(Image by vgm8383 via Flickr)

Many of you will probably wonder what I am thinking—after all the Reformation happened over 500 years ago with Luther nailing 95 theses on a cathedral door. Actually, it is my contention that the Reformation was a move of God that is still with us in some degree or another—the effects of the move changed Christianity forever. It wasn’t just the beginning of Protestantism but also brought major changes to the Roman church also.

Regardless of how you view the history of the Reformation that continued for several hundred years, Catholics view it different than protestants, nevertheless God was bringing something lost and something new to the church through this move and all Christianity has been changed for the better because of it.

Any of you who have ever read a history of this move can readily admit and agree that not everything that happened was from God—particularly the major wars that plagued all of Europe for centuries.

Now What About the Charismatic Move?

I started thinking about this issue after reading J. Lee Grady’s latest editorial: The Charismatic Movement: Dead or Alive?(Link NLA)

The initial wave of the Charismatic movement is over but the effects continue on. And here’s where the confusion lies—no one would ever say that Pentecostalism is dead even though the original move that kicked it off happen in 1906. The same can be said of the Charismatic move that started in 1967. Though the original wave is over, the effects are still with us and it continues on.

What exactly did the Charismatic Move do anyway? What was the original function. So many today, 40 years after the beginning, look at a bunch of weird independent churches that call themselves ‘Charismatic’ and wonder if it was a real move of God after all. Believe me it was.

The real function of this move of God was not to found a new bunch of independent churches and associations/denominations, but to bring the gifts of the spirit and Pentecostalism into the mainstream. That is exactly what the move did—it broke down denominational walls and differences and spilled over into every denomination including the Catholics and Episcopalians.

This is another one of those—“I remember when” messages that I write every once in a while having lived through the whole thing! You see, I remember when all the Pentecostal churches were crummy little churches on the other side of the track in the worst parts of town and it definitely wasn’t socially advisable to admit that you were a ‘holy roller’. Not so today.

I can remember when I went to church with one of my buddies in 1965—it was a Southern Baptist Church. The moment I stepped into the vestibule I was greeted by a huge rack of tracts—with nearly half of them putting down Pentecostalism and particularly the gifts—did not make me feel all that welcome. Wow have times changed, last year I read an article in the Baptist Press that proclaimed that 50% of Southern Baptist Pastors believed in tongues. What happened—for better or worse–I think for better, the Charismatic move.

Today the vast majority of Christians are Pentecostal or Charismatic in their perspective and beliefs no matter what the denominational sign says on the church that they attend. This is particularly true in missional areas like Africa and Asia. This was not the way it was when I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s.

Even those fundamentalist Christians that like to claim that the gifts ceased in the Apostolic period have been affected by the move. Most of those folks believe that God still answers prayer, still heals, and even still speaks to them through the Holy Spirit and through the Word. Read some of John MacArthur’s books, particularly on Jesus and see if you’re not surprised by the Holy Spirit gracing the work and blessing you in the process.

The initial ‘Charismatic’ move may be over but the church continues to build upon the foundation that God brought to us through it. Just like we continue to build upon the Reformation and Pentecostal moves. The real point and the best part of Grady’s article is this—God is not done with us and we need to be open to the next wave that he sends to his church. He closes with this thought:

“It really doesn’t matter what we label the next movement. What’s important is His renewing presence. Rather than worshiping God around a monument to the past, let’s find out where He’s going and follow the glory cloud.”

So many go to Vegas to see cards, dice, and slot dials moving. But God and His Holy Spirit also move in places that folks never expect.

There’s a move of God happening at Central Christian Church in Las Vegas. It is a large ‘mega’ church, but 2,500 folk have come to Christ in the last few months and they recently had a baptism where they expected 500 but 1,200 got dunked instead, Praise God!

Here’s a video of the baptism celebration:

Here’s a response from the senior pastor Jud Wilhite:

“Nothing in the past 15 years of ministry prepared me for what I witnessed, I still don’t have words to adequately describe it. All I can say is, ‘Only God.’”

…”I haven’t been able to fully process it,I doubt I ever will. What I do know is that this was not about great programming, but about our great God who chose to move in people’s lives in a tremendous way, in one of the world’s least likely cities. … We are boasting about the Lord today and so thankful that we could witnesses His move.”

(-Todd Bentley via Wikipedia)

Here’s a link to one more article by J. Lee Grady about Lakeland (Link NLA): 

“20/20 Hindsight: What I Hope We Learned From the Lakeland Revival”

Grady lists a few points that he hopes that we can agree on.  Some lessons he hopes we have learned from the Lakeland experience:

Lesson #1: Accountability. Accountability. Accountability.

