i. False Prophet Warnings

( Note: This is just a case in point, to show certain principles and modus operandi which pertain to all false prophets. It doesn’t mean David Terrell is any worse than others, and it is not my intention to single him out, it’s just a case study)

Here is the account of one of Terrell’s stepdaughters:

Holy Ghost Girl: A Memoir
by Donna Johnson

Donna Johnson’s remarkable story of being raised under the biggest gospel tent in the world, by David Terrell, one of the most famous evangelical ministers of the 1960s and 70s. Holy Ghost Girl is a compassionate, humorous exploration of faith, betrayal, and coming of age on the sawdust trail.

She was just three years old when her mother signed on as the organist of tent revivalist David Terrell, and before long, Donna Johnson was part of the hugely popular evangelical preacher’s inner circle. At seventeen, she left the ministry for good, with a trove of stranger- than-fiction memories. A homecoming like no other, Holy Ghost Girl brings to life miracles, exorcisms, and faceoffs with the Ku Klux Klan. And that’s just what went on under the tent.

As Terrell became known worldwide during the 1960s and ’70s, the caravan of broken-down cars and trucks that made up his ministry evolved into fleets of Mercedes and airplanes.

The glories of the Word mixed with betrayals of the flesh and Donna’s mother bore Terrell’s children in one of the several secret households he maintained.

Thousands of followers, dubbed “Terrellites” by the press, left their homes to await the end of the world in cultlike communities. Jesus didn’t show, but the IRS did, and the prophet/healer went to prison.

Recounted with deadpan observations and surreal detail, Holy Ghost Girl bypasses easy judgment to articulate a rich world in which the mystery of faith and human frailty share a surprising and humorous coexistence.

It was in the 1970’s that Brother Terrell hit his stride. He became so popular that he was said to have the largest revival tent, encompassing an area of 11/2 to 2 football fields and could hold up to about 5,000 people. Money was no longer a problem. It was during this time that he had several relationships with other women, including Donna’s mother. He started to acquire land and other personal items that included several luxury cars and a jet plane. He would often bring home bags of coins collected at the revivals and have Carolyn and Donna go through the coins looking for coins of value. They had several trash cans full of coins.

This all came to an end when the IRS caught up with Brother Terrell and word got out about his relationships with other women and his illegitimate children.

Terrell spent several years in prison and when he was released went back on the revivalist circuit. He never obtained the prominence he once had; the crowds instead of being in the thousands were now in the hundreds.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10406939-holy-ghost-girl

There was a sharp dichotomy between what Brother Terrell preached and the things he did, and Donna saw it all. All his fasting and healing didn’t erase the fact that he was stealing money from those who needed it most and conducting many adulterous affairs that produced several offspring.

http://www.ragingbibliomania.net/2011/10/holy-ghost-girl-by-donna-m-johnson-278.html

This is a warning concerning David Terrell, found here:

http://www.watchmanscry.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1801&page=3

My family followed David Terrell for many years. As far back as the 1960′s some of my best friends were close acquaintances of David Terrell. My family and I continued to follow him for a long time – nearly 40 years. But as we witnessed one failed prophecy after another, not just minor ones but many major ones, and as we witnessed his teachings becoming more and more inconsistent with the Bible, we could no longer follow his unscriptural teachings.

My experience with David Terrell was typical of what many of my family and friends experienced with “the man of God”. I had gone through many difficult times in my life, and had felt betrayed by some of the closest people around me. I had felt, at times, that even God had let me down. I was raised as a Christian by many peoples’ standards. But I soon turned to the world after going through so many hardships and let-downs. This is when I was told by friends that I needed to go see “the preacher” who was supposed to be different from all the rest. I was reassured by friends that the Lord “visited” him and gave him the “revelation” of Jesus Christ. I soon had an opportunity to attend one of his tent revivals. I went and was persuaded to go through his “prayer line”, where the atmosphere was quite emotional. I remember that an emotional feeling came over me that caused me to feel that this must be of God. I felt “love”. I felt like I was on “cloud nine”.

