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Responding to commenters here, I agree that the Christian Ministry run by Victor Hafichuk, Path of Truth, is overly judgmental and that God has called (and uses) prophets for today. I do not however agree with the thought that prophets should [paraphrased] “work together to change the world” and struggle to identify cause & effect in a Christian context. Enjoy.
I’ve received communications from online commenters regarding Victor Hafichuk’s Path of Truth Ministries; a so called ‘cult’ that has seen ‘better days’ and now without the vociferous even noisy off-sider Paul Cohen, seems to present more as a one-man-band. I think this is decidedly more honest in terms of Victor’s true ministry – his efforts at building community and global ministry piggy-backing off Paul Cohen’s huge energy and prodigious output seemed to make more noise than warranted, IM [not so] HO.
On Sat, May 19, 2018, 19:46 morrison justin wrote:
Hey Dennis, I enjoyed your article of the path of truth, I agree with alot of their teachings due to the fact the lord taught me the findings way before I found the page, and I agree that they are very judgmental and that pains me that they do that, as you say there is nothing wrong with casting that judgment but we must do it humbly and loving in the lords eyes, it does bother me spiritually the way the react to anyone who questions there teachings, that reminds me of the pharisees themselves.On another note, I do know for a fact there are prophets in this day, and even some apostles, not like the original apostles but prophets with an apostleship ability, and I believe that if these prophets can all get together and get over themselves sometimes, learn to actually have genuine human interaction then we can change the world. Some prophets have other spiritual gifts that help them incredibly with how the point can be delivered. But if they can’t get over the pride, which I think most prophets suffer from, but doesnt make it a bad thing, it actually helps to the extent of being bold, but someone has to correct them of it and point it out, then you have to mature enough to deal with and be fully humble. Anyways, these prophets literally can and eventually will bring the world to god In full truth, he doesn’t just show one prophet everything, he shows the prophets each a piece and when combined it comes together to form a whole. This I have seen happen but it’s not for awhile until this happens, these prophets need to be more open to each other and when that happens, brother its gonna be earth shaking.
Another thing I noticed is we all have started life out with a self esteem and self doubt issue.
and . . .
Author: Jay Jung, Ex-PoT Adherent
If Victor wanted to take a proper step of repentance then he would not just have a testimony section on his website but also a testimony for his detractors or also for Paul Cohen instead of pathetically shoving it away in some subtle part of his forum.I notice that Dennis is not on the false teachers list there, and he does not even appear anywhere else on the site. They can not even mention that usury is a sin. I hope they pay for that in full.
To the extent that Victor has judged wrongly, so may God finally stop this. Paul lied when he said that he was willing to take correction from God in the holocaust email to you Dennis, you were God’s correction given straight to Paul.
I’m sorry if this seems to be some repetitive dilemma between you and me regarding this topic. I have felt I made a lot of progress but it is a bit hard for me to accept any time someone dies like a “false teacher pastor” all TPOT did was stiffen their neck, say “I told you so” and to display more of their attitude, they mocked a church shooting back in November 2017 saying those prayers will never get to God.
I have looked at your articles in some similar topics, like the Samoan tsunami and how this is about God wanting to extend His love, different than Victor saying the stupid old “well luke 13 siloam tower and 9/11 so anyone who dies is evil” , and even Ron Mckenzie who i disagree with a lot, he doesn’t have the subtle sickening glee that I have seen on that damned forum. Not to mention, to anyone else than Dennis reading this comment, Paul was trying to curse me off and I prayed to God if He wanted to kill either me or Paul then so long as He does what He wants, and one month later Paul was gone (and wasn’t dead either, as a sign of His mercy). But clearly I must have not have something to do with it…
Wish you the best Dennis.
The former commenter is a new person to make contact with me. The latter is a regular communicator, one whom I have helped privately to recover from the [typical] emotional trauma that ex-PoT adherents go through when they extricate themselves, as they ALL do eventually.
Let’s go through these thoughts bit by bit and I’ll add my 2 cents into the thought process/equation.
