What is the origin of the “Fire Tunnel” ritual at Bethel Church?

[TruthSeek3r]

According to Wikipedia:

Bethel Church is an American non-denominational hyper-charismatic megachurch in Redding, California with over 11,000 members. The church was established in 1952 and is currently led by Bill Johnson. Bethel has its own music labels and Bethel Music and Jesus Culture ministries, which have gained large popularity within contemporary worship music. The church runs the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry with over 2,000 students annually. Senior church leaders have been supporters of conservative politics.​

At Bethel Church, they have a very peculiar ritual known as "Fire Tunnel" or "Tunnel of Fire" (you may come across either wording). In a nutshell, people who are deemed more mature in the faith form two lines (a human tunnel) that novices are made to go through so that those forming the tunnel may lay hands on them and transfer into them the same "anointing" that they supposedly carry. It's very common to see people display strange physical manifestations during these events, which may include appearing drunk, laughing hysterically, being "slain in the spirit", jerking or shaking, etc.

Here are a few videos illustrating the ritual: video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4, video 5. (You may find many more by using your favorite search engine.)

Question: What is the origin of the practice? When was the first time that a "Fire Tunnel" was ever practiced in the history of the Church? Did Bethel Church originally come up with the idea of the ritual or did they borrow it / take inspiration from a prior source?

 

[ss51]

Jesus told the 12 at the time He imparted Holy Spirit as He had received from John the Baptist "freely you were given, freely give".

 

[Pavel Mosko]

Kundalini Yoga?

 

[TruthSeek3r]

Kundalini Yoga?

Can you expand on that? It looks like you are familiar with the topic.

 

[Gregorikos]

It looks to me like it's just a practical way to pray and lay hands on people en masse. "Prayer lines" have been common in Pentecostal circles for decades. So what should you do if you have a bunch of people praying? Make it a really long line that goes out the door? Or double the line? It makes sense to double the line.

I'm betting the name "fire line" or "line of fire" was just said off the cuff one day and it stuck.

 

[ss51]

No it isn't kunda whatever.

 

[Rene Loup]

Bethel Church does not test the spirits and holds on to extra-Biblical teachings. The main appeal of that church seems to be based more on selfish ambition than genuine love for God. They just want supernatural power more than serving The Most High.

22 God has decided to make that terrible time short. If that time were not made short, then no one would go on living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen. 23 At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the Christ!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. 24 False Christs and false prophets will come and perform great things and miracles. They will do these things to the people God has chosen. They will fool them, if that is possible. 25 Now I have warned you about this before it happens.

~Matthew 24:22-25 (ICB)

Bible Gateway passage: Luke 21, Mark 13, Matthew 24, 2 Timothy 3 - King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Luke 21, Mark 13, Matthew 24, 2 Timothy 3 - New King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Luke 21, Mark 13, Matthew 24, 2 Timothy 3 - New International Version
Bible Gateway passage: Luke 21, Mark 13, Matthew 24, 2 Timothy 3 - International Children’s Bible

Warning Against False Teachers
4 My dear friends, many false prophets are in the world now. So do not believe every spirit. But test the spirits to see if they are from God. 2 This is how you can know God’s Spirit: One spirit says, “I believe that Jesus is the Christ who came to earth and became a man.” That Spirit is from God. 3 Another spirit refuses to say this about Jesus. That spirit is not from God but is the spirit of the Enemy of Christ. You have heard that the Enemy of Christ is coming. And now he is already in the world.

4 My dear children, you belong to God. So you have defeated them because God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world. 5 And they belong to the world. What they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 But we are from God, and those who know God listen to us. But those who are not from God do not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit that is true and the spirit that is false.

~1 John 4:1-6 (ICB)

Bible Gateway passage: 1 John 4:1-6 - King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: 1 John 4:1-6 - New King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: 1 John 4:1-6 - New International Version
Bible Gateway passage: 1 John 4:1-6 - International Children’s Bible

Gifts from the Holy Spirit
1 Now, brothers, I want you to understand about spiritual gifts. 2 You remember the lives you lived before you were believers. You let yourselves be influenced and led away to worship idols—things that have no life. 3 So I tell you that no one who is speaking with the help of God’s Spirit says, “Jesus be cursed.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” without the help of the Holy Spirit.

