stillhaventfound.org

I don’t normally advertise events here (don’t think I’ve done so before), but I’m helping a friend who’s organizing a conference this week by Kingdom Inroads, a Christian social enterprise.

Dates: 25 Feb – 27 Feb (Thursday – Saturday)
Time : 2pm – 10pm
Venue: New Life Vineyard, 183A East Coast Road, Singapore 428889

This conference is going to deal with charismatic topics like:

• Inner Healing
• Deliverance
• Physical Healing
• Hearing God’s Voice
• Writing to the Spirit and Healing
• Father’s Heart

As mentioned above, the venue is at New Life Vineyard, a sponsor of Kingdom Inroads and one of two Vineyard churches in Singapore - the other being Vineyard Singapore. I’ve always loved the Vineyard church association because to me they represent a pretty balanced side of charismatic Christianity.

I’ll probably be attending one or two night sessions. More information about the event can be found here. To register or find out more about this event, you can contact Pastor Kiat Hock at (65) 8121 9557 or Pastor Lye Heng at (65) 9817 0026. The following is the detailed schedule for the three days:

I’ve been following Bill Johnson’s ministry since my cousin from Melbourne, Australia told me about him. Last year, I shared with him about the ministry of Pastor Joseph Prince and gave him some CDs and he told me how he was into Bill Johnson’s ministry. I mentioned a bit about Bill Johnson here. A church in Singapore that has been greatly influenced by his ministry and regularly invite him and his church people to Singapore is Church of Our Saviour.

Bill Johnson’s ministry focuses on the supernatural - healing and miracles. The really amazing thing about his church is that the members are taught to believe God for healing everytime they pray for somebody and they actually pray for their friends and go into the streets and the public to pray for people. They expect Jesus to heal, and they see Jesus’ healing power manifest! To me that’s just like Jesus’ ministry isn’t it? We’re constantly told that the Church can be like that. But I’ve seldom come across a church that actually does that. I mean, yes, we have charismatic churches that believe in healing. But Bill Johnson’s church members seem to actually go out there (into the public, not just in the church) and believe that everyone they pray for can be healed! And there have been tons of testimonies of healing - just like this grocery store healing testimony and the ones below. That’s something special and I think he’s got a lot to teach the body of Christ. I just bought some books by him which I had wanted to get for a long time.

Anyway, I was hearing a recent sermon by Bill Johnson online and he mentioned how some members went to Disneyland to pray for the sick. The result was over 120 healings / miracles and 100 conversions. Is that super duper amazing or what! Check out these four videos below. It’s not just about the healings (which are meant to point to Jesus), but see how happy the people who received them were and you can imagine how their lives would be changed after all this:

For a written testimony of the day, go here.

I’ve been going through a rough patch recently (slowly getting out of it) and I’m also now moving into a new phase in my life at least in terms of work and perhaps in other areas (e.g. spiritual) too. Being a charismatic for the past 14 years plus of my Christian life, I’ve always been intrigued with hearing God’s voice. I have a category on my blog called Hearing God for the posts I’ve written on this issue. As I’ve written before, I’m no expert on this issue - quite the contrary. I’ve read a lot of books on this subject and also talked to many Christians about this - including the past few days.

About a year plus ago, I started reading John Eldredge’s Walking With God, which is on the topic of hearing God’s voice. I blogged a bit about this here and here. I thought that was one of the better books I had read up to that time on the subject of hearing God’s voice and it inspired me to read up more about this subject. I think it was around that time I was searching the Net on this topic and I somehow came to know of Mark Virkler’s Communion With God Ministries. I read about him and his books and I was very excited because somehow I felt that learning from him (his books, experiences) was going to answer a lot of my questions I had and bring me into a new level in this area. Basically, he specializes in this area - in teaching Christians about hearing God’s voice. In 1979 (the year of my birth!), he set aside one whole year just to learn how to hear God’s voice and God gave Him a breakthrough. He was that desperate to learn to hear God’s voice. And God gave him a breakthrough and now his ministry is mostly about this area.

I guess I was excited because this man was a bit like me. I think I read somewhere that he struggled with this issue for a long time and he read many books but none of them actually helped him to hear God’s voice. That’s why he set aside one year to learn how to do so and God taught him many things. Like him, I’ve read many books on this issue and somehow they all really haven’t helped me. And I guess I understood why. Mark talks about how it’s easier for right-brain people to hear God’s voice:

Right brain individuals simply say, “Oh, hearing God’s voice is easy: you just know that you know that you know!” Well, that doesn’t help a left-brain person at all. (How To hear God’s Voice, p. 43)

He’s left-brain like me and so I guess when he read all these books about hearing God’s voice by these men of God (probably right-brain Christians) who could hear God’s voice well, it was written in a way that didn’t help a left-brainer as we think differently and it’s harder for us to “get it”. We left-brainers tend to go by logic and reasoning, rather than imagination and intuition. And so Mark actually wrote two main books on hearing God’s voice - one for a left-brainer (called How To Hear God’s Voice) and one for a right-brainer (called Dialogue With God). And his books have really helped many Christians start hearing God’s voice - see here.

Anyway, I ordered the two books straight away. They’re not very popular books so for Singaporeans reading this, if you want to buy these books, you can use this great online bookstore website, Open Trolley, that actually sells both of them. For those who are like me who struggle or want to progress more in this area (and especially for those who are left-brain), you have to get these two books as I think they are probably the best books around on this subject - for biblical support and for practical steps one can take.

I read the left-brain book last year and recently I just started to read the right-brain one. And I guess circumstances in my life have just created in me a greater desire to really start taking the time to apply what I’m reading (e.g. using visioning and journaling) so I’m quite excited.

Anyway, if any of you actually purchase these books, do drop a comment here and/or email me at idealist at stillhaventfound.org as I’d love for us to share our experiences putting what we’ve learned into practice!

PS: Even if those who read this post aren’t interested in hearing God’s voice, Mark Virkler’s Communion With God Ministries website contains a lot of very interesting materials - including excerpts from tons of his books. I’ve involved in both sides of the Charismatic - non-Charismatic Christian divide for about 14 years. As a left-brain person, I love good teaching (Word). However, I also wish to be open to the Spirit. I think it’s generally the case that left-brain Christians are attracted to churches with good solid teaching (normally non-Charismatic churches) and right-brain Christians to churches with less solid teaching but which are more open to the Spirit (normally Charismatic churches). Generally, non-Charismatic churches are stronger in the Word and Charismatic churches move more in the Spirit (supernatural). And it so often seems that never the twain shall they meet…

At one time of my life, my love and understanding of both the non-Charismatic and Charismatic worlds of Christianity made me want to become a bible college lecturer and touch on bringing both sides together. I have always loved good biblical teaching that touched on more Charismatic issues. That’s because it’s so hard to find really solidly biblical Charismatic teaching. And this is probably because those who flow in the Spirit are normally right-brainers who probably aren’t that gifted in logical/analytical thinking. I’ve always been stronger in the Word (being a left brainer) than the Spirit and so I have always wanted to encounter more of the Spirit - but in a biblical way, not in a way that is very often seen in charismatic churches with all the excesses and abuses.

