March 28, 2025

Spare Parts Room in Heaven?

Spare Parts Room in Heaven?

A look at a statement made by Bill Johnson

A look at a statement made by Bill Johnson

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:06.040
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:13.199
the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

3
00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:16.879
It is Friday, March the twenty eighth, twenty twenty five.

4
00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:21.320
It is currently eight fifty two am Central Time, and

5
00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:24.559
I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central studio

6
00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:29.559
located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, I don't know

7
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:32.600
about you, but for me, I haven't even had breakfast yet,

8
00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:36.640
I haven't done all the things I probably need to do.

9
00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:40.240
But I was watching well. I went to check YouTube

10
00:00:40.280 --> 00:00:42.439
just to see if anyone had left any comment, because

11
00:00:42.439 --> 00:00:45.759
sometimes people will leave some rude comment or something, so

12
00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:49.119
sometimes I will respond. Sometimes I leave them. I just

13
00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:51.920
usually just to check to make sure there's nothing out there.

14
00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:55.240
So I went and when I went to look, there

15
00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:58.079
was a recommended video. That YouTube was like, hey, we

16
00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:00.679
think you may be interested in watching this, So I

17
00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:05.400
clicked play, and I was like, no, I'm not interested

18
00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.359
in this. Why are you recommending this? This is complete

19
00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:12.480
and total garbage. Why are you doing this to me

20
00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:14.959
at such an early hour in the morning. I haven't

21
00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:18.439
even had breakfast. Okay, well, okay. I basically then started

22
00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:20.680
just talking out loud to myself, and then I'm like,

23
00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:23.760
you know what, if I'm irritated, if I'm frustrated, well

24
00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:25.680
then let me turn on the microphone so I can

25
00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:29.280
ruin everyone else's morning. Okay, so I'm here to ruin

26
00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:31.439
your morning. So if you haven't had your coffee yet,

27
00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:33.239
if you drink coffee, I don't know who does and

28
00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:35.519
why you would. But if you drink coffee, you may

29
00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:37.400
want to get your coffee. You may want to you

30
00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:40.079
may want to take your blood pressure medication. I don't

31
00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:41.680
know if this is going to bother you as much

32
00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.480
as it as it bothers me, because anything related to

33
00:01:44.519 --> 00:01:47.920
the charismatic movement bothers me to no end. I hate

34
00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.400
charismatic theology. As we talked about yesterday with Paula White

35
00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:54.040
and how to get those seven blessings, it sounds like

36
00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:55.840
you have to give them a thousand dollars to get

37
00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:58.879
seven blessings. But we won't go into that entire mess.

38
00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:02.640
But what I'm going to play for you here, so

39
00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:05.519
someone on YouTube. I'm going to start this right where

40
00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:08.520
they kind of introduce themselves, so you can go look

41
00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:10.840
up their YouTube channel and you can subscribe to them.

42
00:02:11.240 --> 00:02:14.439
But really, I'm not interested in anything they have to say.

43
00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:17.919
They have a clip. They have a clip from Let

44
00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:20.479
me see see if this name sounds familiar to you.

45
00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:27.520
They have a clip by someone named Bill Johnson. Does

46
00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:32.639
that name ring a bell? Bill Johnson the pastor of

47
00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:37.280
Bethel Church and Ready in California. We've talked about Bethel

48
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:41.479
Church a few times. We've talked about it. I everything

49
00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:44.479
about Bethel Church is just insane to me. I don't

50
00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:46.800
know how they have any influence. I don't know how

51
00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:49.719
they have any power. I don't know how anyone listens

52
00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:52.319
to them. But to be fair, I don't know why

53
00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:55.879
anyone is drawn to charismatic theology. I don't know to

54
00:02:55.919 --> 00:02:59.120
be drawn to charismatic theology, what you basically have to

55
00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:02.439
do is you have to turn off your brain and

56
00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:06.960
ignore all of the reality around you, because reality around

57
00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:12.159
you contradicts everything charismatic theology claims. But for some weird reason,

58
00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:17.479
charismatic theology charismatic churches continue to be influential. They continue

59
00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:20.680
to draw in people, They build big ministries, they bring

60
00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:26.360
in gobs of money, They have publications and books and material.

