The Promise Keepers' Objective

The Charismatic Connection

There is a reason why the leadership of Promise Keepers feels so much at home with both the Catholics and the Charismatics. Promise Keepers is a men's movement started in 1990 by members of John Wimber's Vineyard Fellowship. Those Vineyard Churches practice a type of Pentecostalism, with a very strong flair for Celebration-type worships. University of Colorado football coach Bill McCartney was raised a Roman Catholic. In the late 1980s, he began attending the Boulder Valley Vineyard Church located in Longmont, Colorado. Liking the preaching of the pastor, James Ryle, McCartney kept attending it. He still attends it, although there is no indication that he ever severed connections with the Roman Catholic Church, and no hint that he ever considered it to be teaching false doctrine.

Promise Keepers was founded by McCartney and Ryle in 1990. Here is the remarkable story behind how it came into existence:

In the Forward to James Ryle's book, A Dream Comes True, McCartney provides this historical background:

"Our relationship (McCartney and Ryle's) developed as the result of a remarkable dream that James shared with me prior to the 1989 college football season while I was head coach at the University of Colorado. The dream foretold that our team, the Colorado Buffaloes, would have a golden season resulting in being ranked number one in the nation and that I, as head coach, would be given the Coach of the Year honors at the season's conclusion. .

"The season unfolded and gave us more than our share of thrills as we watched with wonder how God seemed to be proving the dream true with each successive game. A deep bond of brotherhood was forged between James and me in those joyful moments of seeing the hand of the Lord bless us . .

"That unforgettable season did much to turn my heart toward God with greater sensitivity to hearing His voice. If God would speak in a dream about a football season, what other more pressing matters might He address if we would only listen? The vision for Promise Keepers became more believable to me as a result of learning to regard the thoughts and impressions which come into the lives from God." -Bill McCartney, Forward to A Dream Come True. pp. 8-9.

McCartney moved to Boulder in 1982, where he transformed the hapless Buffaloes of the University of Colorado. But first, he had to struggle through some miserable losing seasons (including a 1-10 record in 1984). Gradually, though, he put together a winning streak, leading to a spectacular 1989 season that earned him five national Coach of the Year honors and culminated in beating Notre Dame at the Orange Bowl in 1991. In that year he signed a remarkable 15-year contract with Colorado, worth $400,000 in a good year, plus bonuses.

Ryle had been appointed chaplain of the team in the late 1980s. Obviously, McCartney was impressed with Ryle's dream, related to him as the 1989 football season was about to begin,-for when the prediction came true, the coach gained national fame and wealth. The two men became close friends.

As mentioned above, Ryle was pastor of a Vineyard Church. The Vineyard movement was founded by John Wimber, and there are now over 400 local Vineyard churches in North America. They have been at the forefront of promoting a combination of Charismatic excitement and end-times prophesying.

A uniting of tongues babble, prophecies, and dreams has formed a part of the Pentecostal movement since its inception at the beginning of the 20th century. But the Vineyard churches have carried the visions and dreams to something of an extreme. They believe that God is regularly giving visions and dreams to their members. So whenever a member claims to have a message from God, the rest consider it sacred truth. This, of course, can lead to all kinds of fanaticism. Among the Vineyard beliefs is the teaching that miracles and visions will sweep the world just prior to the return of Christ. As you can see, they will fully be ready for the great deceptive, miracle-working, power of Satan in the Final Crisis, as soon as the National Sunday Law is enacted! Indeed, they will be first to embrace and be part of the fanatical storm which will arise.

Yet this is the background in which Promise Keepers was born and reared: and this controls its board to this day.

Many of the charismatic prophets believe this final revival has already begun, and they point to the "signs" connected with the "laughing revival" and other wild activities manifested in Toronto and Pensacola, and entering many denominations.

The emphasis on ever-changing beliefs resulting from the latest visions and dreams produces a reduced concern for doctrinal purity. If a person is having a vision or dream, then he is accepted as a brother, whether he is a Protestant, Catholic, or Mormon. Out of such a background, Promise Keepers grew.

