What I am about to tell you reminds me of the old quip "If you dont want to go to hell buy life insurance." Well, I visit this
site once in a while to see what they are up to and usually its business as usual. However, I recently dusted off the "things of interest" bookmark and I landed at the church of Mission Divina again. You see, I first stumbled upon this website when I heard that there were still remnants of the ol'
oil in the hands and gold fillings in your teeth crowd. They had many pictures showing these events but no biblical support for justifying or explaining this apparent naturalistic phenomenon.
There was also an ambiguous reference in their statement of beliefs in regards to the Trinity. It stated (they've since revised it) that they believed in God who "manifests" himself in the person of .... Well, at best it was mistyped and at worst it shows an ambiguity similar to other organizations who belong to the oneness camp but want to play with the rest of the pentecostal kids.
Now, after a brief website blackout they are back online with a revised statement of faith and and show of hand for the Five-fold minstry. Not only do they believe in a dangerous if not heterodoxical doctrine of the Five-fold Ministry they also add a twist: Spiritual Coverings in package form. As they demonstrate below (you might need google tranlator if you can't read spanish) you can select from a total of three spiritual coverings they offer. This reminds me of Allstate's current Your Choice Auto plan where you are free to choose from several packages according to "what your needs are."
According to their website you can choose from the following:
1. Personal Covering
2. Personal & Ministerial covering
3. Personal, Ministerial and Congregational covering.
Now, although the language is somewhat ambiguous, you can deduce by the description that what they offer is a precisely what the name says, "spiritual covering." For the benefit of the doubt this could simply mean that God's protection will always accompany you as it has been stated in many passages of both the Old and New Testament. However, given that these phrases are common and typical language for adherents to Five-fold ministry philosophy, the meaning to the above assertion is that they are willing to provide a spiritual forcefield for all those that give in to their ministry.
Now if you are new to the Five-Fold Ministry let me recommend a great analisys by apologist Robert Bowman located
here. And even apologist Ralph Martinez in his
Spirit Watch ministry made some precise and biblical observations about the Five-fold ministry and the spiritual abuse that could come under such dangerous doctrines.
More specifically, on the issue of spiritual covering
per say, let me quote David Henke from
Watchman Fellowship:
This authority supposedly comes from the position they occupy. In Matthew 23:1-2 Jesus said the Scribes and Pharisees "sit in Moses' seat," a position of spiritual authority. Many names are used but in the abusive system this is a position of power, not moral authority. The assumption is that God operates among His people through a hierarchy, or "chain of command." In this abusive system unconditional submission is often called a "covering," or "umbrella of protection" which will provide some spiritual blessing to those who fully submit. Followers may be told that God will bless their submission even if the leadship is wrong. It is not their place to judge or correct the leadership - God will see to that.
Am I saying that spiritual coverage will always result in some sort of spiritual bondage? No. However, playing with these "strange fires" could be dangerous if not lethal to the spiritual atmosphere of any church.
Here is what they offer:
Mision Divina: "Que cobertura Ofrecemos?
La Asociación Mision Divina
El tipo de cobertura que provee a las Iglesias que así lo solicitan y a aquellas que ha fundado es el mismo que fue explicado anteriormente siguiendo el modelo bíblico e histórico de la Iglesia Primitiva. Una Cobertura apostólico-Profética.
La Asociación Mision Divina Proporciona Cobertura Apostólica y Profética a las Iglesias, Ministerios o Ministros que no cuenten con una cobertura o que por razones personales deseen cambiar de cobertura espiritual debido a los cambios que Dios esta realizando en su vida, su iglesia o en su ministerio.
Actualmente tenemos tres opciones de cobertura Apostólica dependiendo de las necesidades de cada ministerio:
Cobertura Personal
Este tipo de cobertura es para aquellos ministros que quieran una paternidad espiritual y desean entrar bajo una visión y unción apostólica.
Cobertura Personal y Ministerial
Esta cobertura es para aquellos ministerios que aun no cuentan con cobertura personal ni ministerial, aplica mas para ministerios extra-congregacionales como evangelistas itinerantes, grupos musicales, radios cristianas, etc. o ministerios fuera de las congregaciones.
Cobertura Personal, Ministerial y Congregacional
Este tipo de cobertura es para los pastores e iglesias que no cuentan con ningún tipo de cobertura es"