Lesson #2: The one-man show is over.

Lesson #3: Chill out.

Lesson #4: Character is more important than anointing.

Lesson #5: Lay hands on no man quickly.

Lesson #6: You can’t have revival without repentance.

He also provides a link to a new statement (Nov.28) by the directors of Fresh Fire Ministries on Todd Bentley.

Response: Re: #1,2,and 6 –I am in total agreement with. Re: #4 -Character is just as important as an anointing. However, God has used flawed servants to do incredible ministries in the past. Re: #5 -Todd was not new to ministry, he had been ministering with a healing anointing for quite a few years. Who gave Todd the anointing in the first place?

The greatest disappointment to me was that it remained a one-man show that fell apart when the one man fell. I had hoped that it would just be the beginning of a move that would spread across the country and that thousands of unknown leaders would take it to another level. 

The statement by Fresh Fire is sad to say the least. We need to continue to remember Todd and particularly his family in our prayers. 

(Picture by eager sky via Flickr)

The final ‘official’ meeting of the Lakeland Outpouring was held Sunday (Oct.12)at Ignited Church, six months after Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley launched the daily revival meetings in Lakeland, Florida. Gone were the lights, TV  cameras, healing evangelist, and large tent.

But is it really over?

Actually, the effects of the outpouring continue in a number of different venues and locations.

According to a Charisma article (NLA), it continues in a number of different European churches including a significant continuing revival in Dudley, England.

Also, the revival has spread to other churches in the Lakeland area.

God is moving in a unique way among the folks of Jena, Louisiana. The small town of 3,000 became famous last year for racial tensions in the High School. Now the gym in the very same school is filled every night with an on-going revival that began Feb. 17 at Midway Baptist Church in Jena. It was supposed to be a 4 night revival but now it has moved into its fourth week and has spread into at least eight churches including the controversial high school.

This is primarily a ‘Baptist’ town with over 17 Southern Baptist churches and a few more independent Baptist churches thrown in for good measure. Interestingly, the whole thing started in a church that didn’t even have a pastor! one participant, Pat Taylor of First Baptist commented:

“To me, it’s a difference in the atmosphere, a better difference, I think the difference is that a spiritual change is taking place in the community…. I think this all is God-breathed.
When it’s God-breathed, that means God is in control. It’s God’s Spirit who brought all this about; we can’t anybody brag about it. We [at First Baptist Jena] prayed for a year and a half for a revival, and He starts it up where they don’t even have a pastor. There’s no sense of competition. There’s a sense of excitement, a sense of awe.”

Repentance and reconciliation seem to be the major themes of the move.  

Note: This is not a satire or joke, it is the real thing. The Holy Spirit fell upon the people worshiping in the Crystal Cathedral on Palm Sunday, they never got to the offering, they had an alter call and started an impromptu baptismal service instead. As far as anyone can tell, between 500-800 folks gave their lives to Christ or rededicated, and hundreds were baptized by Robert H. Schuller and his staff.
This next part is going to sound bazaar and this is why I put the note at the beginning.

It all started with a testimony by Evel Knievel (the stunt man) about how God grabbed him one day:

“…the power of God in Jesus just grabbed me. All of a sudden, I just believed in Jesus Christ. I did, I believed in him! I rose up in bed and, I was by myself, and I said, ‘Devil, Devil, you bastard you, get away from me. I cast you out of my life.’ I just got on my knees and prayed that God would put his arms around me and never, ever, ever let me go.”

Pastor Robert A. Schuller (who took over for his father last year) said that he looked out on the congregation following the testimony and noticed most people were sobbing. Instead of continuing the service and calling for the offering which was scheduled next, he had an alter call instead:

“I went up front, and I said, ‘I believe there is somebody who needs to be baptized here. Maybe up on that balcony or by that door or by that wall. So come forward,’” Schuller told CT. “We started singing ‘Amazing Grace,’ and I started baptizing people, baptizing them as fast as I could.”

Read the whole article from Christianity Today, April 16, 2007.

I am laughing so much that I’m having a hard time finishing this article. God’s sense of humor blows me away sometimes. Thousands of Charismatic/Pentecostal churches are praying for a touch from God and he visits the Crystal Cathedral of all places, following the testimony of Evel Knievel. LOL. Nobody could ever make something like this up.

Praise God! This is definitely a sovereign move. It takes a miracle to change the order of a worship service in most of our churches, especially when it is a TV broadcast like it is at the Crystal Cathedral.