Indeed, James Ryle and Bill McCartney declare that Promise Keepers began because of Vineyard dreams!

During the latter half of 1989, at the height of the Kansas City Prophets nationwide tour of Vineyard Christian Fellowship, Vineyard pastor James Ryle had three dreams.

One of them, he told McCartney, predicted that a great revival was to begin. We will note the key points in two of those three dreams later in this present report.

You are acquainted with the logical clarity and sweet beauty of Spirit of Prophecy visions. Here is an example from a Vineyard Prophet. In the late 1980s, Ryle dreamed that he saw a hippopotamus stumbling around in a beautiful garden. When he awoke, he was told by the spirit that it meant that a mighty revival was soon to sweep the world.

"A vast prophetic movement inspired by the Holy Spirit within the church and a validated prophetic message preached through the church in the midst of the world resulting in an evangelistic gathering -that is the 'hippo in the midst of the garden' . . The prophetic movement will surely be established in the midst of the church, like a hippo in the midst of a garden. . The hippo in the garden is the indefinable, unexplained, strange and extraordinary work of God! Yet, though it seems so out of place, it nevertheless is exactly what the Lord wants. The hippo is His pet, and it is here to stay."-James Ryle, Hippo in the Garden, pp. 262, 291-292.

The utterly ridiculous imagery and logic of this "spirit prediction" is foolish in the extreme, yet McCartney was quite willing to believe it. Did he not regularly listen to such mummery at the Vineyard Church at each Sunday morning and Wednesday night meeting?

By going back, week after week, to the Vineyard Church, McCartney was preparing himself for still greater deceptions! We must not go where error is wont to be taught!

Ryle's book, Hippo in the Garden, is filled with alleged "words from the Lord" which he and others are supposed to have received.

A later 1995 book of his, A Dream Come True: A Biblical Look at How God Speaks through Dreams and Visions, contained even more of Ryle's "prophetic dreams." On the back cover of it is a recommendation by McCartney:

"James Ryle takes his unique ability for explaining truth and applies it to the mysterious and often misunderstood subject of dreams and visions."

McCartney also wrote the Forward to this second book, which we quoted from a few paragraphs earlier.

Here is what Ryle believes about dreams and visions in his own life, as well in the lives of others, in these last days:

"There have been many occasions in my own life when the Lord has given significant insight to me through a dream or vision. These prophetic dreams deal sometimes with the church, with a nation or with leaders in the church. At other times the revelation focused on a more personal level. "-Ryle, Hippo in the Garden. p. 125.

"Though we have looked at the patriarchs and the prophets, God does not exclude Himself to them alone. He is rich in mercy to all who call upon Him. The standing orders of the universe, unrescinded and unopposed, echo throughout the ages-'Let there be light!' There is no class of person exempt from the probing love of God who longs to reveal Himself to man, whether we be awake or asleep. Young and old, male and female, bond and free, rich and poor alike may all meet with the Lord in the wondrous world of dreams and visions."-Ryle, A Dream Come True, p. 111.'

Ryle says he and others are regularly having "prophetic dreams and visions." He calls them "revelations from God."

In order to find antecedents for his strange dreams, he cites Catholics such as Augustine (A Dream Come True, p. 159), Jerome (p. 158), Thomas Aquinas (p. 165), Saint Benedict (p. 198), and even Saint Nicholas (pp. 129-131).

"If you believe God speaks in dreams and visions, and your heart longs for Him to speak to you-ask Him to do so!"-Ryle, A Dream Come True, p. 200.

Ryle says he has made most of his key decisions as a result of "prophetic dreams and visions" which were given to him.

. He says he was called to preach because of one (Hippo in the Garden, p. 91). . He says he was told in a dream to associate his church with John Wimber and the Vineyard movement (Hippo, p. 27).

. He says it was a dream, which caused him to stay in the Boulder, Colorado, area in the late 1980s. He had been planning to move elsewhere. But, because he remained there, he met Bill McCartney (Dream Come True, pp. 41-43).

