Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Cute or Creepy?
Friday, August 22, 2008
Hearing the Fathers' Voices
I wish this blog post addressed something else besides Todd Bentley's marital problems or, for that matter, anything to do with the Lakeland Outpouring. In fact, I'd planned on posting one of those carefree "it's Friday so lighten up" posts with chuckle-links galore. But the truth is, what we're going through as the charismatic movement right now is no laughing matter, and neither is it something to ignore in hopes that it goes away with time. It's time for us to roll up our sleeves, commit to sticking through this as family and deal with the raw issues.
We need the fathers' voices to be heard. Obviously we need to hear the Father's voice the loudest. But God has also appointed specific leaders to shepherd an entire movement, and those are the leaders we need to hear from now more than ever. We don't just need a rallying cry or a clarion call, we need heart-to-heart dialogue on what just happened, what it means and where we go from here.
After a brief silence, the fathers are beginning to speak. Below are links to some of the public statements released this past week. (There are obviously others speaking, but these are leaders I felt needed to be highlighted given their proximity to the situation or the depth of their words.) I've highlighted a few quotes from each person, but I encourage you to read through their statements in full. Don't just assume you know what will be said given who it's coming from, but instead undestand that every leader is trying to display the heart of God throughout this time. As has been reiterated throughout the charismatic body so often for so long, let's not toss the baby out with the bathwater.
We need the fathers' voices to be heard. Obviously we need to hear the Father's voice the loudest. But God has also appointed specific leaders to shepherd an entire movement, and those are the leaders we need to hear from now more than ever. We don't just need a rallying cry or a clarion call, we need heart-to-heart dialogue on what just happened, what it means and where we go from here.
After a brief silence, the fathers are beginning to speak. Below are links to some of the public statements released this past week. (There are obviously others speaking, but these are leaders I felt needed to be highlighted given their proximity to the situation or the depth of their words.) I've highlighted a few quotes from each person, but I encourage you to read through their statements in full. Don't just assume you know what will be said given who it's coming from, but instead undestand that every leader is trying to display the heart of God throughout this time. As has been reiterated throughout the charismatic body so often for so long, let's not toss the baby out with the bathwater.
From John Arnott:
- “I am aware that the devil wants to tempt some people to say, ‘I told you so.’ Do not allow yourself to become his instrument by using the sword of truth without mercy in this way.”
- “Be slow to speak out publicly and to judge prematurely. It is time to treat these people with grace, like you would like to be treated when you fall or make a mistake. Be assured that nothing is being ‘swept under the carpet,’ but we are bringing it out into the light of God’s truth in mercy so that we can interrupt Satan’s plan to use this to discredit Jesus Christ by destroying the lives of Todd, his family and his friends.”
- “While I will never blame Todd’s opponents for Todd’s bad choices (Todd alone is responsible for them) their opposition had a greater effect than any of his critics will likely own up to in this lifetime.”
- “The ripple effects of Todd’s decisions have been astronomical. I’ve not seen anything like it in my lifetime. I’m sure there has been, but I’ve certainly not been this close to it.”
- “This is the way it is for the kingdom: Everything is for advancement. Everything. While it looks like sometimes you’re taking three steps backward, if heart is kept clean and we stay accountable and we learn how to maneuver through this minefield, we can come out on the other side of this thing so much stronger than before.”
From Che Ahn:
- “It is not surprising that the enemy would use this incident and anything he can find to impugn the work of God to cause us and all involved to question the Lakeland revival. Every revival that I have experienced or studied had its controversy, and the Lakeland revival, to say the least, has had its share.”
- “I have every confidence that God began the ‘Outpouring,’ and the ‘cat is already out of the bag.’ Thousands upon thousands in our nation and many others have already received the impartation to cause it to continue and grow.”
From Rick Joyner:
- “ What makes [Todd] capable of such extraordinary faith also makes him prone to extraordinary blunders. … Like it or not, that is often the nature of those who accomplish some of the greatest spiritual exploits—they also make some of the biggest bloopers. Hearing about these problems did not surprise me at all. Since I have now heard about more details, I’m still not shocked. These are problems, and they need to be fixed, which includes repenting and turning around, but if we want the victories and breakthroughs we all hope and pray for, they usually come through people with the same kind of nature.
- “One thing that would help them and the body of Christ, possibly more than anything else, is to see some real Christian charity expressed in this situation and some righteous judges stand up, which is the duty of true elders in the church.”
- “This is a real opportunity for the church to show some maturity and Christian love. This does not mean compromise, but it does mean addressing this situation in an almost opposite way that we have tended to do in the past.”
From Dutch Sheets:
- “When something has the potential of setting precedent, birthing a movement and being reproduced as a prototype, we are no longer simply endorsing good brothers, good intentions and miracles. Doctrine and foundations will be built on these events. Teachings and paradigms for future ministries will be formed—in short, the next generation of the church and the move of God in the earth could be greatly impacted.”
- “We leaders in the Church have become no different than the world around us in our standards for measuring success and greatness. This has contributed to the body of Christ giving millions of dollars to undeserving individuals; it has allowed people living in sin to become influential leaders—even to lead movement, allowing them influence all the way to the White House. Through our lack of discernment we built their stages and gave them their platforms. We have been gullible beyond words—gullible leaders producing gullible sheep.”
- “I don’t believe anyone is expecting perfection from us—I know I’m not. We’re far too human for that. But we are expected to have enough humility to look the world and those who follow us in the eye when we miss it and say, ‘We were wrong and we are sorry.’ Our careless accountability has caused the body of Christ to be spiritually raped and abused. It has produced disillusionment and brought immeasurable reproach to our God and cynicism to His message. Concerning Lakeland, what was called the “greatest revival since Azusa Street” has become possibly one of the greatest reproaches. We, the leaders of the charismatic church, are responsible.”
- “Our procedures and standards of accountability are incredibly inadequate. We have provided camaraderie, not biblical accountability.”
- “We are again experiencing the disappointment and even disillusionment that comes when perceived servants of God fail. This is a dangerous time for us.”
- “Lord, have mercy upon us! Turn our propensity for judgment into mercy and intercession. May the disappointment and disillusionment that is ours through the sin of another, work in us a radical pursuit of You, Lord, Your Presence and Your gifts!”
Monday, August 11, 2008
Council in Lakeland
It didn't take long after the Lakeland Outpouring began in April for certain issues to rise to the surface and eventually cause such a division among Spirit-filled believers that many referred to it as a potential "charismatic civil war." At the core were such issues as extra-biblical doctrine, overemphasis on angelic encounters and necromancy. And as so easily happens in this age of armchair quarterbacks, the blogosphere lit up in fervent debate. Heresy hunters feasted on any proof-less claims and foundation-less doctrines. Defenders railed against a lack of spiritual discernment among the "revival police." And everyday inquisitors were stuck with a truck-load of questions mingled with a sincere desire to stay in step with what God was doing.
As the debates climaxed, few realized that behind the scenes a group of leaders representing various parts of the Spirit-filled community were dialoguing about these same issues—albeit usually in a more civilized tone. Though the names of those involved changed, the goal remained the same: to create an apostolic council that, despite personal differences and preferences, was willing to address these core issues and bring biblical order to the situation. Those tuned in to GOD TV's daily broadcast of the Lakeland meetings got a taste of this in late June when Peter Wagner organized a night to apostolically commission evangelist Todd Bentley.
Now, more than a month later, Wagner is releasing a report documenting the council's findings so far. There isn't much "new news" contained in what he's written—even for those hearing about this for the first time—and I have to be honest, I severely question both the breadth of representation within the council and the criterion for "apostleship" among the group. However, the document does reveal at least two positive things: 1) Though the Lakeland Outpouring may dwindle, leaders are fully aware that these issues will linger long after the crowds subside and therefore need to be adequately addressed, if not resolved; and 2) Leaders are determined to address the issues of Lakeland—and those ongoing ones affecting the entire charismatic movement, for that matter—in a healthy, orderly and biblical manner.
So ... after reading through it, what do you think?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
THE LAKELAND APOSTOLIC FINDINGS
From the Lakeland Outpouring Apostolic Team
Written by C. Peter Wagner, Convening Apostle
(As of 8-11-08)
Introduction
Few events in recent church history have drawn as much national and international attention as the Lakeland Outpouring, May-August 2008, led by evangelist Todd Bentley and his Fresh Fire Ministries team. A key factor contributing to this unusual phenomenon has been the decision of Rory and Wendy Alec to use GOD TV to televise the revival meetings internationally.
As would be expected, true to the history of revivals, a powerful move of God like this inevitably draws serious attacks from the enemy and his forces of darkness. One outcome is a range of reactions to the phenomenon from those who focus on the hand of God in the ministry to those who focus on the damage that the enemy is doing. Because of the unprecedented number of people who have been affected one way or another by Lakeland and because of instant communication through technology, opinions and points of view easily become public domain, and the body of Christ can readily become polarized, which, of course, would be a victory for the enemy.
Unfortunately, in the case of Lakeland, the enemy has been succeeding, more than he should, in producing widespread confusion and even chaos throughout large segments of the body of Christ.
Throughout the early weeks of the Outpouring I watched it from time to time on TV, I followed the news items and rejoiced at what God was doing in Lakeland, but the matter was located toward the bottom of my priority scale. I also became aware of a rising number of criticisms and concerns about what was going on there, but I had very little interest in absorbing or analyzing them. This changed when I received a telephone call from Apostle Stephen Strader, Pastor of Ignited Church, and host of the Lakeland Outpouring. Stephen called me as the Presiding Apostle of the International Coalition of Apostles (ICA) of which he was a member. From first hand observation he described both the blessings and harsh opposition that they had begun to experience. Then he said, “Where are the apostles?”
I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me at that moment and said words to the effect, “Peter, you will need to answer that question.” As I have written in my books, one of the roles of an apostle is to set things in order and another is to assure that the body of Christ is operating on the basis of sound, biblical doctrine. There was no question about the need—disorder reigned, and many of the Lakeland doctrines as well as practices were being called into question on an international scope. I believe that I was given a divine assignment that I hadn’t even desired, namely to attempt to bring some kind of apostolic order to this widespread and potentially damaging confusion.
While I was talking to Stephen, God kept bringing the word “alignment” to the front of my mind, so I questioned him on Todd Bentley’s apostolic alignment. The upshot was that Todd believed in apostles and prophets, but he had never entered into a formal alignment. I did some more investigation over the next couple of days, and I was assured that this was indeed the case.
As the picture developed, there were two pressing needs. One was to facilitate apostolic alignment for Todd and the other was to deal responsibly with the doctrinal and ministry style issues being discussed. Then the question became, Which should come first? Meanwhile I had been discussing these things with several friends, all of whom were also members of ICA and whose opinion I highly respected. I immediately discovered to my surprise that many of my friends had formed highly-charged and emotionally intense opinions. Some were advising me not to go to Lakeland to promote a formal alignment until the doctrinal issues first had been resolved. Others took the opposite position. I carefully considered what they said and weighed the pros and cons as best I could.
My thinking was that I did not want to deal with doctrinal issues with any one but fellow apostles. I had recently attempted a similar process that had to do with a certain prophet, and I had failed in accomplishing my goal of bringing about a reconciliation of opposing parties. I felt that one of my mistakes had been attempting to deal directly with a prophet who was not aligned with me instead of dealing with an apostle with whom this person was in fact aligned. I certainly knew that I did not want to attempt to work directly with an evangelist such as Todd Bentley, especially one whom I had never met. If Todd was not apostolically aligned, this alignment needed to be formalized before I was prepared to go any further. I am well aware that some friends thought I should have stopped right there and pulled out. Perhaps I should have, but I felt that I would be disobeying the word from the Holy Spirit if I did. Some of my friends have not yet forgiven me for not taking their advice, and, who knows? Someday they might be telling me, “I told you so!”
Regardless, I knew that alignment needed to come first. Chuck Pierce, with whom I am closely aligned prophetically, wholeheartedly agreed. I did my due diligence and discovered that Ché Ahn was the ICA member who had the closest contact with Todd, and that Todd was willing to accept this alignment. Ché felt that he should bring in Bill Johnson and John Arnott since all three of them were close to Todd and they lead the newly-formed Revival Alliance. Unbelievably, all four of us had one date in common open all summer, Monday, June 23, so we decided that we would propose it to Todd. He enthusiastically agreed and invited us to come.
By now the word was getting out and I was receiving a quantity of email correspondence from other apostles who were interested. I opened the door for those who desired to accompany us on the platform. I did not allow prophets, evangelists pastors, or teachers to join the group—apostles only. A total of 17 apostles participated representing three apostolic streams: ICA, Revival Alliance, and Morning Star (Rick Joyner).
The Alignment Ceremony
My role in the ceremony was to facilitate Todd’s alignment with the three from Revival Alliance, who would then commission Todd as the evangelist to the Lakeland Outpouring. The others were invited to join in with short prayers or prophecies as led.
I need to explain a couple of things at this point, because it turns out that some have misunderstood what I have just said. Some have thought that Todd is aligned with me, which is not the case. He is not a member of ICA. We are barely aquainted. Please note that purposely I have never come out and defended Todd against any of the accusations. I have attempted to maintain neutrality in order to deal with the issues as objectively as possible.
Some have said that my very appearance in the ceremony constituted a de facto endorsement of the Lakeland Outpouring. I anticipated that this would be the case, and I felt I had to take the risk because I knew of no other way to proceed. So while it was an endorsement, I in no way meant it to imply that I was endorsing Lakelands’s side of the controversial issues. For one thing I couldn’t do that because I had not yet investigated them as I am doing now. I felt that the proper protocol was alignment first. However, I did feel, and still do, that what was wrong with the Outpouring should be corrected if at all possible rather than rejected out of hand.
Others wondered if this was an ICA event. It was not. However, I cannot separate myself from my role as the ICA leader, and I so identified myself in my paper. Thirteen of the 17 apostles on the platform were ICA members, and they agreed that Todd would be better with formal apostolic alignment than without it.
I have been scolded by some for making an apostolic decree at the end of my presentation. They may be right. However, I believe in apostolic alignment so much, that my thought was that Todd would be blessed more after the alignment than before. Take note also that I mentioned a heightened level of discernment between truth and error which obviously has been called for.
The vows of alignment with Ché, Bill, and John led to Todd’s commissioning. Ché Ahn was in charge of this. Notice that the only ones who laid on hands and commissioned were the three of them. Several prayed and prophesied. I want to make it clear that I did not commission Todd as some wrongly think. I didn’t lay on hands, I didn’t anoint with oil, in fact I moved to the back and neither my wife, Doris, nor I prayed or prophesied. I did this intentionally because I knew I would be wrongly positioned for the second part of my assignment if I did.
With the alignment completed, I was ready to go on with the second part of the assignment, namely attempting to bring order out of the confusion concerning doctrines and ministry practices
Bringing Order to the Issues
I felt that I needed a team of apostles who were willing to work with me in order to identify the concerns that had been brought up, define them as carefully as possible, and come to an opinion that could be issued to the public. Ten other apostles have agreed to work with me in this project: Ché Ahn, Bill Johnson, John Arnott, Chuck Pierce, Stephen Strader, Lee Grady, David Cannistraci, Steve Strang, Jeff Beacham, and Joe Askins.
One of our first tasks was to develop a “Lakeland Spectrum” in order to help individuals concerned to know where they stood as over against others. We have a five point spectrum (1) Strong approval, (2) Concerned approval, (3) Neutral, (4) Conditional disapproval, (5) Strong disapproval. The members of our apostolic team range from 1 to 4.5, so we have a range of perspectives.
We have been working on sorting out what we now have, and the list is down to 24 issues. We are taking this very seriously, and we understand that the process will take time. When we arrive at our conclusions we will release them to the public. John Arnott will be the point person to review our findings with Todd Bentley and the Fresh Fire Board of which he is a member.
We will add to this report of the findings as soon as possible . . . .
As the debates climaxed, few realized that behind the scenes a group of leaders representing various parts of the Spirit-filled community were dialoguing about these same issues—albeit usually in a more civilized tone. Though the names of those involved changed, the goal remained the same: to create an apostolic council that, despite personal differences and preferences, was willing to address these core issues and bring biblical order to the situation. Those tuned in to GOD TV's daily broadcast of the Lakeland meetings got a taste of this in late June when Peter Wagner organized a night to apostolically commission evangelist Todd Bentley.