61
00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:29.400
I don't get it. I will never understand I that's

62
00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:32.800
one of look just like you can't understand things I

63
00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:35.840
may struggle with, or my failures or my sin, just

64
00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:39.560
like you can't understand me. Well, I can't understand anyone

65
00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.240
being pulled into charismatic theology. To me, anyone listening to

66
00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:45.919
charismatic theology for five seconds should be like this is

67
00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:49.919
insane and I'm leaving. But so I can't understand it.

68
00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:52.439
That doesn't mean it's not a real thing, and that

69
00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:55.919
you know, people who've been in it can probably explain

70
00:03:56.039 --> 00:03:58.439
how they got pulled into it. But even if they

71
00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:00.120
try to explain it to me, I just never get it.

72
00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:03.719
But that's okay. I'm not saying anything negative about people

73
00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:05.639
who are pulled into it. I'm just saying I don't

74
00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:09.000
understand it. Again, just like if I was to explain

75
00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:12.280
my issues or my struggles or my difficulties are things

76
00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:15.159
I've been pulled into, you wouldn't understand it, Okay. So

77
00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:18.560
that and that's just the because people are made differently

78
00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:22.160
and think differently, and our brains are wired differently. So

79
00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:26.279
I mean there's there. I guess that's the explanation. I

80
00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:29.000
just have to try to be transparent and say why

81
00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:34.639
I come across sometimes, So angry at charismatic theologies because

82
00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:37.199
I just don't get it. I just don't understand the appeal.

83
00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:40.160
I don't get it. So we've talked about Bethel Church,

84
00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:42.720
but so this guy on YouTube, I'll try to put

85
00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:44.800
this all back together. I'm sorry, I'm getting I'm going

86
00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:47.519
to get into the philosophical differences in human beings and

87
00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:50.560
why we think different. I've got to get back on track.

88
00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:54.560
Here this person on YouTube, you're gonna hear him introduce

89
00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:57.480
himself here in a second. He has this clip from

90
00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:02.680
Phil Phil Johnson, not Phil Johnson, Bill Johnson, from Bethel

91
00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.759
Church and reading California. Now I want you to hear this. Now.

92
00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:10.480
I'm just gonna make this very clear. One. He does

93
00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:13.639
try to play the clip and some I mean, it

94
00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:16.480
gives it some context, but it's now nowhere close to

95
00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:20.120
full context. That's number one. Number two, I can't seem

96
00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:23.800
to currently find the actual sermon where this comes from.

97
00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:27.639
And number three, this concept that he's going to be

98
00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:32.560
talking about. All right, it's not completely new to the

99
00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:36.959
charismatic world. This has been talked about for multiple times.

100
00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:40.920
But this is what I this is what I stumbled

101
00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:43.480
upon this morning. So I stumbled upon it, so I'm

102
00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:45.000
gonna talk to you about it. So are you ready?

103
00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:48.160
Here we go. We're gonna go to well Bethel Church

104
00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:52.480
and Reading California. Bill Johnson's on the platform. There's all

105
00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:55.079
these people standing behind him. I don't really know the

106
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.120
context of what's going on. I asked AI to help

107
00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:01.759
me find the sermon. I said, well, the specific sermon

108
00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:06.160
isn't directly available in the provided search rest results. You

109
00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:09.519
might explore the following sermons by Bill Johnson, which could

110
00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:12.959
contain similar themes, and then it gives me two sermons

111
00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:15.360
that are on YouTube by Bill Johnson. There's got to

112
00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:17.920
be a way to probably track this down. In some ways,

113
00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:19.839
I don't want to find it because if I find it,

114
00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:22.879
then I probably feel obligated to review the entire thing.

115
00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:24.959
And trust me, I want to move on from this

116
00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:28.560
as fast as I possibly can. But the concept, anyone

117
00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:30.800
who's kept up with the charismatic world, as soon as

118
00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:32.759
this concept is mentioned, you're gonna be like, oh, this

119
00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:37.759
concept is so common in the charismatic world. Multiple charismatic

120
00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:40.879
pastors have mentioned this kind of thing, So it's not

121
00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:46.160
anything revolutionary or out of the ordinary for the charismatic world.