. He says that, in 1989, he had a dream that the University of Colorado football team would have a winning season (Hippo, p. 181). When this dream was fulfilled, McCartney decided Ryle was a special messenger of God, and this established their very close friendship (McCartney, Forward, A Dream Come True).

. Ryle claims that he had a dream which predicted the success of the Promise Keepers' movement (Dream Come True, pp. 192-193).

. He said that John Wimber dreamed about him in 1989 and authorized him. Ryle, as a special messenger of God, as a "seer in prophetic growth and ministry" (Hippo, pp. 12-13).

. Since then. Ryle says he has had a "frequency, scope, accuracy and fulfillment of dreams, visions and prophetic words which has been staggering" (ibid.).

Earlier in this report, we quoted McCartney's statement about how it was that dream that convinced him that Ryle was more than a pastor; he was a prophet of God. McCartney consults Ryle and others on his Vineyard dream team before making any important decisions about the activities or teachings of Promise Keepers.

Mention was made earlier of three dreams by Ryle in 1989. Here is more information on them. It is these three dreams that laid the basis for McCartney's decision to start Promise Keepers.

Three men attending the Kansas City Vineyard Church had received so many dreams that they were told by the spirits to travel the country and share them at other Vineyard churches. At the height of this nationwide tour of the Kansas City Prophets (who called themselves the "Vineyard Christian Fellowship"), James Ryle had three dreams, each involving the Beatles. He had probably eaten too much the night before.

When he awoke from each dream, he claimed that "God interpreted them for me."

By February 1990, Ryle was telling his "Beatles dreams" to his flock at the Boulder Valley Vineyard Church in Longmont, Colorado. Because Ryle's earlier dream had predicted a winning streak for the McCartney's football team the previous year, McCartney was" eager to hear about the latest dreams and Ryle's interpretations of them.

Unbelievably, it was in this setting that Promise Keepers was born. These three dreams were supposedly from God, and told Ryle that the "divine anointing" which had previously been on the Beatles was now to be transferred to another organization somewhere else-and that it would result in a worldwide revival!

As Ryle explained it the "anointing" would fall upon a group or organization which used revival-ushering music. Actually, this concept was not new; for the so-called "K.C. Prophets" who were traveling from one Vineyard church to another had also, under the guidance of the spirits, been foretelling a similar great revival to begin soon, which would include high-powered music at its meetings.

According to Ryle, in the dreams, God had previously given this "anointing" exclusively to the Beatles, so they could usher in this worldwide revival. But, because of their ongoing feuds with one another (no mention made of their terrible music and other perversions), God had taken the "anointing" away from them in 1970, and was reserving it for a later group which would be as "Christian" as the Beatles had been when they started.

These later revivalists were, in the dream, given the name of "Sons of Thunder. "

Those of you who are acquainted with medieval demonology will recall that the thunderbolt was one of the symbols of Satan, and that three slightly curved vertical lines together (one of several forms of the 666 symbol) represented his kingdom in its perfection.

So "sons (plural) of thunder" was but a variant of that Dark Ages symbology. When Jesus called James and John the "sons of thunder," He was not complementing them! (See Desire of Ages, 295:5). It was a quality to be abandoned, not bragged about. According to Ryle's dreams, the "sons of thunder" would produce a worldwide revival in the 1990s. In November 1990, at a "Harvest Conference" of Vineyard representatives in Denver, with "K.C. Prophet" Rick Joyner, Ryle, in a message entitled, "Sons of Thunder, " shared again the details of his dreams that the mantle of revival, earlier given by God to the Beatles, was to be transferred very soon to some other organization (the "Sons of Thunder") which would use preaching and Vineyard-type music to produce a worldwide revival which would bring all Christians together.

