving? Would he claim that he is simply "drunk on the new wine of the Holy Spirit?'' Are people now claiming that the Holy Spirit causes a person to behave in a manner that could possibly jeopardise his life as well as others? I have even witnessed a person, under the influence of this phenomenon, unable to remember her own name! One internationally known televangelist, who wholeheartedly endorses these spiritual manifestations, refers to himself as "the Holy Ghost bartender,'' as if he can dispense the Holy Spirit to people the way a bartender pours drinks for his customers at a bar! For a man to even refer to himself by this title is frightening and shows a serious lack of reverence for a Holy God! This is a vivid example of how mindlessness has subtlety invaded Christian circles to the point of insanity! To claim that the Holy Spirit causes people to act contrary to the written or Living Word of God is to have a gross misunderstanding of the Spirit's workings.

A classic proof text that is used by proponents of spiritual drunkenness to try and justify this manifestation is found in Acts chapter 2, where Jesus disciples were gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem awaiting the arrival of the Holy Spirit in response to Christ's command. When the Holy Spirit descended upon them they immediately began "speaking the wonderful works of God'' in the native languages of Jews from the Diaspora who had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. While certain people in the crowd did mistakenly assume that Jesus' disciples were "full of new wine'' as a result of what they were hearing, Peter was able to stand to his feet immediately with the rest of the disciples (v 14) and preach a perfectly coherent message, proving from the Hebrew Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. No where in this passage is there any indication that the disciples were staggering around uncontrollably in lose of their senses. In fact, in (v 2) the Scripture states that "they were sitting'' and later in (v 14) that they "stood up'' in response to the crowd's mocking. Careful exegesis of this passage illustrates that proponents of spiritual drunkenness have simply read their own presuppositions into the text to try and support this unscriptural practice.

What caused Brooks to begin questioning similar types of teachings and spiritual manifestations in his own ministry? "It all started with a simple Bible word study,'' he explains. "I was researching how the Bible used the word `false' along with all of its synonyms. I was shocked to discover that hungry Christians could actually be deceived by false teachings. Therefore, I started to question some of my favourite Charismatic doctrines and discovered they were not as biblical as I had assumed. For instance, my favourite experience of falling under the power and then watching people who were slain in the spirit under my ministry was now open to examination. My Bible research exposed this popular manifestation as man-made. There was little proof for its validity in the Bible. After that, I was willing to reevaluate all of my former beliefs.'' Brooks willingness to openly confess that he had been teaching and practising falsehood was not enthusiastically received by various members of his congregation and by his ministerial associates, however. And initially, it was hard for him to come to grips with the fact that he had been deceived. "I found it difficult to admit that I had been deceived and had led others astray with my enthusiastic preaching,'' he admits. "At first, my church was shocked at my findings. Understandably, some families left the church. However, a core group remained with me and we started to earnestly study together. Former untouchable doctrines were now fair game,''he explains. "In many cases, we were shocked at how flimsy some of our teachings were. The Bible easily exposed them as nothing more than carnal traditions of men. As word spread of my change of heart, my friends and peers made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with my venture and viewed my questions as harmful to their established ministries.'' Admitting to being a flakey preacher In his book, Brooks reveals that once his eyes opened to the truth, one of the things he had to contend with was the fear of men. "During this time, one of the most challenging and disturbing things I had to deal with was the fear of men,'' he admits. "Since we were taught to submit and I was beginning to challenge the teachings of respected leaders, the result was predictable. The camp I was a part of, gave me the silent treatment... Some of my best friends, though, began to openly rebuke me or target me from the pulpit. If you are a `people person' like I am, this can be very effective. In fact, the same tactic is still used today. But... I've replaced the fear of rejection of men with a healthy fear and respect for the Lord,'' he says.