Anyway, it’s really refreshing to see what Mark Virkler, a self-confessed left-brainer, has written. I think he’s done an absolutely brilliant job in writing on Charismatic topics from a solidly biblical and philosophical perspective. I intend to purchase lots of stuff from that website so if there’s anyone from Singapore interested in doing so too, contact me so we could perhaps share on shipping costs.

The below interview excerpts about hearing God’s voice is taken from Vol. 11 no. 4 of Cutting Edge magazine. Cutting Edge is the church planting magazine of Vineyard USA. I’ve loved the Vineyard church association / denomination for over 10 years. There are a few church associations / denominations that I admire like Newfrontiers and Sovereign Grace Ministries, but Vineyard has been the one that has influenced my theology the most because of their balance. And I think many people would rate John Wimber, one of the founders of Vineyard and now with Jesus, as one of the most, if not the most, respected and influential charismatic leaders of all time. Charismatic Christianity wouldn’t be what it is today without Wimber. Besides the Vineyard’s emphasis on supernatural Christianity and signs and wonders, I also love their passion for the poor and marginalized.

I like this interview (full interview found here) because it’s refreshingly honest about the issue of hearing God’s voice:

Cutting Edge: Could you define conversational prayer and talk about how it’s unique or different from other forms of prayer?

Caroline Park: When I talk to God, I actively wait and expect him to reply to my talk. It’s different from other forms of prayer in that I don’t have an active agenda. I might have a question or some issue that I want to talk to God about, but like a conversation with a friend, I don’t really know where the conversation is going to end. I respond to His response. And in that way, I am more open to His agenda and how and where He’s taking the conversation.

CE: How do you know that you’re really hearing God and you’re not just making it up in your head?

CP: I don’t know (laughs). There is always the possibility that we are making it up. It’s always a possibility, no matter how experienced somebody is, just because we’re human beings, and we’re fallible. Many of our emotions, experiences, hopes and wishes do come in during these conversations with God. Having said that, I think by doing it a lot and by responding and acting on what we think we’ve heard, we can get a feel of what it felt like to hear from God. Sometimes, we can confirm it later by the actual circumstances or what other people have heard.

As we keep going, we get to know His voice, His tone. You get to know this person. That’s why the term conversational is very descriptive and appropriate here. The whole point of conversation is getting to know somebody; in a lot of situations, it’s more so than getting the answers.

I try to have faith in what I hear from God; at the same time, I am open to the possibility of mis-hearing Him, or misunderstanding him, or misapplying whatever He has said to me.

CE: Would you say you’ve gotten better at understanding Him over the years?

CP: I think so. Prayer changes me and gives me a deeper understanding of God. This helps me to understand and realize where He’s coming from. It has become easier and more consistent for me to have conversations with God. But there are still times when I feel stuck or feel like God is silent.

CE: How would someone get started in praying more conversationally?

CP: It’s helpful to keep in mind that everyone connects differently. Just because I have this type of relationship with God doesn’t mean that my husband or somebody else will have the same kind of relationship with God. When I talk to other people about hearing from God, it’s helpful to introduce a lot of different ways of connecting with God. Some people start a conversation looking at an artwork. Some people like to listen to music. For some people, it helps if they’re moving their bodies, and they have a very good experience when they’re exercising or taking a long walk.

For me, and for many around me, the first place we connected with God in a significant conversational way is journaling. In journaling, I usually recommend that people write down everything, including their own questions. I might just write down, “God, how are you doing?” and then wait and expect God to say something, and write down everything that comes to my mind without judgment.

When I journal, I can try to shut down the critical faculties in my brain and write anything, whereas when I’m carrying a conversation in my head, that’s a lot more difficult. So we write down everything, and then we go back, and—after the conversation’s over—try to discern what might have been from God and what might not be. That whole conversation sometimes might not be from God, but parts of it can be. This is the tricky part, but trying it over and over again, and especially talking to people who are doing similar things, will lead to a deeper conversational life with God.

CE: So you’re not saying to shut off your critical faculties entirely, but rather, in some sense, you suspend them for the time being so you can have the conversation, and then you can look back and say, “Okay, now let’s turn them back on and try to think about how this would relate to whether God was speaking or not.”

CP: That’s right. When I’m not sure about whether I’m hearing from God in my mind, I drive myself crazy trying to have a conversation and at the same time trying to analyze what I’m hearing. I mean, I’m sure we’ve all had this kind of interaction with another person that we can see. We can find ourselves thinking, “Is this person telling me the truth?” or, “Am I really understanding what he’s saying?” And then we cannot be really present in that moment and engage in the conversation. When we first start this kind of listening practice, or when we are emotionally charged about something, those doubts and questions constantly come and interfere with the conversation.

CE: So the key thing, both for Christians and non-Christians, is not following some set of rules, but actually just relating personally to God?

CP: …There is a power, amazing power, that comes from the word of God when it comes to a person directly, as opposed to me saying to somebody, “God loves you.” It is a power that unlocks people’s hearts and that enables and empowers them to really, truly believe it.

At the same time, it is a wise thing to have safety guidelines when you teach about hearing God. Even when they’re playing at the playground, kids can get hurt. When we hear from God, we hold it lightly, especially when we hear from God for other people. It is up to that person to decide whether this is from God or not. We teach people that they should talk to people they trust spiritually before making any major decisions on the basis of hearing something from God. We have to have humility in this practice.

I was asking one of my daughters “What should I do with my hair? Should I keep it long or short?” She was just kind of chatting with me, and at one point she said, “Well, maybe you can ask God about it,” In our family we talk about talking to God and asking him questions a lot. So I said, “Oh, yeah, maybe I could do that,” and she responded, “Yeah, but then again, God might ask you, what do you want to do with your hair?” It really touched my heart because she understands that God cares about how we feel, our desires, who we are. It’s not just about doing the right thing but about having relationship with God and knowing ourselves who we are in God.

