The Fourth Dimension by Dr.

David Yonggi Cho

November 2, 2011 at 1:42 pm Filed under Book Review, Pioneer
This post contains my book review of The Fourth Dimension by Dr. David Yonggi Cho.
This review is not intended as an academic exercise but as a record of my understanding of the
principles taught in this book and how I have been personally affected by them. Therefore I have
chosen to record my thoughts on a chapter by chapter basis. N.B. All bible verses quoted are
taken from the Amplified translation
Introduction
In this book Dr. Cho introduces the concept of the fourth dimension. He states that the physical
world exists in three dimensions only (in simple terms height, depth and breadth) but that a
fourth and greater dimension encompasses these. This is the dimension of the spiritual where the
supernatural occurs. The fourth dimension can be seen manifested within the three dimension of
the world when supernatural occurrences (those that operate out with the laws of nature) take
place.
Dr. Cho explains that as people we are made up of three parts: the body (our physical self); soul
(emotions and personality) and spirit (the part of us that can communicate with God and
understand spiritual things). When we are born again by accepting Jesus into our lives the
spiritual part of ourselves is re-activated and we then gain the ability to understand the spiritual
dimension.
Dr. Cho believes that Christians need to be as comfortable operating in this spiritual dimension
as we are in the three physical dimensions. Although these principles were not new to me at the
time of reading this book I feel particularly challenged by this statement. I am comfortable
operation in this spiritual dimension but to be equally comfortable I would have to be constantly
aware of things that are happening in the spirit just as I am constantly aware of my physical
surroundings. I feel that I defiantly do not have this level of awareness yet butI know that I
would be much more effective in bringing His kingdom into my circumstances if I did. Part of
my aim for Pioneer is to learn to seek Gods presence in new and creative ways. I hope that by
finding new ways to seek Him I will gradually gain a greater awareness of the spiritual
dimension which surrounds me.
Preface
Dr. Cho is the senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea. This church has one of
the largest congregations in the world. The most recent statistic I have been able to find states
that in 2007 the church membership was over one million people.
Dr. Cho was raised in a devout Buddhist home but became a Christian as a teenager while
suffering from tuberculosis. After contracting the disease Dr. Cho was told that he had no hope
of survival and despite many Buddhist prayers his condition showed no improvement. In
desperation he prayed to any unknown God who could help him. Shortly after this a young
Christian girl began to visit him regularly and speak to him about Jesus. Dr. Cho was eventually
touched by her compassion for him and agreed to convert. However it was not until after she
gave him her Bible and Dr. Cho began to read the Gospels that he accepted Jesus and began a
personal relationship with Him. Dr. Cho was healed of his condition and began to attend bible
school, which eventually led to his becoming a pastor.
I believe that the most significant part of this story is that Dr. Chos conversion was motivated
primarily by coming to understand the character of Jesus Christ. Later in the book Dr. Cho writes
about what it means to be motivated by the Love of God. Although anyone who has a personal
relationship with Christ will love Him to a greater or lesser degree I believe that Dr. Chos
intense period of study of the gospels, at the beginning of his relationship with Jesus, has given
him a great insight into what it truly means to love.
Chapter 1 The Spirit and You
The main idea of this chapter is that understanding of the fourth dimension comes from the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person and by developing a more intimate relationship with Him our
ability to not only understand but operate within the fourth dimension will be increased.
Dr. Cho explains that during the time of the Old Testament God mostly operated in His role as
Father, ruling over the people as their king, whereas during the time of the gospels God spoke
almost exclusively in the form of the Son, Jesus. After Jesus ascended into Heaven came the age
of the Holy Spirit who has been sent to guide us and to reveal the nature of God to us by
communicating with our spirits.
Dr. Cho exhorts the reader to develop closer fellowship with the Holy Spirit by acknowledging
his personhood. Not simply waiting for His promptings but inviting Him into all aspects of our
lives. He states that we come to reflect the character of those we spend time with and so
spending time with the Spirit will give us greater insight into the nature of spiritual things.
In this chapter Dr. Cho also describes the principle of incubation the creative process of
focusing on and confessing that which we desire to see fulfilled. He explains that this process
comes in six stages:
having a clear desire which is inspired by the Holy Spirit
being specific in our prayers (stating exactly rather than vaguely our desire)
allowing the Spirit to fill us until we are fully convinced that our desires will come to
pass
visualising our desires fulfilled
praying fervently until that fulfilment is manifested in the physical world
using our fourth dimension ability to affect the world through our words by confessing
that our desire is already fulfilled
From this list I feel most challenged by second last statement. The dictionary defines fervent as:
having or displaying a passionate intensity. While I love to pray, I do not think that I had
previously understood the importance of maintaining a passion for the things which I am praying
for. I believe that the natural result of a lack of passion will be that I cease to visualise and
confess my desire as it will no longer be at the forefront of my mind. Without including these
important steps I will not be able to fully complete the process of incubation and so will
significantly hinder my ability to affect the spiritual dimension and see my desires fulfilled. In
order to maintain an intense desire for those things which I pray for I think that I need to firstly
seek greater revelation of their importance to Gods kingdom and secondly to actively choose to
be passionate during my prayer times rather than simply allowing my emotions to determine my
level of intensity.
Chapter 2 The Fourth Dimension
In this chapter Dr. Cho deals with various aspects of the spiritual fourth dimension and how it
can affect the physical world, including mans spirit, the actions of demonic spirits and dreams
and visions.
Dr. Cho starts of the chapter by describing in more detail the three parts of man and states that
none is more important than the other. We need to take care of our bodies and our
emotions/intellect as much as our spirit. He then goes on to explain five different stages of mans
spiritual development which occur as he moves from unbeliever to mature Christian. These
stages are
God wants to direct our lives by His Spirit
Before being born again man is incapable of understanding spiritual things
Once man has this understanding he must differentiate between the works of God and the
works of Satan (both of which are of the spirit)
Only after developing the spiritual senses in this way will the believer be able to
understand mature things
The spiritually mature are characterised by restoration and not by destruction
This idea of being able to differentiate between the work of the Holy Spirit and demonic spirits
comes from 1 John 4:1-3 (see below) and is discussed in some detail by Dr. Cho.
1
BELOVED, DO not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether
they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.

