Start by watching this youtube video, I was there in person:
The Bible says we should "test prophecies". If you oppose the process of testing prophecies, then read:
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 New International Version (NIV) 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good,
Please allow me to test prophecies
Shawn Bolz is a very popular charismatic teacher who goes on stage and brings people to tears by saying a series of the following:
- childrens names
- full name
- job
- anniversary date
- conditions and concerns
- schools
- state
- city
And then he greatly encourages them.
About My Beliefs:
1) I'm a Christian, a missionary kid. I grew up around the supernatural. I believe I hear the holy spirit. I believe in modern day prophecy. I am also an engineer and a natural skeptic. 2) I like Shawn Bolz's teaching. He's a friend of friends. I have nothing against him. They vouch for his character. I don't know him personally but I'm sure he's a great guy. 3) I have received supernatural healing. Albeit when I was alone in prayer, but I did, and it was substantial. So I know this actually happens.
Why am I doing this?
First of all, I research miracles for fun. This has less to do with Shawn Bolz, and more to do with my own hobbies. I have been doing this for over a year, and I have done it for Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, and even more rare religions. I have done this for many claims, and I hope no one will take it personally, especially Shawn. This is simply a hobby of mine. I was not planning to write this, but then something happened. He claimed "you couldn't find this info online." (source at the bottom) I said you could and I already did. He then deleted his comment and my subsequent reply on facebook when I said I was able to find his "words of knowledge" online. Oops. You can't delete me. Now I will put it in a blog post. You can't go deleting stuff like that. What is he hiding? Maybe nothing. Maybe something. What follows is basically an expansion of my comment that he deleted on facebook.
My Goal
I am not trying to convince anyone he is a fraud. I don't even believe he is necessarily. My goal is simply to show that what he does on stage is mostly reproducible at home, using some simple online sleuthing. No hacking, and no paid subscription to info services. AND all of this must be done within a timeline of 5 hours, demonstrating it falls within typical "sermon prep" time for pastors.
My specific claim:
90% of what he calls "Words of Knowledge" from God happens to also be public knowledge.
My Evidence
Let me demonstrate this. We will be going one by one through his recent prophecies from this weekend, and showing that most claims are from public knowledge. Now what follows is a lot of personal information, but it all public according to their own facebook settings. I am not violating their privacy in anyway. Besides it was announced to 120k people live by Shawn first. Also, I will just tell you, I fell in love with these people when researching them. They are LOVELY people with great hearts and a great family, and I loved seeing their encouraging facebook posts and their beautiful smiles and I would never wish any ill on them in anyway.
Aszuza Now - Prophesy #1 - Patricia Lou & Kenneth Ray
1a) Their names
- They were hashtagging #AszuzaNow for weeks publically leading up the conference. It's likely they would be picked. They also registered on the AszuzaNow app.
1b) Their middle names -- whitepages.com
1c) Kids names - David Esther Jon Sarah
- Esther is a daughter in law. The rest are biological children as far as I know.
- "There might be more, I can't tell" There facebook has lots of Snyders, it is hard to tell.
- "You're going to be healed of a list from missions" -- she says on her profile she worked at YWAM.
1d) their "move to oregon", "something about fair oaks"
1e) "winding oak drive" - The Grandpa posted a picture of his house, which can be found on google streetview, cross referenced with whitepages
1f) January 2nd
Aszuza Now - Prophesy #2 - Buckhorn Trail (The Ramp, Karen Wheaton)
1a) Another person with a open facebook, with his info on it. He's a pastor (yay!) 2b) He already knew the name The Ramp and Karen Wheaton, here's the ramp website , note the buckhorn trail
Aszuza Now - Prophesy #3 - Montell & Ginger
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000151663158&fref=ufi&rc=p 3a) November 8th? -- her public twitter has a 60 day countdown to their marriage.
3b) Hip hop - He has youtube videos, with pretty good music on it. Check it out and support him
3c) Beach -- He has pictures of them at the beach for engagement on facebook
3d) Water -- No idea how he got this one. Montell agrees, saying Ginger heard about water in prayer for over a year.