122
00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:48.519
But it just drives me crazy. And what I'm going

123
00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:50.000
to try to do is, after we listen to this,

124
00:06:50.279 --> 00:06:52.519
try to kind of I don't know some lessons we

125
00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:54.839
can possibly take from it. So are you ready? Here

126
00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:57.120
we go. What you're getting ready to hear is the

127
00:06:57.160 --> 00:07:01.839
YouTube burr. The person on YouTube introduce himself. You may

128
00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:03.600
want to look up their channel. I'm not saying we

129
00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:05.399
would agree with it or disagree with it. I have

130
00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:09.000
no idea. You can go find it. And then he's

131
00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:14.079
going to play the clip. Here we go. Hey, everybody,

132
00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:18.000
Sean here and welcome to revealing truth. So let's hear

133
00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:19.399
this in context.

134
00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:23.240
And I know this sounds strange and I may be

135
00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:26.600
pushing the limit here, but I've had three or four

136
00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:30.519
friends that have actually seen in heaven a spirit utch room,

137
00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:36.600
actually have seen it. And in one of our in

138
00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:42.439
our school, somebody told our students about this, and our

139
00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:46.519
team was on one of our trips and a gal

140
00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:49.959
came forward in a wheelchair a horrible accent, and she

141
00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:54.480
wanted prayer. And she made a comment to the student

142
00:07:54.600 --> 00:07:58.319
that was praying for said, I don't even have an ECAM.

143
00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:01.639
I think I mentioned this last night. The student said, well,

144
00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:04.360
I'll get one for you, because she remembered there's a

145
00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:07.079
spirit parts for him. You say, where's that in the Bible.

146
00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:10.120
I don't know where it is. Just leave me alone.

147
00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:14.000
I don't know. She reaches up and comes down and

148
00:08:14.040 --> 00:08:16.120
lays her hand on her knee and prays for just

149
00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:19.480
a short period of time, and the Lord actually recreated aneecap.

150
00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:23.680
So I feel like part of the shift and what's

151
00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:27.600
happening here tonight that is going to continue and accelerate

152
00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:30.319
is going to be creative miracles. You will have people

153
00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:33.519
come that actually need a new heart. They will be

154
00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:36.559
functioning on twenty five percent of their heart. Fact, there's

155
00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:39.600
someone here tonight that you're functioning on like twenty five

156
00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.399
thirty twenty five percent or so of your heart. That's

157
00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:44.559
what you were told. And I believe the Lord is

158
00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:46.639
going to make all things new for you.

159
00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:48.080
And I want to.

160
00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:48.960
Encourage when.

161
00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:59.879
I I don't know what to say. Ladies and gentlemen,

162
00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.120
A spare parts room in heaven, A spare parts room

163
00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:06.639
in heaven. There's just a room in heaven filled with

164
00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:15.320
spare parts, kneecaps, legs, arms, hearts, I guess, brains, eyes, ears, bones,

165
00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:19.480
whatever you need it's just a spare parts room in heaven. Hey, hey,

166
00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:21.960
don't ask me where it's in the Bible. I don't

167
00:09:21.960 --> 00:09:23.759
know where it's in the Bible. Yeah, I know, because

168
00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:25.799
it's not in the Bible. It's nowhere in the Bible.

169
00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:28.480
But hey, that's okay, it doesn't matter. So God is

170
00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:32.000
going to do creative miracles, right, So he's gonna so

171
00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:35.279
there's someone here with your only your heart's only operating

172
00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:37.840
at twenty five percent. God's gonna create a new heart

173
00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:42.200
inside of you. Well, hey, Bethel Church, this is wonderful.

174
00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:44.440
This is great as someone has been in the military

175
00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:47.399
for was in the military for nineteen years active duty

176
00:09:47.399 --> 00:09:49.679
and then you know, I got medically retired because of

177
00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:52.440
everything that happened to me. I saw plenty of people

178
00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:55.720
come back from Iraq or Afghanistan without an arm or

179
00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:59.519
a leg. I'm sure you're making sure our disabled veterans

180
00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:02.879
now have arms and legs, right, because God's doing creative miracles,

181
00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:04.919
he can bring back those arms and legs.

182
00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:05.200
Right.

183
00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:10.120
This is the kind of and what it drives me crazy.

184
00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:12.799
On one hand, I just the people who teach this,

185
00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:15.600
they have to be just insane. I don't have any

186
00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:18.879
other words for it. But it's the people applauding. What

187
00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:22.679
are you applauding. You're being manipulated, You're being lied to.