4 There are different kinds of gifts; but they are all from the same Spirit. 5 There are different ways to serve; but all these ways are from the same Lord. 6 And there are different ways that God works in people; but all these ways are from the same God. God works in us all in everything we do. 7 Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person, to help everyone. 8 The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom. And the same Spirit gives another the ability to speak with knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives faith to one person. And that one Spirit gives another gifts of healing. 10 The Spirit gives to another person the power to do miracles, to another the ability to prophesy. And he gives to another the ability to know the difference between good and evil spirits. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak in different kinds of languages and to another the ability to interpret those languages. 11 One Spirit, the same Spirit, does all these things. The Spirit decides what to give each person.

~1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (ICB)

Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 12 - King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 12 - New King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 12 - New International Version
Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 12 - International Children’s Bible

15 You have known the Holy Scriptures since you were a child. The Scriptures are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching how to live right. 17 Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be ready and will have everything he needs to do every good work.

~2 Timothy 3:15-17 (ICB)

Bible Gateway passage: 2 Timothy 3 - King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: 2 Timothy 3 - New King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: 2 Timothy 3 - New International Version
Bible Gateway passage: 2 Timothy 3 - International Children’s Bible

Why is it so important to test the spirits by making them quote Scripture, confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ, among other ways of testing their devotion to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel?

Here's an example: God can mute people, but so can demons:

Zechariah and Elizabeth
5 During the time Herod ruled Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah. He belonged to Abijah’s group. Zechariah’s wife came from the family of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth truly did what God said was good. They did everything the Lord commanded and told people to do. They were without fault in keeping his law. 7 But Zechariah and Elizabeth had no children. Elizabeth could not have a baby; and both of them were very old.

8 Zechariah was serving as a priest before God for his group. It was his group’s time to serve. 9 According to the custom of the priests, he was chosen to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 There were a great many people outside praying at the time the incense was offered. 11 Then, on the right side of the incense table, an angel of the Lord came and stood before Zechariah. 12 When he saw the angel, Zechariah was confused and frightened. 13 But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, don’t be afraid. Your prayer has been heard by God. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give birth to a son. You will name him John. 14 You will be very happy. Many people will be happy because of his birth. 15 John will be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine or beer. Even at the time John is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16 He will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God. 17 He himself will go first before the Lord. John will be powerful in spirit like Elijah. He will make peace between fathers and their children. He will bring those who are not obeying God back to the right way of thinking. He will make people ready for the coming of the Lord.”

18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is old, too.”

19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand before God. God sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news. 20 Now, listen! You will not be able to talk until the day these things happen. You will lose your speech because you did not believe what I told you. But these things will really happen.”

21 Outside, the people were still waiting for Zechariah. They were surprised that he was staying so long in the Temple. 22 Then Zechariah came outside, but he could not speak to them. So they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Zechariah could not speak. He could only make signs to them. 23 When his time of service as a priest was finished, he went home.

24 Later, Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant. She did not go out of her house for five months. Elizabeth said, 25 “Look what the Lord has done for me! My people were ashamed of me, but now the Lord has taken away that shame.”

~Luke 1:5-25 (ICB)

Bible Gateway passage: Luke 1 - King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Luke 1 - New King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Luke 1 - New International Version
Bible Gateway passage: Luke 1 - International Children’s Bible

32 When the two men were leaving, some people brought another man to Jesus. This man could not talk because he had a demon in him. 33 Jesus forced the demon to leave the man. Then the man who couldn’t talk was able to speak. The crowd was amazed and said, “We have never seen anything like this in Israel.”

~Matthew 9:32-33 (ICB)

Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 9 - King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 9 - New King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 9 - New International Version
Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 9 - International Children’s Bible

YOU MUST ALWAYS TEST THE SPIRITS!!!

1.) Does it line up with Scripture?
2.) Does it line up with God's principles?
3.) Does it bring you peace?

If it does not pass all three, then you should not be doing it.

Keep in mind too, NEVER rely on a single test for a spirit. None of us are their first rodeo, and they WILL adapt accordingly as we learn more about God and His Holy Word.

READ, STUDY, AND KNOW SCRIPTURE, DAILY!!!

 

[Rene Loup]

An example of selfish ambition was Simon the sorcerer. He practised witchcraft, converted to Christianity, and attempted to bribe the Apostles to receive power from God. He legit attempted to buy off God.

