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Letters to the Editor Hi Brian, My husband and I went this past Friday evening to hear David Hogan. Our experience resonates with much of the very same critic you gave your experience. In my spirit something didn't seem right. I was begining to think I was the only one who had a contrary opinion of David Hogan as those around me seemed to think he was great. I also witnessed the blank eery expression in his eyes up close as he prayed for me a very short prayer. He looked sickly but seemed strong at the beginning but like your encounter, but in the middle of praying for the people he left unannounced much in the same manner you described, having to be helped to the car. I wondered what most of the people were thinking who needed prayer and had been standing in line thought. Had he been under the annointing of the Holy Spirit, I believe God would have given him supernatural strength to finish. I found it stange also that if he had a gift of healing that I didn't see any of what he bragged about happening in our meeting to verify this. Why does he wear those thick glasses, shouldn't he have been healed? I was glad we weren't led to give in the offering which was taken at the beginning. When David was asked "who should the checks be made out too", he said "leave it blank" but was corrected by one of the church officials. I found that strange. He did very little teaching, read portions of about 3-4 scriptures and said he had prepared a teaching but wouldn't be giving it. Said he was feeling very aggressive. He started out the meeting saying he didn't like or trust any of us and didn't care what we thought about him. He introduced his wife but would not give her first name because he didn't trust us. Weird. He spent most of the time making us feel bad and boasting of the miracles at his hands and the places he would be teaching, that of course seemed more important than him being with us. Anyway, suffice it to say that we personally felt it disappointing. God bless you, Gail Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:41:33 -0700 (PDT) To: Brian Karjala Hello Brian, My husband and I recently visited a neighboring church (at the prompting of a man at our own church that we respect) to listen to "a healing man of God". We had never heard of Dave Hogan and did no research beforehand. Almost immediately the presence in the church was very odd to us. People attending, including the pastor and his wife, where strangely intranced. But my husband and I thought that maybe this church has a way of interacting that we were not accustomed to but still we wanted to keep an open mind because we know that the Lord uses His people in ways that we sometimes can't understand. When I read your piece I was almost relieved that my husband and I were not the only people on earth that saw this guy as a blatant sham and a vessel for satan himself. He gave the same "testimony" that you described. My husband and I looked at each other with disbelief and then Dave Hogan came down to the end of the stage and glared into my eyes. They were cold and unloving. Had I not felt the presence of Jesus with me throughout this time I may have also succumbed to satans grip through this man. The Lord gave us discernment and the power of His loving presence to get up and leave the church. I was shaken and saddened by the whole experience. This man is dangerous, especially to new believers. He disrepected our Lord in His own house. We will continue to give the Lord and Him only our praise and worship. Hallelujah Betty and Gary Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 08:57:56 -0800 To: Brian Karjala I am no longer a Christian, but I still wanted to share my experience with David Hogan. I went and saw David Hogan with the members of my church a few years ago, and I was skeptical, which was a hard position to be in when everyone else was ecstatic to be there and expecting to see people healed and raised from the dead. I listened very intently, wanting to really believe that we were going to see something happen. I desperately wanted something like that to happen, to give me a boost in faith. As the evening went on, his arrogance was quite apparent. I kept trying to tell myself that it was me, my issues, my pride getting in the way. Then he said something that totally turned me off: he claimed that an entire Pacific island nation was being mandated by their leader to come and listen to him speak sometime that year. This, naturally, got everyone enthusiastic and encouraged, and then he mentioned, for whatever reason, that he could not remember the name of the island. I thought, "How could you not remember?" If you were being invited to an nation, and all of the citizens are going to be required to come hear you speak--and it's an island nation, not some little island, according to him--how could you possibly forget the name of the country? I even went home afterward to search on the internet for one article--just one--to report that an American pastor was going to have an entire nation at his disposal. Of course I found nothing. No amputees regained arms at that meeting. No one flew across the room. No one in wheelchairs got out of them for more than 2 minutes. And, of course, no one was raised from the dead. The saddest thing to me was seeing the members of my church ignore all of these things, no matter how meekly presented. The reasons were, of course, that our faith here in wicked America--as opposed to the people in other nations where David Hogan visits--is not good enough for God to even show himself in a small physical way. Regards, Nate Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:36:23 -0600 To: Brian Karjala Dear Brian, I just wanted to say thank you for the detailed research you have done on this man, Dave Hogan. To tell you the truth I never heard of Dave Hogan until I read your articles on line. After reading them I watched a few of his sermons on lines as well and I have to tell you that I was greatly disgusted and disappointed with what I saw and heard. It didn't take long for me to see that this man could not stay on one subject for more than one or two minutes. He made it impossible for a person to really understand what or where he was going with what he was saying. In one particular service that I was watching I couldn't help but realize just how arrogant this man is. His self-promotion seemed to be his most important point that he wanted to get across. At one time he was boasting about how he attracted spirits and that it didn't bother him one bit, then he went on to ask the congregation, "Why can't you do the same?" As I read more about this man I became deeply upset when I read that some Assembly of God churches openly allow him to speak in their churches. My husband and I attend an Assembly of God church, and just the thought that our church leaders would back a man like this is quite unsettling. I will be asking the district counsel in our area whether or not they back this man or not. If they do, we will be seeking another church to attend. This is how strongly I feel about this. Dave Hogan is a danger to Christians everywhere. His deception and false teachings have literally been taught from the pulpit. May God open the eyes of people everywhere to see what really controls this man, and what really speaks through him. We are indeed living in the last days, and we need to be so careful that we are not deceived by satan who can appear as an angel of light, or as a man in western clothing, boots, and no tie. Thank you again, and may the Lord bless you. Lillie
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