Only a few weeks prior to my first experience at Terrell’s tent revival, I had repented of my sins and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and started reading the Holy Bible every day. When I repented and forsook my sins and placed my total trust in the finished sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for my sins, the Lord saved me by grace through faith, not by works of righteousness which I have done, but according to his mercy he saved me, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Eph. 2:8,9; Titus 3:5). Certain family and friends, however, told me that I needed more to “be saved”, that I needed a “personal experience” with God, and that I really needed to go see this “true prophet.” So off I went. Although I had only a limited knowledge of the scriptures, and some of the things that I witnessed under the tent that night seamed to agree with what I was reading in the Bible, other things that I witnessed under the tent that night absolutely did not agree with what I was reading in the Bible. Nevertheless, being reassured by close friends and family, who were there with me that night, that this was God’s work, I thought, “OK, surely something that feels this good must be of God.” (2 Cor. 11:14,15; Jer. 17:9; Prov. 16:25; 28:26)

As I continued to follow the Lord and read the Bible daily, God increased my knowledge of the scriptures and showed me that the New Testament is the completed revelation of Jesus Christ. And as I continued to follow David Terrell, I began to see more and more of the things that he was teaching being contradictory to the Bible. He began to teach that God had more words to reveal to his people than what was recorded in the Bible. He began to teach that the Bible had numerous mistakes in it. His repeated claims of visitations and revelations gave both he and his followers an exalted view of himself, and he began to lord over God’s heritage. He demanded more and more obedience and honor and fear from his followers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxy6admT5ZY). He would make dozens, sometimes hundreds, of prophecies a week – most of which would fail to come to pass.

The more I read the scriptures, the more I began to cry out to God. For something was seriously amiss. I prayed, “Lord, something is terribly wrong with either the Bible or the prophet.” As I continued to faithfully read my Bible and to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Lord opened my understanding that I might understand the scriptures. I seen more and more scriptures testifying to the preservation of God’s words, where God himself promised to preserve every one of his pure words (Psa. 12:6,7; Prov. 30:5,6). I began to see more and more contradictions, not in the Bible, but in the “prophet”. I had to humble my heart and come to the sobering realization that the emotional feelings that I had experienced under the tent that night were no different than the emotional feelings experienced by the Muslim or Hare Krishna convert. The Lord’s love and mercy is not just about emotions and good feelings, it is about understanding and reasoning, as the Lord said, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 1:18) (http://wordofgod.0catch.com/goodfeelings.html). I had to humble my heart and admit that I was just as vulnerable as anyone else when it comes to being deceived.

My only reason for writing these comments is to warn people to know the scriptures and to beware and take heed that no man deceive you, because as our Lord said, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many…. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” (Matt. 24:5,24)

When Jesus said, “It is written,” “it is written,” and “It is written again,” (Matt. 4:4,6,7), these are the words that Jesus said shall not pass away. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matt. 24:35). It is the written word that will judge every person who rejects it or who places man’s word above it. God’s “engrafted word” (engrafted means written)(James 1:21), “the same shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48).

When Terrell says that you owe him “fear to whom fear is due” because his mouth is the “mouthpiece of God”, Terrell is putting his own words equal to or above the scriptures. Terrell does not believe that God’s words are pure and that God preserved them forever, so he teaches people that they must put their trust in his own words, Terrell’s words, in order to “know God’s will”. But be assured and forewarned that Jesus’ spoken words, the scriptures written in the Holy Bible, will judge Terrell and all who place it second to any man’s word – “the same shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48).

The scriptures plainly show that “when a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass,” that he is not entitled to honor and we are not to fear that prophet any longer – “that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken… thou shalt not be afraid of him.” (Deut. 18:21,22)

Terrell prophesied back in the 1970′s that Richard Nixon would commit suicide over the Watergate scandal. It didn’t come to pass.
Terrell prophesied right after Pope John Paul I died in 1978 that Pope John Paul II would die in less than a year from taking office. It didn’t come to pass.
Terrell prophesied back in the 1970′s that America would suffer nuclear war and be invaded within the next 20 years. It didn’t come to pass.
Terrell prophesied back in the 1990′s that the planet Mars would have explosions or explode before the year 2000. It didn’t come to pass.

Many more of Terrell’s prophecies, too numerous to list, have failed. “THOU SHALT NOT BE AFRAID OF HIM.” (Deut. 18:21,22)

The following information should be helpful to anyone seeking to know the truth about David Terrell:

http://www.irstaxattorney.com/Fraud-…ases_4_p4.html

Scroll down just a little ways after clicking the above link and you’ll see,
Bro. David H. Terrell a/k/a Daniel H. Ford was Convicted of tax fraud! and Bro. Barron who was pastor of Bro. Terrell’s Bangs church committed perjury at Terrell’s urging and was also Convicted!

Many God fearing men and women tried to warn people that Terrell was leading them down a slippery slope, but Terrell and those benefiting from his ministry blacklisted anyone who dared to speak out against him. Many people, including Bro. Barron, Bro. Hamby, and others who were intimately involved with Terrell and his ministry can corroborate these and other disturbing facts.

I pray that you will not take offense at anything I said today, and that you will humble your heart, as I did, and allow God to deliver you from “every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph. 4:14); and repent and place your total faith and confidence in God’s revealed written word in the Holy Bible and in the finished sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Most sincerely, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour!