Is Good News Chapel a safe church?
10 min read
Good News Chapel (GNC) is an Evangelical church in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Is Good News Chapel a safe church to attend in Montreal, Quebec? What signs should we be looking out for to find out? Let's consider a few.
Good News Chapel is cultish
Good News Chapel made the news numerous times during the COVID-19 pandemic for how they seriously mishandled it. They believed online conspiracy theories more than God.
Not only did they spread the virus, they spread misinformation, government mistrust, and fear that has negatively affected the community. They broke the law on several occasions, causing their own congregants to get sick and die. Even after all these things occurred, lead pastor Steve Gesualdi has yet to take any responsibility for his actions.
Good News Chapel demands tithing
Pastor Steve Gesualdi of Good News Chapel enforces tithing upon his church, requiring donations of 10% of people's salary, and more! See the video.
If it's your first time visiting his church, you will be excused from tithing. If you are a repeat visitor or a member, you are expected to tithe.
In the above video, Steve Gesualdi says that if we love God and the church of Jesus, we must tithe. This is very manipulative language. Anyone who says that they love God will now be made to feel guilty if they don't give their money to Steve Gesualdi. The language used by Steve attempts to make you doubt your love for God, and for the church of Jesus, if you do not give Steve Gesualdi all the money he is asking for. It's coercion and religious robbery.
In the video, Steve Gesualdi refers to the Bible passage which says, "bring the tithe into storehouse". Steve then proceeds to say that we must obey that passage. This Bible passage is from Malachi chapter 3, verses 10 to 12.
What Steve Gesualdi does not explain to people is that this Bible passage is about God's rebuke toward corrupt priests who were stealing the tithes of the people. It is not a passage meant to encourage tithing.
It's important to note that the "storehouse" was a particular area of the Jewish temple used to store grain and other resources that were given via tithes by the people. There is no Jewish temple today and we no longer store grain in Jewish temples. This goes to show how obsolete the practice of tithing is. Does Steve Gesualdi want us to bring him grains?
In the video, Steve Gesualdi said, "the tithe is 10% and we offer on top of that". As if giving him 10% of your salary was not enough, he makes room to ask you for even more of your income!
Steve Gesualdi then defends himself by saying, "I'm not requiring anything, God is." Using the name of God to oblige you to do something is spiritual abuse. Steve Gesualdi, you are requiring something. You are requiring people to give at least 10% of their income to you. God is not speaking, Steve Gesualdi is. If Steve Gesualdi thinks that his voice is just like the voice of God, he is greatly deceived.
Steve Gesualid goes on to say that, "Jesus never put end to tithing". To defend this claim, Steve says that, "Jesus said he didn't come to abolish law but to fulfill the law. There's no verse where Jesus said he is doing away with tithing. He said to follow the law and the prophets." Is this really true? Not at all!
Steve Gesualdi twisted New Testament Bible passages to make them support his need for money. The truth is that Jesus and his disciples never collected tithes and never asked anyone to tithe. When Jesus spoke about tithing, he did not speak about it to his disciples. Jesus spoke about it only to the religious Pharisees in order to expose the hypocrisy of their rule-based religion.
If Steve Gesualdi wants us to follow the law and the prophets, there are hundreds of ceremonial rules and regulations that belong to the Law of Moses which no one follows today, not even Steve Gesualdi. Does Steve Gesualdi want us to go back to sacrificing animals too?
The only reason that Steve Gesualdi picks tithing out of all the rules in the Law of Moses, and applies it today, is because it benefits him financially.
Another very serious problem with all this is that Steve Gesualdi leaves you no room to disagree with his lies on tithing. If you don't agree and don't pay him your tithe, he'll label you as one who doesn't love God and doesn't love the church of Jesus, and he will gladly remove you from his congregation.
Learn more about why tithing is a false teaching.
Good News Chapel partners with false teachers
Rodney Howard-Browne
On multiple occasions, Good News Chapel has invited false teacher Rodney Howard-Browne to preach at their church.
In 2016, GNC invited Rodney Howard-Browne for a so-called "revival" that never happened.
Here is a video of the event where Rodney pushes people to the floor in what is often referred to as being "slain in the spirit".