2
By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which
acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that J esus Christ (the Messiah) [actually] has become
man and has come in the flesh is of God [has God for its source];

3
And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that J esus Christ has come in the
flesh [but would annul, destroy, sever, disunite Him] is not of God [does not proceed from
Him]. This [nonconfession] is the [spirit] of the antichrist, [of] which you heard that it was
coming, and now it is already in the world. (1 John 4:1-3)
Dr. Cho uses this verse as evidence that anything which the Holy Spirit can do can be
counterfeited by the Devil. For example Buddhist monks who perform healing miracles or
seers who divine the future. He explains that these people have learned to tap into their fourth
dimensional power but are doing so out with the authority of Christ. As it clearly states in the
verses above we are able to discern when someone is operating under the anointing of the Holy
Spirit because they will always glorify Jesus and not themselves.
Dreams and Visions
Dr. Cho goes on to explain how dreams and vision are an extremely important part of how the
Holy Spirit speaks to us. This year one of my main goals for Pioneer is to break out in prophetic
ministry. I believe dreams and visions will be a major part of this. As such I gained many
valuable insights from this portion of the chapter.
Dr. Cho states that the more you focus on something the more you will begin to reflect it in your
personality, character or actions. Although I was familiar with this principle I had not considered
the implications for dreams and visions namely that negative thinking will inhibit your ability
to envision the things of God because your mind will begin to lean towards negative thoughts
and emotions. Thus your faith for good things will be undermined. I think that this is a
particularly importance principle for me to remember because I become easily stressed over
small things in my life. This stress will hinder my ability to hear the Holy Spirit clearly and thus
operate in my prophetic gifting. I now realise the importance of guarding my thinking against
stress and breaking it of my life as soon as it begins to manifest. I intend to regularly plead the
blood of the lamb over my mind and thoughts to help guard against negative thinking patterns.
Chapter 3 The Renewing of the Mind
This chapter is entirely based on Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external,
superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its
new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and
acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in
His sight for you].
Dr. Cho looks in some depth at how the human brain functions and how this can give us insights
into consciousness, will, desire and creativity. Much of the science discussed in this chapter is
already very familiar to me and so I did not really gain any new insights from it. However I was
inspired by the story of the Temppeliaukio Kirkko (Rock Church) in Helsinki, Finland.
The Rock church was built by the brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen in 1969. It is built on
a prime location within the city which had remained undeveloped due to a huge rock outcropping
that could not be removed. Timo and Tuomo had the inspired idea to build the church into the
rock rather than try to remove it. When I researched this church I expected to see an artificial
structure build inside the rock outcropping, instead the church is build around and into it!
This is a photograph of the inside of the Rock Church

I love this visual demonstration of the principle that we do not overcome obstacles in our lives
by simply removing them but by creatively incorporating them into our solutions.
Dr. Cho states that the renewing of mind includes the exchange of our strength for Gods
strength. He says that this exchange includes creative strength. I had always thought that God
could inspire creativity but I had not fully understood that He should be the driving force behind
all our creative endeavours. From now on I intend to seek His creative strength, as well as
emotional, physical, etc, when I am faced with what appear to be immovable obstacles.
Chapter 4 The Creative Ability of Your Words
In chapter four Dr. Cho focuses on how are words have creative power and how that power can
be used to influence the spiritual dimension.
He speaks about how James 3:2 - For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things.
And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed
character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature.-
shows that our words affect our whole being (not just our mind). He goes on to explain that our
words are affected by our emotions, the people we spend time with and the things which we
dwell upon or imagine. It is a sign of maturity when a person is in control of his words.
The main point that I gained from both this verse and Dr. Chos points is that we cannot let our
circumstances control our words. Instead we must use our words to control our circumstances.
Dr. Cho then goes on to look at how the ideas of speaking, thinking and words in general were
expressed in the original Greek writings of the New Testament. As I am currently learning
Biblical Greek this was obviously of great interest to me. The term most commonly used in
Greek to mean word is (logos). This is the root word for two different terms:
(lego) meaning to say and (logismos) meaning reasoning or thought. This is a clear
indication that in Greek culture the concepts of speaking and thinking were closely related. This
relationship between our thoughts and our words is more explicitly stated in Matthew 12:34
For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.
Dr. Cho goes on to explain that in Greek culture the word (logos) also carried the idea that
the importance of the words are defined by the importance of the one speaking them. This is
actually very significant because as co-heirs with Christ we have the same authority that He did
and thus our words can have the same level of impact on the spiritual dimension!
Later in the chapter Dr. Cho discusses the Greek term used to describe the word of God coming
upon a person (rhema theon). This phrase literally means the word of God.
However in the New Testament it is only used in two cases: when Simon prophesies over baby
Jesus in the temple and when John the Baptist is moved by the Holy Spirit to begin his ministry.
The phrase word of God occurs in other places in the New Testament but this particular Greek
phrase is not used.
After researching this phrase I have discovered that the reason it is used to describe the coming
of the word of God is that (rhema) expresses the action of speaking words unlike
(logos) which simply expresses the existence of the words. Understanding this has really brought
home to me the idea that prophesy and prophetic ministry are dynamic activities and are as
much about acting on the words God gives as sharing them with others.
Chapter 5 Love: The Motivational Force
In the last chapter of his book Dr. Cho focuses on the forces that motivate our behaviour. The
dictionary defines motivation as: the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a
particular way. Dr. Cho goes on to explain that as Christians we have access to motivational
forces which are outside of our physical world but contained within the spiritual dimension. The
most important of these motivations forces is the Love of God.
Dr. Cho contrasts natural human love which is motivated by duty or sympathy with Love of God
which is motivated by the Holy Spirit. Love of God is not based on an emotional reaction but is
an act of will induced by the presence of the Holy Spirit inside of us. Love of God often involves
emotional feelings and so engages our soul but it is birthed in our spirit.
This idea of love as an act of will is reflected in the language of the New Testament. Ancient
Greek has three different terms which were used to describe love. These are: (eros)
meaning passionate desire; (phileo) meaning to have affection for and (agape)
meaning a determination of will to love something. When describing the love that Christians
should have for God and for one another all the New Testament writers use (agape).
The full meaning of this form of love is explained by Paul in chapter thirteen of his first letter to
the Corinthians (see 1 Corinthians 13). Paul defines this love as a fruit of the Spirit, yet both
chapters twelve and fourteen of 1 Corinthians are concerned with gifts of the Spirit. Dr. Cho
argues that this dedication of a whole chapter to love is not because it is more important than the
spiritual gifts but because it should be the fundamental motivation for their use. He believes that
only when we are motivated by love will our focus be solely on glorifying God and not on
ourselves or the form that the gifts take. He concludes that if we are motivated by Love of God
then we will have greater breakthrough in our use of spiritual gifts because we will be operating
from a place of having given over our will to the Holy Spirit.
I believe that this will be another key factor in developing my prophetic ministry this year. I want
to develop a greater awareness of what my motivations are when attempting to move in the
prophetic and to spend time seeking greater intimacy with the Holy Spirit so that I can fully give
over my will to Him. I think that this will mostly be achieved through prayer and spending time
in His presence but it is also my intention to research further what it means to be fully indwelt by
the Spirit and how this affects the use of his gifts, particularly prophecy.
Although I initially found this book very difficult to read the process of writing a review has
forced me to think more clearly about the aspects that stood out to me and to form more definite
opinions on its principles. The fact that I am currently learning Greek has defiantly given me a
greater appreciation for Dr. Chos exploration of the language which surround the spiritual
dimension. I also feel that I have learned many principles which will be helpful in developing my
prophetic ministry. All in all I believe that reading this book has been a useful learning
experience if a difficult one.



