"Isaiah 21:6 Is a verse that the Lord quickened to me at the outset of this year, and this is what it says: 'This is what the Lord says to me: "Go post a lookout and have him report what he sees."  And what I'm going to tell you right now is three separate dreams that the Lord gave me over a period of several months. And I say that up front because I want you to realize that what you're about to hear is not the fruit of zealous immaturity. This Is something that has been thought out, it's been prayed over, it's been examined, ifs been investigated, scrutinized, and laid before the Lord and shared with others who are certainly more esteemed than I am in these types of seeings and it has, to this point, stood the test. And so I am confident in saying this much, that the Lord, to a degree, has appointed me as a lookout and shown me some things and I want to show you and tell you what he showed me. "-James Ryle, Harvest Conference, Denver. Colorado. November 1990.

Just before Ryle spoke, Rick Joyner (one of the three "K.C. Prophets") was building the audience up to an intensity of expectation, in preparation for Ryle's revelation of his prophetic dreams. Joyner said:

"We've had a lot of concepts about evangelism, and I think the Lord is going to change some of them. "

Minutes later, Ryle began describing one of his three dreams:

"A light shines from above and there's a woman standing in the midst of the church, and she stands up and she begins singing this song under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And the song had one sentence that she kept singing over and over. And the song was this: 'In the name of Jesus Christ the Lord we say unto you: Be saved!' And she would just start singing that, she would sing it up to that part of the balcony, and I started watching, and it was like wind blowing on a wheat field. The people in that whole section just began to swoon under the presence of the Holy Spirit, and many of them would collapse into their seats, sobbing, proclaiming, Jesus is Lord.' "

"And then she would sing it over here, 'In the name of Jesus Christ the Lord we say unto you: Be saved!' and salvation was spontaneously and sovereignly happening all over that place. And that was the end of the dream.

"(After waking up) the Lord showed me some things, and I submit these to you for your prayer and consideration and discussion. But this is the thing that he showed me."-Ibid.

Here is a second of his three "divinely inspired" dreams. Like all the other dreams of the "Vineyard Prophets," it is utter foolishness:

"It looked like a Sergeant Peppers Hearts Club jacket. . It looked like a military jacket, and it started floating back and I knew that represented the anointing, the mantle, the covering that was coming to the 'Sons of Thunder.' "Ryle, Harvest Conference, November 1990.

The spirits told Ryle that the "jacket" represented the mantle of Elijah, which was now to be passed from the Beatles to new prophets, speakers, and musicians who would soon launch this worldwide revival.

When, several months earlier, McCartney first heard about these three dreams, he was spellbound. Had not Ryle's dream about his 1989 football victories come true? On March 20, 1990, while driving in a car with a friend, the thought came to McCartney "as in a vision," that he should try to fill a stadium with Christian men-and that it might be a partial fulfillment of James Ryle's predictions.

Records show that Promise Keepers Is a men's movement started, in 1990, by members of John Wlmber's Vineyard Fellowship. The first president of Promise Keepers (and still the president today), Randy Phillips, has been a faithful member of Ryle's Boulder Vineyard Church all these years. Other Vineyard men also hold key positions.

All of these people live in a religious climate of peculiar dreams and inappropriate interpretations. We believe they come through the power of Satan. The God of heaven never "anointed" the Beatles, their attire, nor their worldly music. He does not give visions about sports jackets floating in the air, as representing a forthcoming "worldwide revival." Read again Great Controversy, chapter 27. Modern revivals are keyed to emotionalism, with little said about obedience to the Ten Commandments and nothing said about the Fourth Commandment. By their lives, their words, and their fruit ye shall know them.

The background is not hidden, but is known even by the news media. "The Vineyard movement and its charismatic orientation has a commanding influence on PK McCartney; his pastor, James Ryle; and PK president Randy Phillips are all part of the Vineyard movement.

"Indeed, the wellsprings of PK's approach to ecclesiastical and theological issues come in part from its leaders' association with the Vineyard, [which was] brought to prominence by author and pastor John Wimber. The Vineyard has 88,600 adherents in 422 U.S. churches.

"Some key Vineyard characteristics that mark PK as well include:

. Suspicion of large bureaucratic institutions.

. Passionate openness to current activity of the Holy Spirit.

. A tactical, rather than strategic, approach to an organization's growth and development. " Christianity Today, November 17, 1997.