There are people out there who are both Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians and practising witches. They want to have the best of both worlds, but it will only end in disaster for them. Selfish ambition is an Act of the Flesh, and it will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God.

9 But there was a man named Simon in that city. Before Philip came there, Simon had practiced magic. He amazed all the people of Samaria with his magic. He bragged and called himself a great man. 10 All the people—the least important and the most important—paid attention to what Simon said. They said, “This man has the power of God, called ‘the Great Power’!” 11 Simon had amazed them with his magic tricks so long that the people became his followers. 12 But Philip told them the Good News about the kingdom of God and the power of Jesus Christ. Men and women believed Philip and were baptized. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. He stayed very close to Philip. When he saw the miracles and the very powerful things that Philip did, Simon was amazed.

14 The apostles were still in Jerusalem. They heard that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God. So they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When Peter and John arrived, they prayed that the Samaritan believers might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 These people had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. But the Holy Spirit had not yet entered any of them. 17 Then, when the two apostles began laying their hands on the people, they received the Holy Spirit.

18 Simon saw that the Spirit was given to people when the apostles laid their hands on them. So he offered the apostles money. 19 He said, “Give me also this power so that when I lay my hands on a person, he will receive the Holy Spirit.”

20 Peter said to him, “You and your money should both be destroyed! You thought you could buy God’s gift with money. 21 You cannot share with us in this work. Your heart is not right before God. 22 Change your heart! Turn away from this evil thing you have done. Pray to the Lord. Maybe he will forgive you for thinking this. 23 I see that you are full of bitter jealousy and ruled by sin.”

24 Simon answered, “Both of you pray for me to the Lord. Pray that the things you have said will not happen to me!”

25 Then the two apostles told the people the things they had seen Jesus do. And after the apostles had given the message of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem. On the way, they went through many Samaritan towns and preached the Good News to the people.

~Acts 8:9-25 (ICB)

Bible Gateway passage: Acts 8 - King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Acts 8 - New King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Acts 8 - New International Version
Bible Gateway passage: Acts 8 - International Children’s Bible

13 My brothers, God called you to be free. But do not use your freedom as an excuse to do the things that please your sinful self. Serve each other with love. 14 The whole law is made complete in this one command: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” 15 If you go on hurting each other and tearing each other apart, be careful! You will completely destroy each other.

The Spirit and Human Nature
16 So I tell you: Live by following the Spirit. Then you will not do what your sinful selves want. 17 Our sinful selves want what is against the Spirit. The Spirit wants what is against our sinful selves. The two are against each other. So you must not do just what you please. 18 But if you let the Spirit lead you, you are not under the law.

19 The result of sin’s control in our lives is clear. It includes sexual immorality, impurity and wild living, 20 worshiping false gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people, 21 having envy, being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like this. I warn you now as I warned you before: Those who do these things will not be in God’s kingdom. 22 But the Spirit gives love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. There is no law that says these things are wrong. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their own sinful selves. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do. 25 We get our new life from the Spirit. So we should follow the Spirit. 26 We must not be proud. We must not make trouble with each other. And we must not be jealous of each other.

~Galatians 5:13-26 (ICB)

Bible Gateway passage: Galatians 5 - King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Galatians 5 - New King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Galatians 5 - New International Version
Bible Gateway passage: Galatians 5 - International Children’s Bible

 

[Pavel Mosko]

Can you expand on that? It looks like you are familiar with the topic.

Sure. Certain people in Christianity, (especially conscientious people within Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement) have criticized some of the general practices you are talking about. The fire tunnel thing is just one specific example of a large phenomenon. This guy in the video below is probably the best example.

As far as the OP goes. I joined the Charismatic movement in 1990 and left on good terms so to speak in 1997 because I believed God was leading me in traditional Christianity, as far as things like Orthodox Christianity etc.


But in terms of the questions your asking as far as history. I know this sort of thing didn't really start till the the Toronto Blessing (late 1993). One of the benefits of familiarizing with traditional Christianity is actually studying Church history that exists in between the writing of the New Testament books and Martin Luther. (Knowing what happened immediately after the writing of the NT books and the death of the Apostles is especially useful). Anyway in different times, you had people responding with things like quaking and shaking when listening to sermons like "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" etc. but not anything like this.

