I found this quote from my old pastor John Wimber:

We need to be aware that in times of great blessing, there is also the potential for great testing and trial. This is not the time for ‘business as usual’: This is the time to get deep into prayer and God’s Word, and deal with those cracks and holes in our spiritual lives, to get our lives in order – because with great blessing goes great pressure.

Some of the activity that is going on is quite extreme, and it’s incredibly easy in these times to become so enamored of some aspect of the outflow of God, that in trying to protect or champion it, you will find yourself out of line with orthodoxy. Down through the history of the church many wonderful things have happened that have produced much fruit. But certain aspects of these things have led people to get out of line with Scripture and the church, simply because of the excitement of the movement and the intensity of the phenomena, often resulting in the birth of a cult.

As leaders we need to remain congruent with orthodoxy and orthopraxy, to maintain our focus on the ‘main and the plain’ in Scripture.

Response:

This is really good counsel for all of us, particularly in times of revival or during special moves of God. We can get so caught up in what going on that we forget and actually ignore the basics. Pastor Stephen Winters (SLW) recently posted about some of the unwanted ‘side-effects’ of revival. I have been chewing on some of his comments for a couple of weeks now. His observations are well taken. I believe that we need to remember the counsel of my old pastor John Wimber and stick to the basics especially in times of extraordinary spiritual blessing when we start to think that we are ‘bullet proof’.

‘Business as usual’ is not adequate during times of great outpouring. Exceptional responses are called for. We need to listen and respond to the Holy Spirit, our feet need to be firmly placed upon the rock of our salvation (Jesus Christ), and we need to stand up completely balanced by the basics of our faith (especially prayer and Scripture).