It’s helpful to think about our relationship and our life with God as being in a garden with clear boundaries. But there’s a lot of space as well, where we can explore and expand, like the Garden of Eden that God gave to the human race. There are boundaries. But there are also a lot more things that are not about right and wrong—instead they’re about adventures, exploration, and the process of having relationship with God.

This image of a garden is opposed to the image of a tightrope, where there is one answer, and I need to ask God and hear from him so that I will know that right answer and do the right thing…because otherwise I will somehow fall and it will not be good for my life. That’s a lot of pressure, and it induces a lot of guilt and fear in our relationship with God. There are things that have a “right” answer, but most of the things in life are of a different nature. It’s more about enjoying him and enjoying myself and enjoying our relationship than getting the right answer.

I was meant to follow on from my previous post with some concerns I had about the revival. I didn’t really follow through on that mainly because of time, but I’ll mention a bit here. I spent the past few hours just going through the Internet on this issue. As those who are following what’s going on would know, Todd Bentley has stepped down from leading the Florida services, he’s currently separated from his wife and he was found to have had an “unhealthy relationship on an emotional level with a female member of his staff” (see here). It’s been all over the internet - especially the “I told you so” from critics of the revival.

This particular website has a lot of information on the responses to the situation by both critics and supporters of the revival. (Note: the previous website serves as a good source and compilation of information. However, I cannot disagree more with their view of the whole situation, and especially the spirit in which the posts are written. There’s a way to be critical, and then there’s a way not to be…) Going through it, I’ve found a lot of interesting information. It seems that this time, the charismatic world is even more divided than it was during the Toronto Blessing. This is interesting to note, yet it’s not surprising because there are a lot more concerns about this revival than there were during Toronto. There are a lot of legitimate concerns, the two biggest probably being his emphasis on angels (and one particular called Emma) and the way he’s used violence to pray for healing for people.

The Christian leader that I probably respect the most in terms of how he’s able to be both grounded in the Word and yet open to the Spirit is RT Kendall. Kendall’s very Reformed in his beliefs and has a really solid teaching/preaching ministry and yet has mixed with prophetic charismatics who many charismatics themselves believe are quite extreme. He has an interesting article here where he struggles but eventually concludes that Florida isn’t of God.

Many others who were pro-Toronto Blessing have also come out against Florida. J. Lee Grady, the editor of Charisma magazine (the foremost charismatic magazine) has blogged a few times expressing a lot of concerns about Florida.

I think it’s safe to say that there are a lot of legitimate concerns about Florida. It’s hard to find many people justifying the focus on Angels and Emma - if there is indeed has been a focus on Angels during the meetings. I don’t know for sure because I can’t claim to have followed all the meetings over several months. Whatever it is, Jesus should be central in any Christian meeting. Lee Grady has a got a good article on angels here. And it’s also hard to defend Todd’s use of violence when praying for healing - although it’s to be admitted that God has used dumbfounding methods, I don’t think using violence to heal would be in His character! I don’t doubt the healings that have occurred. As in all healing ministries/events, you’ll find people inflating numbers and hyping things up. Just as you’ll find critics hyping their counter-claims too - e.g. there’s been no evidence of any genuine healings, etc. Maybe Todd can be faulted for being over-enthusiastic in his claims of the number of resurrections that have occurred. But I have no doubt there have been genuine miracles and healings as well as those that would not stand up to careful scrutiny.

I’m more concerned about the angels and violence (and some other doctrinal stuff) than I am about his moral failures. Not because his moral failures can be condoned. By no means. He has to step down (which he has) and should go through a restoration process with accountability (which is what some people like Bill Johnson and others are seeking to go through with him). But if we’re talking about whether the move is genuine or not, his moral failure means nothing. I do not believe that if a person falls into grave moral sin, that means that his ministry has been a fraud and demonic all along. If so, what do we then say of the many saints in the Bible who fell into grave moral sin? Does falling into such sin disqualify their entire ministry? Of course not.

All in all, I think a lot of what has come from Florida was of God due to its fruits. And a lot of it doesn’t seem to be of God also. The critics tend to ignore the fruits and see the focus on angels, the use of violence and other stuff as proof that it’s demonic. I disagree. I think that’s denying the complexity of the whole issue at hand. If it’s totally demonic, then what about the fruits? How about the miracles and healings and the testimonies of changed lives. We cannot ignore that. I’ve heard many testimonies of increased healings and anointing in people’s ministries because of Florida. And I’ve heard of transformed lives. There’s no way that a straight “demonic” stamp can be placed on Florida unless one is prepared to ignore all the good that has come out of it. It would be equally wrong to say that everything from Florida is of God and there’s no need for discernment. Instead, what we need is careful, balanced and constructive criticism. Things are not so black and white. They are complex and so a nuanced, not reactionary, response is needed.

If the many critics had been less reactionary in their response - and recognize that there has been both good and bad coming out of Florida - then certain things may have changed for the better. What many critics have pointed out needed to be heard. But I think many of them jumped to the wrong conclusion and maybe they could have been more helpful if they had handled their criticisms differently. To be fair, I’ve read of how some charismatic leaders (e.g. Rodney Howard-Browne and Robert Ricciardelli) brought some of their legitimate concerns to Todd but they were ignored. So maybe I understand why they went public with criticisms. For them, their concerns are reflective of the fact that the move was demonic or dangerous and so they stated so. I think I would have a lot of similar concerns to them, but even with Todd ignoring them, I wouldn’t label the move demonic or dangerous. The stance I would have taken is to be cautious yet open to receive anything God has for us, and also be slow to jump to conclusions too easily or quickly.

In June 2008, Peter Wagner, Ché Ahn, Bill Johnson and John Arnott (who pastored the Toronto Blessing) held a service to commission Todd Bentley. They’ve been criticized by many in the charismatic movement for aligning themselves with Todd. As this statement by Doris Wagner and this by Peter Wagner show, the commissioning didn’t mean that the four agreed with everything of Todd’s ministry. In fact, they had many concerns too and wanted to bring some order and accountability to the move, recognizing that God was moving through Todd but there were a lot of things that were not right too. So they decided to stand by Todd against all the attacks he’s been getting. It wasn’t meant as a total endorsement of all Todd was doing.

I respect the four of them for doing so. I think that their move to stand by Todd has caused a lot of friction between them and a lot of their friends. So they showed courage in taking a stand. The above two statements made it clear that they felt strongly (against other people’s advice) that they needed to align apostolically with Todd first before they could speak their concerns to him. After the alignment service, they started to deal with the concerns and Peter stated that his team of 10 apostles (one of them being Lee Grady, who has been quite critical of the move) has identified 24 issues which they plan to report on.

