Rick Joyner and Morningstar Ministries
An Apologetics Index research resource

Rick Joyner is neither a true prophet nor apostle. He teaches too much error to be either. He holds out (by his many books) an appearance of taking us to higher ground when in reality he robs us of a rich doctrinal heritage as well as the Bible. His dominionism is false and utopian and he confuses the resurrection and reign of Christ with the present state of the Church, thereby misleading Christians with false hope.

Joyner's claims of revelation knowledge produce a dulling effect in regard to a desire for the Scriptures.
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Joyner's books are a jumble of confusion. One has to wade through a lot of sludge to find a few nuggets of truth.

The CRN Journal  says that Joyner is peddling a ''dark mysticism'' and they conclude:

''Joyner leaves us no middle way. Either we treat him as God's chosen super-prophet for the end-times, or we treat him as a man in the grip of evil deceit and seek to expose him as such''

Joyner’s false teachings abound and multiply. It may be sloppy writing or unclear theology but it becomes even more serious as Joyner slips into teachings that would be welcome in a Kingdom Hall [Meeting place of Jehovah's Witnesses - AI].

How should we view Jesus? We should view Him as the Bible does. John 2:21-22 and Luke 24:39 make it abundantly clear that Jesus arose in His physical body. The bodily resurrection is a foundational truth in the Christian faith. Jesus, as our mediator, exists in a glorified resurrected body. He is forever the God-man.

This truth of the two natures of Christ is called the hypostatic union and has always been defended by the Church. Christ exists in two natures, human and divine (Philippians 2:6-7).

Apparently Joyner either denies this or simply does not understand it. He proposes:

“There is a tendency to continue relating to Him as ‘the MAN from Galilee.’ Jesus is not a man. He was and is Spirit. He took the form of a servant and became a man for a brief time.”72

Joyner couldn’t be clearer in his declaration: “Jesus is not a man. He was and is Spirit” (emphasis added). Joyner finds himself closely aligned with Gnosticism, one of the most threatening heresies of the early Church. More specifically, he is bordering on a form of Docetism, a view which denies Christ’s true humanity by saying that Christ only appeared to have a physical body. However, based on a multitude of Scriptures, theologian Louis Berkhof summarizes the view of historical orthodoxy:

“The incarnation constituted Him a complex person, constituted of two natures. He is the God-man. ... The one divine person, who possessed a divine nature from eternity, assumed a human nature, and now has both.”73

Surely no true prophet of God would deny the human nature of Christ or that Jesus is in a resurrected glorified body. Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy 2:5, “There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” How can Joyner say, “Jesus is not a man”? If we accept Prophet Joyner, then we have eroded the doctrinal truths that separate Christianity from the cults.

In the late 1990s, Joyner jumped onto the Y2K bandwagon as he claimed that the Lord ''finally did begin to speak'' about the issue. According to Joyner, God supposedly revealed that, ''The most severe difficulties will come from the panic generated by the situation'' and '' The Lord told me to observe the problems that Y2K will cause in the natural world as a reflection of the problems we have in the body of Christ.''

Thus according to Joyner's revelation the Church must not have had problems since Y2K was a non-event.

What is about to come upon the earth is not just a revival, or another awakening; it is a veritable revolution. The vision was given in order to begin to awaken those who are destined to radically change the course, and even the very definition of Christianity. The dismantling of organizations and disbanding of some works will be a positive and exhilarating experience for the Lord's faithful servants. A great company of prophets, teachers, pastors and apostles will be raised up with the spirit of Phineas...

Though Joyner's doctrinal statement is a rather standard one, we will see that in many places his writings and books contradict and undermine it. One can only wonder if his doctrinal statement is merely window dressing and subterfuge; or if perhaps his allegiance to a movement which views itself as a superlative extension of the Church has moved him aways from a more stable and orthodox foundation. Joyner is like a child musician playing many sour notes with the good ones while telling us he is an accomplished prodigy. When we object, he will call attention to the few good notes. Joyner's trumpet is offkey and giving out an ''uncertain sound'' (1 Corinthians 14:7-8 . Had he lived in the Old Testament era, he would have been stoned by now (Deuteronomy 13:1-5 , 18:20-22 )

Joyner unabashedly promotes his most bizarre and unrealistic ideas this way:

''In the near future the church will not be looking back at the first century church with envy because of the great exploits of those days, but all will be saying that He certainly did save His best wine for last. The most glorious times in all of history have now come upon us. You who have dreamed of one day being able to talk with Peter, John and Paul are going to be surprised to find that they have all been waiting to talk to you! You have been chosen to see the harvest, the fruit of the seed that they were planting.''

Joyner is so bold as to state that nations will be overwhelmed by the newly appointed apostles and that ''Miracles which exceed even some of the most spectacular biblical marvels will cause whole nations to acknowledge Jesus ... The appearances of angels will be so common that they will cease to be related as significant events. The Lord himself will appear to councils of apostles and elders to give them directives.''
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Joyner has two major obsessions: ''Prophetic Restoration'' and ''Apostolic Restoration.'' He explains these as follows:

''A new wave of ministries is about to be released with extraordinary prophetic gifts. Others with revelatory gifting who were sidetracked because of controversy, or other problems, are about to get back on the fast track ... The apostolic ministry that opened the church age will be raised up at the end to complete it. The Lord is restoring the apostolic authority of the church and soon this will become a major emphasis. There will be almost a general openness to this as men of true apostolic authority, with a true apostolic lifestyle, take their place in leadership.''

