This interview from The Berean Call can be listened to by clicking here.
Gary: Welcome to Search the Scriptures 24/7, featuring T. A. McMahon, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. I’m Gary Carmichael. We’re glad you could join us. In today’s program, Tom is joined by his guest, Rod Page, as they address the question: Is the Bethel School of Ministry Supernatural? And now, here’s Tom.
Tom: Thanks, Gary. Today and next week my guest is Rod Page, and Rod is the pastor of Lewiston Community Church in Lewiston, California, and he’ll be one of our speakers at the Bible Conference here in Bend, Oregon, which is scheduled for the last weekend in August.
Rod, welcome back to Search the Scriptures 24/7.
Rod: Thanks, Tom. It’s a real pleasure to talk with you today.
Tom: For our listeners, I interviewed Rod earlier in the year, and our topic was The Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, which is located in Redding, California. That’s not too far from where Rod pastors. Rod, for those who haven’t heard our earlier interview, give our listeners some of your background as it relates to the teachings of Bethel and its pastor, Bill Johnson.
Rod: Well, Tom, it starts quite a few years ago. My wife and I were raising a family, I was working a regular secular job in the business world, and we started attending a church that was very vibrant at the time. They were preaching the Bible, preaching the gospel, had a quite ambitious outreach program into the community; and for several years seemed to be pretty much in line with where we were, and were biblical.
But over a period of time – and it was subtle at first – it did begin to build after a while, and we began to hear new things that we had not heard before. Things that kind of just made you wonder a little bit, you know: Where did that come from? But by that time, we had formed very close bonds, friendship bonds, with the leadership of the church. It was a pretty large church, at least for our area, over a thousand people. And we were involved in ministry as well. We were involved in a prison ministry helping moms with their children born outside the prison, taking moms’ babies in for awhile, connecting with the moms, reaching them with the gospel, and helping them get into a discipleship ministry. To continue reading or to listen to this interview, click here.
For more information on Bethel Church and the hyper-charismatic movement, see Lighthouse Trails resources on this important topic.