According to the Belfast Telegraph of 4th December a United Celebration of Christmas being held in Townsend Presbyterian Church on 13th December is to be addressed by a speaker called J JOHN. The July 1997 issue of CHARISMA carried an article on J JOHN and the following are extracts from the article –
‘It’s not everyone whose ministry has been endorsed on the one hand by controversial revivalist preacher Rodney Howard Browne [as the promoter of ‘Holy Laughter’ at the time of ‘Toronto’ he described himself as God’s ‘Holy Ghost Bartender’] and on the other by the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey. Yet that’s the broad spectrum of support enjoyed by J JOHN, arguably one of Great Britain’s foremost evangelists…. Recently he preached to capacity crowds at Sunderland Christian Centre [a product of ‘Toronto’]…. J JOHN, who is Anglican himself was one of only 2 non-Catholic speakers addressing last year’s charismatic Roman Catholic conference.
In his pursuit of God, J JOHN had acquired a yearning for more. Eager to go forward at Toronto-style revival meetings he was disappointed to find that everyone but him – even those praying for him – seemed to be falling over. Then evangelical bible-teacher and friend R T KENDALL introduced JOHN to RODNEY HOWARD BROWNE one of the pioneers of the renewal movement. Later JOHN was invited to one of Howard Browne’s camp meetings in St Louis…. It was the fourth meeting before he saw a breakthrough. After speaking from the platform JOHN SUDDENLY FELT “INTOXICATED”…. The St Louis incident proved to be a ‘landmark’ experience in his life…. ‘I’ve been baptised in the Spirit’ says the 38 year old father of 3 ‘I’ve had all that. But I felt as though I got it again. It was like another baptism. But this time it was like a baptism of fire’. JOHN later met Sunderland renewal leaders KEN and LOIS GOTT…. So he began leading weekly evangelistic meetings in Sunderland – the ‘Toronto’ of England – in early 1997…. One woman attended after watching evangelist BENNY HINN on TV. She’d written to HINN and received a personal reply. Realising how near the inquirer lived to Sunderland, HINN strongly recommended that she attend the meetings there…. There’s a growing realisation among British Christians that God is ‘unblocking the wells’ where revival has struck before…. At one of the meetings in Harrow unemployed people were asked to come forward for prayer ‘I grabbed the microphone and said – if you can offer a job come forward as well’ recalls JOHN. One woman responed and said her company could offer about 120 jobs…. ‘We started arranging interviews in the middle of an evangelistic meeting. That’s never happened before. But part of the gospel is about working for justice’. “This renewal [‘Toronto’] has cleared the skies” JOHN says “we’re moving out of winter and into spring”.
In the light of the track-record of this “intoxicated evangelist” I would recommend all to abstain from attending this planned meeting.