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The Mytholgy of the Brownsville ‘Revival’

By Chuck Fisher


 

For the past several years, people have claimed that the church has been visited by God in mighty revival centered in Pensacola, Fla. According to the claims made by the leaders of this supposed move of God, Brownsville Assembly of God, pastored by John Kilpatrick, experienced a mighty breakthrough visitation by God on Father's Day, 1995, through the ministry of evangelist Steven Hill. For five years, meetings were held at Brownsville Assembly of God four nights a week, with people coming to Pensacola from around the world to experience God. As well, Kilpatrick and Hill, due to the celebrity that this supposed revival brought them, have traveled the nation and the world to impart this revival to other ministers and other ministries. A final result of this "move of God" is that Kilpatrick and Hill opened up a Bible College, the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry, to train disciples in the methods of replicating this "revival" in other places.

To my mind, however, and this so-called revival is not a revival at all. Instead, the Pensacola Outpouring, as this event has been called, is nothing more than an excess of fleshly behavior and possible demonic activity dressed up in Holy Ghost clothes. "Why would you say such harsh things, Brother Fisher?," you ask. My reasons are two-fold; first, I do not believe that the activities that characterize the Pensacola Outpouring are the actions of a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led people. The screaming, falling, howling, chicken-walking, twitching, drunken activities that are normative of Brownsville are not the gifts, fruits or move of the Holy Spirit. These activities I will discuss in another article.

My second reason for discounting the Pensacola Outpouring as a true revival goes to the character of the leaders of this "revival," and the myths that they have put out as facts and history. In researching Brownsville, I have come across several claims made by Kilpatrick and Hill, as proofs that God has visited Pensacola, and brought revival to His Church through them. The problem that I have found is that instead of telling the truth, Kilpatrick and Hill have hidden the truth with false statements, creating a mythology, instead. Is with the myths of the Brownsville "Revival" that I want to deal with in this article. 


Myth # 1-Brownsville is not a Toronto "thing," it has no connection with the Toronto Blessing.

"Toronto? What's that?," you ask.

Answer: a brain-less, Bible-less "revival" that was typified by "holy laughter" and "drunkenness in the Spirit" activity . So devoted are the Toronto folks to their activities that they have conferences on spiritual drunkenness, "New Wine" conferences, where they celebrate those getting blottoed on the Spirit. If you want to see a true abomination to God, go to http://www.bible.ca/tongues-audio-video-documentation.htm and watch the antics of one John Scotland in the Toronto pulpit at one of these conferences. At one point in his feigned drunkenness, he interrupts his own reading of Scripture by screaming "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO," at the top of his lungs. (To learn more about Toronto, get a copy of Counterfeit Revival, by Hank Hanegraaff, and read the history of Toronto.)

To get back to the topic, what does Toronto have to do with Brownsville, since the story put out by the Brownsville leaders is that Brownsville was a sovereign move of God, completely independent of Toronto. According to Kilpatrick and Hill, there is no connection between Brownsville and Toronto, that they're completely separate. However, the testimony of former members of Brownsville Assembly of God Church concerning the events prior to the infamous Father's Day service prove that Kilpatrick, Hill, and Brownsville have lied about the true connection between Brownsville and Toronto.

First, according to Dr. Herb Babcock, who was a member of the Brownsville prayer team, Kilpatrick was looking for a big revival to come to his church, Brownsville Assembly of God. In his on-line article, "That's How They Do It In Toronto!", he writes:

"For several weeks leading up to this time; however, some changes had been taking place, and some of the members of BAG had been traveling up to Toronto meetings, even taking carloads and vanloads of members along. Mrs. Kilpatrick made two trips accompanied by the wife of one of the church officers. Rev. Kilpatrick started to drive up there one time, but his trip was interrupted and he returned to Pensacola without making it to the Toronto airport vineyard meeting."

Did you catch that? Brenda Kilpatrick, John Kilpatrick's wife, went to Toronto twice, and Kilpatrick himself tried to go. But, for several years, an attempt to cover up this Toronto connection was made. Babcock says of this pre-movement activity and exploration, "I saw no mention of this in his book.," referring to Kilpatrick's published mythology of the "revival."

Well, you may say, just because he didn't mention it doesn't mean that he and others were trying to cover it up, right? Wrong. A man named Jimmy Robbins has published an article about his visit to Brownsville, and in the beginning, he tells of calling Brownsville Assembly of God ahead of time, to check on seating and to ask several questions. When he asked if there was a connection between Toronto and Brownsville, he was told on the phone, "No, this is something new the Lord has done in this area and is growing rapidly throughout the world."

However, what he learned upon his visit to Brownsville Assembly of God was to the contrary. Mr. Robbins write:

"During the intermission I engaged one of the elders in a conversation concerning the purported revival. I asked if anyone in the church had visited the acclaimed "Toronto Revival." He replied, "Yes, the pastor's wife has visited there." I asked if her visit was before or after the Pensacola revival began. He replied, "Oh, she visited several months before our revival began." Do you remember the question I asked the assistant pastor concerning the Pensacola revival? I asked him if this revival was similar to or related to the "Toronto Revival." His reply was, "No, that this was new and not related." What a coincidence! Could it be that the pastor's wife got the "blessing from Toronto" and brought it back to Pensacola?"