Path of Truth is a divisive ministry. It has a HUGE influence upon the sector of society that it touches, good and bad. Led by Victor Hafichuk, a self-styled biblical prophet, in latter years supposedly one specifically named in scripture. Path of Truth Ministries punched way above its weight in the Internet space for a decade, although it has operated longer. Founder and head guru Victor had a highly capable assistant who did most of the work and was essentially an amplifier of Victor’s message. As soul-mates they worked as an awesome team, causing all bobsey-die manner of joy, confusion and grief with virtually anyone they crossed their swords with. Jay’s reference above to my ‘calling out’ of hypocrisy in Paul Cohen is the result of a typical engagement style that is aggressive and judgmental in the extreme upper end of human endeavour, towards and many say into the realm of evil. I fought back with logic applied onto fact and have continued to ask questions, speak to people and research these guys. My feeling is that when Paul Cohen got the boot, Victor took it pretty hard and has pulled his horns in quite a bit. That’s probably due to necessity but the world is probably a better place with a little humbling all around. My belief is that Victor’s difficulty engaging with people normally is due in part to upbringing, cross-cultural differences, a large dollop of his [Christian] faith but most importantly all sitting on a base of being wired differently ‘up top’. The major beef that adherents have when departing is hypocrisy. My major beef has been excessive judgmentalism. Their only beef with me is that I love the sound of my own voice. So . . .
Justin: Judgmentalism.
There is a belief in many Christian circles that one should not judge others. This is based upon Jesus’ teachings that we should not judge others, for the yardstick that we use will be used against us. This though is not a blanket prohibition on judgment for that is impractical. How can we bring help to someone in need if we cannot even judge a situation? Unlike judging, there can be blanket prohibitions though, Jesus’ prohibition on lending at interest for example dovetails perfectly into the Lord’s clear prohibition from the get-go, thus this should be taken as an absolute (as Jay mentions later).
The explanation is that the form of judgment is key. Condemnatory words where we take God’s position upon our selves invoke the same condemnation upon us. Noting (as Justin explains) that error exists when done in love however is perfectly natural. We HAVE to judge conduct and motive in order to function in the world, and we need not be a judge in the legal system to do this. Parents, husbands, leaders of others in any sense must face the challenge to judge. Justin nails it, and I concur – PoT (in particular during Paul Cohen’s time) particularly badly. In my case (as Jay will refer to later) it was utterly uncalled for and out-right wrong; again IMHO.
Justin. Prophets & Pride.
The thought that God uses prophets today (and thus by extrapolation throughout time) is IMHO valid but should be explained. The role of the biblical prophet was for a certain period. The Lord had a task for the likes of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the other *iahs calling His people back to the Torah in the time before Pentecost. The role of these prophets of old has now expired, and the New Testament times require that all believers undertake the role of prophets, priests, teachers and so on. This is because the Holy Spirit resides in us all and He can and does indeed prompt us all to say, think and do His will. If you take the description of a prophet as one who speaks FORTH the Truth (i.e. the Word of God), not so much to predict the future, then even a child can fulfill a prophetic role. Any child who knows the sound of the voice of the Lord (like Samuel did) can speak that wisdom forth. It need not be a mission in life to “be a prophet” just because a child says to his father for example, “Dad, if you keep hitting Mum, she will leave you!” and she later does exactly that. It could be just common sense to a hurting boy. In some circumstances, to the contrary, it may be that a boy is indeed called by God to speak it like it is and is destined or even called to undertake a speaking role, but speaking wisdom from above can come to all of us. The art of maturity is that we learn to hear more accurately and choose to speak in obedience with the resultant price prepared to be paid – yes there is ALWAYS a price to be had for speaking out!
So then is Victor the prophet he claims to be? . . . An impossibility if the above has credibility. I think Victor’s claim to be a certain prophet mentioned in the bible lacks credibility and because the Holy Spirit resides in all believers, the roles of the prophetic have changed post-Pentecost. This may burst his bubble but he’s justified his claim in his own mind and to the world . . . I let it be, and leave him in his loneliness.
Justin’s second point mirrors my teaching that it is always pride that inhibits godliness. Oh, yes do we all struggle with pride, or what? We concur but at that point we then differ, and I’ll try to explain why I am uncomfortable with the concept of unity of Christian prophets . . . I do not see a team of like-minded Christians out to change the world being the centre of God’s will. To me this smacks of the ways of the devil, through and through. In my early 20s (late 1970s) I spent time at Centrepoint community in Albany under Bert Potter. We had some 100x people in the community I guess and it was basically a sex-commune in which New-Age thought was promoted as the social norm – anything goes. The spiritual power of like-mind was phenomenal, probably a taste of the Tower of Babel unity. We combined assets, worked for the common good and had an amazing camaraderie that should really be the envy of the church, except for the value-system, the power of united mind was almost scary.