The four are to be commended for not shying away from the issues and concerns. I think most people thought that Peter, John, Bill and Ché Ahn’s presence at that commissioning/alignment service meant that they endorsed Todd. And I think that’s a reasonable conclusion that one would draw from observing the service. The truth, however, is different. They weren’t there to give unconditional endorsement of Todd and the revival. Rather, they believed it to be a move of God and risked a lot to be identified with Todd because they wanted to help sort out the problems in this move. Rather than just condemning Todd and the move from afar, I think they did the right thing. Despite the fact that their involvement drew much criticism, they still got involved for the benefit of the move and Todd.

My only criticism is that they probably could have addressed the concerns about Todd and the revival a lot quicker than they did. If fact, they probably hadn’t addressed any of them before Todd stepped down. If they had done so, things may have turned out differently. But of course I can imagine how busy these ministers/apostles are! Though I don’t think this isn’t a very good excuse. If the four of them really felt God’s hand upon Todd and Florida and yet knew that there were a lot of concerns that needed to be addressed, they should have done so quickly. The quicker the better because Florida was being heavily scrutinized by the Christian world. If they felt Florida was a special move of God, then they should have done everything they could to make sure that God is fully glorified through it. Their other appointments should not have been put before addressing the issues at Florida.

Despite Todd stepping down, I hope the report about the 24 issues would still be written. I think we all could learn a lot from it. I’d like to end with Bill Johnson’s thoughts on this whole affair which can be seen in the three videos below. The title is “The Battle for Grace”. It challenged me (especially what he said about Saul in the OT) and helped me understand why the four of them above chose to stand with Todd.

Recently, I’ve been spending more time than usual seeking God. Basically, I’ve not been satisfied with a lot of things in my life and with my relationship with God. It’s not something just recently, but I guess it’s reached tipping point only recently. It’s not that I feel I’m not good enough for Him or that I’m filled with shame, guilt and condemnation. No, that’s been forever settled 10 years ago when I realized that I’m righteous in Christ.

It’s about me wanting more of God. Wanting to touch Him, and wanting Him to touch me. Bad theology? I dunno. Maybe? But, maybe not. The phrases “wanting more of God”, “wanting to touch Him” and “wanting Him to touch me” may not be biblical (?) but I think the cry behind it is. For example, one of my prayers during this time is Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:17-19:

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

This is clearly a prayer for a greater experience of God and of Christ’s love. The Ephesians are already “rooted and established in love”. Paul is writing to the Church (Christians) in Ephesus. And his prayer is that they may “know this love that surpasses knowledge”. An oxymoron. But no doubt, it’s about an experience because it surpasses knowledge. I do believe such an experience of Christ’s love comes through good preaching and teaching that results in a good understanding of Christ’s work for us. But I think it goes beyond that too. One can know a lot, but not experience much. One can be very knowledgeable, but it can all be head knowledge. I think this prayer is a prayer for “more”. We’ll never fully grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is. We’ll never be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God here on this earth. But we can grow in our experience of Christ’s love and of God.

Or take what Paul said in Ephesians 5:18, “Be filled with the Spirit”, which actually means a continuous filling - “Keep on being filled with the Spirit”. Jeff Purswell of the Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) expands on SGM’s statement of faith passage, “The Holy Spirit desires to fill each believer continually with increased power…” with the below:

The statement emphasizes the necessity of the ongoing nature of the Spirit’s work, including continual and repeated fillings of the Spirit (cf. Eph. 5:18). While one’s theological framework is important, we are nonetheless more concerned that second, third, fourth, fifth… sixtieth… (etc.) encounters with the Spirit actually occur than we are with what one should call a second encounter with the Spirit (either a “baptism” or a “subsequent filling”).

I think that’s my cry here. To experience Him in a greater way. To experience more and more of the Spirit. To experience subsequent encounters and never be satisfied with what I’ve got or how much God has got me.

As I mentioned in this entry, I’m not going to be too critical of a friend who I believe was recipient of wrong teachings but who nevertheless experienced a touch from God. Her seeking of God may be based on the wrong teaching (regarding the Tabernacle of God), but as I wrote,

while disagreeing with the above teaching (i.e. what I think is a wrong teaching on the Tabernacle of God), I recognize that many lives have been transformed for the better as Christians are challenged to seek God more and more. To me, this can only be a good thing. And maybe at times better than if one has the right theology regarding the Tabernacle of God and yet become passive and don’t continuously seek God or the filling of the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

Growth is important for Christians here on earth. We haven’t arrived; we’ve only begun. It’s fundamental to know who we are in Christ, that there is no condemnation and that we’re righteous in God’s eyes because of Christ’s work on the cross. But the Christian life doesn’t stop there. We ought to experience more and more of Christ’s love and be filled more and more with the Spirit. It’s about growth in intimacy and experiencing the Father in Christ through the Holy Spirit in a greater and greater way.

Beyond seeking more of God, I wanna hear God’s voice too. I want to be led by Him. I want such an experience. I’ve been fascinated down the years by Christians (mostly charismatics) who speak of being led by God through His voice. I’ve always thought that that would be cool, but how come that never happened in my life? At least not in a dramatic or consistent way. Am I missing out on something? I wrote this year about hearing God’s voice here and here. So it’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about recently. And something I hope to gradually experience more of.

I’ve been reading John Eldredge’s Walking with God. Not the kind of book I’d normally read because I don’t think Eldredge is very grounded biblically - as say someone like John Piper. Not that I read a lot of Piper at all - I don’t. I respect him, but I’ve had a decade of being influenced by Reformed Christians and Reformed theology. I think I’ve got a good biblical foundation, but I realize that there’s more to Christianity than that Christian tradition can offer.

Eldredge’s book is all about hearing God and that’s why I bought it. And I’ve loved it so far. I’m not sure I’ll agree with a lot of his theology but I’m not put off by that. I like the book because it’s a very personal book and he shares a lot about his experiences of hearing God and other things. I don’t think I’ll read his other books eventhough he’s more famous for some of his other ones.

Reading and understanding can be helpful, but I guess it’s ultimately about practicing and experiencing. And that’s what I hope for this season. I’m going on a bit of a fast and cutting out on various things in order to focus more on God. It’s not easy. Habits need to be changed. But I think it’ll be worth it eventually. Cheers!