"McCartney's Vineyard-inspired understanding of a congregation views it as a dynamic entity, operating under the power of the Holy Spirit. PK carries on in much the same way." --Christianity Today, November 17, 1997.

By 1994, Promise Keepers was gaining in momentum. Members of evangelical churches throughout North America were flocking to the stadium meetings. In February of that year, James Ryle, one of the directors on the board of Promise Keepers, wrote an article for Charisma magazine (published by the same printing house as the PK Journal, New Man), entitled "The New Sound of Music. "

"We will see musicians who are anointed by God and gifted with even greater ability than the Beatles . . These musicians will not fail to glorify God, and therein will be the secret of their success."-.James Ryle, Charisma, February 1994, p. 14.

But the following year, Bill Randles, a Pentecostal pastor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, wrote an article, 'An Open Letter to Bill McCartney, in which he revealed the dreamy Vineyard origins of Promise Keepers.

Here is part of what Randles wrote: "Frankly, Mr. McCartney, another huge reservation that I am having with PK is the fact that James Ryle, a man who claims that God told him the Beatles were anointed to bring forth a worldwide revival and 'usher in my (God's) spirit,' is your pastor and mentor. According to Ryle, it wasn't until 1970 that God removed his anointing from the Beatles. (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was anointed by God? 1970 was the year the Beatles broke up!) I am leery of a 'prophet' who discerns the demonic as anointed." -Bill Randles, An Open Letter to Bill McCartney, 1995.

Ever since the widespread publication of that open letter, Promise Keepers has tried to downplay their origins. Yet at no time has there been any apology or expression of repentance on the part of McCartney, Ryle, or the PK organization they are directors of-that God has appointed James Ryle as a lookout to declare to everyone that he had been assigned the responsibility of announcing this worldwide-revival- ushering Beatles "anointing" to a new 1990's organization. Ryle wrote this in 1991:

 "The Lord spoke to me [Ryle] and said, 'What you saw in the Beatles -the lifting up and that sound that they had-was from Me.' It did not belong to them; it belonged to Me. And it was My purpose to bring forth through music a worldwide revival that would usher in the move of My spirit in bringing men and women to Christ. .

"And the Lord said, 'Now I'm looking for those who I can place that anointing back upon. And as surely as I place it upon 'em [sic.], they will come forth with a sound that is distinctive, that will turn the heads of men and women and capture their hearts.'

"And in response to me asking, 'What's it doing here?' Suddenly the Lord stood me in the midst of a church and He showed me the woman who was the church herself standing in the midst of the world singing under the anointing of the Holy Spirit a simple but powerful word, 'In the name of Jesus Christ the Lord we say unto you: Be saved!'"---James Ryle, Harvest Conference, November 1990.

"Here's the provocative thing that the Lord said that day as I prayed and sought for an understanding on this dream-the Lord said that He had called those 'four lads from Liverpool' to Himself. There was a call from God. on their lives, they were gifted by His hand, and it was He who anointed them. The Lord had a purpose for them and it was to usher in the charismatic renewal with musical revival around the world." -James Ryle, "Sons of Thunder, .. The Morning Star Prophetic Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 4, Winter 1991.

Ryle has frequently spoken at Promise Keepers' stadium meetings. In February 1996, at the Clergy Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, he urged the men to have city-wide meetings where "denominational distinctives are set aside. Unity is based on our love for Jesus. It is like the Trinity: organic unity."

In the dreams, the spirits are telling the Vineyard preachers that all distinctive doctrines must be set aside, so the love of Jesus can flow through and out of Christians everywhere.

In addition to the derogatory remarks about "doctrine," the seemingly endless hugging, intimate vows to strangers, psychobabble speakers up front, ecumenism, and total acceptance of Mormonism and Catholicism, there is the music.

"The end is near. The children of light are to work with earnest, persevering zeal to lead others to prepare for the great event before us, that they may be able to resist the enemy because they have allowed the Holy Spirit to work upon their hearts. New and strange things will continually arise to lead God's people into false excitement, religious revivals, and curious developments. " - 2 Selected Messages, 1 7

The Rock Music Connection

Because the Charismatics like their religion wild, rock music has become a part of the Promise Keepers' stadium rallies.