Now, more than a month later, Wagner is releasing a report documenting the council's findings so far. There isn't much "new news" contained in what he's written—even for those hearing about this for the first time—and I have to be honest, I severely question both the breadth of representation within the council and the criterion for "apostleship" among the group. However, the document does reveal at least two positive things: 1) Though the Lakeland Outpouring may dwindle, leaders are fully aware that these issues will linger long after the crowds subside and therefore need to be adequately addressed, if not resolved; and 2) Leaders are determined to address the issues of Lakeland—and those ongoing ones affecting the entire charismatic movement, for that matter—in a healthy, orderly and biblical manner.
So ... after reading through it, what do you think?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
THE LAKELAND APOSTOLIC FINDINGS
From the Lakeland Outpouring Apostolic Team
Written by C. Peter Wagner, Convening Apostle
(As of 8-11-08)
Introduction
Few events in recent church history have drawn as much national and international attention as the Lakeland Outpouring, May-August 2008, led by evangelist Todd Bentley and his Fresh Fire Ministries team. A key factor contributing to this unusual phenomenon has been the decision of Rory and Wendy Alec to use GOD TV to televise the revival meetings internationally.
As would be expected, true to the history of revivals, a powerful move of God like this inevitably draws serious attacks from the enemy and his forces of darkness. One outcome is a range of reactions to the phenomenon from those who focus on the hand of God in the ministry to those who focus on the damage that the enemy is doing. Because of the unprecedented number of people who have been affected one way or another by Lakeland and because of instant communication through technology, opinions and points of view easily become public domain, and the body of Christ can readily become polarized, which, of course, would be a victory for the enemy.
Unfortunately, in the case of Lakeland, the enemy has been succeeding, more than he should, in producing widespread confusion and even chaos throughout large segments of the body of Christ.
Throughout the early weeks of the Outpouring I watched it from time to time on TV, I followed the news items and rejoiced at what God was doing in Lakeland, but the matter was located toward the bottom of my priority scale. I also became aware of a rising number of criticisms and concerns about what was going on there, but I had very little interest in absorbing or analyzing them. This changed when I received a telephone call from Apostle Stephen Strader, Pastor of Ignited Church, and host of the Lakeland Outpouring. Stephen called me as the Presiding Apostle of the International Coalition of Apostles (ICA) of which he was a member. From first hand observation he described both the blessings and harsh opposition that they had begun to experience. Then he said, “Where are the apostles?”
I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me at that moment and said words to the effect, “Peter, you will need to answer that question.” As I have written in my books, one of the roles of an apostle is to set things in order and another is to assure that the body of Christ is operating on the basis of sound, biblical doctrine. There was no question about the need—disorder reigned, and many of the Lakeland doctrines as well as practices were being called into question on an international scope. I believe that I was given a divine assignment that I hadn’t even desired, namely to attempt to bring some kind of apostolic order to this widespread and potentially damaging confusion.
While I was talking to Stephen, God kept bringing the word “alignment” to the front of my mind, so I questioned him on Todd Bentley’s apostolic alignment. The upshot was that Todd believed in apostles and prophets, but he had never entered into a formal alignment. I did some more investigation over the next couple of days, and I was assured that this was indeed the case.
As the picture developed, there were two pressing needs. One was to facilitate apostolic alignment for Todd and the other was to deal responsibly with the doctrinal and ministry style issues being discussed. Then the question became, Which should come first? Meanwhile I had been discussing these things with several friends, all of whom were also members of ICA and whose opinion I highly respected. I immediately discovered to my surprise that many of my friends had formed highly-charged and emotionally intense opinions. Some were advising me not to go to Lakeland to promote a formal alignment until the doctrinal issues first had been resolved. Others took the opposite position. I carefully considered what they said and weighed the pros and cons as best I could.
My thinking was that I did not want to deal with doctrinal issues with any one but fellow apostles. I had recently attempted a similar process that had to do with a certain prophet, and I had failed in accomplishing my goal of bringing about a reconciliation of opposing parties. I felt that one of my mistakes had been attempting to deal directly with a prophet who was not aligned with me instead of dealing with an apostle with whom this person was in fact aligned. I certainly knew that I did not want to attempt to work directly with an evangelist such as Todd Bentley, especially one whom I had never met. If Todd was not apostolically aligned, this alignment needed to be formalized before I was prepared to go any further. I am well aware that some friends thought I should have stopped right there and pulled out. Perhaps I should have, but I felt that I would be disobeying the word from the Holy Spirit if I did. Some of my friends have not yet forgiven me for not taking their advice, and, who knows? Someday they might be telling me, “I told you so!”
Regardless, I knew that alignment needed to come first. Chuck Pierce, with whom I am closely aligned prophetically, wholeheartedly agreed. I did my due diligence and discovered that Ché Ahn was the ICA member who had the closest contact with Todd, and that Todd was willing to accept this alignment. Ché felt that he should bring in Bill Johnson and John Arnott since all three of them were close to Todd and they lead the newly-formed Revival Alliance. Unbelievably, all four of us had one date in common open all summer, Monday, June 23, so we decided that we would propose it to Todd. He enthusiastically agreed and invited us to come.
By now the word was getting out and I was receiving a quantity of email correspondence from other apostles who were interested. I opened the door for those who desired to accompany us on the platform. I did not allow prophets, evangelists pastors, or teachers to join the group—apostles only. A total of 17 apostles participated representing three apostolic streams: ICA, Revival Alliance, and Morning Star (Rick Joyner).
The Alignment Ceremony
My role in the ceremony was to facilitate Todd’s alignment with the three from Revival Alliance, who would then commission Todd as the evangelist to the Lakeland Outpouring. The others were invited to join in with short prayers or prophecies as led.
I need to explain a couple of things at this point, because it turns out that some have misunderstood what I have just said. Some have thought that Todd is aligned with me, which is not the case. He is not a member of ICA. We are barely aquainted. Please note that purposely I have never come out and defended Todd against any of the accusations. I have attempted to maintain neutrality in order to deal with the issues as objectively as possible.
Some have said that my very appearance in the ceremony constituted a de facto endorsement of the Lakeland Outpouring. I anticipated that this would be the case, and I felt I had to take the risk because I knew of no other way to proceed. So while it was an endorsement, I in no way meant it to imply that I was endorsing Lakelands’s side of the controversial issues. For one thing I couldn’t do that because I had not yet investigated them as I am doing now. I felt that the proper protocol was alignment first. However, I did feel, and still do, that what was wrong with the Outpouring should be corrected if at all possible rather than rejected out of hand.
Others wondered if this was an ICA event. It was not. However, I cannot separate myself from my role as the ICA leader, and I so identified myself in my paper. Thirteen of the 17 apostles on the platform were ICA members, and they agreed that Todd would be better with formal apostolic alignment than without it.
I have been scolded by some for making an apostolic decree at the end of my presentation. They may be right. However, I believe in apostolic alignment so much, that my thought was that Todd would be blessed more after the alignment than before. Take note also that I mentioned a heightened level of discernment between truth and error which obviously has been called for.
The vows of alignment with Ché, Bill, and John led to Todd’s commissioning. Ché Ahn was in charge of this. Notice that the only ones who laid on hands and commissioned were the three of them. Several prayed and prophesied. I want to make it clear that I did not commission Todd as some wrongly think. I didn’t lay on hands, I didn’t anoint with oil, in fact I moved to the back and neither my wife, Doris, nor I prayed or prophesied. I did this intentionally because I knew I would be wrongly positioned for the second part of my assignment if I did.
With the alignment completed, I was ready to go on with the second part of the assignment, namely attempting to bring order out of the confusion concerning doctrines and ministry practices
Bringing Order to the Issues
I felt that I needed a team of apostles who were willing to work with me in order to identify the concerns that had been brought up, define them as carefully as possible, and come to an opinion that could be issued to the public. Ten other apostles have agreed to work with me in this project: Ché Ahn, Bill Johnson, John Arnott, Chuck Pierce, Stephen Strader, Lee Grady, David Cannistraci, Steve Strang, Jeff Beacham, and Joe Askins.
