It is astounding how an embittered Christians can defile themselves, defile the Body of Christ, and defile their family. We can all at times be embittered. But a 'Root of Bitterness' is devouring and injures the one embittered more than it hurts the objects of their embitterment. We are told in this verse moreover that it is not uncommon, and can present a danger to Christians. As the believing daughter of Jewish holocaust survivors, it is fitting that my wife be embittered towards the Nazism that murdered most of her family. But no amount of bitterness towards dead Nazis is going to increase or lessen their eternal damnation in hell. After September 11th etc., I am embittered towards Islam, but any bitterness towards Moslems is pointless given their eternal destiny in the lake of fire. I also hold a great bitterness towards Roman Catholicism, but any bitterness I would hold against its child abusive clergy is nothing given that Jesus said that it would be better if a millstone were tied around their necks and they be cast into the sea. As Cory Ten Boom said of Nazis, she was able in Christ to forgive those few Nazis who repented and were saved by Jesus. There have not been as many as I would like, but I hold not a trace of bitterness to the several Moslems I have led to Christ. Yes, a Root of Bitterness is not only being embittered, but it takes root such that it can even endure beyond the grave as if there remained a rationale in holding an angry resentment even after someone whom we are embittered against is no longer alive. Bitterness towards Satan and his works is a virtue; bitterness towards others, especially other Christians however, is a devouring spiritual and mental disease.

Paul The Apostle wrote as an inspired canon of Alexander the coppersmith and others whom he said 'did him much harm' He also said that it is The Lord who would repay them. There is righteous anger and we may all at times become embittered. But once it Takes Root, the defiling is endless. This verse tells us that the 'Grace of God' is not only found in being forgiven, but in being able to forgive. God will avenge and deal with the unrepentant much more justly and effectively than we ever can, even when we have been wronged.

Three times in my life as a believer I have personally had a serious falling out with another believer. In all three cases, we had previously been friends and even colleagues in the work of The Lord. In all three cases, they entered eternity. But in all three cases we were very fortunately personally reconciled in God's grace before they left this life. 

Two of these cases were brought back into play this week by Jackie Alnor in her recent tirades. The first was with Philip Powell, the Welsh Pentecostal preacher who had been General Secretary of The Assemblies of God in Australia but broke with them finally over his opposition to things like the Toronto Experience where he and I stood together in opposition to that counterfeit revival in Britain, Australia, & New Zealand. Later, a preacher in the UK, who also opposed the Toronto fiasco and held doctrinally conservative positions on the same issues that Philip Powell and I did (Philip did not personally know him), publicly embraced a serious doctrinal error. In his ministry magazine that no longer exists, Philip was at loggerheads with him and insisted I join him in opposing him. I agreed that the false teaching was indeed false, but because of his previous stance on Toronto etc., I declined to do so until I first met with him personally and tried to reason with him, although I publicly declared his teaching to be wrong.

This led to a huge conflict between Philip and myself that became quite ugly. This conflict also involved the circulation of emails to a range of others involved but was never web posted or published in the public domain. It remained private and largely forgotten, until last week courtesy of Jackie Alnor. Her needless references to the episode carefully made no mention of the fact that when Philip became terminally ill, we reconciled as both brothers, and as friends, in Christ. I thank God that The Lord did not call Philip home until after that happened.

The other instance was with Jackie Alnor's late husband, Dr. Bill Alnor, a Christian journalist and author. Bill was not a very successful pastor or preacher, but he was one of the best Christian journalists in the world. He edited and published a journal of sorts called: 'The Christian Sentinel' co-edited by his wife who was a researcher. The Sentinel never reached the level of circulation that it deserved to, but it was viably read by several thousand and in the sad world of the 'wishy washy' Christian Journalism of Philip Yancey and of 'Christianity Today' it was welcome, to the point, uncompromising, and much needed and appreciated voice of bible grounded reason. Bill was good at what he did. There was discernment without the bogus theology or antics of Robert Morey or the infamous "Hank H." His work was not exactly the top apologetics of his mentor Dr. Walter Martin or of Dr. Ron Rhodes (all of these, good and bad, emerged from the same circle), but was more like a Christian version of investigative journalism. Bill Alnor also avoided the conspiracy theories of other 'discernment' figures such as Tal Brooke. Bill was not only a competent journalist, but also a journalistic author and an academic. In his field, he was the 'real deal'.

I recall collaborating with Bill when I was in Cape Town the day the wife of Benny Hinn was arrested for shoplifting. I appreciated Bill, but as with Philip Powell, I had a very serious falling out with him. One reason was his mistaken identification with my hermeneutics with the cult leader Stewart Trail, whom we both opposed. In fact, among other things I faulted Stewart Trail for his mishandling of scripture, (but this was but one problem with that now-deceased man). In fact, those examining my hermeneutics from a scholarly perspective more accurately cite resemblances to the non Darbyist early Brethren and figures whom I later learned of such as A.W. Pink, as well as the students of Levitical typology. 