3e) Adoption by marriage -- Their lovely talented son is referenced on twitter at least twice, prior to the marriage
Aszuza Now - Prophesy #4 - Danielle
https://www.facebook.com/daniellenicolebutler?fref=ufi&rc=p
4a) "Something about bowling, oh, it's your grandmothers last name?"
Personal Testimony - Prophesy #4 - Liz
My Friend Liz was told by him she would be healed. She is not. Maybe she will later, I don't want to limit God.
October 2015 Sermon - Prophesy #5 - The Gores
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd3jGe9sL9s 5a) "full healing will follow for Charlotte Gore" "I see 3 girls" She appears to not be healed yet, there was a picture taken Jan 2nd and she is still in a wheelchair. I really do care for her, and I have been praying consistently now for Charlotte and I would love to see her healed. And if she is, I will be a believer in Shawn
I did not go into every prophesy, but I did find much more than I put in this blog post. For the sake of time I didn't post it all. I am confident at this point I could bring someone to grateful tears if I went up on stage and was handed a microphone, at that point I could speak generally encouraging things into their life.
How long did it take to do all this research? Several hours, but well within the scope of a sermon prep time.
What does this mean?
It certainly does NOT necessarily mean that he is a fraud. It does NOT mean that what he says is false. It does NOT mean that these aren't words of knowledge. It does NOT mean that God doesn't speak. It does NOT mean that God doesn't love us. It DOES mean however, that what he does on stage is not necessarily miraculous. He COULD be a egomaniac fraudulent trickster to make himself feel more popular or powerful. But it could also be coincidental that the Holy Spirit mostly gives him public knowledge. I don't make a claim that it is either, but I just want to demonstrate that it is doable at home.
Next Steps:
If he is legit: Charlotte will be "healed fully" and we should support Shawn in his ministry.
If he is a fraud:
Well first, I hope he isn't. I really do. But the following applies then:
- His wife, or a a close friend, could verify what he did using advanced computer tricks.
- He will answer to God, not man.
Since Shawn is not here to defend himself, and I care deeply about being fair, I will post his recent defense he posted then deleted. This is Shawn Bolz response to critics:
"This is Shawn Bolz, thanks for posting this. I had a beautiful time. Thank you to the family who gave such beautiful comments as well as all of you who are growing in love for Jesus. For the critics, I understand your skepticism you don't know me. What I will say is 1) my motivation is to connect to the heart of God and love people by sharing his heart. I do not get paid for this and there is no reason to fake it I am not popular enough or do not get enough natural benefit to make up this kind of ministry. 2) I use my cell phone or a notepad to write down some of the words I get in advance because I pray into meetings and ask God for an encounter for people. I have a learning disability (slight dyscalculia) and do not have a great memory. I have been mostly healed of this and I know for people who are strangers how bad it might look to use an electronic device but I am a techy and keep all notes on my cell phone. I did have a notepad. 3) a lot of the information that the words of knowledge or the facts about people that I get are not On Facebook or internet searchable places. I know we live in the Information Age and things can be found online but the amount of work it would take to figure out who is going to be there and how to track them down would be exhausting. I have a full life with a great wife and two kids as well as a thriving writing career and media presence. To take the time to get this kind of deception going for the amount of years I have done this would be exhausting. 4) cold reading is getting information to try and encourage people. Prophecy and words of knowledge are connecting to God the Father's heart to share a message that would make Jesus more focused on and loved. Jesus did this many times as well as the disciples in the book of Acts. There is Biblical precedence."
He is referencing something I have never heard of before: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_reading
Final Words
In order to understand, one MUST know the internals of people's hearts. Please take the time to watch the Aftermath Video from Montell & Ginger before concluding anything. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yODLEG8GEXo
Finally, let me share what my Pastor told me about Shawn. Let's pretend Shawn even does do evil in the name of the Lord for a second. Here is the biblical Paul's response to those who twist the gospel for their own gain: Philippians 1: 15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
