Slow burn

<idle musing>
I've been doing a slow burn for the last day or so. Perhaps I can put this in a coherent fashion; we'll see.

If you have read this blog for very long, you know that I am a firm believer in the need for revival in the U.S. church. I commented in the past about Lakeland. I believed, and still do, that despite some of the extremes, it was a true move of God (and from what I hear, it is still going on, albeit in a less media-centric way).

I firmly was hopeful that Bentley would reconcile with his wife. I was also hopeful that there would be repentance and confession. Well, this hit my e-mail box 2 days ago. Let me quote the relevant part:

What happened there was from God, and Todd is a true servant of God. He has made some mistakes, and he is trying to get his life back in order, and you can be confident that he will.

OK. There are a few things wrong with the theology of those sentences. I agree with the first sentence; it was of God, and Bentley was a true servant of God. It is the second sentence that has me upset, so here we go:

1. He did not make mistakes—he sinned. People, there is a huge difference between a mistake and sin. A mistake is an error in judgment because we are finite. Sin is willful. Sin demands confession and repentance; a mistake doesn't require repentance, although it might require an apology. Sin is an affront to the living God. Sin kills. Sin demands atonement. Sin will destroy. Sin will eat a person from the inside out. I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

2. Notice the subject of the sentence: "He." "He is trying." "he will" Sorry; not going to happen. Never. Not in a thousand years. Not him; not you; not me. Period. We will never, ever, ever be able to get our lives in order. If we could, then Christ died for no reason. It doesn't matter whether you are a Calvinist, an Arminian, or undecided, it is a foundational statement of Christian theology that we cannot be good on our own. It must always be God, and God alone, who can get our lives "back in order." And even after that, we are still reliant on the ever present, ever empowering, grace of God, in the form of the presence of the Holy Spirit, to keep us.

Just in case you missed that, let me repeat it: None of us can get our lives in order, nor can we keep them in order, except by the work of the Holy Spirit! And the sooner we admit it, the sooner we can allow it to happen.

I know somebody will say something to the effect of "Well, that is implied. We all know that God has to help him." Sorry, still not going to happen. God does not help us! He does it. Do you understand? We can do nothing apart from God. As soon as we expect God to help us, we have taken back control of our life; we are again calling the shots. People, we are dead!. When was the last time (in real life) that you saw a dead person take control of their life? Exactly! It doesn't happen; they are dead. In the same way, we are dead so that God can live a holy life through us (see Romans 5-6, for starters). He calls the shots, he does the empowering, not us.

Bentley might get the shell back in place. God might even use him mightily again—I hope God does use him again. But, unless there has been true repentance, the shell will crack under pressure. When it does, not if, we will see the same problems. Don't think I am picking on him; the same thing is true of all of us. We need the immediate, current, moment-by-moment breath of God living in us or we will all be in the same spot.

OK. I'm done—for now.
</idle musing>

Lakeland again

Well, it looks like I don't have to figure out how to post the PDF. Gary sent it to Todd, and he posted it on his website here.

Peter Kirk interacts with the paper here.

I have known Gary Greig for over 20 years now, from the time we were students together at the University of Chicago. Gary is a very careful scholar and pays attention to detail—unlike yours truly :)

Lakeland (long)

Up until now, I have avoided saying anything about the Lakeland outpouring. But, it seems that some comments need to be made, so here we go...

As most of you know, I desire to see a revival of true Christianity in this land—actually, in this world. I have read quite a few histories of revival and not a few biographies of some of the greatest revival preachers in the last 400 years. One thing I have noted that they all have in common is that they are misunderstood and misrepresented by their contemporaries. Especially by the established leaders of the institutional church. For example, Jonathan Edwards was accused of allowing the devil to deceive him—they even had a denominational meeting that was going to censure him, but Godly men prevented it; John Wesley was called a “papist” (which was one of the worst things you could call someone in 18th century England—remember they had just come out of the religious wars) and worse; Charles Finney was accused of using “new measures” which were in contradiction to the scripture. Ironically, many of those "new measures" have now become essential in many people's minds. For example, take the altar call. This is a staple in most evangelistic services, but it was introduced by Finney, to the outrage of most of his contemporaries. Now if you don't have one, you are accused of not presenting the gospel!

Another thing that they have in common is an unusual level of physical manifestations which were a bit strange. People crying out under conviction, some actually falling to the ground and going into a trance. If you read John Wesley's journal (not the cleaned up one that Moody Press used to sell, but either the new one by Abingdon, or the older one by Baker), you will see many strange things enumerated. But, and this is the difference between many revivalists then and now, the revivalists did not put any stock in the manifestations. They looked for a changed life; a life full of the fear of God and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Anything else was simply accepted as a way that God was working, but not seen as a substitute for a changed life.

As long as a changed life remains the focus, and God is kept at the center, let the manifestations come in whatever form they do. Personally, I think that is where Toronto got sidetracked. They started out focusing on God, but before very long, the manifestations became the center. Once that happened, God left.

I have heard many accusations raised against Todd Bentley. For example, he is violent; he almost attacks the people physically who come for healing. So? Has anybody ever read any of the reports from a Smith Wigglesworth healing? Herr Tilling, care to say anything? Smith Wigglesworth would probably be hauled into court today for the physicalness of his “laying on of hands,” yet most were healed.

I have heard complaints about the fact that he is tattoed. So? I grew up during the 1960-70 era. Anybody hear of the Jesus Movement? The big complaint about them was that they had long-hair, wore ragged blue jeans, went barefoot, and played rock and roll (guilty on all counts!). Did that mean that God wasn't at work? Did that mean that their salvation wasn't real? Can God only work through established institutional churches with robes, candles, vestments, etc.? Hmmm. Want to join the pharisees and sadducees who were against Jesus because he didn't do things the “right” way?

I have heard him accused of being ignorant. Maybe he isn't a theologian, but I would venture to say that he knows more about God than his critics. The early disciples were “ignorant and unschooled men,” did that stop God from using them? Smith Wigglesworth could barely read (and some of his theology was a bit on the questionable side). Did that keep God from using him? I know a pastor who is now in his 80's who couldn't read until God called him to preach. His answer to God was, “God, I'll preach, but you will have to teach me how to read.” God did. It is a cliché, but true, that God is more concerned with our availability than our ability.

Remember that scripture says people will know we are Christians by our love for one another. It doesn't say by our correct doctrine or by our flowery sermons or our ornate buildings. Also, remember that we are told to watch for false teachers by the fruit of their lives. Again, nothing about doctrine. Yes, doctrine is important! But, far more important is your relationship with the almighty righteous God who created you and redeemed you by the blood of his son, Jesus.

A friend of mine, who has a PhD from the University of Chicago, sent me a theological defense of the Lakeland outpouring. He gave me permission to post it, but it is too long to put up as a post. If I can figure out how to post a PDF on Blogger, I will put it up. Anybody able to tell me how?