The New Testament actually advocates order during worship and saint Paul also says that "The Spirit is subject to the prophets" (prophets even under the Holy Spirit are still in control of their will). In the early Church, their was a movement called Montanism that was the first thing sort of like this, where some prophets prophesied in an ecstatic way that was different than how it was done in the past (more dignified and in control), and their was some questionable doctrine also preached as well.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

According to Wikipedia:

Bethel Church is an American non-denominational hyper-charismatic megachurch in Redding, California with over 11,000 members. The church was established in 1952 and is currently led by Bill Johnson. Bethel has its own music labels and Bethel Music and Jesus Culture ministries, which have gained large popularity within contemporary worship music. The church runs the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry with over 2,000 students annually. Senior church leaders have been supporters of conservative politics.​

At Bethel Church, they have a very peculiar ritual known as "Fire Tunnel" or "Tunnel of Fire" (you may come across either wording). In a nutshell, people who are deemed more mature in the faith form two lines (a human tunnel) that novices are made to go through so that those forming the tunnel may lay hands on them and transfer into them the same "anointing" that they supposedly carry. It's very common to see people display strange physical manifestations during these events, which may include appearing drunk, laughing hysterically, being "slain in the spirit", jerking or shaking, etc.

Here are a few videos illustrating the ritual: video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4, video 5. (You may find many more by using your favorite search engine.)

Question: What is the origin of the practice? When was the first time that a "Fire Tunnel" was ever practiced in the history of the Church? Did Bethel Church originally come up with the idea of the ritual or did they borrow it / take inspiration from a prior source?

The "fire tunnel" was birthed through zealous youth while attending the Supernatural School of Ministry. Along with this abhorrent ritual other practices such as grave soaking, glory puppeteering, destiny cards,holy yoga and probably more rose from this dangerous school. These are man made flesh driven inventions orchestrated by Satan himself. I do hope you stay away from such things.
On a personal note my niece is on the road of recovery after attending this school. Unfortunately she may have left the faith.

Be blessed.

 

[spiritfilledjm]

As previously stated, the "fire tunnel" thing is something that has gone on for many many years outside of bethel. In fact, a lot of what Bethel does I have seen in other charismatic circles well before I had even heard of Bethel in the mid-late 2000's. Bethel though, has come under fire due to several things that have happened that have resembled witchcraft (like a "Christian" tarot reading essentially) and, of course, the "You shall not pass" staff thing.

Some circles have always come under fire for seeming to want signs and wonders more than converts and wisdom. I feel that a lot of the persecution Bethel gets, while some is warranted, is from a lot of folks that were hurt at one point or another by the charismatic movement and have moved on to other movements (reformed being the one I see most common)

As far as the "fire line" goes...hey...the more prayer I can get, the better.

 

[TruthSeek3r]

Some circles have always come under fire for seeming to want signs and wonders more than converts and wisdom. I feel that a lot of the persecution Bethel gets, while some is warranted, is from a lot of folks that were hurt at one point or another by the charismatic movement and have moved on to other movements (reformed being the one I see most common)

How were people hurt by the charismatic movement? Can you expand on that "hurt" you alluded to?

 

[spiritfilledjm]

How were people hurt by the charismatic movement? Can you expand on that "hurt" you alluded to?

You'd have to ask them...

I, for instance, was hurt by an International House of Prayer wannabe that I was involved in an internship with. I was forced to go through a spiritual warfare/deliverance thing that I did not want to go through as I felt I didn't need to be delivered of anything. It ended up causing a lot of hurt and damage spiritually and was a catalyst in me stepping away from the faith for a time. That's just me though and while I no longer hold any bitterness in my heart, it was from a movement that strikes me as very similar to what I observe out of Bethel.

Ultimately, I was saying that a lot of the criticism I see towards Bethel seems to be coming from life-time cessationists or folks who were hurt by their Charismatic churches (as in folks who believe in the gifts being for today) and have since left and became cessationist.

 

[Pavel Mosko]

That's kind of a broad question @TruthSeek3r probably a better one is to ask about Bethel or NAR specifically. On NAR aka The New Apostolic Reformation, I can answer that one.

There are a lot of stuff with prophesy, where people prophesy things that don't come to pass. The controversy over the US election and Trump not being elected is a big case in point!