188
00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:26.879
Look at the world around you. This stuff is not true.

189
00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:31.480
But he's not the first one that says it on

190
00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:35.200
this video. The individual goes on to share a number

191
00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:37.360
of other people who make these claims about going to

192
00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:40.440
heaven and seeing a spare parts room all of these parts.

193
00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:44.960
Bethel Church does this. I mean, it's very common in

194
00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:47.759
the charismatic world to do this. Hey there's a spare

195
00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.639
parts room in heaven. There is just there. It's just there.

196
00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:54.360
Now this same concept. I need to track this down now,

197
00:10:54.519 --> 00:10:58.759
now this just uh, this just kind of hit me.

198
00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:05.440
There is I think there's an illustration. It sometimes deals

199
00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:10.159
with prayer that there's like all of these unclaimed promises

200
00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:13.799
and heaven there's like these there's a like some that

201
00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:18.559
they still tell this illustration about praying and that someone

202
00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:22.200
that there was in heaven there's all of these unanswered

203
00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.039
prayers because are unfulfilled promises because people did not claim

204
00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:28.679
them or they did not ask for them. So I

205
00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:32.120
think maybe that's the kind of the origin of this concept.

206
00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:35.039
It may not even have started in the charismatic world,

207
00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:40.240
I'm gonna I'm gonna see if I can ask AI,

208
00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:42.320
because I just now thought about this. I've heard this

209
00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:46.960
kind of this idea, isn't They're a.

210
00:11:48.559 --> 00:12:02.840
Famous illustration that preachers may use about they're being in

211
00:12:02.919 --> 00:12:17.159
heaven a storeroom, a storehouse of unclaimed promises, etc.

212
00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:26.919
Okay, I'm gonna ask AI here, Okay, all right, yes,

213
00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:31.639
so so okay, here we go. AI says, yes, you're right.

214
00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:35.240
There is a well known illustration, often using sermons and devotionals,

215
00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:39.559
about a storehouse or warehouse in heaven filled with unclaimed blessings,

216
00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:47.519
unanswered prayers, or unrealized promises. So this concept goes way

217
00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:51.240
before Bethel Church or Bill Johnson. It has circulated for

218
00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:56.200
decades across various Christian traditions, particularly in prosperity Gospel, charismatic

219
00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.720
and revivalist circles. So I've heard this in very non

220
00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:03.039
caresmatic ideas that one day we're going to get to

221
00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:05.200
heaven and we're going to see this storehouse and we're

222
00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.360
going to be what's in that room, Well, those are

223
00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:09.600
all the unanswered promises and all the things you never

224
00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:12.600
asked for in prayer. You could have had all of

225
00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:16.360
these things. I remember hearing that in an independent fundamental

226
00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:21.360
Baptist church that hated charismatic theology, but the concept was there.

227
00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:26.159
Ai says. It usually goes something like this. A person

228
00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:29.159
dies and they go to heaven, and while touring heaven,

229
00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:32.360
they're shown a vast warehouse or room filled with beautifully

230
00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:35.879
wrapped packages. They ask what are all of these? And

231
00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:39.240
the angel replies, these are blessings and answers to prayer

232
00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:43.320
that were never claimed or received on earth. Sometimes it

233
00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:46.039
includes the idea that the packages had the person's name

234
00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:48.519
on them, that they were meant for that person, but

235
00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:51.480
due to a lack of faith, prayer, or obedience or knowledge,

236
00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:55.279
they were never delivered. Now where does this come from? Well,

237
00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:57.879
the story is not found in scripture. It functions purely

238
00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:01.399
as an illustrative device. The order is difficult to trace,

239
00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:04.159
but it has been used by evangelists to stir people

240
00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:08.120
to pray more boldly, prosperity teachers to push the idea

241
00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:12.399
of claiming promises, motivational preachers to urge people not to

242
00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:16.360
miss out on what God has for them. One early

243
00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:21.559
source that made this popular was likely the devotional God's

244
00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:25.840
Storehouse idea from authors like Norman Vincent Peale, or Oral

245
00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:29.519
Roberts style teaching, and more modern times, it often gets

246
00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:32.600
wrapped up with ideas like don't let your blessings go unclaimed.

247
00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.799
You have not because you ask not James four two.