It is nothing more than a manipulative practice whereby the preacher exerts their so-called "power" over the believer. It's more of a show than anything else. People are made to believe that they are receiving a direct touch from God as they fall down, but it is actually just the preacher pressing on their foreheads hard enough to make them fall back. Jesus never did this to anyone.
Rather than protecting his congregation from this false and manipulate practice, the video shows Steve Gesualdi lining up for his turn to be "slain in the spirit." How can a pastor who partners with false teachers protect his congregation from them? Is a leader who cannot protect his people really a leader?
Eric Gonyon
Eric Gonyon was also part of the 2016 event with Rodney Howard-Browne at Good News Chapel. Eric Gonyon is from the River Bible Institute in Tampa, Florida. This institute is headed by none other than Rodney Howard-Browne.
When it was time for Eric Gonyon to preach, he taught on a subject that is not present anywhere in the Bible. Being a student of Rodney Howard-Browne, Eric Gonyon taught on the same non-Biblical subject that his master Rodney often preaches about. That subject is "laughing in the spirit."
Eric Gonyon went around the room yelling "Joy" at people and slapping them in the head to make them laugh. People can smile and have joy on their own without some minister coming around to slap them in the head without their consent. Who are these ministers to think that they can do this to people? That was spiritual and physical abuse taking place at Good News Chapel. Instead of protecting the sheep, lead pastor Steve Gesualdi permitted it.
There is not one Bible verse where Jesus taught his disciples how to "laugh in the spirit." Joy is a fruit of the spirit, produced by the gradual working of the Holy Spirit in someone's life, not by someone yelling at you, forcing you to laugh, or slapping your head.
The video of Eric Gonyon's preaching on "laughing in the spirit" is no longer available on YouTube. It was taken down due to a copyright claim by Carlo Gurciullo of Good News Chapel. The reason that GNC wrestled to get this video taken down is because it makes Good News Chapel look very bad, and they know it.
Jonathan Shuttlesworth
Jonathan Shuttlesworth is the brother of Jessica Gesualdi, Steve Gesualdi's wife. He is often invited to speak at Good News Chapel. He recently preached a series of messages at the church from October 30 to November 5, 2022.
Jonathan Shuttlesworth calls himself an "Evangelist". He loves preaching about health and wealth. He is known for spreading the false prosperity gospel.
A lot of his messages are based on money and healing, because these are the type of topics that attract people. The more people he attracts, the more money he can make. Jonathan Shuttlesworth adheres to and spreads the false teachings from the word of faith movement.
Aside from being a false teacher, spreading the numerous false teachings as outlined above, Jonathan bullies anyone who disagrees with him. In his videos, he states that those who reject his views on the prosperity gospel message, "are some of the stupidest people you will ever meet."
If you do not accept Jonathan Shuttlesworth's very wrong interpretation of the Bible, he will call you names and insult you. Jonathan does so in an attempt to bully you into submission to himself. This is a sign of his own insecurity. Jonathan does not tolerate anyone who disagrees with him. This does not make for healthy debates and discussion. Instead, it makes him an abusive individual.
When Good News Chapel made the news for their mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jonathan Shuttlesworth took to Twitter to make fun of a news reporter who covered one of the stories. This is just another example of his bullying at work.
Conclusion
After investigating Good News Chapel, the findings are that they:
- Exhibit cultish behavior and defy government regulations.
- Demand at least 10% of your income by twisting Scripture, with no room for disagreement.
- Partner with false teachers and welcome their false teachings.
- Tolerate spiritual bullies.
Not everyone who talks about God and Jesus is actually sent by God. The Bible asks us to test what spirits are at work in the life of the preachers that we listen to. We should not blindly listen to and follow any so-called pastor or preacher.
Many false leaders have gone out into the world to spread false teachings. False teachers look and sound like true teachers, which is why it is important to test them. It is a good and biblical practice to test preachers in order to see if they are really from God. We should not just test their sermons, but also the way that they behave.
The Bible encourages the practice of examining the Scriptures daily to see if what the preacher says is actually in the Bible. The Bible does not condemn testing, questioning, or challenging a preacher's views. It encourages it.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying through this article.