The Promise Keepers Men's Conference in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 11-12, 1996, was one of 22 such conferences that year.

The Liberty Bowl stadium was filled almost to capacity. More than 52,000 registered in advance at $60 per person. That is nearly a third of a million dollars to Promise Keepers for just one of the 22 rallies!

Yet that is only the income from the advance registration tickets! The fee for those paying on the day of the conference was $70 per person, and Promise Keepers announced that it was expecting more than $3 million would be generated that weekend through ticket sales alone. Add to that all the souvenir items and food sold.

The assembled men heard ecumenical speakers, pastors of a variety of denominations, youth speakers, and trained counselors, as well as Dennis Agajanian's band and the "Maranatha! Promise" Band. The "Youth Break Out" speaker was Miles McPherson.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper commented on the Friday night session, that "the stage, with its lights and television screens and towering stacks of speakers, looked fit for a modern-day rock concert."

And when the music started, it sounded like a modern rock concert! That was because of the type of music played. The sound is sometimes nearly deafening. But the men cheer and love it, and it pushes up their emotions for the "get rid of doctrines" and "unite the churches" messages which follow.

Because the leadership of Promise Keepers is closely allied with the Pentecostals, those who attend their rallies learn to like the bouncy Celebration church style, and the hyper-emotionalism of the charismatics.

A growing trend, since Amy Grant "crossed over" to secular markets, is to gradually intersperse secular rock songs with "religious rock" (which was already terrible enough). For example, at one Promise Keepers' stadium rally, Dennis Agajanian, a rock guitarist and singer from California, arrived complete with his drums and bass, sway and swivel,--even when presenting old hymns like Nothing but the Blood, and There is a Fountain. One would think he was an Elvis impersonator. The whole stadium at times seemed to shake with vibration and the shouts and screams of men, as the singer, with contorted face and frenzied motions, appeared demon-like in appearance. In order to avoid finger-pointing at the fact they are Charismatic preachers, these men, in their sermons and books, vilify anyone who would speak against any religious practice or denomination.

"Come on, you Bible-believing Baptists, how do you really feel about those holy-rolling charismatics (and vice versa)? And you faithful Anglicans, what do you think about those ambiguous house churches? We need not to ask Pentecostals the questions because, as we all know, they're the only ones going to heaven anyway, unless, of course, you discuss this with a Nazarene. . Now how about you traditional Lutherans and Presbyterians: Have you invited any liberal Methodists over for dinner lately? Dare I mention the Catholics? and you passionate Evangelicals, come on and tell us the real story about those flamboyant Assemblies of God pastors. . 'We are so filled with opinion, criticism, debate, legalism and harsh judgments that we are unlikely to hear a word from God even if He shouted it from heaven."-James Ryle, A Hippo in the Garden, pp. 33-34.

This is what Ryle thinks about sound doctrine, and it is parroted by the staff and speakers of Promise Keepers. The charismatic prophetic crowd mocks those who would believe something and stand in defense of it.

According to them, Christians are no longer to contend for the faith delivered unto them; they are to ignore the command given through Timothy to allow "no other doctrine" but that given them of God (1 Timothy 1:3).

"Now, who is right and who Is wrong;? That is not the question we are to concern ourselves over. The question before us always is, 'Do you love the Lord with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself?' for according to Jesus, this is the sum of the law and the prophets. Love Is patient and kind; it does not exalt itself, nor does it push its own preferences. . Denominations are at war with each other because they are not walking in love." -James Ryle, A Dream Come True, p. 179.

Ryle was explaining his "windmill vision" when he wrote the above words. It is so important, he says, he has "shared this Vision with pastors and church leaders across the nation" (op. cit., p. 178).

He said he saw a windmill in the middle of a field and "the Holy Spirit said" to him, "This is a parable showing the nine elements that are essential for the church to fulfill its purpose in the world." The first element is that the church must be rooted and grounded in love. Because they place doctrine first, "this is why the Holy Spirit does not move powerfully in some churches. The lack of love would cause the church to collapse under the weight of God's presence." Therefore, according to Ryle, the Second Advent cannot occur until we homogenize all our doctrines into one.