248
00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:41.519
Activate your faith right. It's emotionally powerful because it plays

249
00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:45.039
on regret, possibility, and the fear of missing out on

250
00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:50.480
God's best. It promotes a God as a vending machine,

251
00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:54.080
theology that God has blessings ready to dispense if only

252
00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:57.360
you insert enough faith, only if you ask, only if

253
00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:00.519
you do certain things. It places to blame on the believer.

254
00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:04.080
If you are suffering, or if you are lacking, maybe

255
00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:06.600
it's because you didn't unlock what was waiting for you

256
00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:10.360
in heaven. It distorts the nature of God's promises. It

257
00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:15.120
turns them into individual material rewards rather than covenantal truths

258
00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:18.440
grounded in Christ, and it moves hope away from Christ,

259
00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:22.240
making heaven seems like a missed opportunity for personal gain

260
00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:25.759
astead of the place where the fullness of redemption is realized.

261
00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:29.799
The Storehouse and Heaven illustration is famous, but it is

262
00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:34.919
philologically problematic at best. It's motivation, it's a motivational metaphor.

263
00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:39.159
At worst, it's a manipulative guilt trip that misrepresents both

264
00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:45.440
God's character and the very Gospel itself. So when I

265
00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:49.399
hear this that immediately this spare parts room in Heaven,

266
00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:54.519
it's just kind of the next it's like the storehouse

267
00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:59.000
in Heaven two point zero. So it kind of starts

268
00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:01.519
off like, hey, guys, we don't pray enough, we don't

269
00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:04.000
ask for us well enough, we don't ask for enough,

270
00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:06.720
we don't do this enough. Well, what can motivate people

271
00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:08.960
to pray more? Well, let's tell them the story about

272
00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:11.559
a storehouse in heaven that has all of these packages

273
00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:13.360
and your name is on the package, and what is

274
00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:15.840
in that package all of the blessings and all of

275
00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:19.159
the promises that you did not claim. When you get

276
00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:21.320
to heaven, you want to find that there is no

277
00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:24.080
package with your name of it on Heaven because you

278
00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:27.919
have asked for everything, you have claimed every single promise.

279
00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:32.279
Don't do that, so now go pray more. That's how

280
00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:35.080
it kind of started. Bethel Church has just kind of

281
00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:37.840
now added the two point oh, the three point oh,

282
00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:39.720
the four point oho. I don't know what version we're on.

283
00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:43.879
Now there's a room in heaven filled with spare parts.

284
00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:46.759
You're missing an arm, you're missing a heart, you're missing what,

285
00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:49.480
you've got a traumatic brain injury. Well, all you got

286
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:52.240
to do is ask in God, reach up into heaven,

287
00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:55.000
ask for access to the spare room. I guess you

288
00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:57.120
already have access to the spare room. Just reach up

289
00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:59.399
there and you can get a new brain. I don't

290
00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:02.159
know why anyone would die then, if God's doing creative

291
00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:04.359
miracles giving you new hearts, new brain, what are you

292
00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:08.519
dying from? What? What? Because everything can be replaced. You

293
00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:12.799
should have new knees, new arms, new mind, new at heart.

294
00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:15.359
Maybe you can get a face transplant, you can get

295
00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.079
rid of that faith. Maybe if you're losing your hair,

296
00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:20.519
maybe you can get a hair transplant. Maybe you can

297
00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:22.680
just look like Maybe we should all look like we

298
00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:26.440
are twenty one, twenty two and we have perfect bodies

299
00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:31.000
and perfect everything right. Maybe we could all get a

300
00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:33.599
new brain where we could be at least a genius

301
00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:36.200
level in our thinking. I mean, come on, Christians should

302
00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:39.200
be the smartest, perfect, we should be the best athletes

303
00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:41.640
because we can get we can get new parts. I mean,

304
00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:47.799
I mean, is that how it works? A spare parts

305
00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:52.720
room in heaven. Now, what is the problem with this? Well,

306
00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:56.880
let me go through a couple of things, right, I think,

307
00:17:57.640 --> 00:18:00.440
I mean, there's so many issues here, but I think

308
00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:02.000
we can learn. I got to try to give you

309
00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:05.240
some kind of practical lessons. I think this whole idea

310
00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:07.759
of a spare parts room, it highlights the danger of

311
00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:17.759
experiential theology over scriptural authority. Experiential theology over scriptural authority. Now,