One of our first tasks was to develop a “Lakeland Spectrum” in order to help individuals concerned to know where they stood as over against others. We have a five point spectrum (1) Strong approval, (2) Concerned approval, (3) Neutral, (4) Conditional disapproval, (5) Strong disapproval. The members of our apostolic team range from 1 to 4.5, so we have a range of perspectives.
We have been working on sorting out what we now have, and the list is down to 24 issues. We are taking this very seriously, and we understand that the process will take time. When we arrive at our conclusions we will release them to the public. John Arnott will be the point person to review our findings with Todd Bentley and the Fresh Fire Board of which he is a member.
We will add to this report of the findings as soon as possible . . . .
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Had a Good Cry Lately?
I love the perspective Ecclesiastes gives us when it says, "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven" (3:1, NASB). Some translations of that verse use the word seasons. Every believer knows what it means to walk through different seasons of their faith. It's a beautiful, arduous, light, joyful, painful, ever-deepening journey—one that, as long as we're nestled close to Christ, few of us would trade for anything in this world.
I think I'm in what Solomon describes a few verses later as a season for weeping. Ever been through a "weepy" season as a leader? It makes for some embarrassing moments. Wonderful times, sure—but times you feel completely exposed, vulnerable and yet still aware of your role to lead through the tears. I believe some of the most priceless moments of growth come during these weepy seasons. Several years ago I lived with a pastor who spent the majority of his days prostrate on the floor as songs of the Spirit wrapped around him like a blanket and rebuilt him piece by piece. He's never been the same, and I've never viewed leadership the same way.
The odd thing is, my current weepiness isn't over anything sad. In fact, I'm not really shedding tons of outward tears, so maybe I'm not really weeping as much as I am softened by the Spirit's movement in me. While leading congregational worship on Sundays the past couple of weeks, I've been reduced to a pile of mush, and the sense hasn't really left me. It's lingered as I've worked through an incredibly hectic deadline week for Ministry Today (God, give me grace!). And it's done nothing but expand as I've spent time with my family. The reason for all this? Intimacy with God.
Sometimes we speak of intimacy, and sometimes we simply "do" it. For years in the charismatic world I heard message after message of the importance of worship, of being intimate with the Lord—yet aside from the local broken pastor of a small-and-dwindling church, few leaders "did" it. Apparently it's not that cool to lead through tears. They work on occasion when you want to get your message across, or the rare times when the Lord stops you in your tracks and overwhelms you with His presence. But stay in that spot of tear-filled, precious intimacy and people begin looking for the next church that's a little more "put together." You know, one that has a better children's program, whose worship leader doesn't linger on all those awkard moments of music-less adoration, whose pastor sticks to his three-point sermon and isn't so ... well, weepy.
May I be bold enough to say I doubt the Lord is scouring the land for "put together" churches and "put together" leaders? He is looking for those who worship in spirit and in truth—and, interestingly enough, both those elements require a "breaking down" of flesh and lies. Our usual response when something we treasure is torn down is to cry. Yet when we've walked with God enough to know His lovingkindness is everlasting, then we know He always has our best interest in mind. He wants to increase our capacity for intimacy with Him—which means those tears of pain will often transform into tears of tenderness and affection. Like Mary, who washed Jesus' feet with her tears, hair and expensive perfume (see Luke 7:37-39), we are to be a bride who is infatuated with her husband and showers Him with affection whenever possible.
All this can look a little messy at times. But then again, His is a love worth crying over.
I think I'm in what Solomon describes a few verses later as a season for weeping. Ever been through a "weepy" season as a leader? It makes for some embarrassing moments. Wonderful times, sure—but times you feel completely exposed, vulnerable and yet still aware of your role to lead through the tears. I believe some of the most priceless moments of growth come during these weepy seasons. Several years ago I lived with a pastor who spent the majority of his days prostrate on the floor as songs of the Spirit wrapped around him like a blanket and rebuilt him piece by piece. He's never been the same, and I've never viewed leadership the same way.
The odd thing is, my current weepiness isn't over anything sad. In fact, I'm not really shedding tons of outward tears, so maybe I'm not really weeping as much as I am softened by the Spirit's movement in me. While leading congregational worship on Sundays the past couple of weeks, I've been reduced to a pile of mush, and the sense hasn't really left me. It's lingered as I've worked through an incredibly hectic deadline week for Ministry Today (God, give me grace!). And it's done nothing but expand as I've spent time with my family. The reason for all this? Intimacy with God.
Sometimes we speak of intimacy, and sometimes we simply "do" it. For years in the charismatic world I heard message after message of the importance of worship, of being intimate with the Lord—yet aside from the local broken pastor of a small-and-dwindling church, few leaders "did" it. Apparently it's not that cool to lead through tears. They work on occasion when you want to get your message across, or the rare times when the Lord stops you in your tracks and overwhelms you with His presence. But stay in that spot of tear-filled, precious intimacy and people begin looking for the next church that's a little more "put together." You know, one that has a better children's program, whose worship leader doesn't linger on all those awkard moments of music-less adoration, whose pastor sticks to his three-point sermon and isn't so ... well, weepy.
May I be bold enough to say I doubt the Lord is scouring the land for "put together" churches and "put together" leaders? He is looking for those who worship in spirit and in truth—and, interestingly enough, both those elements require a "breaking down" of flesh and lies. Our usual response when something we treasure is torn down is to cry. Yet when we've walked with God enough to know His lovingkindness is everlasting, then we know He always has our best interest in mind. He wants to increase our capacity for intimacy with Him—which means those tears of pain will often transform into tears of tenderness and affection. Like Mary, who washed Jesus' feet with her tears, hair and expensive perfume (see Luke 7:37-39), we are to be a bride who is infatuated with her husband and showers Him with affection whenever possible.
All this can look a little messy at times. But then again, His is a love worth crying over.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Getting the 'Stuff' Out of the Way
Because of the many cringe-worthy statements being made from the platform at the Lakeland Outpouring, I'm determined to focus on the great things God is doing there among the leadership. Last night's meeting presented a prime opportunity to do this as John and Carol Arnott from the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship sought to follow the Holy Spirit's movement amidst a crowd of eager, hungry people from across the world. The international flavor was, as always, a beautiful peek into the kingdom, yet what struck me most was a statement John made while praying for a lineup of individuals affected by spinal injuries.
After a woman came up hobbling onstage with a cane—a result of a major car accident four years prior that claimed her daughter's life—and left able to walk on her own, John said this:
If there's anything we need more of at Lakeland, it's the humility and transparency John showed with this simple, somewhat off-the-cuff comment. John's been praying for people's healings for years, yet I love that he was honest enough to explain what was going on at that moment and offer insight into the atmosphere of healing. We desperately need more of this—particularly in Lakeland—to diffuse the "mystical," elitist sense that surrounds healing in certain charismatic circles. Healing has become a complex issue partly because of the culture we've created around it—the "why not me?" questions, the level-of-faith game, the prayer flair, etc. Yet throughout the night, John reminded people of how simple it really is. God does the work, we receive His gift. At one point, while speaking of God's fatherly heart, John cited Luke 12:32: "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
If only we—yes, I'm talking to leaders—could believe this and keep things simple. Then maybe we'd get some of this "stuff" out of the way and let God to really move among His people.
After a woman came up hobbling onstage with a cane—a result of a major car accident four years prior that claimed her daughter's life—and left able to walk on her own, John said this:
"Maybe you didn't notice … but while I was talking to [some other people], Carol was busy ministering to this lady, going deeper and unraveling some of the stuff that maybe had been getting in the way of her heart receiving that healing. You and I are learning to do this. We're not nearly as good at it as Jesus was—at least I'm not. But I'm aspiring to that. I want to get to the place where everything is healed instantaneously. Don't you? Wouldn't that be great? In the meanwhile, sometimes we take a little more time getting the stuff and the baggage out of the way."