From The Fourth Dimension The Key to Putting Your Words to Work to Live a Successful Life
by Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho, pastor of the largest Protestant church in the world, located in Korea.
(This is from the 1979 edition which is no longer in print.)
Chapter The Creative Power of the Spoken Word
There are certain steps we must follow for faith to be properly incubated and a central truth about
the realm faith operates in. There is also a basic principle about the spoken word that we need to
understand. So I want to speak to you about the creative power of the spoken word and the
reason why the useage of it is so important.
One morning I was eating breakfast with one of Koreas leading neurosurgeons, and he was
telling me about a recent finding about various operations of the brain. He asked, Dr. Cho, did
you know that the speech center in the brain rules over all the nerves? You ministers really have
power, because according to our recent findings in neurology, the speech center in the brain has
total dominion over all the other nerves.
I laughed saying, Ive known that for a long time.
He asked me, How did you know that? In the world of neurology, these are new findings.
I replied that I had learned it from Dr. James.
Who is this Dr. James, he asked.
Why, he was one of the famous doctors in Biblical times nearly 2000 years ago, I replied.
And in his book, chapter 3 the first few verses, Dr. James clearly defines the activity and the
importance of the tongue and the speech center.
The neurosurgeon was completely amazed. Does the Bible really teach about this?
Yes, the tongue is the least member of the body, but it can bridle the whole body.
Then the neurosurgeon began to expond on their findings. He said that the speech nerve center
has such power over all the body that simply speaking can give one control over his body to
manipulate it in the way he wishes. He said, if someone keeps on saying, Im going to become
weak, then right away, all the nerves receive that message and they say, oh, lets prepare to
become weak, for we have received instructions from our central communication that we should
become weak. They then in natural sequence adjust their physical attitude to weakness. If
someone says, Well, I have no ability I cant do this job, then right away all the nerves begin
to declare the same thing. Yes, they respond, we received instructions from the central nervous
system saying that we have no abilities. To give up striving to develop any capability we must
prepare ourselves to become a part of an incapable person.
If someone keeps saying, Im very old, Im so very old and so tired, I cant do anything, then
right away the speech central control response begins giving out orders to that effect. The nerves
response yes, we are old. We are ready for the grave. Lets be ready to disintigrate. If
someone keeps on saying that he is old, then that person is soon going to die.
The neurosurgeon continued saying that man should never retire. Once a man retires, he keeps
repeating to himself, I am retired. And all the nerves start responding and become less active
and ready for a quick death.
That conversation carried great meaning to me. It made an impact on my life. For I could see that
one important useage of the spoken word is the creation of a successful personal life. People
easily adapt to speaking in an negative way. Boy am I poor. I dont even have any money to the
Lord. When an opportunity does come for a job with a good salary, the nervous system
responds. Im not able to be rich, because I havent received that reverse instruction from my
nerve center yet. Im supposed to be poor. So I cant accept this job. Im not supposed to have
money.
Light attracts light. And since you act as if you were a poor person, you attract poverty. This
attraction, if it remains permanent, will allow you to dwell permantly in poverty. Exactly as the
Bible said 2000 years ago, it is so today. Medical science has just recently discovered this
principle. This one neurosurgeon said that people should keep saying to themselves, I am
young, I am able, I can do the work of a young person, no matter what my chronological age is.
The nerves of that person will become alive and receive power and strength from the nerve
center.
The Bible says clearly that whosoever controls the tongue controls the whole body. What you
speak, you are going to get. If you keep on saying you are poor, then all your system conditions
yourself to attract poverty. You will feel at home in poverty. You would rather be poor and argue
with people who arent.
But if you will keep on saying that you are able that you can achieve success, then all of your
body would be bridled to success. You would be ready to meet any challenge; ready to conquer
it. This is the reason you should never speak in a negative way.
We have the habit of making frequent use of words that have to do with dying. Common
expresions are, its so warm I could die. Oh, Ive eaten so much I could suffocate to death. Oh,
Im so happy I could die. Oh, Im scared to death. Koreans repeatedly use these negative words.
That is the reason that throughout Korea 5000 year history we have been constantly dying
constantly at war. My generation has never seen peace in this country. I was born during World
War II, and I grew up during the Korean War. And now we still live in a country on the brink of
war.
Before you can be changed, you must change your language. If you do not change your
language, you cannot change yourself. If you want to see your children change, you must teach
them how to use proper language. If you want to see rebellious and irresponsible children change
into responsible adults, you must teach them this new language.
Where can we learn this new language? From the best book of all. The Bible. From Genesis to
Revelation. The Bibles language, the Bibles rules for the tongue. (Look up all the words having
to do with the tongue such as speak, speech, words, tongue, etc, in the Bible. )*
Feed your nervous system with these words. Constructive, progressive, productive, victorious
words. Keep repeating them so that you can have control of your whole body. Then you will
become victorious. For you will become completely conditioned to meet your environment and
circumstances and achieve complete success.
*Note to self added.



