312
00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:19.640
I want to make this very clear. All right, I

313
00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:23.720
want to make this very clear. What charismatics do. Hey,

314
00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:28.079
everything's about an experience. Everything's about an experience. Everything's about experience,

315
00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:32.119
and your experience becomes now really the source of truth

316
00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:35.640
versus scripture. So in this story about the spare parts room,

317
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:39.799
they some students in his I guess school of ministry

318
00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:43.720
heard about this, you know, spare parts room in heaven,

319
00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:47.519
and so then well, hey, then they go ahead and

320
00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:51.039
utilize the concept as if it's true. And then they

321
00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:54.119
use it to give a woman a new kneecap. And

322
00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:56.279
even Bill Johnson's like, where's that in the Bible. I

323
00:18:56.279 --> 00:18:58.839
don't know, don't ask me, don't basically, don't worry about

324
00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:03.240
it because the experience trumps the Bible. Who cares what

325
00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:09.240
the Bible actually says? Experience experience, and this experiential idea

326
00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:14.039
goes beyond just charismatics, because there's lots of people who

327
00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:16.359
claim this is true, or this is true, or this

328
00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:20.039
is true because supposedly an experience they had. But your

329
00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:23.400
experience is not the source of truth. Your experience must

330
00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:27.759
be judged by scripture. Your experience is not the interpretive

331
00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:32.200
key to scripture. You interpret your experience through scripture. You

332
00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:35.240
do not interpret scripture on the basis of your experience,

333
00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:37.839
or you don't just add things to the Bible. So

334
00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:41.960
it highlights the danger of experiential theology over scriptural authority.

335
00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:47.519
Bill Johnson often emphasizes supernatural experiences, visions, and miracles over

336
00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:52.720
rigorous biblical exegesus. When experience becomes the ultimate source of truth,

337
00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.880
it opens the door to all kinds of unverifiable or

338
00:19:56.920 --> 00:20:01.759
even contradictory claims. There is no scriptural foundation for a

339
00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:05.799
literal spare parts room in heaven, so presenting such a

340
00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:10.720
vision as instructive or normative undermines this efficiency of scripture.

341
00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:16.319
And there isn't any storehouse in heaven with unclaimed prayers

342
00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:20.440
and unclaimed promises. So see Charismatics do this. Non charismatics

343
00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:22.960
do it. It's just to the level. What you have

344
00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:25.440
to do is stop people from saying things that are

345
00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:33.039
not in the that are not scriptural. Number two, it

346
00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:37.240
reveals how desperate people are for tangible miracles and how

347
00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:40.960
easily they can be manipulated. The imagery of a heavenly

348
00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.160
warehouse full of body parts offers hope for miraculous healing,

349
00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:49.400
especially to those suffering with illness or disability, but it

350
00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:54.200
creates unrealistic expectations and a theological framework where a lack

351
00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:56.480
of healing can apply a lack of faith, which can

352
00:20:56.599 --> 00:21:02.039
lead to guilt, despair, or spiritual abuse. If a miracle

353
00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:04.720
doesn't happen, people may be told they didn't access the

354
00:21:04.839 --> 00:21:08.680
right parts in faith, putting the burden on them. But

355
00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:11.359
I just want you to know how desperate people are

356
00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:18.200
for tangible miracles. The longer you live, the more the

357
00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:24.319
more you're going to desire and almost beg God for

358
00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:28.880
tangible miracles to heal someone, to fix this, to fix

359
00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:32.440
this problem, to fix this problem. When you watch, if

360
00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:34.920
you are, if you're caring for a loved one who

361
00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:37.960
slowly dying, You're going to be like, God, do a

362
00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:41.440
tangible miracle. If you have a child who's suffering with

363
00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:44.640
a disease, God do a tangible miracle. If you have

364
00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:50.279
been diagnosed with a horrible disease, God do a tangible miracle. Everywhere.