I want to touch on some negative criticisms in this post and the next one. In my previous post, I linked to some ultra-critical websites - not because I totally agree with them but because I think it’s wrong not to take into account some specific critical comments by them. Take for example this testimony of someone whose friend, a pastor, was proclaimed healed by Todd Bentley, but who died soon after. How do people who are more positive towards the revival react to this?

I’m mentioning this testimony because I believe it’s important to deal with it. A lot of people reject the charismatic movement because there’s been a lot of abuses and excesses. If only charismatics would be more open to criticisms and recognize the correctness of certain criticisms, then there would be less anti-charismatics around and the charismatic movement would be more mature. There’s been dogmatism in both the charismatic and non-charismatic worlds of Christianity - not just in the non-charismatic world. And if we let go of that dogmatism, both sides can learn much from each other.

It’s the same thing with revivals. There’ll be a lot of abuses and excesses. And if the proponents of revivals would recognize this and be open to criticisms and if criticisms were done in a gentle and loving way, the revival would learn from its mistakes and more people would be open to God’s move.

Melinda Fish wrote the below regarding the Toronto Blessing:

Leaders must be confident they are acting out of obedience to the Lord, yet gentle in their approach to their parishioners. This is no time to display arrogance or imply that anyone reluctant to jump into the river is unspiritual or does not love God.

Beloved, can we refrain from using words like false prophet, deception… and demonic in reference to those with whom we disagree? Can we speak gently and humbly to our brothers and sisters, so that we may turn them around rather than provoke them to anger? Can we entertain the possibility that we, too, might be wrong in certain aspects? Can we, as mature Christians, be easily entreated, sympathetic, kind to all and patient when wronged?

I’m going to assume that the above testimony (of the pastor being proclaimed healed but then dying later on) is true in its every detail, which of course may not be correct. It’s very possible that the testimony is not accurate and this doesn’t have to be because the person was seeking to deceive others. There could be miscommunication involved. But I’ll give the author of the testimony the benefit of the doubt and assuming what was said is true, I think that Todd Bentley needs to respond to this unfortunate situation. That’s the right thing to do. It’ll be an uncomfortable thing to do, but it’s the right thing to do. How he ought to respond to it, I don’t know. But I know if he doesn’t respond to it, I don’t fault people for being disillusioned with him and the revival.

For me, even if Todd was at fault in this situation, I will not condemn the revival as fake or demonic because of it. Todd isn’t perfect. God works through imperfect people. I don’t believe that if a person prophecies falsely or proclaims wrongly that someone is healed, that that person is a false prophet and dangerous. Surely, false prophecies ought not to be treated lightly. Years back I was very disturbed that a well-known prophecy regarding the people in my country was proven false and that no one seemed to care about it. I talked with my pastor and friends about it and argued that someone should confront this person who prophesied falsely. I treated this issue seriously. It wasn’t that hard to confront the people (all well-known leaders) who accepted this prophecy and distributed it. It wasn’t difficult to confront the person who prophesied. But I knew that most wouldn’t care. And surely, no one I talked to cared much. I wasn’t too happy with how they treated a false prophecy lightly. But being a charismatic for a long time, I expected people to treat false prophecies lightly and not to care that much. There are definitely a lot of abuses regarding prophecies in the charismatic world.

All I wanted was for the person to own up to his mistake and the leaders who distributed the prophecies to own up to theirs. This is the right thing to do. It’s about honesty and integrity. It’s what God would want of those involved. My charismatic theology accepts that these things happen - i.e. we’re imperfect in our hearing from God and in our prophecies. That’s why I don’t like it when people speak with so much certainty of having heard from God because it may not be so. We should all have a bit more humility in this area. And when we’re wrong in our hearing from God, we need to own up to our mistakes, not sweep them under the carpet.

Of course, I know many non-charismatics have a different view of prophecies and think that if a person prophecies wrongly, that means the person is a false prophet or of the devil. I don’t believe that. That’s why I’m accepting of people who prophecy wrongly. And I won’t say that Todd or the revival is of the devil just because of this unfortunate incident. But I do expect them to deal with the criticism, apologize if needed and reflect upon the situation. Not doing so will just cause more people to be disillusioned and turned off from the revival.

So I don’t treat false prophecies lightly. But I don’t believe that every single false prophecy is a reflection that the person is from the devil. No, I just think it’s a reflection of our human fallibility and that we’re not perfect when hearing from God.

I do think critics of the revival should recognize that the revival can still be of God eventhough there’s so much imperfection and human error. But I also think that those who are in the revival ought to realize this too. If they do, then they won’t be afraid of confronting and dealing with every mistake they make and every imperfection that occurs. They won’t need to be overly defensive of everything. They will realize that it’s OK to be wrong in certain areas and thus not be afraid to confess their wrongs because they will know that God is gracious and moves in spite of our imperfections and mistakes.

So I’m OK with Todd having made such a serious mistake - if indeed he did. Even if he did, I’m still more positive about the revival than not. Pointing out that mistake (and even if there are many mistakes) doesn’t mean that the whole thing is of the devil. I mean, we got to consider the healings too. There have been many healed. What are we going to say about that? I’m quite surprised that critics of the revival so easily point out all the bad things but never comment on all the good that’s been done. We have to be balanced in our evaluation. And critics of the revival or whatever movement are not being honest if they themselves don’t deal with the good that have come out of the revival or the movement.

I’m not suggesting that we play a math game and that if there are more good than bad then overall things must be good. Rather, I believe there are explanations for everything. There has to be explanation for the bad. And there’s an explanation for the good. If we think this whole revival is fake because of some false prophecies or some people not being healed, we’re not being fair and honest because we fail to see the overwhelming good and the many healings that have occurred. The good doesn’t provide an excuse for the bad. As I’ve argued, the bad needs to be confronted and dealt with. If apologies need to be made, then it ought to be made. That’s the bad. To me, that just proves that there’s imperfection in the revival. It doesn’t mean I can go from seeing the bad to generalizing that everything is bad and the revival is fake.

Revival proponents who think that everything is just perfect and that there have been no mistakes or imperfections in this revival are clearly imbalanced in their evaluation. If they see only the good and refuse to acknowledge that there’s been bad, then their opinions aren’t that credible. But in the same way, critics of the revival who only point out the bad and don’t deal with the good aren’t being balanced in their evaluation either. And there’s a lot of both kinds of opinions around.

I’m not afraid to admit there’s been a lot of questionable stuff in the revival and that’s why I’ve provided links to extremely critical articles. But here I want to respond to those who point out the bad, but dismiss the healings completely. Jack Deere mentions in his book, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, of a lady in his non-charismatic congregation who suffered from depression and had a lot of struggles in her life. She spent years in Christian counseling without much improvement. But when Dr. John White, a charismatic, ministered in his church on the topic of healing, she was instantly set free after some time of prayer and deliverance. Whenever I think of this testimony, I wonder to myself how many more people are like this person who struggled emotionally and who needed healing but didn’t get it for so many years because their church or pastor didn’t believe in such charismatic practices?

By all means, point out the false prophecies. Point out the non-healings. But if that makes us criticize everything and demonize everything charismatic or of the revival, then we’re just going the extreme opposite direction. It’s easy to criticize people when something wrong clearly happened. But how about criticizing those when something good should have happened but didn’t because the people were closed to God’s Spirit? Unlike the situation whereby a bad clearly happened and everyone recognized it (e.g. in a false prophecy), an equally bad situation whereby God’s Spirit didn’t move because we were resistant to Him is different. In the latter situation, it’s not so clear that we erred in our lack of openness to God’s Spirit. But we clearly did.

How about all the people in the same state as that lady above? I’m sure God desires to heal many others emotionally and physically, but because of the pride that leads many non-charismatics to be closed to learning from certain good charismatic practices, how many people continue to be in bondage and how many people remain unhealed? And of course, no one criticizes pastors and leaders who are responsible for not bringing their congregation into the fullness of what God wants for them. But in reality, there should be criticism there.

There have been many people healed in the revival. To reject it as demonic just because of some errors is wrong. If Todd Bentley is to be criticized for his false proclamation of that healing (and I think he should be), then those people who throw everything out because of some errors ought to be criticized for the people not going to the revival and not receiving their healing because they are influenced by the extreme negative criticisms. In the same way that Jack Deere ought to be criticized (and he has already confessed his wrongs) for his long time rejection of the Spirit’s power in healing which probably resulted in many people in his former congregation not receiving healing and freedom, non-charismatics and those against the revival ought to be criticized if their words have indirectly caused some Christians not to be more open to God’s power and thus miss their chance to receive their healing.

My point isn’t that everyone who goes to Florida or who is open to the revival or who goes to a charismatic church will automatically be healed. Nor am I suggesting that everyone should go to Florida or accept this revival as good or accept everything in the charismatic movement. Rather, my point is that we should be honest enough and realize that many people have been healed at Florida and in charismatic churches. And could it be possible that these people probably wouldn’t have received their healing if they hadn’t gone to Florida or if they hadn’t gone to a charismatic church which taught on healing and the power of God to heal - just as that lady in Jack Deere’s church probably wouldn’t have received her healing if the leadership in the church had not invited the charismatic Dr. John White to minister there on healing. Therefore, let us not just criticize the bad. We should do that. We should deal with the bad. But we should also realize that if we prevent good from happening to people, that’s a bad too. That ought to be criticized too.

I think I’ll stop here for this post. In the past few weeks, even more blog posts have been written on the revival than when I started this series. And a lot of negative ones too. I want to accept the good and praise God for the wonderful healings as a result of this revival. And eventhough I’m generally more positive towards the revival, I’ve also read a lot of negative stuff that have concerned me a bit. Not to the extent that I’ll reject this revival as demonic. But as I’ve said here, I think there are concerns that need to be brought out into the open, and not ignored. I’ll touch on more of them in my next post in this series.

In my previous post, I linked to various articles and blog posts on the revival and also commented a bit about my experience of previous revivals. In this post (and the next) I hope to share some of my own thoughts on the revival:

Firstly, I have no doubt a lot of what’s happening is of God because of the healings and miracles. I think the ultimate way to judge any revival is through its fruit. It’s the same way to judge miracles and healings and all. Sure, the devil can counterfeit miracles and healings and also revivals and manifestations. But if overall what you see coming out from a Christian meeting (be it a revival or healing or whatever) is people loving Jesus more, then I have no doubt God was in it. When we see weird manifestations happening that we don’t understand, all we gotta do is find out if the person involved has come out of it loving Jesus more or not. That may seem too simple, but I think it’s biblical and based on the Mark 3:24 which says that, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” Satan would never counterfeit a miracle or manifestation if the person ends up loving Jesus more. Satan doesn’t do things that builds God’s kingdom! He does things that build his own kingdom!

Another thing is that a lot of people go there to seek God and their healing. They don’t go there to glorify the devil. And I have more faith in God’s ability to heal and in His compassion and love to answer His people’s prayers for healing than in the devil’s ability to undermine God’s desire to bless and heal His people. When we ask for something good from our heavenly Father, He’s going to answer it (Matthew 7:11) and not going to allow demonic activity and deception to reign in a place where He is being glorified and earnestly sought after.

Having said the above, that doesn’t mean I think that everything in these revival services are of God or that God would be pleased with every single thing that goes on in these meetings. On the contrary, and as I’ve said many times, I strongly believe that God moves through imperfect people, imperfect circumstances and imperfect theology. And I think there were a lot of that in the Toronto Blessing, in the Pensacola Outpouring and probably even now in this healing revival in Florida.

I’m a strong believer in grace. But I think a lot of these anointed ministers have sometimes preached “mixture” more than pure grace. But I have no doubt that God still moves through them. I think a lot of people (including myself) would be uncomfortable with some of the weird practices that we see in these revival meetings, and perhaps also the focus of these meetings (which oftentimes is the manifestations). I think perhaps God would not have liked the way certain things were done. But I have no doubt that He still moves through these people and still blesses many people.

Let me give another example. In my early days, I used to be a huge admirer of Benny Hinn. But then when I heard how he taught some outrightly unbiblical stuff (and attributed such teachings to the Spirit telling him such is so), I started to be cautious of his ministry. And I know there’s also been a lot of concern about his ministry’s finances - in fact, there seems to be a lot of concern about the finances of many big (charismatic) ministries, especially those from the Word of Faith tradition. Personally, I don’t think God is pleased with the way a lot of these ministers handle their money - especially since they seem to benefit a lot personally from a lot of the donations people give to their ministry. And anyone who knows me or has read my view of money would know how I would feel about such Christians. And I also don’t really like the way Benny Hinn does things - his showmanship on stage and all. I so much prefer such ministers to be humble and not showy - a good example of such a minister is Heidi Baker who has such a humble disposition in everything she does and it shows so clearly on stage. So I’m not crazy over some of his theology, his ministry’s handling of finances and his showmanship. To say the least, I think he’s less than perfect in many ways. I have a lot of things to be critical about regarding his ministry but that cannot prevent me from believing that God moves through him to heal many people. I would definitely bring a friend in need of healing to his meetings if I could. I know God has healed many people through him and I see Jesus being glorified in his meetings. This only brings me to the conclusion that God blesses and uses imperfect people and move through imperfect circumstances - and thank God for that because we’re all imperfect!