If there's anything we need more of at Lakeland, it's the humility and transparency John showed with this simple, somewhat off-the-cuff comment. John's been praying for people's healings for years, yet I love that he was honest enough to explain what was going on at that moment and offer insight into the atmosphere of healing. We desperately need more of this—particularly in Lakeland—to diffuse the "mystical," elitist sense that surrounds healing in certain charismatic circles. Healing has become a complex issue partly because of the culture we've created around it—the "why not me?" questions, the level-of-faith game, the prayer flair, etc. Yet throughout the night, John reminded people of how simple it really is. God does the work, we receive His gift. At one point, while speaking of God's fatherly heart, John cited Luke 12:32: "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
If only we—yes, I'm talking to leaders—could believe this and keep things simple. Then maybe we'd get some of this "stuff" out of the way and let God to really move among His people.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Pastors Defending Marriage
I don't usually opt to blog on someone else's behalf, much less post someone else's e-mail/PSA as a blog ... but I'm making a well-deserved exception in this case. Read the letter below sent out a few days ago from a group of concerned pastors and you'll see why. Then, if you live in Florida, Arizona or California, go make a difference!
----------------------------------------------------------
July 10, 2008
To: Our Pastor and Christian Leader Friends in Florida and Arizona
From: Your Pastor and Christian Leader Friends in California
RE: Your Invitation to join 2,000 California pastors in a July 30 Conference Call to defend marriage on November 4 (Election Day)
Greetings,
We are a collection of California pastors writing to pastors. We apologize in advance for the length of this letter, but we feel the seriousness of the situation merits it. Our three states have something in common. On November 4, California, Arizona and Florida will be voting on the definition of marriage.
In California, we are reeling from a May 15 ruling of the CA Supreme Court which overturned our Family Code (Proposition 22, approved in 2000 by 61.4% of the voters) which declared that marriage consisted of the union of a man and a woman. As a result, gay “marriage” became legal here on June 16 at 5:01 PM.
Unlike Massachusetts, where gay “marriage” cannot be “exported” to other states, anyone can get married in California, due to the lack of a residency requirement, and then return to their home state, requiring their gay “marriage” to be recognized.
Here in California (as in Florida), we recently reached the needed number of signatures for a November 4 referendum when we will vote on the definition of marriage again, this time as a state constitutional amendment, so the CA Supreme Court cannot overturn the will of the people.
Candidly, we, as California Bible-believing pastors and churches, are vulnerable at this time. There is no state protection that permits us to decline performing gay “marriages” (contrary to what appears as one small paragraph on page 117 of the CA Supreme Court ruling). Somewhere and sometime in our state, a gay couple will walk into an evangelical church, or a conservative Catholic Church, and demand (under California State law) to be married.
We are responding to this by working to pass CA Proposition 8 which will add an amendment to the state constitution stating that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. To accomplish this, many pastors and Christian leaders have united.
Over 1,600 of us (an unofficial “California Pastors Rapid Response Team") joined together to protect marriage in a June 25 Statewide Pastors Conference Call. We gathered at 101 locations throughout the state. Now we are preparing for our next conference call.
A THREE STATE CONFERENCE CALL – INVITING ARIZONA AND FLORIDA TO JOIN US
Two thousand pastors and Christian leaders across California are coming together at 200+ locations (host churches) for a statewide Pastors Strategic Protect Marriage Conference Call (1 hour and 45 minutes) on Wednesday, July 30, at 10 AM in California and Florida, and 1 PM in Florida.
And here is our reason for writing. May we invite all pastors and Christian leaders from Florida and Arizona to join us for this gathering? Would it be beneficial for us to have “three state solidarity” on this issue from now until November 4, Election Day? If so, would you please forward this email invitation to every Florida and Arizona pastor and Christian leader you know.
NEEDED
Here in California, it is our goal to have, before November 4, 500 locations with 5,000 pastors and Christian leaders coming together in future conference calls in order to activate (along with others) 8 million men and women to vote for marriage, as God ordained it. With 7 million votes, we win it. With 8 million votes, we beam an indisputable message!
Now we invite you in Arizona and Florida to join with us in this great three state conference call.
HOSTING A SITE
If you, as a pastor, are willing to host a gathering of Florida or Arizona pastors and Christian leaders at your church, or you know of a pastor who will host, please contact Chris Clark at marriagequestion4@skylinechurch.org if from Arizona or marriagequestion5@skylinechurch.org if from Florida, or call 619-415-5453 ASAP if you are willing to host.
SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION
We plan to offer the conference call in simultaneous Spanish translation.
BRING STAFF AND LEADERS
You may want to host a site in your church so that it makes it easier to bring your pastoral staff and key leaders. If you do not host a site, be assured that assistant pastors and key select lay leaders of ministries are welcome – at any site.
WHAT IS NEEDED TO HOST A SITE
In our June 25 statewide pastors call, we offered only audio capability (with some 200 power point slides for the 90 minute event). For our July 30 three-state call, we hope to present two technological options for site hosts:
(1) Webinar (a seminar broadcast via the internet) or
(2) Conference call (such as we did for our June 25 gathering).
We are currently testing our capability to broadcast this and future conference calls to sites that have a broadband (Cable, DSL, or T1) internet connection for the webinar. Future emails will communicate the details for the site hosts.
If we are able to go live with the webinar format in July, sites must be able to project the internet-based presentation (audio and video) from a computer. If you do not have broadband, and prefer to utilize the conference call format, you only need to have speaker-phone capability that can be adequately amplified, along with the ability to magnify or project a PowerPoint presentation. For those who have broadband: Webinar participants will not need anyone on-site to run the PowerPoint presentation – the presentation and the audio will be streamed to your site via GoToWebinar.com. For those who do not have broadband: The traditional conference call will be an audio transmission, with a PowerPoint presentation available for conference call sites to show while the audio plays, making the event more "informationally friendly." (A person at that site must listen to a separate conference call giving PowerPoint instruction and cues.)
Be assured that the information shared will be extremely beneficial for the future of the cause of Christ. Saying it another way, it is worth canceling all other appointments in order to be present at one of these locations.
FORWARD AND ALERT US TO NEW EMAIL ADDRESSES
Additionally, please forward this email to as many Florida and Arizona pastors and Christian leaders as you can - or email us from Florida at marriagequestion3@skylinechurch.org and from Arizona at marriagequestion2@skylinechurch.org with the names of pastors and Christian leaders so that we can keep them informed of future developments.
COURAGEOUS PASTORS
If you are activated on this issue, may we take a small detour and affirm you? Thank you for being bold brothers and sisters in this struggle! Thank you for standing for the truth of Scripture, when it is not popular to do so. The present culture may be unkind to you. History, however, will be most kind to you.
Being a biblically-based pastor today costs. The Gospel always has. It takes courage to pastor biblically today. We stand together with you!
OUR LEGAL REALITIES HERE IN CALIFORNIA
On page 117 of the 121 page May 15 California Supreme Court ruling, it supposedly exempts pastors from being forced to perform gay “weddings,” stating the following: “Finally, affording same-sex couples the opportunity to obtain the designation of marriage will not impinge upon the religious freedom of any religious organization, official, or any other person; no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs. (CA Const., art. I, § 4.);”
It may appear that pastors have "dodged this bullet." Candidly, we have not. The paragraph above, which sounds so consoling to Bible-believing pastors, needs to be fully understood. In legal terms, since the court case was not whether or not pastors should have to perform homosexual weddings, this paragraph is not legally relevant. If the case had been about the issue of whether or not pastors had to perform same sex marriages against their will, then that paragraph would have carried legal "weight." But the court case was only about whether same sex marriages were allowable in California. Thus that seemingly comforting paragraph is of little to no value.
Succinctly stated, we are - according to the best legal minds we have talked to - vulnerable. Attorneys defending us would make their case on a federal basis, but not, as we understand, on current state law. What will we face in California, Florida and Arizona if we fail to defend marriage?
For an answer, let us look at what has happened to our Christian brothers in Canada and Sweden and their losses of religious freedoms. Some have been charged for speaking out on the practice of homosexuality. Others have been tried. Some have been jailed. The Bible is now viewed as hate speech. Pastors are viewed as hatemongers.
Coming closer home, what has happened to the Methodist camp meeting in Ocean Grove, New Jersey when two lesbians demanded to have their civil union ceremony on church property? The lesbians could have chosen any part of New Jersey’s long shoreline, but they wanted to be married on one location owned by a church related group. The State of New Jersey, siding with the couple, took the tax exemption away from a portion of their property. Now the church campground is involved in a draining lawsuit. What is ahead for us – if we fail to preserve the definition of marriage?
Succinctly stated, (and unlike other issues), this is a survival issue, the survival of religious freedoms, the capacity to freely preach the gospel.