Glaringly absent from Joyner's agenda is any biblical warrant for his words. There is no Scripture offered as proof for this self-serving illusion. Ephesians is clear that the Church is built on ''the foundation  of the Apostles and Prophets.'' (Ephesians 2:19 ). Why would God have to lay the foundation all over again? The Church, since the time of Paul, is described as ''God's building. '' (1 Corinthians 3:91-10 ). A building, especially God's Church, is not in need of another foundation. No wonder Joyner gives not Scripture for his grandiose imaginings.

Even if one takes the liberty to judge the prophet and his message, you are labeled a ''pharisee,'' or worse yet possess a ''religious'' and ''Jezebel spirit.'' PFO director Steve Cannon points out a recurrent theme is Joyner's writings, a concept called ''The Two Ministries.'' Joyner describes the second of the two ministries as ''faultfinders'' and says they are a destructive force.'' Cannon maintains, ''This doctrine ... is used, I think, to intimidate any who may criticize, into thinking that by doing so, they are operating under the spirit of Satan.''

Still going further afield, Joyner warns that cult research is dangerous and ought not be be pursued. This would surely keep the discerning off his case. As much warning as there is in the Bible against false religions and heresies (e.g. ''test the spirits,'' 1 John 4:1 ), Joyner's words are ill-advised and foolish:

''Few who devote themselves to studying cults or deviant doctrines are able to distinguis the true word of the Lord, and usually their hearts are immediately darkened by the very evil they seek to expose. We will be changed into that which we are beholding (II Corinthians 3:18 ). There is an implied warning in the Lord's message to the church in Thyatira about 'knowing the deep things of Satan' (Revelation 2:24) . The more we focus on what is wrong, or the practices of the evil one, the more we, ourselves, will be changed into the nature of what we are seeing.''

Thus, according to Joyner, to be discerning - to be a Berean - is to go into darkness. That's what Jehovah's Witnesses say of Bible study apart from their literature - they too discourage any type of discernment. Once again Joyner sounds more cultic than Christian.

Moreover, in the above citation, Joyner demonstrates yet another example of his frightful handling of God's Word. The people of Thyatira did not ''know [know by experience] the depths of Satan,'' which in the context was idolatry and sexual immorality (Revelation 2:20 , simply because they were discerning! They did not practice these things since they were able to discern their evil nature and avoid them. Knowing the depth os Satan is not the study of false teachers like Joyner but the practice  (knowing by experience) and promotion of immorality and idolatry.

I have never been part of the Vineyard, though I did minister at Vineyard conferences a few times, and have always appreciated them. I have never been a part of the movement that originated in Kansas City, though I have the highest regard for them.

The doctrine of the rapture was a great and effective ruse of the enemy to implant in the church a retreat mentality, but it will not succeed. Already this yoke has been cast off by the majority in the advancing church and it will soon be cast off by all...

The New Testament is particularly clear about the temporary role of the apostles, since they were chosen to give eyewitness testimony of the risen Christ (Acts 1:21-26 ; 5:32 ; Luke 1:1-4 ; 1 Cor. 9:1 ). Paul indicated that he was the last person to see the risen Christ and receive an apostolic commission (1 Cor. 15:8 ).

One of the greatest hazards affecting maturing prophets is the erroneous interpretation of the Old Testament exhortation that if a prophet ever predicted something which did not come to pass he was no longer to be considered a true prophet (see Deut. 18:20-22). The warning was that if this happened, the prophet had been presumptuous and the people were not to fear him. If one predicts something in the name of the Lord and it does not come to pass, he probably has spoken presumptuously and needs to be repented of, but that does not make him a false prophet. No one could step out in the faith required to walk in his calling if he knew that a single mistake would ruin him for life.

Bob [Jones] was told that the general level of prophetic revelation in the church was about 65% accurate at this time. Some are only about 10% accurate, a very few of the most mature prophets are approaching 85% to 95% accuracy. Prophecy is increasing in purity, but there is still a long way to go for those who walk in this ministry. This is actually grace for the church now, because 100% accuracy in this ministry will bring a level of accountability to the church which she is too immature to bear at this time; it would result in too many 'Ananias and Sapphiras.' That so many the (sic) prophetic ministries are still missing so much is also meant to work humility and wisdom in them so that they will be able to handle the authority and power coming in the near future.

What is about to come upon the earth is not just a revival, or another awakening; it is a veritable revolution. The vision was given in order to begin to awaken those who are destined to radically change the course, and even the very definition of Christianity. The dismantling of organizations and disbanding of some works will be a positive and exhilarating experience for the Lord's faithful servants. A great company of prophets, teachers, pastors and apostles will be raised up with the spirit of Phineas...