Paul Yonggi (David) Cho

Trademark: Cho is a Gnostic whose teachings are focused on Eastern mysticism

The church is in control, not God
"You create the presence of Jesus with your mouth ... He is bound by your lips and by your
words ... Remember that Christ is depending upon you and your spoken word to release His
presence."
Paul Yonggi (David) Cho (The Fourth Dimension, Vol.1 1979, p. 83)
4th Dimension of non-carnal attainment
"Then God spoke to my heart, 'Son... the spirit is the fourth dimension. ...[as] the third dimension
includes and controls the second dimension, so the fourth dimension includes and controls the
third dimension, producing a creation of order and beauty."
Paul Yonggi (David) Cho (The Fourth Dimension, p. 38-40)
"There are three spiritual forces in the earth. The Spirit of God, the spirit of man, and the spirit of
Satan.... All three spirits are in the realm of the fourth dimension, so naturally spirits can hover
over the material third dimension and exercise creative powers.... "The Holy Spirit said, 'My son,
man still does not realize the spiritual power that I have given him.'" "Yes, I said, realizing what
God was referring to.... False prophets had power in the realm of the spirit because they had
come to realize their potential."
Paul Yonggi (David) Cho (The Fourth Dimension, Volume Two, p. 38)
"God spoke to my heart, "Son... the fourth dimension includes and controls the third dimension,
producing a creation of order and beauty. The spirit is the fourth dimension." "Every human
being is a spiritual being.... They have the fourth dimension as well as the third dimension in
their hearts." "In Genesis the Spirit of the Lord was incubating, brooding over the water; He was
like a hen sitting on her eggs, incubating them and hatching chickens. In much the same manner
the Holy Spirit incubates the third dimension, so does the evil spirit incubate...." "You may
wonder how we can incubate our subconsious... the only way for us to incubate is through our
imaginations.... Through visualizing and dreaming you can incubate your future and hatch
results...." "So men [Christians or occultists], by exploring their spiritual sphere of the fourth
dimension through the development of concentrated visions and dreams in their imagination, can
brood over and incubate the third dimension, influencing and changing it." "This is what the
Holy Spirit taught me."
Paul Yonggi (David) Cho (The Fourth Dimension, p. 39-44)
Cho's concept of fourth-dimensional thinking is nothing short of occultism. In his best-selling
book "The Fourth Dimension", Cho unveils his departure from historic Christian theology and
his entry into the world of the occult. Cho lists four steps in his incubation formula:
1) Visualize a clear-cut goal or idea in your mind;
2) have a burning desire for your objective;
3) pray until you get the guarantee or assurance from God that what you desire is already yours;
4) speak or confess the end result into existence.
Paul Yonggi (David) Cho (Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis, 1993 citing Paul Yonggi
Cho, The Fourth Dimension, Volume One (So. Plainfield, NJ: Bridge Publishing, 1979), 9-35;
vol. 2, 18-33 )
Words are spiritual containers
"By the spoken word we create our universe of circumstances...."
Paul Yonggi (David) Cho (Solving Life's Problems, p. 51)
Visual empowerment
"We've got to learn how... to visualize and dream the answer as being completed as we go to the
Lord in prayer. We should always try to visualize the end result as we pray." "In that way, with
the power of the Holy Spirit, we can incubate that which we want God to do for us...." "God used
this process of visualizing the situation to help Abraham.... By that visualization through the
associated thought Abraham... could incubate his [future] children and dispel the doubts from his
heart.... The main thing is that we should know the importance of visualization."
Paul Yonggi (David) Cho (The Fourth Dimension, Volume Two, pp.26-27)
"We should always try to visualize the end result as we pray.... If you have not visualized clearly
in your heart exactly what you hope for, it cannot become a reality to you...." "We have taught
our people how to... visualize success.... Through visualizing and dreaming, you can incubate
your future and hatch the results."
Paul Yonggi (David) Cho (The Fourth Dimension, Volume Two, pp. 25-28, 68, The Fourth Dimension, p. 44)
"Through visualization and dreaming you can incubate your future and hatch the results."
Paul Yonggi (David) Cho (The Fourth Dimension, p. 44)
"I imagine that Abraham... when he looked up at the stars, all he could see were the faces of his
children, and suddenly he felt that he was hearing them call to him, 'Father Abraham!'" "...He
could not sleep when he closed his eyes, for he saw all the stars changing into the faces of his
descendants.... Those pictures came to his mind again and again... [and] became part of his fourth
dimension...." "These visions and dreams carried dominion over his one- hundred-year-old body,
and it was transformed as if it were like a young body."
Paul Yonggi (David) Cho (The Fourth Dimension, p. 48)























The fourth Dimension Dr. David Yong-Gi Cho


Book Review- The 4
th
Dimension Dr. David Yong-gi cho

Summary of book
In the 4
th
Dimension Yong-gi cho sets out to explain truths that are key to having a life filled
with faith and true relationship with God. He explains how these have been relevant to his life, I
love the way he describes these in a very personal way, which has allowed me to make his
thoughts applicable to my life.
He also describes his ideas not only on a spiritual level but on an intellectual level, going into
depth in several subjects such as the dimensional planes, psychology of the human being and its
relation to God and anatomy. I love this as it serves as proof of God and his existence and
reinforces divine design. In art college we had a lecture on design of the world around us where
it explained how things were made perfectly, it was obvious from the lecture how God has
created the world with a perfect plan for each thing and I felt this was something that is obvious
in this book. This certainly appealed to me from an artistic level.
This book is one that challenges on a variety of levels and inspires for personal prayer life, faith
Goals, attitudes and relationship with God.
In this book report I have chosen to go through each chapter and summarize how its relevance to
my walk, what stood out to me and how I am applying it to my life.
Introduction/ his testimony
I found Yong-gi Chos testimony very challenging as it shows great faith in God for healing.
Soon after becoming a Christian God healed him and saved him from a life or death situation.
As a member of the healing team I have prayed for people for healing and seen them healed but I
still find challenged to seek healing in my own life, mainly for the small things. Although I
cannot deny that God has healed me from major things and delivered me from Bulimia and all
eating disorder mentalities entirely. His testimony struck with me on a personal level as he had
decided all he wanted was God and explains it as a love affair,during that time he was healed and
for me to be healed from Bulimia, it was similar.i just decided that I wanted to do nothing but
love him. I think it shows the power of Gods love.
In the introduction he also explains about 4 Dimensional living, I have always loved this part of
his book and have used it a lot in my art work. As I have an obsession with showing both
physical and spiritual realms in my work, I feel its important to always be thinking not just in the
physical and he states this. Its a totally different way of thinking and the first time I read this
book it awakened a new way of thinking in my mind/heart personally and as an artist.

The kingdom of heaven rising up out of the ocean- one of my prints

Chapter 1 : The holy spirit and you
In this chapter Yonggi-cho goes into detail about the importance of fellowship with the Holy
Spirit and how/what that should look like.
Characteristics of the holy spirit( taken from the book)
Spirit of Truth-leads us to truth
Spirit of wisdom
Spirit of understanding
Spirit of Knowledge
Spirit of Judgement

We become like the one we fellowship with.
I would love to become more like the Holy Spirit! In this season God has been calling me in to a
time of real intimacy and constantly and continuously seeking his presence and intimacy first
above all things and just enjoying being in his presence. I enjoyed being in his presence before
this time but I realised and had revelation recently of just a snippet more of the height and depth
of his presence and that there was way more for me and that there always will be. I love this
chapter as it is delving into where my heart is at the moment, becoming in extreme close
partnership with the Holy Spirit. I look at the characteristics above and it really challenges me to
draw closer and become more intimate so as it says I can become like the Holy Spirit, the one
Im fellowshipping with.
Development of the the Koinonia (fellowship) with the holy spirit
Share our feelings, expression in words. Adore him and thank him. welcome his presence.
pray. Dont just turn in times of trouble! :-) dear holy spirit- lets do this!
I absolutely love this, the best thing is it is such a joy to spend time with God, because he is
always good.
The book also talks about what grieves and what pleases the Holy Spirit and my hope this year
the I become closer to list of traits that pleases the holy spirit
Eph 4:30-33
30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption.
What he does not like-31
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along
with every form of malice.
What he does like -
32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ God forgave you.