It’s good to read too that the leaders of the revival also know that not everything happening there is of God or is totally perfect as this quote by the pastor of the church at Lakeland demonstrates:

Todd [Bentley] and I know that not everything that’s happening here is of God. There’s a whole lot of flesh going on here as well.

I’ve seen videos of the services and at times I was not totally comfortable with a lot that was going on. This has nothing to do with the healings. I stand in awe of all that God is doing through healing so many people! But I’m uncomfortable with the hype and the self- and revival- promotion. I’m uncomfortable with the fact that sometimes there’s very little solid teaching - or any teaching at all. And perhaps the greatest thing I’m uncomfortable with, and I think the thing that most people who be uncomfortable with at first sight of the revival services, is the messiness, weirdness and disorderliness of what’s happening - and especially the bizarre manifestations that are often seen on stage and in the congregation, which J. Lee Grady talks about in his article. I know that these manifestations - especially when they occur on stage - offend a lot of people and have caused them to label these meetings demonic. I understand the concerns of these critics. I myself am uncomfortable when the focus is on such manifestations. But I’m also very careful not to judge just because I’m uncomfortable. A lot of what I see in Florida was there during the Toronto Blessing times. I think the message was different and God moved differently. Florida is a lot about healing and miracles. But the manifestations (laughter, body movements, etc.) are very much the same.

One reason why I’m careful not to be too critical of these bizarre manifestations is because I know when God comes in power, things start to happen to people. Simply put, they start to be overcome by the presence of God. Weird things may happen. Messiness in the congregation will probably result. Things won’t be so orderly. I believe that’s what happened in past revivals of centuries ago. Maybe not that dramatic, but I’m sure there were a lot of things that occurred that would make many people uncomfortable when the power of God comes. Of course, there may be the flesh working and no one in the revival doubts that, as the above quote revealed. I think the important thing to note is not to draw attention to the manifestations and not to allow the manifestations to take the limelight. The manifestations aren’t manifestations of the Spirit per se, but the body’s response to the presence/manifestations of the Spirit. People react differently. Some may do so to copy others. Others may do so genuinely as a response to the Spirit’s presence.

For me, while I’ve been to a lot of such meetings where people exhibited manifestations, I’ve never experienced such things. If anything, I do long to experience an overwhelming presence of God like they have. I haven’t experienced God like that but I’m not going to be critical of people who are genuinely experiencing something of God. I’ve had a lot of negative experiences. I’ve been on the receiving end of pushes (and so have given out ‘courtesy falls’) when people prayed for me. I think it’s wrong to push others and all. There’s no need to stimulate a fall by pushing people over when praying for them. I think this is an area where people seek to replicate certain manifestations and that’s wrong. (This results when people are too focused on the manifestations and think that such manifestations are badges of holiness or spirituality). It’s an abuse still quite common in charismatic circles. But this abuse isn’t going to make me critical of everything because I know many people are experiencing the real thing - the real overwhelming presence of God - and we all have to be thankful for that.

Rob Rufus has some wise thoughts here:

We cannot say that everything that comes out of Florida will be God. There has never been a revival where everything is God.

…I spoke to Terry Virgo while in the United Kingdom who heads up hundreds of churches around the world and he recognizes that the power of God is there. They are genuine and there are genuine miracles. He is saying that as a movement they don’t necessarily embrace the whole package - there are some things they would have questions about.

There’s nothing wrong with having a few questions - there’s nothing wrong with not understanding everything. Put some things up on the shelf. Everything must be tested but by and large I want to strongly say that God is on the move all over the world and what is happening in Florida IS God. There is no question about that. That is God. But everything that happens through different levels and different doesn’t necessarily represent everything that we would agree with. Behind this passionate, enthusiastic face - there is a thinking mind! I am going to test everything through right theology and all of that - and all that I don’t understand I will put on the shelf and I will wait.

…There has never been a revival - not one - where all three (God, the devil, the flesh) didn’t manifest. Some people are pointing, “Look, some of that stuff is fleshly… some of that stuff is demonic… that doctrine is a bit of heresy over there”. Yes I know - but God is also moving powerfully! You will never have a revival where you can get rid of flesh, get rid of the demonic trying to come in

Commenting on his experience of previous revivals, Terry Virgo writes:

What influenced me most significantly was not the extraordinary physical manifestations but the extraordinary lasting change that I observed in the lives of people I knew. Many displayed a new love and devotion to God and a new sensitivity to the Spirit’s presence. Some embraced a new commitment to Christ and his mission to win the world for his name. The physical manifestations gradually faded but the transformed lives have remained.

Ultimately, it’s not about the manifestations, but about positive change. I may be uncomfortable with some of the manifestations but I’ve seen and heard about a lot of positive change in the lives of those in previous revivals and that’s really the main reason why I’ll never say these revivals are demonic.

So while I’m uncomfortable about this and that and while I’ll disagree with the way certain things are done, ultimately I do believe (for now) that this revival was sent sovereignly by God and that He’s moving powerfully in Florida and even throughout the world.

In my next post, I hope to share my thoughts on the criticisms that this revival has received.

I’ve been reading a bit into the latest “revival” that has hit the world - the Lakeland Florida Healing Revival. Seeing the videos (through YouTube) of what’s happening reminds me of the Toronto Blessing that occurred in the mid-1990s. That was a really huge revival during that time and I remember it clearly because the Pentecostal church I was attending in Singapore was really into it and had sent some of their staff members go over to Toronto to check it out. In fact, a lot of charismatic churches in Singapore were very into that revival. There was so much excitement in charismatic circles in Singapore and throughout the world then. Rodney Howard-Browne came to Singapore and I attended a lot of his meetings. Yes, I was very excited myself! The most distinctive aspect of the meetings was the holy laughter and if I’m not wrong, I think the distinctive message was about the Father’s love. So many lives were transformed then. But there were also a lot of criticisms of the revival. Even John Wimber (probably the most respected modern day charismatic leader ever and one who is humble, compassionate and balanced) and the Vineyard disassociated themselves from the Revival. I visited the Church in Toronto a few years later and attended the services there, but things kinda died down by then.