We can surely agree that, when the churches decide that only one teaching matters Sunday-keeping will be that teaching-and then the coming of the wicked one in signs and wonders will occur.

"The danger that threatens our churches is that new and strange things will be brought in, things that confuse the minds of the people, and give them no strength, at the very time when they most need strength in spiritual things. Clear discernment is needed that things new and strange shall not be laid alongside of truth as a part of the burden of the message to be given at this time. The very messages we have been giving to the world are to be made prominent." - 2 Selected Messages, 14

Promise Keepers Today

By late 1997, Promise Keepers has become a gigantic religious force to be reckoned with on the American scene.

Here are several comments from three national journals-Time, Newsweek, and Christianity Today-on the status of Promise Keepers today. They will provide you with a glimpse of the immense size and scope that Promise Keepers has achieved in just seven years:

"By bus and train, by chartered jet and Harley, even by bicycle they came, by the hundreds of thousands, to bow down before God. And if their leader's vision is true, their journey is just beginning. It will end, believes Promise Keepers' founder Bill McCartney, in nothing less than the spiritual revival of America -perhaps of the world. Men, touched by the spirit of God, will re-create society in the image of their faith: 'You're going to see them move across the community unlike you've ever seen, and connect in ways in which they have not connected."-Newsweek, October, 13, 1997.

"Promise Keepers Stand in the Gap, the 'sacred assembly of men' in Washington, D.C., although no official tally was made, the October 4 event appeared to be the biggest D.C. gathering ever."-Christianity Today. November 17,1997. "As Musician Steve Green sang, 'Let the Walls Fall Down,' a 15-year-old messianic Jewish boy, his prayer shawl draped over his head, clasped hands with a pot-bellied baby boomer wearing an Oakland Raiders cap." -Christianity Today, November 17. 1997.

"McCartney used the event as a launching pad for two historic initiatives. First, he plans to take the PK organization and its trademark stadium events worldwide. Second, PK is calling for large gatherings of Christian men to assemble on the steps of every U.S. state capital on January I, 2000."-Christianity Today. November 17. 1997. .

"In North America, meanwhile, PK announced that 37 stadium gatherings will be held during the next two years without charge- 9 of them exclusively for pastors, both male and female." Christianity Today, November 17, 1997.

"[Promise Keepers] claims that 2.6 million men have attended its regional rallies." -Newsweek, October, 13. 1997.

"The day after Stand in the Gap, McCartney reiterated PK's expansive agenda, saying on NBC's Meet the Press, 'I believe God is showing us now that He wants us to go global. How that unfolds is anybody's guess.' "-Christianity Today. November 17. 1997.

"A Washington Post poll pegged the Stand in the Gap gathering as 80 percent white, 14 percent black, and 2 percent Asian." -Christianity Today, November 17, 1997.

"PK's massive success at Stand in the Gap has transported this men's movement from the religious margins quickly into the national debate over America's cultural destiny at the turn of the millennium."-Christianity Today, November 17. 1997.

"The seven-year-old organization boasts annual revenues of $87 million, a two-story brick headquarters in Denver and 360 paid staff members."-Time, October 6. 1997.

In [the book] Promise Keepers: The Third Wave of the American Religious Right, coauthors Alfred Ross and Lee Corkorinos, of the Center for Democracy Studies, write:

" 'In its conception and execution, Promise Keepers is one of the most sophisticated political movements the right wing has yet conjured up.' "-Time, October 6, 1997.

"Certainly, it's possible that, at some point, the [Promise Keepers'] leaders will be seduced by politics and will decide to put their massive mailing list to some partisan political use. And it's inevitable that political gurus from the far right will try to temp their flock."-Newsweek, October, 13. 1997.

"Before the final visitation of God's judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. .

"The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God's special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world." - Great Controversy, 464

CONTINUE: APPENDIX 1- A MUST READ!!