It is important to note that it is totally legal for churches and pastors to speak out clearly on this issue. Ordination did not deprive you of your religious liberties. Churches can (and should) speak out on moral issues.
Equally important is the fact that marriage is not ultimately a civil issue. It is biblical. It is a moral issue. Marriage, as you know, predated civil governance.
FLUIDITY
How are we to understand the changing legal climate? Christian attorneys will update us in the Wednesday, July 30 conference call. Several attorneys will be on hand to bring information on unfolding legal realities, including the recent legal attempts by the radical secularists to disqualify the upcoming ballot on marriage here in California.
UNFOLDING STRATEGY
In addition, we will cover the strategy for preparing for (and winning) the California, Arizona and Florida Constitutional Marriage Amendment votes in November. This is a winnable war. And, unfortunately, the freedom to proclaim the Gospel hinges on the outcome of this election.
CALIFORNIA YOUTH / YOUNG ADULT STRATEGY
In California, there is exciting news coming regarding the activation and training of armies of youth and young adults across the state.
We hope that sharing about these “game plans” will energize you with the emerging strategy in your respective state. We know that you, in Florida and Arizona will, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, develop their own plans. We are not expecting you to replicate what we are doing here. We do want to encourage each other, however.
CALIFORNIA MEDIA STRATEGY
We would like to share with you what we are learning here regarding a media strategy. Frank Schubert (Schubert-Flint Public Affairs Company,Sacramento) and Ron Prentice (ProtectMarriage.com) will share the broader, California statewide media strategies, hoping these insights will be helpful to our Florida and Arizona brothers and sisters.
FASTING AND PRAYER
Here in California, we are focused on a 100-Day Prayer Period will launch July 28, ending at the election, November 4. Within that 100 day period, there will be a 40-Day Statewide Fast, from September 24 to November 2. Individuals may fast portions or all of the 40 days, as they are led, or they may fast in “relays” as teams. If you feel it is pleasing to the Holy Spirit, we invite our pastor friends in Florida and Arizona to join us in this prayer and fasting period.
(Simply as a point of information, may we share regarding one more event here: A culmination of this 40-day period will be The Call (see www.thecall.com). The Call California will be held at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, on Saturday, November 1, from 10 AM to 10 PM – involving 50,000+ men and women of God from every denomination – all united to create a climate of ongoing prayer and fasting in our state and across the nation.
We want to emphasize one more time that we are NOT sharing our events here in California because they are to be “laid on” Florida and Arizona. We merely share them to be an encouragement to each other. We will, in this prayer and share process, learn from you as well.
KEY ISSUE: REVIVAL
In our hearts, we know that what is really needed is more than a voting victory in November. What is needed is revival and an avalanche of Holy Spirit-given evangelism. That is why we pray.
WEBSITES
If you have interest in listening to any or all of our 90-minute June 25 Statewide Pastors Conference Call, and to view the corresponding 200 PowerPoint slides, go to www.skylinechurch.org/marriage08.php and type in "marriage08" as a password. In addition, there are many practical materials that are applicable to all three of our states available at www.ProtectMarriageSD.com. Considerably more resources are located at www.ProtectMarriage.com
URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED NOW
Most importantly, join with us Wednesday, July 30, at 10 AM in California and Arizona, and 1 PM in Florida. Please consider hosting a site at your church. Contact Chris Clark at marriagequestion4@skylinechurch.org if from Arizona or marriagequestion5@skylinechurch.org if from Florida, or call 619-415-5453 ASAP if you are willing to host. Online registration for the meeting will be available on www.protectmarriagesd.com Please register on-line to insure sufficient materials are available for those attending at each location.
Brothers and sisters, this IS winnable!
We pray blessings on you – Florida and Arizona – this day.
Your pastor friends… in this ultimately victorious battle,
Jim Garlow, Skyline Church, San Diego
Chris Clark, East Clairemont Baptist Church, San Diego
Miles McPherson, The Rock Church, San Diego
Jack Hibbs, Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills (LA area)
Jim Franklin, Cornerstone Church, Fresno
Dudley Rutherford, Shepherd of the Hills, Porter Ranch (LA area)
Timothy Winters, Bayview Baptist Church, San Diego
Along with 1600 other CA pastors and Christian leaders who love Florida and Arizona
----------------------------------------------------------
July 10, 2008
To: Our Pastor and Christian Leader Friends in Florida and Arizona
From: Your Pastor and Christian Leader Friends in California
RE: Your Invitation to join 2,000 California pastors in a July 30 Conference Call to defend marriage on November 4 (Election Day)
Greetings,
We are a collection of California pastors writing to pastors. We apologize in advance for the length of this letter, but we feel the seriousness of the situation merits it. Our three states have something in common. On November 4, California, Arizona and Florida will be voting on the definition of marriage.
In California, we are reeling from a May 15 ruling of the CA Supreme Court which overturned our Family Code (Proposition 22, approved in 2000 by 61.4% of the voters) which declared that marriage consisted of the union of a man and a woman. As a result, gay “marriage” became legal here on June 16 at 5:01 PM.
Unlike Massachusetts, where gay “marriage” cannot be “exported” to other states, anyone can get married in California, due to the lack of a residency requirement, and then return to their home state, requiring their gay “marriage” to be recognized.
Here in California (as in Florida), we recently reached the needed number of signatures for a November 4 referendum when we will vote on the definition of marriage again, this time as a state constitutional amendment, so the CA Supreme Court cannot overturn the will of the people.
Candidly, we, as California Bible-believing pastors and churches, are vulnerable at this time. There is no state protection that permits us to decline performing gay “marriages” (contrary to what appears as one small paragraph on page 117 of the CA Supreme Court ruling). Somewhere and sometime in our state, a gay couple will walk into an evangelical church, or a conservative Catholic Church, and demand (under California State law) to be married.
We are responding to this by working to pass CA Proposition 8 which will add an amendment to the state constitution stating that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. To accomplish this, many pastors and Christian leaders have united.
Over 1,600 of us (an unofficial “California Pastors Rapid Response Team") joined together to protect marriage in a June 25 Statewide Pastors Conference Call. We gathered at 101 locations throughout the state. Now we are preparing for our next conference call.
A THREE STATE CONFERENCE CALL – INVITING ARIZONA AND FLORIDA TO JOIN US
Two thousand pastors and Christian leaders across California are coming together at 200+ locations (host churches) for a statewide Pastors Strategic Protect Marriage Conference Call (1 hour and 45 minutes) on Wednesday, July 30, at 10 AM in California and Florida, and 1 PM in Florida.
And here is our reason for writing. May we invite all pastors and Christian leaders from Florida and Arizona to join us for this gathering? Would it be beneficial for us to have “three state solidarity” on this issue from now until November 4, Election Day? If so, would you please forward this email invitation to every Florida and Arizona pastor and Christian leader you know.
NEEDED
Here in California, it is our goal to have, before November 4, 500 locations with 5,000 pastors and Christian leaders coming together in future conference calls in order to activate (along with others) 8 million men and women to vote for marriage, as God ordained it. With 7 million votes, we win it. With 8 million votes, we beam an indisputable message!
Now we invite you in Arizona and Florida to join with us in this great three state conference call.
HOSTING A SITE
If you, as a pastor, are willing to host a gathering of Florida or Arizona pastors and Christian leaders at your church, or you know of a pastor who will host, please contact Chris Clark at marriagequestion4@skylinechurch.org if from Arizona or marriagequestion5@skylinechurch.org if from Florida, or call 619-415-5453 ASAP if you are willing to host.
SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION
We plan to offer the conference call in simultaneous Spanish translation.
BRING STAFF AND LEADERS
You may want to host a site in your church so that it makes it easier to bring your pastoral staff and key leaders. If you do not host a site, be assured that assistant pastors and key select lay leaders of ministries are welcome – at any site.
WHAT IS NEEDED TO HOST A SITE
In our June 25 statewide pastors call, we offered only audio capability (with some 200 power point slides for the 90 minute event). For our July 30 three-state call, we hope to present two technological options for site hosts:
(1) Webinar (a seminar broadcast via the internet) or
(2) Conference call (such as we did for our June 25 gathering).