I never met Haskell Stone nor heard his teaching; I knew people in Detroit who did know him. And I believed what came to be called 'Pre Wrath' long prior to Marv Rosenthal (although my Intra Seal view is similar to, but not identical to Pre Wrath). Yet it was being groundlessly rumored that I borrowed my theological views from these gentlemen, which is wholly untrue. Like Charles Spurgeon, A.W. Tozer, Corrie Ten Boom, Dr. Walter Martin, and David Pawson, I have never believed in a Pre Tribulational rapture. This is true.

However, not until the new Pre-Tribulationism wrongly concluding the 'Great Apostasy' of 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 is the rapture (based on a gross misreading of the underlying Greek text), or the claims by voices such as JD Farag that those not Pre Tribulational are of Satan, did my hard line regarding Pre Tribulationism take shape in refutation. I found the notion of Walter Martin, Corrie Ten Boom, or Chas. Spurgeon being 'satanic' to be outlandish). But none of this was even much of an issue at the time Bill Alnor was still with us. It is only Jackie Alnor who is amplifying it now.

Yet things could and did become nasty in the disagreements I had with Bill. I was thus thankful to The Lord that David Lister and myself signed a mutual arbitration with Bill in Chino Hills, California sometime before he left this world, where we agreed not to publicly speak critically of each other. The terms once became strained but were largely kept by both parties. After Bill's departure, however (which I found to be a sad event) Jackie Alnor on two occasions flagrantly violated the agreement, the second time being last week. I doubt this would have happened had Bill still been among us. The time when I fell, cutting the outside lateral surface of my left leg above my knee (a faint scar remains) and Jacky sewed my ripped trousers (in the presence of David Lister) was never even mentioned as a cause for the offence for over 20 years; now it has for some reason been yanked from a file. It was a simple medical injury and a rip in the leg of my trousers.

It was no secret that there were marital issues with Bill and Jackie in which I had no interest except that in my last communication with Bill when it was known he did not have long to live in this life, I urged Bill to draw as close he could to his family in the short time he had. An alarm already rang however when I received a pointed email from Bill that he could not support a women's conference that his wife was hosting and Moriel was sponsoring. While Jackie Alnor was never a Moriel team member, she was a volunteer and without much success, we tried to support her ministry. We purchased a load of her books that her publisher could not sell (and we could not either), but it was clear that her husband no longer considered her to be his helpmate in the ministry, and she had a feministic streak of the kind normally associated with what most Christians regard as a 'Jezebel spirit', (often found in women with bad paternal figures in their Pre-Christian youth that they have not allowed The Lord to deal with). Bill saw Jackie as operating outside of the covering of her husband, though he made clear that he had no problem with Moriel or the women's conference in principle. Things were plainly not in God's order, but the marital situation was none of my business, and I only reluctantly mention it now in reacting to the hatchet job Jackie Alnor has done to her husband's legacy in her embittered assault on Moriel & myself. A Christian psychiatrist would likely conclude that she associated a stronger male figure like Bill with an abusive father, and associates other men not pandering to her, with Bill. 

Women like this resent male leadership and usually detest male figures who do not acquiesce to them. Bill Alnor was not an Elijah, an Elisha, nor a Jehu (and neither am I) who would radically oppose them, but neither was he an Ahab who would pander. One Ahab who joined with Jackie Alnor in the first violation of the signed agreement was someone who would drive an hour and a half into Los Angeles to sit under the teaching of Melissa Scott, (widow of the late Dr. Gene Scott), who would dress with a clerical collar like a priest and teach doctrine to mixed congregations. Bill was not that kind of guy, and neither am I. To him, spiritual leadership was established in God's Word as male and protective, and I agree.

It became embarrassingly obvious to everyone involved, that things were not well. As a Christian, Bill Alnor did not lapse into actual adultery. I do not regard him as having been immoral. With Jackie, as an able researcher with doctrinal discernment, Bill & Jackie could in fact have been well-matched, had it not been for her male headship issue. Yet without a helpmate in ministry, Bill attempted to fill that emotional and professional void with another woman. This became conspicuous to everyone and was common knowledge. I cannot agree with what Bill Alnor did, but I can certainly understand why he felt driven to do it. The situation became most peculiar and awkward. It was as if at his funeral there were two widows; one a woman whom he desired to love but couldn't, and one whom he couldn't love but desire to. 

We chuckled when we read Jacky Alnor's selective and inaccurate recollection of certain long past events she has dug up for some reason.

We indeed shut down a Moriel message board when a woman Jackie Alnor describes as having become an anti-Christian Druid turned it into a platform for relentless attacks on the Calvary Chapel movement when Chuck Smith was still around. I did not object to views being shared, but there was no evangelistic dialogue, few prayer requests, no activism on behalf of the persecuted church - almost nothing except a daily litany of anti-Calvary Chapel rhetoric. There was already a 'fruitcake' calling himself 'Phoenix Preacher' doing that, and Moriel was not going to be another. What Jackie Alnor failed to report was that we first gave two weeks’ notice for them to open their own message board before closing it down and the Druid woman she called 'Mira' walked out on her 3 young children, leaving her husband. 