365
00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:53.119
The more you the longer you live, you're going to

366
00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:58.000
be confronted over and over with tragedy, with pain, with suffering,

367
00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:01.920
with disease, with with death, and you're gonna want God

368
00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:05.319
to do a tangible miracle. There are millions of people

369
00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:08.920
out there desperate for a tangible miracle. And the charismatics

370
00:22:08.920 --> 00:22:13.599
come along and offer this absolutely fraudulent story about a

371
00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:17.200
spare parts room in heaven, promising you as if healing

372
00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:20.279
is guaranteed because of what Christ did here and now

373
00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:23.640
people get their hopes up. They pour their life into it,

374
00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:27.200
They give their money, their time, their focus, and they

375
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:30.519
and they're lied to and they're manipulated. And guess who

376
00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:33.920
benefits the charismatic church that brings in more people and

377
00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:37.799
more money. The charismatic minister on television asking for money.

378
00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:40.119
They bring in money. They bring in money, They bring

379
00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:44.920
in money, and it's just crazy to see miracles or

380
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:48.960
see ministries that promise fake miracles to bring in money,

381
00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:52.440
more money, more money. And then you'll see other ministries

382
00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.839
that don't offer those fake promises can barely survive and

383
00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:02.480
they don't bring in a dime. But it does reveal

384
00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:06.079
how desperate people are. And people can get desperate. Okay,

385
00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:07.680
I don't know where you are in your life, but

386
00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:11.920
let me tell you, people can get desperate. You can

387
00:23:11.960 --> 00:23:14.319
look at your life and you never know where you're

388
00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:16.279
going to end up. You don't know if what you're

389
00:23:16.279 --> 00:23:21.480
going to end up with yourself, what disease, what disability

390
00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:23.279
you're going to be struck down with. You don't know,

391
00:23:24.759 --> 00:23:27.000
and you don't know the people around you what they're

392
00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:29.039
going to be struck down with. And you watch them

393
00:23:29.079 --> 00:23:34.440
slowly deteriorate day after day, day after day, they get worse,

394
00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:38.279
they get worse. Everyone knows they're going to die, and

395
00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:41.319
you just watch it, and you just watch it and

396
00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:47.920
you just watch it and God doesn't do anything now,

397
00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:50.359
and then you listen to someone saying, oh, there's a

398
00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:54.599
spare parts room that could fix it, or God's guaran healing. Well,

399
00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:57.160
then you get drawn into that ministry because it gives

400
00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:59.000
you some sense of hope, and all you're doing is

401
00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:02.759
being lied to and manipulated, and almost inevitably, what they're

402
00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:09.480
going to get from you is your money. Number Three,

403
00:24:10.039 --> 00:24:13.400
it exposes a transactional view of God. The claim turns

404
00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:16.519
God into a cosmic supplier of body parts, where believers

405
00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:19.000
claim or pull down what they want by faith, much

406
00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:22.839
like placing a divine Amazon order. This reflects a theology

407
00:24:22.920 --> 00:24:26.200
rooted more in Word of faith, prosperity gospel ideology than

408
00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:31.000
biblical teaching. This transactional view of God. We see this

409
00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:32.960
all the time. If you do this, then God will

410
00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:37.279
do that. This transactional by faith. In Christ, I have

411
00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:40.920
all spiritual blessings in Him by faith alone, by grace,

412
00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:48.480
because of His mercy right. So it's a transactional view

413
00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:54.319
of God. Next, it promotes mythological rather than thiological thinking.

414
00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:57.640
The concept sounds more like a fantasy fiction than a

415
00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:03.079
sober theological reflection. The line between visionary metaphor and doctrinal truth,

416
00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:05.759
which can confuse believers about what is real and what

417
00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:09.160
is symbolic and what is scripturally grounded. Yeah, it's it's

418
00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:14.720
mythological thinking. It's it's it's just crazy thinking. I don't

419
00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:20.160
I don't. Maybe using that it's mythological thinking sounds more academic,

420
00:25:20.200 --> 00:25:26.160
but it's just insanity to me. And then number five,

421
00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:29.359
it undermines the meaning of suffering and perseverance. The New

422
00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:34.839
Testament speaks much about enduring suffering, where for example, Tewod

423
00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:38.920
Corinthians Paul is not healed, and very little and and

424
00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:42.400
there's and very little about divine guarantees of physical healing.

425
00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:46.759
A theology that bypasses suffering with sensationalism can lead people

426
00:25:46.759 --> 00:25:50.680
to deny reality or feel abandoned when they're healing. Does

427
00:25:50.720 --> 00:26:00.839
it come these kinds of teaching? They tell us more

428
00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:06.279
about our modern human hunger for spectacle. They tell us.