We are currently testing our capability to broadcast this and future conference calls to sites that have a broadband (Cable, DSL, or T1) internet connection for the webinar. Future emails will communicate the details for the site hosts.
If we are able to go live with the webinar format in July, sites must be able to project the internet-based presentation (audio and video) from a computer. If you do not have broadband, and prefer to utilize the conference call format, you only need to have speaker-phone capability that can be adequately amplified, along with the ability to magnify or project a PowerPoint presentation. For those who have broadband: Webinar participants will not need anyone on-site to run the PowerPoint presentation – the presentation and the audio will be streamed to your site via GoToWebinar.com. For those who do not have broadband: The traditional conference call will be an audio transmission, with a PowerPoint presentation available for conference call sites to show while the audio plays, making the event more "informationally friendly." (A person at that site must listen to a separate conference call giving PowerPoint instruction and cues.)
Be assured that the information shared will be extremely beneficial for the future of the cause of Christ. Saying it another way, it is worth canceling all other appointments in order to be present at one of these locations.
FORWARD AND ALERT US TO NEW EMAIL ADDRESSES
Additionally, please forward this email to as many Florida and Arizona pastors and Christian leaders as you can - or email us from Florida at marriagequestion3@skylinechurch.org and from Arizona at marriagequestion2@skylinechurch.org with the names of pastors and Christian leaders so that we can keep them informed of future developments.
COURAGEOUS PASTORS
If you are activated on this issue, may we take a small detour and affirm you? Thank you for being bold brothers and sisters in this struggle! Thank you for standing for the truth of Scripture, when it is not popular to do so. The present culture may be unkind to you. History, however, will be most kind to you.
Being a biblically-based pastor today costs. The Gospel always has. It takes courage to pastor biblically today. We stand together with you!
OUR LEGAL REALITIES HERE IN CALIFORNIA
On page 117 of the 121 page May 15 California Supreme Court ruling, it supposedly exempts pastors from being forced to perform gay “weddings,” stating the following: “Finally, affording same-sex couples the opportunity to obtain the designation of marriage will not impinge upon the religious freedom of any religious organization, official, or any other person; no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs. (CA Const., art. I, § 4.);”
It may appear that pastors have "dodged this bullet." Candidly, we have not. The paragraph above, which sounds so consoling to Bible-believing pastors, needs to be fully understood. In legal terms, since the court case was not whether or not pastors should have to perform homosexual weddings, this paragraph is not legally relevant. If the case had been about the issue of whether or not pastors had to perform same sex marriages against their will, then that paragraph would have carried legal "weight." But the court case was only about whether same sex marriages were allowable in California. Thus that seemingly comforting paragraph is of little to no value.
Succinctly stated, we are - according to the best legal minds we have talked to - vulnerable. Attorneys defending us would make their case on a federal basis, but not, as we understand, on current state law. What will we face in California, Florida and Arizona if we fail to defend marriage?
For an answer, let us look at what has happened to our Christian brothers in Canada and Sweden and their losses of religious freedoms. Some have been charged for speaking out on the practice of homosexuality. Others have been tried. Some have been jailed. The Bible is now viewed as hate speech. Pastors are viewed as hatemongers.
Coming closer home, what has happened to the Methodist camp meeting in Ocean Grove, New Jersey when two lesbians demanded to have their civil union ceremony on church property? The lesbians could have chosen any part of New Jersey’s long shoreline, but they wanted to be married on one location owned by a church related group. The State of New Jersey, siding with the couple, took the tax exemption away from a portion of their property. Now the church campground is involved in a draining lawsuit. What is ahead for us – if we fail to preserve the definition of marriage?
Succinctly stated, (and unlike other issues), this is a survival issue, the survival of religious freedoms, the capacity to freely preach the gospel.
It is important to note that it is totally legal for churches and pastors to speak out clearly on this issue. Ordination did not deprive you of your religious liberties. Churches can (and should) speak out on moral issues.
Equally important is the fact that marriage is not ultimately a civil issue. It is biblical. It is a moral issue. Marriage, as you know, predated civil governance.
FLUIDITY
How are we to understand the changing legal climate? Christian attorneys will update us in the Wednesday, July 30 conference call. Several attorneys will be on hand to bring information on unfolding legal realities, including the recent legal attempts by the radical secularists to disqualify the upcoming ballot on marriage here in California.
UNFOLDING STRATEGY
In addition, we will cover the strategy for preparing for (and winning) the California, Arizona and Florida Constitutional Marriage Amendment votes in November. This is a winnable war. And, unfortunately, the freedom to proclaim the Gospel hinges on the outcome of this election.
CALIFORNIA YOUTH / YOUNG ADULT STRATEGY
In California, there is exciting news coming regarding the activation and training of armies of youth and young adults across the state.
We hope that sharing about these “game plans” will energize you with the emerging strategy in your respective state. We know that you, in Florida and Arizona will, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, develop their own plans. We are not expecting you to replicate what we are doing here. We do want to encourage each other, however.
CALIFORNIA MEDIA STRATEGY
We would like to share with you what we are learning here regarding a media strategy. Frank Schubert (Schubert-Flint Public Affairs Company,Sacramento) and Ron Prentice (ProtectMarriage.com) will share the broader, California statewide media strategies, hoping these insights will be helpful to our Florida and Arizona brothers and sisters.
FASTING AND PRAYER
Here in California, we are focused on a 100-Day Prayer Period will launch July 28, ending at the election, November 4. Within that 100 day period, there will be a 40-Day Statewide Fast, from September 24 to November 2. Individuals may fast portions or all of the 40 days, as they are led, or they may fast in “relays” as teams. If you feel it is pleasing to the Holy Spirit, we invite our pastor friends in Florida and Arizona to join us in this prayer and fasting period.
(Simply as a point of information, may we share regarding one more event here: A culmination of this 40-day period will be The Call (see www.thecall.com). The Call California will be held at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, on Saturday, November 1, from 10 AM to 10 PM – involving 50,000+ men and women of God from every denomination – all united to create a climate of ongoing prayer and fasting in our state and across the nation.
We want to emphasize one more time that we are NOT sharing our events here in California because they are to be “laid on” Florida and Arizona. We merely share them to be an encouragement to each other. We will, in this prayer and share process, learn from you as well.
KEY ISSUE: REVIVAL
In our hearts, we know that what is really needed is more than a voting victory in November. What is needed is revival and an avalanche of Holy Spirit-given evangelism. That is why we pray.
WEBSITES
If you have interest in listening to any or all of our 90-minute June 25 Statewide Pastors Conference Call, and to view the corresponding 200 PowerPoint slides, go to www.skylinechurch.org/marriage08.php and type in "marriage08" as a password. In addition, there are many practical materials that are applicable to all three of our states available at www.ProtectMarriageSD.com. Considerably more resources are located at www.ProtectMarriage.com
URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED NOW
Most importantly, join with us Wednesday, July 30, at 10 AM in California and Arizona, and 1 PM in Florida. Please consider hosting a site at your church. Contact Chris Clark at marriagequestion4@skylinechurch.org if from Arizona or marriagequestion5@skylinechurch.org if from Florida, or call 619-415-5453 ASAP if you are willing to host. Online registration for the meeting will be available on www.protectmarriagesd.com Please register on-line to insure sufficient materials are available for those attending at each location.
Brothers and sisters, this IS winnable!
We pray blessings on you – Florida and Arizona – this day.
Your pastor friends… in this ultimately victorious battle,
Jim Garlow, Skyline Church, San Diego
Chris Clark, East Clairemont Baptist Church, San Diego
Miles McPherson, The Rock Church, San Diego
Jack Hibbs, Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills (LA area)
Jim Franklin, Cornerstone Church, Fresno
Dudley Rutherford, Shepherd of the Hills, Porter Ranch (LA area)
Timothy Winters, Bayview Baptist Church, San Diego
Along with 1600 other CA pastors and Christian leaders who love Florida and Arizona
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Culture Clash, Part II
The Lakeland Outpouring is hot. Not only is that obvious by the tens of thousands who’ve trekked to Florida from near and far, it’s just as evident by the heated responses you can get online these days by simply including words like Lakeland, Todd Bentley, outpouring, healing and revival in a blog. As meetings hit the three-month mark today, people are still asking the same question: “Is it really revival?” (For an answer to that, check out the upcoming issue of Ministry Today in September, which includes an array of opinions from seasoned revivalists and respected leaders.)