In her account of what transpired at the church of Bob Guaglione, what Jackie Alnor omitted was that Bob Guaglione attended and subscribed to the Mega Church pastor's conference at Willow Creek led by Bill Hybels before his moral demise. The seeker-friendly mega-church modelling with everything from pro-abortion Bill Clinton as keynote speaker, to a Moslem Imam explaining Islam to Christians was something that I & Moriel opposed. Such things of course are selectively left out of Jackie Alnor's recollections.

For want of any current ammunition, Mrs Alnor has delved into a past incident when David Lister pastoring a house church, without due accrediting, retaught material borrowed from a book by the Christian author Warren Wiersbe. While there may have been some mitigation, it was wrong and as the house church was Moriel affiliated David Lister had to step down as pastor immediately. Warren Wiersbe had to be contacted, and to avoid any legal charges of plagiarism by his publisher, no published or recorded copies were circulated. It was agreed by the eldership of the church, by Moriel, and by David, that he was disqualified from future pastoral ministry. This was announced to the church and the matter was reported to Warren Wiersbe; no one covered up anything. It was established that Mr. Lister's future with Moriel was to be confined to administrative matters (at which he is indeed gifted) and to evangelism and apologetics to Mormons, (which had always been his area of ministry). Mr Lister accepted the ramifications of his actions and complied with the correction of The Lord, including accountability for his actions to Moriel. David has not pastored since - as he agreed and has long ago openly repented and was forgiven by Warren Wiersbe, by others in the church, by Moriel, and by The Lord. For Jackie Alnor to attempt to reindict a brother for a past falling, long ago repented of and put right, can only come from the 'Accuser of The Brethren'. 

After the departure of Dr. Bill Alnor, the 'Christian Sentinel' was reduced from being a Christian periodical to a pseudo-Christian organ of the 'Gutter Press', whose only function was to vent the scorn of an embittered woman who has always had a problem with the male headship that God ordained. When Bill was buried, the Sentinel went into the ground with him.

Yet one branch of Moriel did have a serious instance of malfeasance by a now-deceased administrator, whose embezzlement came to light after her death when the new administrators did the transitional audit. This was never kept secret and was legally reported. Once preliminary figures were available (amounts were not huge, but cumulatively upwards of $100,000 over a period of years), the Australia Board of Moriel issued a statement. The audit is ongoing and there is civil litigation related to this matter pending. The discovery was immediately made known within Moriel, our lawyer was contacted, and the required documentation was filed with the civil authorities. Public disclosure was also issued just as soon as the facts could be legally verified and the initial figures quantified. No one ever "uncovered" anything, because nothing was ever concealed to begin with.

In the age of apostasy, there is both an exodus from churches and ministries presenting true doctrine and a pure gospel, but an influx of those seeking truth. Elijah drew the Sons of The Prophets, garnered followers like Obadiah and Elisha, and saw his ministry go from 1 to 7,000.

I know it is only God's grace that Moriel has quadrupled in the last three to four years, and is growing steadily as are our partner ministries such as Christian Church of Devore, John Haller's ministry, Dean Gibson and others we are not affiliated with but whom we endorse and are endorsed by.

The reduction of the Christian Sentinel however to something insignificant in a time when sincere believers are seeking truth has been sad. Sitting in front of a computer screen generating hideous gossip and pretending it is a ministry, as we have said, is very silly indeed.

It is a trend we have seen more than once. Without even being on YouTube (it has an independent server) RTN TV Scotland has easily overtaken the GV 24/7 TV Scotland of Menelaws, and 24/7 does not have 1% of the viewership of Moriel TV. Despite the apostasy, there can still be growth - but not when God removes His Hand from something as He has from GV 24/7. Studio Scotland will never produce another film like the Daniel Project. A scandal and split has left the Believers in Grace ministry of Bill Randles diminished. Those people are not coming back. God's Hand has been removed and even prior to Coved 19, the itinerary ministry of Bill Randles as an author whose books won't sell was already plummeting. I take no delight in witnessing the decline of such ministries - none at all. On the contrary, there was a time I only wished them well and can only say to myself that I & Moriel should take heed lest The Lord likewise removes His Hand from us.

Most disturbing is that in Jackie Alnor we have the rantings of an embittered woman; and little more. I could almost not believe the way she spoke, not simply about myself, but about her late husband Bill - publicly disrespecting his memory as she has.

To try to conjure up the ghost of Philip Powell, resurrecting a conflict where The Lord brought about a reconciled relationship between two Christian brothers, and to do so in pursuit of an embittered vendetta, is something most saved Christians would call low. To drag her deceased husband out of the grave and in her embittered spirit publicly dishonor him posthumously in pursuit of the same ends is something that most saved Christians would find even lower. Such shameful behavior is indeed defiling. A Root of Bitterness.

No longer either 'Christian' or a 'Sentinel', the 'Christian Sentinel' is nothing more than a mere Gossip Column with a Cross printed on it.