Finding the Radical Middle
The Lakeland Revival has made the mainstream news. The following article is one from MSNBC.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24524742/
For what it's worth here are are my musings on the article:
Bob Gomeringer, a Lakeland retiree, works part time parking cars at Lakeland Center events and finds the services unsettling. He hears loud music – "the same song being played over and over and over again" – coming out from the arena.
I'm kinda with him on this. I like some repetition in songs - "Let it rain" and "Open the eyes of my heart" are fab but when it goes on and on and starts to get into a frenzied feel it starts to get on my nerves. I think of old brainwashing techniques I read about psychology classes.
He watches ministry workers carry in buckets "to rake in all the money" during offerings.
And secular events like concerts and sports don't "rake in money"? Why is it that people are always suspitious of Christian organizations bringing in money? While I'm not about Christians gouging people or charging ridiculous prices for events, the reality is that they do need money just like any other organization. If you took away all the souveniers and programs and T-shirts, etc people pay for at secular events and just collected the cash I am sure you'd also have bucketsful.
What concerns Gomeringer most are the young people, many of whom appear to be in a "trancelike state" when they come out of the arena, he said.
"They just don't look or act right," he said. Monday night, he found a young person lying on the ground. Gomeringer was ready to call an ambulance when the prostrate man's friend stopped him. "He told me that his friend was fine, and that he was just full of the Holy Spirit," Gomeringer said. "And if I wanted some of that power, to get inside and get some of it myself. No, thank you. This isn't the kind of spirit that I'm interested in."
I'm on the fence here. I want to know what he means by a trance-like state. Someone who is processing a heavy dose of the Holy Spirit might well look a little weirded out or spacey. Without talking to the person to know what's happening in their "trance" I have to withhold judgment.
The guy laying out doesn't bother me. I've never seen someone who was down in the spirit need medical attention. It's funny to think that if Gomering saw someone who was passed out drunk from booze he'd probably not think anything of it. Booze makes you sick, Holy Spirit makes you healthy! :)
Gomeringer has attended Methodist churches for more than 50 years and said what's happening in Lakeland is quite different from the Christian faith he's known throughout his life. "It's not prayerful or private. This is extremism," Gomeringer said.
I wonder if he knows tha the founder of his denomination - John Wesley - used to have revival meetings in which peculiar things happened under influence of the Holy Spirit? The thing is that eventually those revival meetings got quenched in the 'standardization' of the methodist doctorine. This happens to almost all the healthy movements that have come along. Excitement abounds and then it becomes rote and 'safe'.
Michael said he felt a deep sorrow Friday night when he didn't immediately feel full of the spirit after Bentley touched him. "It was absolute grief," he said, comparing it to the loss of a loved one. By the end of the weekend, though, with the help of praying multitudes and a well-placed slap from one of Bentley's co-ministers, Michael Serine found the "anointing" he was seeking, he said.
I hope that someone in Michael's family explains that it is God and not the signs and wonders that we should have at the centerpiece of our faith. Jesus admonished his discples when they came to him all geeked out about the fact that demons fled from them in His name that they're joy should be in the fact that they have a place in Heaven. I can understand his disappointment when he didn't get blasted right away, but having that much grief over it kinda gives me pause.
It's just plain scary," she said. "They're getting hyped up and spaced out. They're being influenced all right, but in my opinion, it's all in the wrong way." She doesn't think that "something of God" would look like this.
I don't guess she's read the book of Acts? Our God is not tame.
That said, Paul did caution the believers to tone down the antics if it would cause others to stumble or if the gifts were not rooted in love.
"The Bible tells us that the anti-Christ will be coming in the final days," she said. "That's why we have to be careful. If this man is really into healing, why can't he just go to Children's Hospital? A lot of kids need help there."
Fair question. We do have to be careful. I asked God about this. I got an image of a camp fire. At the center it's extremely hot....Intense. From that warmth emulates to the people in its proximity. God has chosen people like Todd Bentley to be the firestarters. The heat moves outward and ignites others who can carry it to other places, like the hospitals. Todd can't do it all...No one person can do it all. We have to work together...So my question for this lady is "why aren't YOU going to the hospitals and praying for the kids? You are just as capable as Todd Bentley of doing what Jesus did. He would be the first person to tell her that.
"I've done my due diligence," Goll said by telephone Wednesday, noting his 34 years in ministry. "I've got an excitable, demonstrative side when I see the Holy Spirit in action. But I also have a scholarly side, and I've investigated many movements."
I like this dude. He's balanced.
Goll said this revival has the three elements that could keep it a sustained movement: It has the fruit of the spirit, which emphasizes character. It has the gifts of the spirit, which deal with revelation and power. And it has the wisdom of understanding how everything can cooperate."Usually wisdom is the lacking ingredient," he said. "That's the difference between something that's a flash in the pan, or here today and gone tomorrow. This seems to have all three strands needed to keep it strong and sustained."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24524742/
For what it's worth here are are my musings on the article:
Bob Gomeringer, a Lakeland retiree, works part time parking cars at Lakeland Center events and finds the services unsettling. He hears loud music – "the same song being played over and over and over again" – coming out from the arena.