I can do this by becoming closer to him
The Unity of the holy spirit
we should be aware of the holy spirit being an intimate part of us.if we dont remain
conscious of this then our work will be empty and unfulfilled.
I absolutely love this, our work is not worth anything thing unless it is for God, I want my heart
to be in that place of doing everything for God and with God.
Incubation- This challenges me completely in my Goals and dreams every time.
1. clear goal ( faith is the substance of) and one the holy spirit has given you. It must
fillyyour heart and imagination.
What is the desire of your heart right now? ( Desires)
2. Visualize dreams it as completed LOVE THIS Romans 1:17
17
For in the Gospel a
righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to
faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The
man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith.(A
Dare to Believe..
think of abraham your children shall be as innumerable as the star
Psalm 37:4
4
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of
your heart.
3. Pray until your faith rises up to become substance
be specific
4. Confess it with you mouth

There was one particular line in the book that challenged me, this was when Yonggi-cho simply
asked the question what is the desire of your heart right now?
This was because every time I have read this book the answer is always the exact same. To have
a performing arts college that covers Dance, Art, Music and Drama that is 100% under Gods
wing and that is at a standard of excellence that challenges the worlds colleges.
This was a dream God placed on my heart in the first year of university and one that has never
died. It is however one that I have struggled to visualise because of how big it is. It is one that a
believe is really important as God has specifically lain on my heart people within the arts
industries. I feel that I have always kept laying it down and God keeps reminding me, its
possibly because it terrifies me!
I realised this time I need to step out in faith and declare as Yonggi-cho says with my mouth.
Its a dream I need to act on and God has given me strategies that I need to develop and plan out
for example I know that after baby is born that God definitely wants me to go to dance college.
This is something I am now certain about and I have had too many words from God not to act
upon it. He has even challenged my thinking on it to believe that anything is possible.

I have copied my schools logo into here because I believe Ascend is the name currently for the
vision God is heading up. I am actually not entirely sure if it will be in Dundee as God will
possibly locate Steve and i elsewhere and possibly in a bigger city- a capital I think.


2. The fourth dimension

In this chapter we are encouraged to again think upon God, and not the world- 4D thinking.
Proverbs 23:7
7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not
with thee.

SUCCESS OR FAILURE DEPENDS ON 4D THINKING
THINK UPON GOD
Yonggi-cho uses examples of 4D thinking to help us visualize how to think that way, for
example Abraham, Jacob and Joseph who were all 4D thinkers.
This is an anti-zen approach, not within us but with God
This chapter on fourth dimensional thinking is the one that influenced my artwork in first year of
university and has since then influenced my work. When i paint and create I know always try to
visualize what is happening in the spiritual, this is something I know do when I am on buses or
trains or sitting in a public place.
It has also helped me to think upon God when I feel insecurities or any moments of doubt arise
instead of thinking upon how I feel, something which has freed me from Bulimia entirely.

3. The renewing of the mind
This chapter again challenge us to think upon God and be delivered from our mindsets
Romans 12:2
2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
John 8 :32
32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
This again highlighted to me the importance of thinking about God as much as possible. It
challenged me to get into the habit of changing my mind to think about him as quickly as
possible when being challenged by old thought processes and by lifes circumstances because in
his presence we are overcomers.
It is also important to be in a heaven mentality always and not be swayed by the worlds fashion
plate
4. The creative ability of our words.
This chapter reinforces the point of speaking out Gods word over our situations and declaring
things in faith, also the importance of not speaking out bad things.
James 3:2
Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would
be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.
Psalm 19:14
14
May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Words have power.
I feel that I need to be better at speaking out Gods word in situations and using Gods word in
this way. Steve has a book the power of proclamation, this chapter has encouraged me to read
this and use it in circumstances.
5: Love the motivational force
As explained in the title of this chapter we need to be motivated by Love.
This chapter goes into detail what love is in its different forms and how it is important for that to
be our motivation as christians.
The ultimate example of this is Jesus dying on the cross because of love.
I feel that for people to be motivated by love they need to a true revelation of Gods love for
them and true intimacy with God. God is Love.
Again this is something that I think we can do by pursuing extreme intimacy with God.
It is also the greatest commandment
Mark 12:28-30
28
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving
that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

29
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord
our God is one Lord:

30
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
We can be doing his ministry and his will but if we are not doing it out of love for him it is not
fruitful and striving. This I think challenges anyone really involved in ministry. I have a heart to
do a lot of things with Pioneer this year, a lot of ministry things but I would be sad if I got to the
end of the year and had done them all but not because I love him, or if I had not pursued his
intimacy first.
This chapter is a reminder of what I really want for this year, which is to experience and be
motivated by his intimate love and to be able to love others because of it.
It also reminded me that its his love that gets us through the tough seasons and helps us get back
on our feet again.
Over all I felt this book was I good foundation for inspiring me for this year. If awoke
dreams I had buried, it challenged my faith in Gods plan for my life and also in seeing
healing and experiencing the supernatural. I think mostly it acts a really good arrow to
point christians to look at him and not the world and be obsessed by him, his will and his
plans and not the world. It is also really inspiring knowing that Yonggi-cho has taken this
from personal experience and he is now running the biggest church in the world.


