Brooks also claims that his study of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ helped him to discover that much of what was occurring in his ministry could not be biblically substantiated. "In my search for something biblical and solid, I discovered the importance of Jesus' earthly ministry,'' he pointed out. "I came to understand how vital it was to see God through his son Jesus Christ. Jesus was clearly the express image and true revelation of God. Today, I hear Charismatic leaders declare, `We are doing what Jesus did.' But if we were to read the Bible we would discover that we are actually doing what Jesus did.' But if we were to read the Bible we would discover that we are actually doing what Jesus did not do, teaching what he did not teach, and we are proclaiming a new and very different gospel.'' Brooks develops this line of reasoning further in his book. "Did Jesus cause people to fall under the power if His ministry? Did He see people laugh, bark, and roll as they received their healing? Did Jesus' anointing overcome them and send them flying? Did they fall down and shake or cry as He laid hands on them? Only the demon possessed manifested such foolishness and Jesus usually told them to be quiet. He did not accept these manifestations as a normal part of His ministry,'' Brooks maintains. "Jesus was anointed in greater capacity than any man of God alive today. No preacher can boast that they are doing or teaching anything different that Christ and still be right in their doctrine.

If they are constantly seeking different miracles in their ministry then those seen in Jesus' ministry, they had better start asking some questions.'' Indeed, the apostle John writing in 2 John 9 to instruct believers how to identify deceptive teachings in the first century, states: "Whoever goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God; He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.'' Brooks contends that it is crucial for Christians to return to the revelation of Jesus Christ as a safeguard against much of the deception that is presently occurring in Christian circles today. "Many false miracles in my own ministry were exposed by comparing them to the miracles of Christ,'' he explained. "I also realised that my misleadings were common among many Charismatic leaders.

Only when we exalt Christ as the ultimate man of God will we uncover how gullible we have become in accepting many men as spiritual experts when truly they fall short of Christ's example.'' He continues: "The Spirit of God has come to confess `Jesus came in the Flesh.' Confess means to `agree with' or `say the same thing as.' This means that everything the Spirit of God says or does, will always agree with everything Jesus said and did in the flesh! The words and miracles of the Holy Spirit will always agree with the concepts Jesus revealed in the flesh. Ministers under the influence of the spirit of Antichrist will not openly confess this,'' he maintains.

Driven by a desire to help Christians to avoid the extreme teachings and practices that he previously endorsed, Brooks conducts discernment seminars and radio and television interviews across North America. "I saw that there was a great need for biblical discernment among Charismatics,'' he says.

"Therefore, we have launched a seminar ministry called `Testing the Spirits' which includes seminars, books, resources and an informative Internet site. We teach Christians how to discern between true and false Christian manifestations and teachings.'' What has been the response from fellow Christians? "We have now been contacted by hundreds of former Charismatics who share similar stories. Clearly, without launching our ministry, we would have never known the extend of how many people share our discoveries,'' he remarks.

Brooks maintains that Christians need to take the words of Jesus Christ seriously when he warned that religious deception would be one of the major signs preceding his second coming. "How many of us would easily admit that it's possible for us to be deceived? We usually consider this possibility to be very remote. The Bible clearly teaches us that the last days are going to be a time of great deception, a great falling away, and a heaping up of teachers that tickle the ears. So why do we go on as if these Scriptures don't apply to us?'' he questions. "If deception was so easy to detect, then why would the Bible include so much information about it? Why would Jesus warn us about deception in the last days by saying, `take heed, watch out and beware?' Wouldn't we be better off if we listened to Him?'' Defining a flakey preacher as "someone who is filled with empty headed foolishness and cannot back up his beliefs and actions with solid biblical teachings, but instead gets his ideas from somewhere out there in the spirit realm,'' Brooks concludes that Christians need to once again make the study of the word of God their top priority. "It's time to get back into our Bibles and learn,'' he points out. "We are being deceived because we are following the latest fluff instead of grounding ourselves in the Word. When we get to the place where we desire the richness of the Word of God more than satisfying our flesh at some crazy out-of-control-came-meeting, then we will be able to truly discern today's remaining flakey preachers.'' For those who are interested in exploring more on the subject of spiritual discernment, they can log on at www.testingthespirit.com for on-line books and resources. A free newsletter, Discernment Journal, is also available by calling the ministry's office in Canada at (780)349-8209.