429
00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:09.000
It tells us more about the power of charismatic authority

430
00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:12.960
and the philological shallowness and many church church circles than

431
00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:16.160
they do about God or Heaven. The real challenge is

432
00:26:16.200 --> 00:26:20.519
calling this out clearly, not just because it's stillologically questionable,

433
00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:27.519
because it's harmful. It's messed up, it's twisted, it's evil.

434
00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:37.640
There's no spare parts room, there's no storehouse, there's none

435
00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:43.680
of these kinds of ideas. It's not the way it is.

436
00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:50.079
So we start off our morning, yeah, making me extremely frustrated.

437
00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:54.839
But just please I. On one hand, look those people applauding,

438
00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:58.599
I get very frustrated with them, I really do. The

439
00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:01.960
people who get pulled into the cares nonsense, I get

440
00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:04.279
really frustrated with him because you try to talk to them,

441
00:27:04.759 --> 00:27:07.519
and man, they will just argue with you all day,

442
00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:11.519
quote scripture after scripture after scripture, so far out of context.

443
00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:14.920
They don't have a hermeneutical clue. It gets so irritating.

444
00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:17.440
But at the same time I feel bad for them

445
00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:20.880
because they get pulled into it. Now the leadership for

446
00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:26.759
charismatic churches. Man, I I to be honest, I don't

447
00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:29.440
have a lot of patience, and I know that's ungodly,

448
00:27:30.359 --> 00:27:32.559
and I try never to make it about the people.

449
00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:34.599
I try to make it about the ideas. But for

450
00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:36.599
the people who get pulled into it, I ultimately feel

451
00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:39.359
sorry because I know at some point, maybe right there

452
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:41.759
there gung ho in there, and they'll argue with you,

453
00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:43.960
and they'll tell you that you don't you know, basically

454
00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:47.240
call your faith into question. That's okay they do that

455
00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:48.920
because I know sooner or later life is going to

456
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:50.880
punch them in the face ten times and they're gonna

457
00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:53.160
come to the face with reality, and they're either going

458
00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:56.160
to have to continue to deny reality, and they're going

459
00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:58.839
to have to realize that it's just all the stuff

460
00:27:58.880 --> 00:28:00.960
they've been told is a lie. And and so you

461
00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:02.839
kind of almost feel sorry for them because you know

462
00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:09.519
that day is coming for the leaders man. They gotta

463
00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:13.640
know what they're doing. They have to, but they they

464
00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:17.359
they're so disconnected from reality that it's hard to know.

465
00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:20.480
Do you feel sorry for them? Do you do you

466
00:28:20.519 --> 00:28:23.039
want to get them help? Do they need counseling?

467
00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:23.160
What?

468
00:28:23.319 --> 00:28:25.680
What do they need? I don't I don't know. The

469
00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:29.119
charismatic world is insane to me. But there we have it.

470
00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:31.160
That's what I stole. That's how I started my morning

471
00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:35.720
by listening to Bill Johnson say, there's a spare parts

472
00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:39.519
room in heaven. But hey, the good thing about doing

473
00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:43.000
this we kind of This really goes back to, like

474
00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:46.880
I said, this, this goes back to if I can

475
00:28:46.920 --> 00:28:49.079
go back down here to my notes, it goes back

476
00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:54.720
to this idea of this well known illustration used in

477
00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:59.279
sermons and devotionals about this storehouse or warehouse in heaven

478
00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:03.359
with all of these unclaimed prayers and unclaimed promises. That's

479
00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:07.920
kind of where it really basically originated from. And then

480
00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:12.440
charismatics have just taken that concept, built upon it, and

481
00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:15.799
now all the way to well people have gone to heaven,

482
00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:17.559
have been taken to heaven and they saw the spare

483
00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:23.599
parts room. It's not just a warehouse full of unanswered prayers.

484
00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:27.880
There's a warehouse now full of well, spare body parts,

485
00:29:28.039 --> 00:29:29.599
and all you have to do is claim it, and

486
00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:36.759
you can have it. I don't know how anyone can

487
00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:40.759
look at charismatics and charismatic theology and say that's Christianity.

488
00:29:41.079 --> 00:29:42.880
That's my own opinion. I don't know how you can

489
00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:47.160
ever be seen as But there you have it. Thanks

490
00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:49.359
for listening, everyone, have a great day. God bless