Paul (David) Yonggi Cho
Occult Healing Builds Worlds Largest Church: The Influence Of
Paul Yonggi Cho

In the course of reading a veritable pile of recent books on a range of charismatic practices
including house groups, prophesying and healing, this writer has noticed that many of the
advocates of these things have been powerfully impressed by the work of Paul Yonggi Cho,
pastor of the largest church in the world, the Full Gospel Central Church in Seoul, Korea.
They simply cannot keep quiet about him. Even as one reads the books the size of the
congregation goes up; it is growing that fast! If a book was published at the beginning of
the 1980s the author tells us that the largest church in the world has 150,000 members and
over 100 assistant pastors. The latest books speak of 500,000 members. The church claims
17,000 new members a month, and many Western evangelicals are so overawed by this
information that they just cannot wait to start experimenting with Yonggi Cho methods.
American healer John Wimber is such a case. Before turning to charismatic healing he
traveled round churches giving lectures on church growth. As he studied this subject he
became increasingly depressed by the seeming ineffectiveness of Western evangelism by
comparison with the phenomenal growth experienced by charismatic churches in Third
World countries. He was particularly impressed by the claim that an estimated 70% of all
church growth worldwide is achieved by charismatics. The extraordinary growth of Paul
Yonggi Chos church caught his attention, and he tells us so. Wimber realized that the
growth of this church rested on its ministry of signs and wonders such as the casting out of
demons and dramatic healings, and he concluded that Western Christians were
experiencing blunted evangelism because they were afraid of living and ministering in such
an atmosphere of spiritual power.
He tells us, Through the reports of signs and wonders from Third World students and
missionaries, and through a greater understanding of how Western materialism
undermines Christians acceptance of the supernatural, I had begun to open my heart to
the Holy Spirit. I wondered, were signs and wonders and church growth like those
experienced in Third World countries possible in the United States? I would have to
become a pastor again to find out.
John Wimbers enthusiasm for Dr. Paul Yonggi Chos work is expressed in the course
notes of his Signs and Wonders and Church Growth seminars: Full Gospel Central
Church is growing fast because of an emphasis on healing. When Yonggi Cho prays for the
sick in the Sunday service, many people are healed After they are healed by God, they
become Christians and good evangelists this is the secret of church growth of FGCC.
While Paul Yonggi Cho certainly cannot be regarded as the father of the new healing
extreme, the extraordinary expansion of his church has caused numerous impressionable
pastors and church leaders to fall at his feet as dead. Because of the influence his success
has had over so many, and also because his methods broadly typify those employed by
other mega-churches in Latin America, it is obviously important to become familiar with
these methods. Paul Chos best-known book The Fourth Dimension reveals his theology,
which marks a radical departure from historic Christianity.
Pastor Cho tells us how he learned to pray. When he began to pastor his church in Seoul he
was very poor and living in one room. Then he wondered what he was doing trying to work
without a bed, a desk and chair, or any means of transport, and he began to pray to God
for these things to be supplied. He prayed very much for a desk, chair and bicycle, but after
six months he was still lacking all three and became very discouraged.
He tells us:
Then I sat down and began to cry. Suddenly I felt a serenity, a feeling of tranquility came
into my soul. Whenever I have that kind of feeling, a sense of the presence of God, He
always speaks: so I waited. Then that still, small voice welled up in my soul, and the Spirit
said, My son, I heard your prayer a long time ago.
Right away I blurted out, Then, where are my desk, chair and bicycle?
The Spirit then said, Yes, that is the trouble with you and with all My children. They beg
Me, demanding every kind of request, but they ask in such vague terms that I cant answer.
Dont you know that there are dozens of desks, chairs and bicycles? But youve simply
asked Me for a desk, chair and bicycle. You never ordered a specific desk, chair and
bicycle.
That was the turning point in my life
Yonggi Cho tells us how he then began to specify the size of the desk (which was to be made
of Philippine mahogany), and the kind of chair (one made with an iron frame, with rollers
on the tips, so that when he sat on it he could push himself around like a big shot). He
thought long and hard about the kind of bicycle he wanted before settling for the ideal type
and praying, Father, I want to have a bicycle made in the USA, with gears on the side.
He then tells us how he prayed for his needs: I ordered these things in such articulate
terms that God could not make a mistake in delivering them. Then I felt faith flowing up
that night I slept like a baby.
Paul Cho says that the Lord never welcomes vague prayers. Taking the incident of the
healing of blind Bartimaeus he seizes on the fact that Jesus asked this obviously blind man,
What do you want Me to do for you? as a proof that God insists on our making very
specific requests. Until Bartimaeus was specific, Jesus did not heal him. At first glimpse,
this idea of highly specific praying may not seem to be the greatest error in the world, but
Paul Cho goes on to teach that the believer gets these specific requests supplied by
visualizing them and then bringing them into existence by faith!

It is vital to see this because here is the point at which charismatic development leaves
Christianity and crosses into the territory of paganism. Ideas like this are the inspiration of
the largest church in the world, imitated by so many Western charismatics. Note the
following example given by Paul Yonggi Cho.
While fulfilling a preaching engagement in another church he was asked by the pastor if he
would pray for a spinster over thirty years of age who longed to get married but had so far
not found a prospective husband. Pastor Cho asked her how long she had been praying for
a husband, and she replied that it had been more than ten years. He then said, Why hasnt
God answered your prayer for these more than ten years? What kind of husband have you
been asking for? She shrugged her shoulders and replied, Well, that is up to God. God
knows all.
Cho responded with these words: That is your mistake. God never works by Himself, but
only through you. God is the eternal source, but He only works through your requests. Do
you really want me to pray for you? Calling her to sit down with paper and pencil, he
proceeded to ask a series of questions:
If you write down the answers to my questions then Ill pray for you. Number one, now,
you really want a husband, but what kind of husband do you wantAsian, Caucasian, or
Black?
Caucasian.
Okay, write it down. Number two: do you want your husband to be as tall as six feet, or as
small as five feet?
Oh, I want to have a tall husband.
Write that down. Number three: do you want your husband to be slim and nice looking,
or just pleasantly plump?
I want to have him skinny.
Write down skinny. Number four: what kind of hobby do you want your husband to
have?
Well, musical.
Okay, write down musical. Number five: what kind of job do you want your husband to
have?
Schoolteacher.
Close your eyes. Can you see your husband now?
Yes, I can see him clearly.
Okay. Lets order him now. Until you see your husband clearly in your imagination you
cant order, because God will never answer. You must see him clearly before you begin to
pray.
Pastor Cho then laid hands on the young woman and prayed, saying, O God, now she
knows her husband. We order him in the name of Jesus Christ. He then instructed her to
paste the specifications for a husband on a mirror at home, read them night and morning
and praise God for the inevitable answer. He teaches the need for a vivid mental picture
coupled with a burning desire and a firm conviction that the goal is already accomplished.
Dr. Cho calls this process: visualizing the goal, then incubating it into reality by strength of
faithor would it be will- power? He teaches that believers may order up wealth and
success; anything they want as long as it is moral. The key to getting these things is the art
of fantasying them, because God cannot bring them into being unless the individual
incubates the image. Certainly, Dr. Cho tidies up his teaching by saying that people
should first pray to God for what He wants them to have before fantasying and incubating
these things into reality. But in most of his many examples (like that of the unmarried
woman) he dispenses with the need to refer to God for guidance on the details.
Though he attempts to give some biblical justification for his ideas, he tells us that he
obtained them in the first place because God communicated them directly to him.