Yet equally as pronounced—and fascinating, in my opinion—are the virtual tongue-lashings you’re bound to get nowadays no matter how balanced (or unbalanced) you try to be with your comments regarding the Lakeland scene. No, I’m not just reacting to those who posted their thoughts regarding my previous writing—which were mild compared to most online threads I’ve followed. What intrigues me more is the all-or-nothing approach so many online opinionators have adopted.
It’s called throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I know because I’ve been prone to some major baby-tossing myself. In fact, not to one-up the Apostle Paul, but it wasn’t too long ago that I could’ve been nominated as Chief Tosser among tossers.
When I threw myself into the charismania waters of the Toronto Blessing, Pensacola Revival, prophetic movement and other moves that have come in the past 15-plus years, I often struggled with making sense of some of the “extra-biblical” matters I regularly encountered. Having come from a Southern Baptist, “if it’s not in the Bible, it’s not of God” background, it was already a bit of a stretch for me to explain what exactly went on when someone was “slain in the Spirit.” At times I wanted to jump out of the flow because I was so frustrated by the (often unspoken) emphasis on the extremes, the manifestations and teachings that required reading between the lines of Scripture. And I grew tired of playing Duck Duck Goose with identifying what was “truly” in the Spirit and what wasn’t. Like many who have made a similar leap of faith, I still wrestle with these issues.
The problem, however, is that as soon as you admit to such a struggle in certain circles, your “Spirit-filled” level supposedly plummets while your “religious spirit” quotient rapidly rises. To appear “with it” and in the Spirit, you either suck it up and withhold all questioning or, like many I’ve seen during these years, you get thrown out of the rapids and left to sit alone on the slippery slope of the riverbank. With no answers or resolution in sight, your questioning quickly morphs into acerbic criticism, which turns into pure bitterness—which eventually leads to dismissing the whole Spirit-filled experience. Most of us know at least half a dozen people who’ve been down this path and ended up tossing the baby out with the bathwater.
This is what I’m questioning when I mention the Lakeland Outpouring. It’s the culture we’ve created. A culture that is enveloped in the Lakeland experience and has been on full display at each of the previously mentioned moves of God. It’s a culture in which miraculous healings are fused with a flesh-fest of celebrity, where people can experience unprecedented heights in authentic, Christ-exalting worship and yet hours later leave a meeting utterly confused. And although this environment may propel many deeper into Holy Spirit matters, it also leaves countless wounded and abandoned in its wake.
I am convinced God is trying to redeem such a culture through this current move. As I hoped to convey in my previous blog posting (but obviously didn’t), we are an odd but beautiful mixture of flesh and spirit: 100 percent spirit and 100 percent flesh, as was our Savior, Jesus. Christ never once abandoned the spirit realm, but neither did He forsake His status as a Spirit-filled container of flesh. He did His Father’s will through both, but in doing so, He had to overcome the culture surrounding Him.
I believe the same can be done at Lakeland. Obviously, it doesn’t help when people jump to the conclusion that this outpouring is entirely “not of God” or, even more presumptuously, that it’s the work of the devil. That’s just as bad a case of baby-tossing as those who’ve given up entirely on the charismatic journey. Can the enemy creep into our misguided, scripturally unsound interpretation of what the Holy Spirit wants to do in Lakeland? You bet. Can leaders get caught up in the charismatic celebrity culture that rears its ugly head (as it’s always done) during such a series of meetings? Yep. But having seen firsthand the hunger among God’s people—including Todd Bentley and those leaders associated with Lakeland—for an authentic, Holy Spirit-saturated move, I think it would be somewhat foolish to say God isn’t at work. As always, He’s simply waiting on us.
Our challenge, then, is to not point the finger exclusively at Bentley or other leaders, though they embody much of this confusing culture. Neither is it to foolishly dismiss the entire outpouring as a farce. Instead, let’s seek to establish God’s kingdom culture in the midst of the mangled one we’ve created. And that, I believe, includes repenting for being able to coast down the winding river of recent movements while seeing a legion of lost, discarded and confused believers sitting on the banks, contemplating their complete exit from faith—because of us, no less.
Yet equally as pronounced—and fascinating, in my opinion—are the virtual tongue-lashings you’re bound to get nowadays no matter how balanced (or unbalanced) you try to be with your comments regarding the Lakeland scene. No, I’m not just reacting to those who posted their thoughts regarding my previous writing—which were mild compared to most online threads I’ve followed. What intrigues me more is the all-or-nothing approach so many online opinionators have adopted.
It’s called throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I know because I’ve been prone to some major baby-tossing myself. In fact, not to one-up the Apostle Paul, but it wasn’t too long ago that I could’ve been nominated as Chief Tosser among tossers.
When I threw myself into the charismania waters of the Toronto Blessing, Pensacola Revival, prophetic movement and other moves that have come in the past 15-plus years, I often struggled with making sense of some of the “extra-biblical” matters I regularly encountered. Having come from a Southern Baptist, “if it’s not in the Bible, it’s not of God” background, it was already a bit of a stretch for me to explain what exactly went on when someone was “slain in the Spirit.” At times I wanted to jump out of the flow because I was so frustrated by the (often unspoken) emphasis on the extremes, the manifestations and teachings that required reading between the lines of Scripture. And I grew tired of playing Duck Duck Goose with identifying what was “truly” in the Spirit and what wasn’t. Like many who have made a similar leap of faith, I still wrestle with these issues.
The problem, however, is that as soon as you admit to such a struggle in certain circles, your “Spirit-filled” level supposedly plummets while your “religious spirit” quotient rapidly rises. To appear “with it” and in the Spirit, you either suck it up and withhold all questioning or, like many I’ve seen during these years, you get thrown out of the rapids and left to sit alone on the slippery slope of the riverbank. With no answers or resolution in sight, your questioning quickly morphs into acerbic criticism, which turns into pure bitterness—which eventually leads to dismissing the whole Spirit-filled experience. Most of us know at least half a dozen people who’ve been down this path and ended up tossing the baby out with the bathwater.
This is what I’m questioning when I mention the Lakeland Outpouring. It’s the culture we’ve created. A culture that is enveloped in the Lakeland experience and has been on full display at each of the previously mentioned moves of God. It’s a culture in which miraculous healings are fused with a flesh-fest of celebrity, where people can experience unprecedented heights in authentic, Christ-exalting worship and yet hours later leave a meeting utterly confused. And although this environment may propel many deeper into Holy Spirit matters, it also leaves countless wounded and abandoned in its wake.
I am convinced God is trying to redeem such a culture through this current move. As I hoped to convey in my previous blog posting (but obviously didn’t), we are an odd but beautiful mixture of flesh and spirit: 100 percent spirit and 100 percent flesh, as was our Savior, Jesus. Christ never once abandoned the spirit realm, but neither did He forsake His status as a Spirit-filled container of flesh. He did His Father’s will through both, but in doing so, He had to overcome the culture surrounding Him.
I believe the same can be done at Lakeland. Obviously, it doesn’t help when people jump to the conclusion that this outpouring is entirely “not of God” or, even more presumptuously, that it’s the work of the devil. That’s just as bad a case of baby-tossing as those who’ve given up entirely on the charismatic journey. Can the enemy creep into our misguided, scripturally unsound interpretation of what the Holy Spirit wants to do in Lakeland? You bet. Can leaders get caught up in the charismatic celebrity culture that rears its ugly head (as it’s always done) during such a series of meetings? Yep. But having seen firsthand the hunger among God’s people—including Todd Bentley and those leaders associated with Lakeland—for an authentic, Holy Spirit-saturated move, I think it would be somewhat foolish to say God isn’t at work. As always, He’s simply waiting on us.
Our challenge, then, is to not point the finger exclusively at Bentley or other leaders, though they embody much of this confusing culture. Neither is it to foolishly dismiss the entire outpouring as a farce. Instead, let’s seek to establish God’s kingdom culture in the midst of the mangled one we’ve created. And that, I believe, includes repenting for being able to coast down the winding river of recent movements while seeing a legion of lost, discarded and confused believers sitting on the banks, contemplating their complete exit from faith—because of us, no less.
