Mother Goddess worshiped at Bethel Redding sister church

[Reader, the video has been removed by Bethesda NW. Anticipating this, a copy has been saved and the video will soon be restored.  Transcriptions in the article below]

The unclean spirit behind the goddess of The Shack, the novel written by Paul Young, is still at work. It seems more than coincidental that Bethesda NW, a Bethel Redding sister church,* uses Young’s hellish interpretation of El Shaddai; and just like in the novel, the Holy Spirit has also been feminized, addressed in the service as “Mama Ghost.”

Paul Young, author of The Shack, would be proud:

“El Shaddai, the double breasted one.” (Tisha Straup, Bethesda NW sermon on 5/26/19)

“Do you need healing from a Mother? Only comes from El Shaddai.” (Bethesda NW worship leader on 5/12/19)

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. (Jeremiah 7:18)

It began on Mother’s Day with the worship team. They sang:

12:58 Mama God, will you talk to us?

13:12 Do you need healing from a Mother? Only comes from El Shaddai.

19:32–20:27 Let God be God in every situation, let His presence flow, let His presence flow, let God be God in your situation, let His presence flow, let His presence flow, let God be God in your situation, Mama Ghost will flow, Mama Ghost will flow, let God be God in your situation, Mama ghost will flow, Mama Ghost will flow…

25:07 I will lean back in the loving arms of a beautiful Mother, I will breathe deep and know that She is good, She’s a love like no other…

25:53 I will breathe deep and know that She is good, She’s a love like no other…

During this worship session, the words were occasionally on the screen behind the musicians and singers. Sometimes the word “Father” was on the screen, and sometimes it was the “Mother.” 

According to Pastor Larry DeBruyn:

The name “breasted one” appears to be sourced in feminist spirituality. In Part One (“The Feminine Divine in the Hebrew Scriptures”) of her book, Delighting in the Feminine Divine, Bridget Mary Meehan, states that, “D.F. Stramara translates El Shaddai (a name for the Divine in the Hebrew Scripture as ‘God the breasted one’.)”[7] But for several reasons, the inference that the divine name El Shaddai means “breasted one” is ludicrous. It is a meaning pulled out of thin air. It is an imagined meaning. [1]

The claim that El Shaddai means double breasted one, or breasted one will continue to infiltrate the visible church. We are in deep waters. Goddess worship is gaining in popularity. We now dwell in a metrosexual/ homosexual/beta male culture, where attacks on the character and nature of the biblical God are accepted  and encouraged–and yet, this is happening not just in the culture, but also in the visible church.

We know from His Word that He does not change:

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6)

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. (James 1:17)

We know that God is Spirit. He is neither man nor woman. Yet, God in the Bible is always referred to as “He” or “Father,” or “Him,” never “She,” or “Mother,” or “Her.” If we really, truly believe God is the author of the Bible, this should mean something. We are not to change His Word, and we are not to change its meaning.

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)

Trying to present God as goddess because Christ used the simile about a mother hen  protecting her chicks, as this pastor attempted, is ludicrous. (Matthew 23:27, Luke 13:34) Dads and grandpas and uncles can be pretty protective and tender as well.

Once the worship was finished, Bethesda NW Pastor Ben Straup came on stage. He said:

26:12 You probably noticed that you’ve been singing Mother a lot of times instead of Father. Obviously, there’s Father God, but how many know there’s a beautiful expression, El Shaddai, of who God is. And the full expression of who God is, is both male and female. And we’re just feeling like, there’s people in here that actually have, there needs to be healing when it comes to moms in the room, and so we’re just kinda goin’ after that. Yes, we believe in Father God, we believe in Jesus Christ, we believe in the Holy Spirit. Yeah, we’ll probably switch it back to the Father also but there’s something that’s happening in the room with healing and ministering for moms and mothers. And the beautiful full expression of who God is, is wrapped up in male and female. 

So, uh, I know it might kinda just feel a little bit different that we’re doin’ this, but I just felt like there’s people who are actually gonna get healed from the Spirit of Adoption. There’s just mom wounds that are gonna get healed today. And I know that we could do that through singing He’s a beautiful Father, which He is, but sometimes it’s just kind of good to feel that Mother side of God also. Just that El Shaddai, the comforter. The one that comes in and just gathers you like Jesus said, like the chicks, like gathering the chicks, oh I wish I could gather you and bring you in. So, let’s just continue to worship. Yeah I just thought I’d come up here and give a little context to that.

28:22 [The singing starts again]: I will lean back in the loving arms of a beautiful Mother, And I will breathe deep and know that She is good. She’s a love like no other… 

114:42 The pastor announces there will be a Sozo training.

122:22 Tisha Straup:: We don’t talk much about the Mother side of God, but the Mother heart of God is wrapping around you.

What is really being wrapped around the mostly young people in this congregation is the heretical belief it is acceptable, even appropriate, to worship the Lord as a goddess. This is paganism disguised as Christianity.

Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both to yourself and for those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:16)

Churches with a Bethel Redding mindset, so to speak, are usually far more interested in spiritual experiences than in the Word of God. The pastor of Bethesda NW has been informed about the misuse of El Shaddai, but this Mother’s Day “teaching” demonstrates–once again–the growing danger of the worldwide Bethel Redding movement.

This includes far more than the goddess teaching specific to this particular church.  Bethel Redding under Bill Johnson has shared or encouraged aberrant teachings from Dominionism to grave soaking to contemplative prayer to kenosis.

People will continue to be drawn to Bethel Redding and her sister churches through the power of the music. Guests like Rodney Howard Browne will be lauded, and experiences such as being “slain in the Spirit” and “drunk in the Spirit” will be seen as proof of the power of God (or goddess, if we are to believe the Bethesda NW teaching).

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. (2 Peter 2:1)

What is happening in our culture, around the world, and in the visible church is biblical, in the sense that we are in a prophetic timeline. A counterfeit church is coalescing; and we have been warned by the very Word of God.

Related Article: Bethesda NW a forerunner for androgynous “deity” of the coming false church?

(Reader, Bethesda NW has removed the video. Fortunately, a copy was made and we will replace the video soon.)

(Go to 12:58, 13:12, 19:32–20:27, 25:07, 25:53, 26:12, 28:22, and 122:22 in the video.)

 

(Go to 12:58, 13:12, 19:32–20:27, 25:07, 25:53, 26:12, 28:22, and 122:22 in the video.)

Source Notes:

1. The consequences of role-reversal in The Shack, by Pastor Larry DeBruyn, Herescope

 

*On Bethel’s Global Legacy website, Bethesda NW is listed in the directory along with other associated churches and groups. Although Bethel Church gives a disclaimer saying that the listings “do not imply any affiliation or endorsement,” the term “sister church” is used where there is a strong likemindedness in vision and practice and shared teachings and personalities between each other.

For example, Justin and Abi Stumvoll will be speaking soon at Bethesda NW. Justin has served as pastor at Bethel Redding and Abi has served as pastor at Bethel School of Supernatural Minstry, and as staff member at Bethel Redding.

Danny and Sheri Silk recently spoke at Bethesda NW. ( 5/17/19) Danny  has been with the Senior Leadership Team of Jesus Culture and Bethel Redding. Link Danny and Sheri served 13 years at Bethel Redding before departing.

In the video below, the Bethesda NW pastor discusses their experience at Bethel Redding where, he says, not only were they were prophesied over, but earlier prophecies were confirmed. He also mentions some of Bethesda NW’s core values, and says “Bill Johnson was the one who coined those,” and that they can be found on the internet. (From 8:36 to 10:08)