This is his own explanation of how he arrived at his teaching on incubating prayer answers
and healing diseases. He tells us that he was driven to finding an explanation of how
Buddhist monks in Korea managed to perform better miracles than those which his own
Pentecostalist churches could perform. It worried him greatly that many Koreans got
healing through yoga meditation, and through attending meetings of the Soka Gakki, a
Japanese Buddhist sect with twenty million members.
According to Cho, many deaf, dumb, and blind people had recovered their faculties
through these religious groups.
Cho was very jealous of the success which these other religions had in attracting followers.
He wrote: While Christianity has been in Japan for more than a hundred years, with only
half a percent of the population claiming to be Christians, Soka Gakki has millions of
followers Without seeing miracles, people cannot be satisfied that God is powerful. It is
you [Christians] who are responsible to supply miracles for these people.
Other Korean Pentecostal pastors were also very troubled by these pagan healings because
ordinary church members constantly assailed them for an explanation. So, an anxious Paul
Yonggi Cho fasted and prayed, looking to God for an explanation. It is noteworthy that in
his account of his quest for a solution he makes no mention of looking in the Bible.
Suddenly, he tells us, a glorious revelation came to my heart explanations as clear as
a sunny day [The Fourth Dimension, p. 37]. Dr. Cho claims that God spoke to him
describing the material world as belonging to the third dimension. In the beginning this
three-dimensional world was chaotic, being without form and void, but the Spirit of the
Lord (Who is said to dwell in the fourth dimension) brooded over it, visualizing and
incubating into existence a new order containing beauty, cleanliness, abundance and above
alllife.
Then God told Dr. Cho that because all human beings are spiritual beings (as well as
physical beings) they have the fourth dimension in their hearts, and by developing the art
of concentrating visions and dreams in their imaginations, they can influence and change
the third dimension (material things) just as the Holy Spirit did when He brooded over the
primeval earth. According to Cho, God told him that Buddhist and yoga adherents worked
miracle cures because they explored and developed their human four-dimensional
power, imagining mental pictures of health and willing then into their bodies. God told him
that all human beings had the power to exercise legitimate dominion over the material
world through this fourth-dimensional activity.
Cho claims that the Holy Spirit said to him, Look at the Soka Gakkai. They belong to
Satan and with the evil fourth dimension they carry out dominion over their bodies and
circumstances. Then God told him that Christians should link their fourth-dimensional
spiritual power to God the Creator to have even greater control over circumstances than
the Soka Gakkai. He concluded: Soka Gakkai has applied the law of the fourth dimension
and has performed miracles; but in Christianity there is only talk about theology and
faith!
Dr. Cho says that when Paul spoke of the inner man, he was actually referring to his
fourth-dimensional power to visualize things and incubate them into life. (He does not
explain why Paul fails to say one word about this himself, nor why Christendom has had to
wait 2,000 years before this should be revealed through a personal revelation from God to
Dr. Cho.) Paul Yonggi Chos teaching is a system of mind over matter (or rather,
imagination over matter).
He frankly admits that it is a Christianized version of precisely the same methods
practiced by Buddhists, exponents of yoga, and the followers of other pagan, mystical and
occult systems. The only difference is that their fourth-dimensional power receives co-
operation from the devil, while that of Christians supposedly receives help from the Holy
Spirit. He says that so long as we keep our minds from foolish and wrong ideas, we shall
keep the canvas of our imagination clean for the Holy Spirit to paint on it the things we are
to have. In other words, direct guidance from God will come right into our minds.
Once we receive this direct communicationwhich is literally Gods will for what we may
have and dothen we must activate it by the power of our fantasying and dreaming. Dr.
Cho sums it up sayingYour success or failure depends upon your fourth-dimensional
thinking: visions and dreams. We see this principle in operation from the very beginning of
Scripture.
Abraham is claimed as an example of this process. How did a one-hundred-year-old man
become the father of so many? asks Paul Cho. He used fourth-dimensional thinking. He
was full of visions and dreams. He learned to incubate in faith By looking out in every
direction, he filled his imagination in a concrete way with Gods promise. He was not told
to close his eyes when God spoke to him. He was to look at something concrete and
substantive So God expects us also to be active in the incubation of our faith by
visualizing the final results of His promise.
Dr. Cho makes the astonishing assertion that God showed this visualization and incubation
technique to Jacob in order that he could get enrichment from his uncle, Laban. When
Jacob caused the vigorous sheep to pass between the speckled rods of poplar, hazel and
chestnut, he would stand staring at them, visualizing spotted and speckled offspring. By
visualizing the desired objective, Jacob activated the Holy Spirit, Whopunched the
proper keys for the necessary genes (Dr. Chos words), so that Jacobs cattle began to give
birth to spotted and speckled offspring.
Dr. Cho says that his massive church grew to its present size and continues to grow because
he follows this principle of visualization. He first imagines his church growing to a certain
figure, and he then visualizes all the faces and incubates the vision into reality. Similarly,
when he seeks the expansion of his television ministry, he imagines it being aired
throughout Korea, Japan, the United States, and Canada. He pins up maps of these
countries in his office and he the develops a mental vision of the transmitters beaming the
programs.
He informs us that Sarah, like Abraham, had to visualize he child into existence. Yonggi
Cho notes that at first she laughed at the idea that God would make her a mother at the age
of ninety, but soon, he asserts, she got down to visualizing the return of her youth. Where
do we read in the Bible that she began to visualize the return of her youth? The answer is
nowhere, but as every other assertion of extreme charismatic writers like Paul Yonggi Cho,
the most amazing things are read into the Scripture. Thoughts and actions are constantly
attributed to biblical characters about which the sacred narrative says nothing.
Dr. Cho has his own version of events when he tells us that as Sarah dwelt upon the
promise of God a physical change soon began to take place in her body, with the result that
King Abimelech found the old woman so attractive that he tried to take her as his
concubine. Cho concludesIf a woman begins to think of herself as attractive, she can be.
Not only will physical changes take place, but her self-image will change
Healing may be accomplished by precisely the same technique, and Pastor Cho tells the
story of a man who was knocked down and terribly injured by a taxi while doing his
Christmas shopping. When the pastor got the hospital, the man was unconscious and was
not expected to survive the night. Believing that fourth-dimensional visualizing was vital to
his recovery, Cho prayed that the man be given five minutes of consciousness. Immediately
the man recovered consciousness and Cho began to speak to him, saying, I know you are
thinking you are already envisioning death.
But God wants you to participate in the miracle that is going to take place. The reason you
have regained you consciousness is that God wants to use your fourth-dimensional power
and begin to paint a new portrait upon the canvas of your heart. I want you to start
painting a new picture of yourself in your imagination. You are on the way home and no
accident has taken place. You knock on the door and your lovely wife answers. She looks
very pretty. On Christmas day she opens up her present and you feel so proud you have
such good taste.
The next morning you wake up and have a good breakfast with your family. In other
words, you are erasing death from your mind and youre painting a picture of happiness
You leave the praying to me! I will pray in faith and you agree with me! I just ask your
ability to dream and see your health and happiness!
This was the way the man was taught to incubate the image of health. We have to learn,
says Cho, to always visualize the final result and in that way we can incubate what we want
God to do for us. He claims that the moment the injured man stopped asking if God was
going to heal him, the bed began to shake and God performed a miracle.
Paul Yonggi Cho teaches that all Christians should aim to prosper in body, soul and spirit,
and their success and failure in this is due entirely to their success or failure in visualizing.
He writes that his church members have so proved these principles of success that there
have been no bankruptcies in his church, and the membership has undertaken the largest
and most expensive church-building program in all history.

