Miracles at Bethel - The Glory Cloud

The glory cloud caught on video

Live footage:
David Thuman. (2012, July 3). Glory Cloud Rises At Bethel Church
Retrieved October 4, 2014 from YouTube: http://youtu.be/lQrTjbzbByA

What makes this video footage interesting from a observational perspective is that the gold like dust is coming up from the floor rather than falling as you possible may have thought. The synthetic gold flakes that I am familiar with are too heavy to float, so what we see here must be very light like dust. A second observation is that there must be a lot of it to be so visible. There are two still images at the end of the video, one showing the cloud and the other the dust on someones hand. It is unknown if those two pictures are taken at the same time but it is assumed they are. Another point of observation is the lack of upfront control as has been seen in the Maldonado videos.


raideragent. (2011, September 10) Bethel Church and the "glory cloud"? 
Retrieved October 4, 2014 from YouTube: http://youtu.be/8Pvdl8HDmkA
There is footage of people sweeping something off the stage with their hands so there must have been some solid dust rather than just smoke.


The senior pastor Bill Johnson's response to the glory cloud.
pastorkimo4960. (2011, October 22) Response to Glory Cloud at Bethel
Retrieved October 4, 2014 from YouTube: http://youtu.be/tcPkOR4Lwj0

There is also some more video footage of the glory cloud at http://youtu.be/tcPkOR4Lwj0?t=5m53s


A very unusual encounter of the glory cloud
TheJossinator's channel. ( 2012, January 14). Glory Cloud in Peterborough, On, Canada!
Retrieved October 4, 2014 from YouTube: http://youtu.be/xK7tWdopWb4

"My brother, cousin and I were in the kitchen, sharing recent testimonies of how God has been blessing us - we turned around and what we thought was a really big active dust cloud, turned out to be really sparkly gold dust, moving in an upward and circular motion!! Praise God!"

The scientific approach to this manifestation

Video footage of cosmetic grade gold glitter.
00Gladiator1. (2012, February 16). Bethel's Glory Cloud or Gold Glitter?
Retrieved October 4, 2014 from YouTube: http://youtu.be/sPQJs5vicy0

What this video shows is a possible explanation of what we saw at Bethel Church. It is not enough to demonstrate that something looks the same it is important to show that it behaves the same. Occam's razor would suggest that some glitter like this in the air-conditioning duct would explain what we have observed, however the video showed that it looked more like smoke that glitter. I would want to see some tests carried out on this glitter before I accept this as true evidence.

A video log that disputes the Glory Cloud is gold glitter
THE OLD LAB RAT. (2012, May 21). GLORY CLOUD LOGIC
Retrieved October 4, 2014 from YouTube: http://youtu.be/EJ6u-zHjmIA

This video blog looks at the glory cloud scientifically and suggest like me that gold glitter does not float in the air like dust. See his comment: http://youtu.be/EJ6u-zHjmIA?t=8m41s

A skeptics response

A Christian skeptic response using a logical fallacy
Bill Vollrath. (2011, December 6).  Real Discernment Glory Clouds IHOP The Call Wretched Bill Johnson Bethel
Retrieved October 4, 2014 from YouTube: http://youtu.be/5PvlW49FYBk

His basic argument is that this kind of manifestation is not shown in scripture, therefore it is fake. It is easy to mock what you don't believe (something he does also known as an ad hominem), but his justification for his unbelief is not evidential, but rather based on a flawed logic of disproving a negative. To explain what I mean, he said a glory cloud should make you afraid, this one did not make you afraid, therefore it is not a glory cloud and so must be fake. His logic was flawed in that he assumed all glory clouds make you afraid. His logical fallacy was an appeal to ignorance or a negative proof - his ignorance being that he did not know of any non-fearful glory clouds and his appeal being that they therefore do not exist.  His logic was also flawed in his saying that because this was not a glory cloud it therefore could not be from God. If it wasn't a glory cloud it does not follow that this was not from God.

My own Email to Kris Vallotton

Todd Stromback <info@kvministries.com>

Hi Hudson,

Thanks for getting in touch with us. I have passed your message along to Kris. Unfortunately, due to the large amount of e-mails we get, I don't expect that he will be able to respond to you personally.

However, I remember that being the main doubt when the event occurred, and they checked into that just to make sure it wasn’t the case. I believe they did not find any evidence of such.

Blessings on your work,
Todd

On Oct 21, 2014, at 3:12 AM, hudson.millar@gmail.com <form_engine@fs2.formsite.com> wrote:

KV Ministries Contact Form

* Your Message:
I am researching Bethel for my 3rd year University Media Paper. I showed the class the video on the glory cloud. The response was glitter in the Aircon. I have research this and have concluded that either this was from God or the leaders are lying. What should I say in my conclusion?

* Your Name:
Hudson Millar

* Your Email Address
hudson.millar@gmail.com