May 15, 1999 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - Promise Keepers has abandoned its plans to hold rallies outside every state capitol on January 1, 2000 (Christianity Today, April 5, 1999, p. 14). The announcement mentioned two reasons for the change of mind: (1) uncertainty over Y2K computer problems and (2) the potential of severe weather in northern climates at that time of the year.

Instead of converging on state capitols, Promise Keepers leaders are now recommending that Christians open their homes to host Y2K preparation parties and then "go to church and hear a videotaped message from key leaders of various denominations about being salt and light."

As we have noted in past articles on Promise Keepers, Bill McCartney is a member of a church in Boulder, Colorado, which until recently was part of the late John Wimber’s Vineyard Fellowship of churches. McCartney’s pastor, James Ryle, has written two books to teach Christians how to channel revelation from God through dreams, visions, and intuitions. Though acknowledging that the Bible is the final authority from God and that everything should be tested by it, Ryle believes God is still giving visions and dreams which provide revelation and guidance to His people. He encourages Christians to seek this type of "revelation." He believes this prophetic move is a part of an end-times revival of evangelism and miracles that will sweep across the world before the return of Christ. Ryle associates the Promise Keepers movement with this revival.

Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney has swallowed the error that revelation is not limited to the Bible and believes that his dream of Promise Keepers was God speaking through him. McCartney wrote the foreword to Ryle’s book A Dream Come True: A Biblical Look at How God Speaks Through Dreams and Visions (Orlando: Creation House, 1995, 248 p.).

McCartney’s prophetic dreams have often been undependable, though. At the Stand in the Gap rally in Washington, D.C., in October 1997, McCartney announced that he wanted every pastor in America to participate in his bold three-year plan. He said every pastor in America was expected to march to the same unified plan. He said, "We need a unity of command," and, "We need to have everybody on the same page." The page, of course, is Promise Keepers’ page. He said that the Promise Keepers clergy conferences in 1998 would be for instructing the pastors in their marching orders. He said, "[R]acial and denominational reconciliation standards will be presented at these pastors’ conferences in practical ways that we can live in unity in the Body of Christ, and together make a difference for the Kingdom!" Thus we see that Promise Keepers continues to beat the drum of denominational unity. That is one of their chief goals. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholics, Episcopalians, Brethren, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Jesus Only, Church of Christ, and everybody else are to put aside doctrinal differences and have unity. McCartney’s grand three-year plan was to conclude with a massive march on state capitols. He said that every pastor in America was expected to congregate in his (or her) state’s capitol in on January 1, 2000, to witness to the fact that his (or her) church has obeyed the Promise Keeper’s plan and has networked together with the other churches in his (or her) community. [See our article "Promise Keepers Pompous Plan for the Churches," Dec. 1, 1997. This is available at the Way of Life web site and also in the O Timothy Computer Library version 3.0.]

McCartney’s prophetic plan for every pastor in America has now been unceremonially dropped (as if God could not foresee any potential Y2K problem or January snow storm when giving McCartney his marching plans). Bill McCartney should look at this matter seriously in light of Bible teaching and renounce the error that he has been taught from the Vineyard movement.

When Promise Keepers lost a large portion of its income in early 1998 and was forced to stop paying most of its employees, McCartney told a clergy conference in St. Petersburg, Florida, that God told him that "every church that names the name of Jesus is supposed to give Promise Keepers $1,000" (Steve Persall, "McCartney appeals for church donations," The Denver Post, Feb. 20. 1998). McCartney went on to say that big churches are "supposed to call the smaller churches and say, ‘It wasn't all that hard for us, but can we help you?’" and small churches which lack the $1,000 are supposed "to call a larger church and say, ‘Can you help us out here? We want to facilitate what God is doing.’" We do not believe that God told McCartney any such thing.

Bill McCartney thinks the "Church of Jesus Christ" is composed of all of the denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church, and one of his chief goals is to break down the walls that separate various Christian groups and churches. Though Promise Keepers has lost some of the influence it had three years ago, it remains a vast ecumenical network which is successfully influencing churches to join the unscriptural ecumenical movement.