A smaller revival that occurred a while later was the Pensacola Outpouring. The focus on this revival was on repentance and holiness. I also managed to visit that Church before I visited Toronto - but again, probably a bit too late by then.

Well, those were pretty exciting times - especially the Toronto one. Weird things happened and so unsurprisingly criticisms abounded of some of the stuff that occurred during the services. At the peak of it all, I was quite caught up and maybe a bit too accepting of everything. I remember defending the Toronto Blessing against some of my friends’ criticisms. This was at a time when I was still thoroughly charismatic and hadn’t encountered the Reformed faith nor come to appreciate the non-charismatic side of Christianity. And so I was caught up with it all - as many charismatics were then.

Anyway, even after encountering and appreciating the non-charismatic side of Christianity years later, I didn’t reject my charismatic roots. Nor did I, after I started to appreciate the non-charismatic Christian world, become critical of all these revivals. Since the Toronto Blessing, many people have reflected upon how one should evaluate such revivals. Many books have been written and a lot of them point to revivals in history and how lots of weird and abnormal manifestations happened as the Spirit moved mightily upon people. Revivals aren’t neat things. They’re messy, not orderly. And lots of abnormal and weird things happen! So it’s not good enough to criticize a revival because of its weird manifestations.

Going back to the healing revival at Florida. I see that the blogsphere is starting to comment more and more on it and the person associated with the revival, Todd Bentley. Adrian Warnock is a respected blogger who has good relations with both Reformed (normally non- or anti-Charismatic) and Charismatic Christians. He recently wrote his thoughts on the revival here. He refers to Terry Virgo, who is the leader of a group of churches called Newfrontiers. Terry has written two posts so far on the revival. His first one was a bit more cautious. His second one, more open. Like Adrian Warnock, Terry and this group could probably be termed Reformed Charismatics too. While I would no longer call myself a Reformed Charismatic (i.e. one who appreciates both the Reformed and Charismatic worlds of Christianity) as I’m not sure how Reformed I still am, I respect such groups and leaders simply because the fact that they can claim to be Reformed in some way or that they have benefited from Reformed theology means that they have a good foundation in theology and are thus different from many flakey charismatics (or charismaniacs).

Here’s Rob Rufus’ thoughts on the revival. He’s a charismatic who is very grace-centered. J. Lee Grady, who I mentioned here, is also a charismatic who I respect. He is the editor of Charisma magazine, which is the most famous magazine for charismatic Christians. And I’ve always considered him to be pretty balanced and not a flakey charismatic. His thoughts on this revival are a bit more cautious.

(By the way, I’ve mentioned flakey charismatics a lot because there are a lot of them around. I’ve been a charismatic long enough to know that. I will always be one but I don’t see the need to defend every charismatic practice because in reality there are lots of weird things going around. I don’t agree with everything and acknowledge the many abuses and excesses. But I’m not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are good and bad in Charismatic Christianity just as there are good and bad in non-charismatic Christianity.)

I also came across this article by Storm Harvest. I am not very familiar with this organization. From their website, their vision is to promote the prophetic (in Australia). I think their article is worth reading as it represents a more critical view of the revival from a pretty charismatic-leaning organization.

And lastly, I’d also like to mention some ultra critical websites simply because I think some of what they have to say merits reading and reflection. One is Revival School and the other is The Revival Army. Both these sites view the revival as demonic and dangerous and while at this stage I actually feel much more positive towards the revival, I think some of the stuff they have written are definitely worth reading. That doesn’t mean I agree with their conclusions, of course.

In my next post, I’ll mention some of my thoughts regarding the revival.

Yesterday, I went to a Church of Our Saviour (COOS) service where Deborah Reed was ministering. Deborah is the director of the Children’s Ministries in Bethel Church in Redding, California and also the founder of Kingdom Treasures International. Bethel Church is pastored by Bill Johnson. In the past 6 months or so, I’ve been coming across a lot of Bill Johnson’s stuff - through conferences and bookstores I’ve gone to and a recommendation from a cousin of mine. Before this time, I hadn’t heard about him. But these various encounters have made me quite interested to find out more about his ministry, which can be described as prophetic and very focused on the supernatural (healings, miracles, etc.) Check out this YouTube of Bill Johnson on the 700 club (part one, two, three) and also this creative leg-lengthening miracle that occurred during a Bill Johnson conference. I love how Bill encourages Christians into go to the streets to heal people - i.e. to pray and believe for healing for anyone they see that needs healing when they’re just going about their daily life. That’s pretty much exactly like how Jesus ministered healing, isn’t it! Jesus didn’t call people who wanted healing to come to his healing meeting. Rather, he went out into the streets and healed people. And Johnson’s ministry is all about expecting the heavenly miraculous to invade earth and expecting a supernatural form of Christianity.

Anyway, yesterday’s service was quite an eye opener. Deborah preached a little bit about children and how God can move through them. She recently held a Children’s Ministry conference at COOS and she also taught the children there how to pray for the sick. So after her preaching, she got a few dozens of children to come out to the front. The children were going to pray for the sick. Then she asked the children if God gave them any Words of Knowledge. This could come through the children feeling a pain in their own body - a way that God could speak to them regarding what He wants to heal. The children who felt God speaking through them this way spoke into the microphone regarding what sickness God wants to heal (e.g. back pains, pain in the right ankle, etc.) and then people who were sick in that area could come up to the front for the children to pray for them. People who felt the pain completely gone then started to testify and probably about 15-20 people testified of God’s healing power during that time.

It’s exciting and wonderful to see God working through these children. Some were probably as young as 5-6 years old. During the ministry time, as time wore on, some children started running and playing on stage. Deborah mentioned that we should realize that they’re still kids. They may pray and God may heal through them, but the next minute they could be slapping their friends!

Just like this situation, I do believe God dearly loves to work through children. It’s all about childlike faith and children have that. They haven’t had enough of life experience to learn how to be scared or shy or embarrassed if their prayers aren’t answered. They just believe and expect God to be true to His Word to heal when they pray for people. I think we adults have to unlearn so many things, get rid of so many negative thoughts and past experiences. We have to renew a lot of our mind and thinking - something that children don’t need to. Unlike adults, they’re not too smart for their own good. They don’t rationalize or reason out everything. If they did like most adults, it’d be hard to have faith. I think Kierkegaard and Luther are right in believing that in a sense faith is opposed to reason. Children don’t use their minds to reason that much. They just believe. And God responds to such childlike faith.