revival

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Poland on May 19, 2008 at 5:16am

Hey Charles!

Praise God! It's good to finally see some activity here again, and to fellowship with the Lord together with you through this medium.

I've only watched this revival a couple of times on two separate Fridays. So far, my judgment is largely reserved. I will say this--I heard him give a clear teaching of justification by faith alone while he shared his testimony! In these cases, my opinion tends to be the same as the Apostle Paul's in Philippians 1:18; i.e. if the gospel is being preached, we ought to rejoice, regardless of whatever else might be happening.

The testimonies of miracles that I have seen have been largely questionable, but at least three or four of them were very convincing, and one of them almost made me weep for joy. In my opinion, authentically spectacular miracles are probably taking place at these meetings, although perhaps not as often as some people are saying.

I do not think that this is real revival yet. Not in the sense that genuine revival has been understood by past generations, and I believe Todd Bently and those participating in this "revival" would for the most part agree with me. This is nothing compared either to what God has done in the past or what we want to see him do. I heard that Todd Bently has called this an "outpouring" of God's Spirit that falls short so far of real revival. Maybe he is right. Their hopes are that this outpouring will spill over into revival, and that it will spread across the United States and the world. I for one would be very grateful if that were to happen.

Frankly, I do not think we ought to define authentic revival only by the presence of authentic signs wonders and miracles. We ought not to throw a word like "revival" around so carelessly. Revival is more than just miracles of this sort. It is a mass repentance of sin, and a radical turning of men's hearts to God, brought about by the powerfully anointed and convicted preaching of God's word! When true revival hits, Cities and Sates and Countries are turned upside down. Any reading of the history of past revivals will reveal this. Porn shops close down! Bars turn into churches! Police officers are left with little or nothing to do! Schools and Universities are reformed! Churches never close, because services never stop! People don't want to go home, but would rather sit for hours silently in the presence of God! Corporate prayer lasts all night long, all the time! Meals are forgotten! There is eager and frequent confession of sin--weeping wailing and Godly sorrow over, even the smallest seemingly insignificant sins... even among the children! There is a flaming passionate love and devotion to the law of God, the doctrines of grace, and an insatiable hunger and thirst for God's Word in general. For those experiencing true revival, God's glory at all costs is the feast--the miracles are just the side-dish.

Sadly, I think most of us in this present generation have never seen or even heard of real revival, and so we don't even know to ask for it. But it is not unlike God to give it to those who are hungry for it.

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Permalink Reply by charles palmaccio on May 19, 2008 at 6:19pm

i agree with you.i think the miracles are indeed happening but the frequency is being exagerated.im sorrowed by the churches ever ferverent quest for the next "experience" with god.a time is coming says the lord when those who worship god wil worship in spirit and truth for god does not dwell in buildings made of hands he is an everpresent all knowing spirit that we can all experience right where we are.lakeland has my prayers and praise for the true miracles that have taken place.may god birth a serious revival like never seen in modern days a revival of biblical proportion.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Poland on May 28, 2008 at 6:24am

Amen! I am in agreement with you, Brother!

You're right; people are seeking an "experience" with God more than God himself. Have you noticed that whenever God uses someone mightily, whether it is Todd Bently, Smith Wigglesworth, or even the Apostle Paul (see 1Cor 3:4), Christians will sooner try to "get a hold of God" through that person than they will simply approach God themselves? That's what grieves me. God does raise up leaders in the body of Christ (the five-fold ministry of Eph 4:11 for example), but these leaders are not to be treated as our "source" of God, or our "way" to God. That is idolatry. Jesus is the only "Way" to God (John 14:6), and our only "Source" of God (John 7:37-38), and we are commanded to seek God directly through him now (Heb 4:15-16). He is the only Mediator between God and Man (1Tim 2:5). Nevertheless, I am afraid that the Ministers today who are idolized in this way often do not strive to correct this misunderstanding as they should. Wouldn't you agree?

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Permalink Reply by Bishop Susan Storm Smith on July 19, 2008 at 12:39pm

I know this discussion was started a while ago, but just joined faith-space and joined this group. By now we have all seen the kicking of a man with stage 4 colon cancer, the woman kicked in the face with Todd's biker boot, the Christians and audience laughing at all the hitting, pushing, and other ungodly things.

I watched about two weeks and multiple videos ... there is just not God in this "revival". Now that Geraldo, and Nightline has tried to document the healings (6 given to nightline by TB's own files) could not be verified--wrong contact info, the doctors and/or people healed didn't want to talk about it.

If I had been healed I would be giving God all the praise and thanking Him.
I told my ministers in the beginning when they asked if we needed to go down ... nope!

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Poland on July 19, 2008 at 7:55pm

Hello Susan,

Thank you for your comment. Wow! It's been a long time since I have been on faith-space. It's seems like it's been months.

If what you say is true, that is a very sad thing. I am confident that there are many emotional and over-zealous people at these meetings who are faking their healings, but my hope is that there are also people who are really being touched by the power of God. If you watch the testimonies (on tv) of those people who go up after being healed, a few of them (very few) appear to be very real. I know that doesn't prove they are, but I prefer to be gullible rather than skeptical (1 Cor 13:7) as long as the gospel is really being preached (Phil 1:18). I do not know which healings Geraldo investigated. I would like to see him investigate the more realistic testimonies and ignore the more questionable ones.

However, this does not mean I endorse Todd Bentley necessarily, or the "revival" he is a part of. Christ can heal anyone who believes in him regardless of where or when, so an authentic healing here and there in my opinion would not authenticate Mr. Bentley's ministry; it's much more likely that it would authenticate the faith of the person healed.

I long for the day when the healings and miracles done in the name of Jesus will be undeniable and verified even by the unbelievers (like in Acts chapter 4). In the meantime, false signs and wonders have been prophesied (Mat 24:24), so this calls for caution.

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Permalink Reply by Bishop Susan Storm Smith on July 19, 2008 at 8:08pm

Nightline is produced by ABC television, Bently gave their investigative reporter 6 confirmed ( by Bentley's staff) healings. NONE of them could be verified with exhaustive tries by ABC. There is another pastor who went, if interested I will get your the name (I actually have his video on ministry blog), and he went and talked with people days and weeks afterwards ... no change except for the pastor who was healed and died 8 days after being told he was healed .. died of the cured cancer ...

So I give the info .. let people discern ... But I believe the Bible, sound the alarm, and the blood doesn't stay on my hands when I know better (smile)

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Poland on July 21, 2008 at 5:41pm

Not much I can say against that. I don't know the facts as well as you apparently do.

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