Or prophesy very dubious things.
Todd Bentley – Is he now ashamed of his angel Emma?

I personally could see that the movement could be a lot about success, prosperity etc. where leadership is often about going to big deal conferences, that generate fame, and pay really well than doing more routine local ministry that does not pay well and has little or no fan fare.


I got to say, there was more money grubbing from the prophetic movement than any other church movement. Basically the ministers can live high on the hog, and want their buddies to who visit the church and run up big bills paying for it that they pass on to their congregations, and can do so using very questionable methods (manipulative).

 

[topher694]

Some circles have always come under fire for seeming to want signs and wonders more than converts and wisdom. I feel that a lot of the persecution Bethel gets, while some is warranted, is from a lot of folks that were hurt at one point or another by the charismatic movement and have moved on to other movements (reformed being the one I see most common)

People have been hurt by every single "movement". Just because some people abuse the truth doesn't mean we should refuse the truth.

 

[spiritfilledjm]

People have been hurt by every single "movement". Just because some people abuse the truth doesn't me we should refuse the truth.

I'm not saying one should. I'm just saying that doing Christian Tarot and stuff is not the truth and I'm actually, in fact, agreeing that the "fire line" is not against the bible.

 

[topher694]

I'm not saying one should. I'm just saying that doing Christian Tarot and stuff is not the truth and I'm actually, in fact, agreeing that the "fire line" is not against the bible.

I know, I get that. I'm just putting it out there because people are so quick to disregard the legitimate things of God because of a few misguided folks these days.

 

[spiritfilledjm]

I know, I get that. I'm just putting it out there because people are so quick to disregard the legitimate things of God because of a few misguided folks these days.

Gotcha. This is where discernment comes into play lol

 

[paul1149]

I don't know the exact lineage, but this has roots in the Toronto Blessing, and before that, the laughing revival, for lack of a better name. People were encouraged to pray for one another, and it was quite free-flowing. I don't know that it had as organized a modality as what's in those videos.

Some of what I saw in the videos struck me as being not necessarily the Holy Spirit in action. Man could have had something to do with it. People are in dire need of community, and that goes exponentially for young Christians, who have the dominant culture against them. They don't want churchianity, they want relationship and brotherly love.

There were excesses back in the day as well. And they were very well-reported on in the media. But what went less noticed by critics was the large numbers of people lying prostrate before the Lord, experiencing deep communion, which far outweighed the excesses. You are always going to get excesses during revival. It happened in both Great Awakenings. But much good fruit came of those revivals as well, including the birth of the USA.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

According to Wikipedia:

Bethel Church is an American non-denominational hyper-charismatic megachurch in Redding, California with over 11,000 members. The church was established in 1952 and is currently led by Bill Johnson. Bethel has its own music labels and Bethel Music and Jesus Culture ministries, which have gained large popularity within contemporary worship music. The church runs the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry with over 2,000 students annually. Senior church leaders have been supporters of conservative politics.​

At Bethel Church, they have a very peculiar ritual known as "Fire Tunnel" or "Tunnel of Fire" (you may come across either wording). In a nutshell, people who are deemed more mature in the faith form two lines (a human tunnel) that novices are made to go through so that those forming the tunnel may lay hands on them and transfer into them the same "anointing" that they supposedly carry. It's very common to see people display strange physical manifestations during these events, which may include appearing drunk, laughing hysterically, being "slain in the spirit", jerking or shaking, etc.

Here are a few videos illustrating the ritual: video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4, video 5. (You may find many more by using your favorite search engine.)

Question: What is the origin of the practice? When was the first time that a "Fire Tunnel" was ever practiced in the history of the Church? Did Bethel Church originally come up with the idea of the ritual or did they borrow it / take inspiration from a prior source?

I think having people praying on either side of the new people was so they didn't fall down, a natural progression perhaps.

I recall participating in something like that years ago and I didn't fall down, go into convulsions, or any of that I just wanted to receive God.

Of course after measuring how it affected me years later, I wouldn't recommend it as a Christian experience.

The origin of the practice is the times we are living in. Since the early church emulated the end of Deuteronomy in their application of the anathemas, this set the church organization on a program to follow the histories of the old testament. The resonating scripture verse is Jeremiah 23:9, and this means captivity is pretty close.