Our man is well respected, getting more and more well known. Educated. Likable. Fun speaker. Fairly knowledgeable in the Scriptures. And announcing a claim to miracles that, if true, would help fulfill the statement of Jesus that "greater works than these shall you do." If true, his recorded miracles would surpass the number accorded to any of the prophets or apostles we read of in Holy Writ.

Now, no one knows exactly how many miracles Jesus and His students performed, all told. Ditto with Elijah, Elisha, Moses. We assume there are more than were actually recorded. With the brother in question, no less than twelve major breath-taking supernatural encounters have been a part of his own personal history. And he relates in the book thirty or more knock-down-drag-out miracles that he confidently affirms happened at his hands or the hands of someone he was watching in the same meeting. Oh my!

When I wrote to his organization, my eyes were made to pop even more by an associate who with coolness informed me that, indeed, the team of this man has witnessed thousands of miraculous events.

If he is telling us the absolute truth, the miracles that have been done by his hands and those around him should have by now been heralded in all the news media, regardless of anti-Christian bias. Let the media put whatever spin they want on his teachings, and the source of his powers, but the miracles themselves would create a news frenzy that could not be handled.

If the word of his miracles circulates from eyewitnesses to ear-witnesses, then surely every place he goes will not only be well-attended, but he will not be able to find a safe place to rest, as was the case with His Master.

Is that how it is with this man, and, yes, all the other men who are making such claims? Is there a media frenzy when this man comes to town, or to church? The claims he makes demand it! Is it there?

I do not wish to deny or affirm anything I have read or heard of this man. I've learned that only the cold-hearted deny everything and only the gullible affirm everything. I simply wish to lay out for you the "facts" as he sees them in his popular book, and ask you, what do you think?

I will also present to you doctrine and other material from his teachings, strange-sounding (to me) statements he makes, and ask you to be the judge (in the discernment sense, not the condemning sense), and ask again, Is this man to be believed?

We will talk about things he has re-defined from Scripture, re-named. And then there is the autobiographical portion with which we must deal.

Then you will be in a position to ask, What shall we do about it? About him, and about claims being made all over the church by others these days? Merely ignore them, and hope they go away (if indeed they are false)? Let many others know about them?

Of course, if he can truly produce witnesses, documents, or even some sorrow, if he has embellished a bit? Though he is adamant about not having done that.

I want to emphasize once more that I am not an unbeliever. I have served the Lord many years. I happen to believe that our God is very much alive, and can do anything He wants, that we are willing to believe Him for. Anything. Even the fantastic claims of this book.

But could it be they are just claims? Are certain men taking advantage of an admittedly low-energy Western church to restructure that church, and make room for themselves as the new leaders of it? No question that miracles, or even the talk of them, will draw a crowd. And when you see his emphasis on the new wave of apostolic leaders coming to the fore, you will understand that restructuring is on the way, if these men have their way.

You may one day have to make a decision of your own about men like this who seem to be popping up everywhere. I offer this investigation to help your thinking process stay Word-founded.

With no further introduction, I bring to you

James Maloney, and his book, The Dancing Hand of God

I would like you, if you will, to page through Mr. Maloney's book with me and see for yourself the hesitations that confronted my thinking. I will not quote him exactly, at least very much, due to copyright laws. Rather I will give you a sense of what was said, and then place Scriptural thought or words next to it. Here we go...

Page 9. As will become evident to some, Maloney's ideas are not only his own. Teachings like his have become almost commonplace in some circles of the church. Not sure why. Take Zephaniah 3. Not a major theological point. Maloney says that this chapter tells us that Jesus dances over His children. I scoured my NKJV to see if indeed this were the case. "Singing" and "rejoicing" are mentioned, but not dancing. I checked out all the other translations to which I have access. Nada. No dancing. Whether it is dancing or singing or just making a fuss over us, can we look at the context?

Context has become the "c" word among us. Charismatic-leaning people in particular have been guilty of stretching Old Testament prophecies to say whatever they want them to say. Sad hermeneutics prevail in some churches. But it is very important to know 1) who is speaking, 2) to whom is that person speaking, and 3) what time period is in view. Very important.

God is speaking, no question about that. Or at the very least, a Spirit-filled prophet named Zephaniah. And He is speaking to Israel, says verse 14. Telling them to be glad and rejoice!

Why so happy? Because of that third identifier, the time period. It is the time of the very end. All of Israel's judgments are finished! No more holocausts, not because Israel says so, but because God says so. "You shall see disaster no more."

Has this happened? Why, Israel sees disaster nearly every day of the week, and her greatest one is still ahead. It is "in that day" that it will be said that the Lord is in their midst, that is, physically here, reigning in Jerusalem as King of the Earth! In that day the Lord Jesus Christ will rejoice over His remnant people, and all His followers in song, and who knows? perhaps in dance too.

What made us think He is doing that now? Perhaps He is, but this passage in no way points that direction.

Page 11. Maloney says he tries to be a man of God's Word. Let's keep looking.

Pages 18 and 342. Mr. Maloney has picked up the cry of "down with religion" so prevalent in the church today. I have never figured out how people have gotten around the passage in James that speaks of pure and holy religion vs. vain religion. Maloney speaks of religious leaven, using the word religion as though it were a bad thing. He speaks of "religious spirits" of which the Bible is silent, and how a religious spirit brings intimidation, mediocrity.

In charismatic thought, most evil things are "spirits" or demons. There is the demon of pride, the spirit of religion, and on and on. Let's just set the record straight on the basis of the record: There is no such thing as a religious spirit. There are people who have external religion, people who have vain religion, and many people also who have pure and undefiled religion. Though demons can tempt in most any area, we give them no credit for possessing the qualities with which they are attributed.

Page 36, I will let you conclude what I must say about a "poverty spirit" here mentioned.

Page 36. Here is an example of strange interpretation, recorded mostly for attention-getting rather than edification. John 6:53 speaks of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus. According to Maloney, "eat" here means, to "Devour in a noisy crunching manner. Lick the plate clean. Drink His blood. By gulping, slurping, sloshing. " He says he actually heard this somewhere else and thought it was "neat." So much for serious theology on this page.

Page 36. With no documentation, a characteristic of the entire book, he states that the Bible location "Gilead" means a place of worship for God's people. In fact it means what the text says it means, a "heap of witness." Again, not a serious matter, but Maloney's low view of the integrity of Scripture keeps surfacing.

Page 53. Habakkuk 2:14. Maloney's interpretation of this famous prediction of the Millennium is, We are the glory of the Lord that covers the sea. We also are the ark of His presence, referring to the ark that carried the Commandments and is meant to stand for Christ. In charismatic thought, Kingdom now is a major component. Maloney will later admit that that is his philosophy. It is a method of interpretation that plays havoc with prophecy.

Page 55-56. Ministers need to have a transcendent experience of God (which usually happens early in their ministry). No text is given. But authoritatively he demands that a burning bush or a Damascus Road is the norm for all the saints, if they are to serve Christ properly.

Page 60. Chebar means "river of captivity," says Dr. Maloney. No, it simply means "length", says Strong's Concordance. Why the change?

Page 62. False apostles (Rev 2:2) says the Doctor, are those without a transcendent experience. He will conveniently list a dozen or so experiences of his own, proving who he is. So, let's have an experience, is his conclusion. The truth is, there have been many false prophets who have claimed transcendent experiences. Joseph Smith and Muhammad come to mind quickly. “Angels of light” is the title given them by the apostle Paul. The fact that a miracle happened to me is not enough. What about the fruit of my life, and the words that come from my mouth? Do they line up with what the true apostles have already said and lived?