I do not see that human power as God’s way. I see throughout history obedience of the one, single individual believer being obedient to His calling, and His instruction as the goal and His methodology. Don’t tell me that the Christians prepared to go the the lions in the first century all copied their neighbouring believers, or were a political force – no they individually knew and obeyed Him. It was the Holy Spirit that used individual believers. He brought the world-change, not the unity of believers. When I escaped the church and went alone in obedience to Him, my effectiveness in the area of the prophetic, as a non-denominational Christian leader increased exponentially. It’s not so much that the organised denominational church system was wrong, which to me it clearly is, it was that by being obedient to Him, He could do more with me – my seven years in Samoa was a direct result of that calling out and obedience to Him.
The other thing is that “rocking the world” is His work, the Holy Spirit, not ours. When we realise this our faith increases as we let go, and let Him do what He wants. I do agree that humility is required, but I see the Lord more bringing about a patchwork quilt of Christians of all denominations, and walks (and yes, horror of horrors, that includes Path of Truth Ministries and Victor Hafichuk’s efforts) combining to achieve His work in His time.
Jay: Victor’s Hypocrisy.
Jay, you are right in your diagnosis and Victor ‘should’ listen to you but he won’t because he can’t. Let me explain, or try to (and if I’ve got this a little off-kilter anyone, please feel free to correct me) . . . When you are wired differently ‘up top’ and I mean here psychiatrically, what to somebody on the outside is outright hypocrisy is not seen as such by the one in the middle. We can think, “Ah! Got you! You lied!” and thus we see hypocrisy, but cognitive dissonance can exist in people like Victor – easily. He truly believes that he’s right, somehow!
Jay, you know much more about Paul Cohen and Victor Hafichuk than many and yes, you are right that Paul deserved to be humbled – I hope he has learned his lesson too. But knocking Victor when he is clearly different will not achieve your goals of accountability. Like some that I have investigated and written about, Victor can read my words and imbibe learning . . . not all of it but enough to make a difference. I think the critical thing is that God is the best judge, and He is gracious.
I actually find their handling of Sarah’s departure more cynical than hiding Paul’s or ignoring me! Paul had a leadership role – Sarah was used and didn’t deserve what she got. And do you REALLY think that Victor would dare to take me on, after these years?
Jay: Interpreting Events.
I can’t link events as simply as many can. In Samoa, as you refer to Jay, the 2009 Tsunami was widely seen as a curse from God, or caused by Him. I don’t think so. The Prime Minister there is as corrupt as any politician the world over and yet claims that he is there by God’s hand. I think He is gracious to allow a corrupt scheming individual to rule a people who deserve him and that the Old Man is highly presumptuous. Many link natural events quickly with the hand of God – “Acts of God” the insurance industry call them. I’m not quite so sure. When the bible talks about God sending rain or drought or adversity, I have to balance this with a God that I know to be a loving God – the Holy Spirit the sustainer of life. I see the destroyer out to destroy however he is at times given the freedom to outwork his evil in times and places that God permits. Job makes this clear too. Even the curse at the Fall to me wasn’t an angry God teaching His creation that He was one to be feared, it was more a loving, caring, hurting God forced into handing over His creation to the powers of evil because He HAD to – proving that He COULD be trusted to honour His word. The overall picture I see is that [certainly since Pentecost] the Holy Spirit has restrained evil, and that it only has its way as He releases this restraining influence.
Cause and direct effect – things like your prayers and Paul’s departure – are very difficult to assess. I’ve become a lot less inclined to link things that could just be circumstantial. Paul’s comeuppance could have been long in the making, building and developing and you just happened to walk in at a time that the wheels were falling off. This increasing caution has changed my Christian outlook quite remarkably over the years. Whereas previously I may have attributed things to God quite freely, nowadays I am a lot less ‘cluttered’. While this reduces my focus on achieving something for Him, it helps me focus more on what I think really matters – His nature; and in my case, that He reached out/down and touched me way back when. The result is that I am more focussed to simply hear what HE wants and do that, so that in due course I can hear what I want to hear, “Well done good and faithful servant!” It doesn’t make me perfect but I can sleep at night. Image may be NSFW.
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Hope this has all made sense and helped you all! Thanks for commenting, J&J, and all others for stopping by today.