According to the testimony of others, Kilpatrick was so desirous of having something at Brownsville that, when Toronto broke out and became famous, he brought Toronto people to Brownsville to instruct his church members on how to duplicate Toronto. One article published by the the Pensacola News Journal, on Nov. 17, 1997, has this testimony of a couple who are former members of BAG:

"I can't believe they say that the revival just happened -- that blows my mind. Everybody knows what happened on Father's Day. Just look at the video."
The church members know the revival was planned for months, she says.

A different article by the same paper points out these facts:

In addition, say present and former church members, the revival did not suddenly arrive. They knew what Kilpatrick was setting up because in the months before the revival:

* He talked persistently about bringing revival to Brownsville and threatened to quit if the church did not accept the revival.
* The pastor's wife, Brenda Kilpatrick, and a number of Brownsville church officials traveled to Canada and observed revival crowd-control techniques and prayer-team methods at the phenomenally successful ongoing revival there, the Toronto Blessing.
* Kilpatrick showed the congregation a video of a Toronto Blessing service, in which people fall to the floor, "slain in the spirit," as they feel the Holy Spirit taking over them.
* Kilpatrick had followers of evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne attend a Brownsville service, where they functioned as an example of highly expressive worship. Howard-Browne, a dramatically energetic evangelist who calls himself the "Holy Ghost bartender," is known for promoting the "holy laughter" phenomenon in which people succumb to hysterical convulsions. His followers did that at Brownsville.
* Kilpatrick invited Hill, an "on fire" evangelist whom Kilpatrick knew to be in search of a place to conduct a long-running, big revival to give the sermon on Father's Day 1995.

And finally here is a quote from Cathy Wood, who works for Brownsville Assembly of God:

"What started in Toronto...really is HERE too..We so appreciate Bro. Arnott for being open to God because that's where Mrs. Kilpatrick went...to his church in Toronto and the impartation (anointing) did truly follow her home to us!"

Does this match up with the statements that Kilpatrick and Hill, that this movement is completely independent of Toronto? Or is it just a lie? You be the judge of the evidence on that one.


Myth 2 - The events of the Brownsville Revival were a sovereign move of God

Sorry, but the videotape evidence of the true events demonstrate that this claim is a complete and total myth. God did not "suddenly blow through the church like a mighty wind," as Kilpatrick and Hill like to claim. Again, the Pensacola News Journal comes to our rescue, getting a copy of the video tape of that infamous Father's Day service, and gives us a blow by blow account of the actual events. I have placed the text from that article, narrating the service, on my web page. Click HERE to see what really happened. (A separate window will come up; after reading it, just close that window, and you will be right back here.)

Not content to describe the event themselves, the Pensacola News Journal had a Christian media analyst examine the videotape of the service and see if the evidence on tape matches up with the statements made by Kilpatrick and Hill about God "blowing in like a mighty wind." Here are the final four paragraphs of that article:

Albert James Dager, who writes Media Spotlight, a Christian watchdog newsletter, based in Redmond, Wash., said he closely viewed the video of the Father's Day service and observed that "nothing really extraordinary happened."

Media Spotlight is nondenominational, nonprofit and independent. For 20 years it has been providing a Biblical analysis of Christian messages appearing in the media. University religion departments, Bible scholars, theologians and some 5,000 pastors of many denominations subscribe.

Dager said that viewing the tape, "I felt sorry for Steve Hill. He was working so hard to get something to happen, prompting the people, telling them what great things they were going to witness and experience.

"Any objective person would have been embarrassed for him."

John Kilpatrick makes an interesting claim about that service. He says that he went down under the power of God. In retelling the events of that Father's Day service, he said he suddenly heard a mighty wind but later discovered was a river of the Holy Ghost. The force of this Holy Ghost River was so pronounced that Kilpatrick claimed, "My ankles flipped over."

"Man, I hit this floor up here. And evangelist [Steve Hill] saw me up here by the pulpit, and I was looking about half drunk, you know. And he just waved his hand like that and said, "More, Lord." And I said, "Whap!" And I hit the floor and I stayed there from 12:30 to 4 o'clock..."

But here is what actually happened, as clearly seen on the videotape of that first service.

"The videotape shows that he trips as he steps backward up onto the stage. He puts out a hand to break his fall, drops into a sitting position, pauses a moment, then lies back. He does not get up until after the video ends."

Kilpatrick tripped. He wasn't looking behind himself, but in stepping backwards, trips, and goes to a sitting position. Then, apparently to lend credence to the massive efforts that Hill is making to produce a revival, lays down, in order to show his people what is expected. Hill never addresses him, no massive weight of the Holy Spirit comes upon him. He just tripped.

I'm sorry, but I honestly cannot see how anyone, when examining the evidence, can possibly accept the myth that God "sovereignly moved" at Brownsville. What is clearly seen is the human effort of Steven Hill to work up a crowd into a frenzy.

At a meeting of Assemblies of God pastors, in Kerrville, TX, Kilpatrick made this claim:

"And when he made the call for everybody that wants prayer come forward, there were a thousand people come rushing forward."

A minister who was at this Texas meeting wrote:

"He repeated this claim in the Pentecostal Evangel, yet the video tape I previewed did not quite fit that description. As we ALL SAW, Rev. Hill pleaded and begged for some time. It WAS NOT a spontaneous move into the altars as we are led to believe."


Myth #3 - False claims of Transformation, Miracles and Salvation

The leaders of the Brownsville movement are known for making great claims about their revival, about how it is affecting society, and the great number of people they have affected for God. The problem is that these claims aren't based on fact, that Kilpatrick, Hill and their followers are creating another myth about this "revival."

False Claim #1 - Kilpatrick and Hill claimed that "hundreds of thousands" were being saved at this "revival," and that this was a proof that this was of God. There was only one problem: the way that they came up with the figure for people getting saved. It seems that anytime anyone went to the altar, they went to get saved. If you went to the altar five times during five different services, five people got saved. Even if you had been saved for 30 years, you got saved five times.

A publisher's blurb on the last page of Dr. Michael Brown's book, From Holy Laughter to Holy Fire says, "In less than two years, Evangelist Steve Hill has won hundreds of thousands to Christ...." A promotional flyer for Awake America, a series of meetings around America that featured Kilpatrick and Hill had this claim: "In Pensacola hundreds of thousands of people have come to Jesus." In Good News magazine, Hill said: "We're seeing a thousand people saved a week,...."

Brownsville Assembly of God, on their front sign used to boast about how many were saved as a result of their revival. However, because people began to question the authenticity of their claims, and the way they were counting salvations, changed their sign to read, as of 10 August 1997, over "115,000 responded to the altar calls" since the revival began.

False Claim #2 - Hill makes false claims about affecting Congressmen:

"We're having politicians come in here now. Congressmen. I'm talking about Washington DCers are coming into this place now. It's getting serious. Would you say that with me? It's getting serious. When it gets to Washington, it's getting serious. One of the congressmen that was with us from up north, his statement was this - I believe he made it to Charlie, or somebody - He said, "I'm bringing back 12." So we proclaim that in a very short while our congress, our senate is ablaze with the power of the gospel, that they're on fire! That they're on fire with the power of the gospel, that their lives are changed and transformed. Those of you that have that kind of doubt, would you open your eyes and watch what's happening? You still can't see it. We're telling you, we've already had them here. The Congressmen are here. They're weeping under the power of God. They're already here. We're not dreaming. They've already been here."

Hank Hanegraaff put it this way:

"Despite Steve Hill's dogmatic declaration that congressmen are in Pensacola "weeping under the power of God," he has not provided a shred of evidence to support his claim. His proclamation that congressmen will be changed and the Senate ablaze with the power of the gospel is at best an unrealized fantasy."

Me? I call it flat-out lying.

False Claim #3 - Affecting Society

Realizing that revivals in the past have changed society, the leaders of the Pensacola Outpouring have resorted to making false claims about how their "revival" has affected their home city of Pensacola. They claimed on their website that the Revival was having an impact on crime in Pensacola. They said "crime in the city of Pensacola had dropped off significantly," and that "the driving force behind the declining crime rate" is the revival. The opposite is true, they are having no effect on the crime in Pensacola. Hanegraaff reports the following information:

"As the police pointed out, total crimes have, in fact, risen from 83,849 in 1995 to 85,581 in 1996 (a total increase of 1,732 crimes). "Forcible sex" was up from 52 to 69; "assault" was up from 623 to 656; "drug possession" was up from 647 to 660. As Assistant Chief Jerry Potts reported, "Contrary to a widely circulating rumor, crime rates in Pensacola have not decreased dramatically."

Texas Assemblies of God pastor, Ron Stringfellow decided to visit the "revival" to check it out and see if Brownsville was all it was advertised to be. The day that he went there, he says that the revival meeting for that night was cancelled due to rain, which surprised him greatly. (Me, too, since I know how often it rains in Florida.) Anyway, he says that he decided to walk around the neighborhood surrounding the church and see what effect the "revival" was having in the community. Here is what he found:

"I did take time to canvas the neighborhood. This was my observation: Across the street is one of the largest bingo parlors I have seen. Down the road, about two blocks is a girly strip joint and bar. Every other house and business has burglar bars on the windows. I stopped two policemen and asked, "How long have you been on the force?"

"Eighteen years," he replied.

"How is the crime rate, here?" I asked.

"You are safe as long as you are standing here with me. This is crack center U.S.A. Short of Divine intervention, nothing will help it."

Gee, I am thinking...the neighborhoods are full of poor desperate government- housing people in drastic need of revival and hope. Yet, God seemed to be held captive within the walls of Brownsville. While this is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Pensacola, the leadership lives in one of the most affluent. What is wrong with this picture? My conviction stands firm. We are in the midst of one of the greatest LATTER DAY DECEPTIONS known to mankind. The Bible tells us that there will be a separating of the chaff and the wheat, a great shaking, a time when if it were possible the very elect will be deceived."

To which, I can only add, AMEN.