I'm kinda with him on this. I like some repetition in songs - "Let it rain" and "Open the eyes of my heart" are fab but when it goes on and on and starts to get into a frenzied feel it starts to get on my nerves. I think of old brainwashing techniques I read about psychology classes.
He watches ministry workers carry in buckets "to rake in all the money" during offerings.
And secular events like concerts and sports don't "rake in money"? Why is it that people are always suspitious of Christian organizations bringing in money? While I'm not about Christians gouging people or charging ridiculous prices for events, the reality is that they do need money just like any other organization. If you took away all the souveniers and programs and T-shirts, etc people pay for at secular events and just collected the cash I am sure you'd also have bucketsful.
What concerns Gomeringer most are the young people, many of whom appear to be in a "trancelike state" when they come out of the arena, he said.
"They just don't look or act right," he said. Monday night, he found a young person lying on the ground. Gomeringer was ready to call an ambulance when the prostrate man's friend stopped him. "He told me that his friend was fine, and that he was just full of the Holy Spirit," Gomeringer said. "And if I wanted some of that power, to get inside and get some of it myself. No, thank you. This isn't the kind of spirit that I'm interested in."
I'm on the fence here. I want to know what he means by a trance-like state. Someone who is processing a heavy dose of the Holy Spirit might well look a little weirded out or spacey. Without talking to the person to know what's happening in their "trance" I have to withhold judgment.
The guy laying out doesn't bother me. I've never seen someone who was down in the spirit need medical attention. It's funny to think that if Gomering saw someone who was passed out drunk from booze he'd probably not think anything of it. Booze makes you sick, Holy Spirit makes you healthy! :)
Gomeringer has attended Methodist churches for more than 50 years and said what's happening in Lakeland is quite different from the Christian faith he's known throughout his life. "It's not prayerful or private. This is extremism," Gomeringer said.
I wonder if he knows tha the founder of his denomination - John Wesley - used to have revival meetings in which peculiar things happened under influence of the Holy Spirit? The thing is that eventually those revival meetings got quenched in the 'standardization' of the methodist doctorine. This happens to almost all the healthy movements that have come along. Excitement abounds and then it becomes rote and 'safe'.
Michael said he felt a deep sorrow Friday night when he didn't immediately feel full of the spirit after Bentley touched him. "It was absolute grief," he said, comparing it to the loss of a loved one. By the end of the weekend, though, with the help of praying multitudes and a well-placed slap from one of Bentley's co-ministers, Michael Serine found the "anointing" he was seeking, he said.
I hope that someone in Michael's family explains that it is God and not the signs and wonders that we should have at the centerpiece of our faith. Jesus admonished his discples when they came to him all geeked out about the fact that demons fled from them in His name that they're joy should be in the fact that they have a place in Heaven. I can understand his disappointment when he didn't get blasted right away, but having that much grief over it kinda gives me pause.
It's just plain scary," she said. "They're getting hyped up and spaced out. They're being influenced all right, but in my opinion, it's all in the wrong way." She doesn't think that "something of God" would look like this.
I don't guess she's read the book of Acts? Our God is not tame.
That said, Paul did caution the believers to tone down the antics if it would cause others to stumble or if the gifts were not rooted in love.
"The Bible tells us that the anti-Christ will be coming in the final days," she said. "That's why we have to be careful. If this man is really into healing, why can't he just go to Children's Hospital? A lot of kids need help there."
Fair question. We do have to be careful. I asked God about this. I got an image of a camp fire. At the center it's extremely hot....Intense. From that warmth emulates to the people in its proximity. God has chosen people like Todd Bentley to be the firestarters. The heat moves outward and ignites others who can carry it to other places, like the hospitals. Todd can't do it all...No one person can do it all. We have to work together...So my question for this lady is "why aren't YOU going to the hospitals and praying for the kids? You are just as capable as Todd Bentley of doing what Jesus did. He would be the first person to tell her that.
"I've done my due diligence," Goll said by telephone Wednesday, noting his 34 years in ministry. "I've got an excitable, demonstrative side when I see the Holy Spirit in action. But I also have a scholarly side, and I've investigated many movements."
I like this dude. He's balanced.
Goll said this revival has the three elements that could keep it a sustained movement: It has the fruit of the spirit, which emphasizes character. It has the gifts of the spirit, which deal with revelation and power. And it has the wisdom of understanding how everything can cooperate."Usually wisdom is the lacking ingredient," he said. "That's the difference between something that's a flash in the pan, or here today and gone tomorrow. This seems to have all three strands needed to keep it strong and sustained."
The Radical Middle...That's where it's at...Somewhere between the Craziness and the Wisdom revealed in Scripture.
Journey on Pilgrims! Enjoy the fire and stay the course!
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