However, one cannot always take Pastor Chos claims very seriously, for elsewhere he
writes of how his own bankruptcy was all but inevitable, and how he stood on the very
verge of suicide through the near failure of his church-building project. In the end he was
only saved by church members taking such sympathetic action that many sold their homes
and most precious possessions to bail him out.
Needless to say, when we come to the Bible we cannot find any of these instructions or
ideas. We look in vain for any advice about visualizing, incubating, imagining, or any other
technique of sorcery or will-power designed to dominate God and to take away His
sovereignty over the lives of His people. In the Bible we find that even an apostle like Paul
is obliged to ask God in a humble, dependent way if he might be enabled to visit the people
of a certain churchsubject to the will of God.
The Apostle Paul, judged in the light of Paul Chos books, was a dismal failure because he
knew what it felt like to be abased, to endure hardship, and to encounter many, many
difficulties. So often events did not turn out according to his wish or endeavor as a servant
of Christ. Paul evidently made the mistake of neg ative thinkingaccepting trials and
tribulations. Overall he failed miserably in the use of his fourth-dimensional powers, never
proving successful at fantasying or willing anything into existence.
To get Gods guidance or blessing, Dr. Cho teaches that we must ask the Lord to reveal His
will by putting a desire for the intended thing into our heart. Then God must be asked to
give a sign to confirm that the desire is from Him. (This sign might amount to anything!
A small coincidence will do.) Then, if we have peace about the desired thing we should
jump up and go miracle after miracle will follow you constantly train yourself to
think in terms of miracles.
Absolute confidence in ideas which spring into the mind as desires is a characteristic of
Dr. Cho. Faith, according to his teaching, is not merely trusting that God will do those
things which He has promised to do in His Word. Faith is redefined as having absolute
trust in desires which come subjectively into ones mind, for these ideas or desires are
assumed to be direct communications from God, and we must therefore develop
unshakable confidence in them. If we take these ideas and imagine and incubate them into
reality, then we are promised miracles, and these should be our lifelong experience.
Paul Yonggi Cho soon added another stage to the process of visualizing and incubating
miraclesthe creative power of the spoken word. He says that he would often see on his
mind screen a kind of television picture of growths is appearing, cripples throwing away
their crutches, and so on. Then, he claims, God said to him: You can feel the presence of
the Holy Spirit in your church but nothing will happenno soul will be saved, no broken
home rejoined, until you speak the word. Dont just beg and beg for what you need. Give
the word
Cho replied, Lord, Im sorry. Ill speak forth. Ever since that time whenever he has seen
in his mind cripples healed or tumors disappearing, he has spoken out, saying, Someone
here is being healed of such and such, and he has named the disease. He claims that
hundreds of people are healed every Sunday when he closes his eyes and calls out all the
healings which he sees in his mind.
Interestingly, the vision or revelation which he claims led him to this technique is strikingly
similar to that which is claimed (some years later) by John Wimber, an acknowledged
admirer of Chos ministry. Like all healers, Dr. Cho is forced to acknowledge that not
everyone is successfully healed by his word. He cannot claim the infallibility of the Lord
Jesus Christ and His apostles. He admits to many bothersome failures, but he claims that
these are always due to lack of faith on the part of the sufferer.
Dr. Cho expresses his disappointment that many Western people are bypassing
Christianity and looking in Oriental temples for miraculous powers which he and others
are now making available in Christian churches! He says, Evangelical Christians are
increasingly understanding how to use their imaginations by learning how to speak the
language of the Holy Spiritvisions and dreams.
With all this in view we have no problem in identifying the strands which make up Paul
Chos new synthesis religion. The Korean people have an ancient religion called Sinkyo,
which sees the world as a religious arena inhabited by spirits. Tragedies, troubles and
illnesses can be cured by the Mudany, a woman priest who can interact with the spirits.
She is the local medical priest, combining the roles of a medium and prophetess. She
receives clairvoyant insights, goes into trances, casts out devils and cures diseases.
Korea has also for centuries been heavily influenced by Buddhism, particularly the form
already mentioned which places great stress on healing and divining. It is taught that
people do not need to be in bondage to their circumstances; they can, by right attitudes, by
concentration, and by uniting with the eternal realm, get above suffering and sickness. The
religious disposition of the Koreans is both harnessed and exploited by the Christianity
of Paul Yonggi Cho in his blatant mix of sorcery, mind-over-matter, self-interest, Sinkyo,
Japanese Buddhism and Christianity. But to mix pagan ideas and practices with the pure
religion of Christ is condemned in Scripture as the heinous sin of idolatry. It is a marriage
of Christianity and the occult, and is forbidden by God What communion hath
light with darkness? AndWhat agreement hath the temple of God
with idols?
What has built the largest church in the world?

The answer is, an idolatrous mixture of biblical teaching and pagan mind- techniques.God
is deprived of His sovereignty in the believers affairs, and the authority of Scripture is
replaced by the authority of supposedly direct messages from God and the product of the
imagination.

This is the kind of church which has moved hordes of impressionable Christian teachers
the world over to jump on to the healing-prophesying bandwagon. We need to take very
great care in these days.
Look at the books which charismatics and neo-evangelicals are writing today. They are
commending these things. Look at healing advocates like John Wimber. They are deeply
impressed by these things. These are the teachings which have captured their minds! This
is the brand of Third World Christianity they are so anxious to emulate.

What are we to say to these things?

Remember the Judaizers!

By Peter Masters