Discerning Doctrine & Practice in Revival

More comments and observations from various blogs I read on the Lakeland Florida renewal meetings:

From Adrian Warnock:

* We should not rush to either wholeheartedly reject or accept everything that is happening. I suppose I am taking something of a Gamaliel approach, at least for now.

* It strikes me that if it weren't for TV, we might not even be hearing about these events yet. Time will demonstrate if this is just a localized event or truly something more significant.

* If we hear reports of God healing and people becoming Christians, it would be wise for us to rejoice, even if we may reserve the right to be discerning about the practices and beliefs of the teachers involved. Paul rejoiced whenever the gospel was preached, even if he knew that the motivations of the preacher were bad.

* We should resolve to think the best of others as much as we can, without foolishly swallowing everything we see as being all right.

* We should remember that, as I heard someone say recently, God does not distribute his anointing as a reward for good theology or good behavior. If God can use a donkey in the Bible, we should not be surprised if he uses somebody of whom we do not approve. Fortunately for us, God is much more gracious than we are!

* The faith and expectancy of others should challenge us to dare to believe that God can act today, and as John Piper recently put it, be “desperate for the supernatural.”

From Heat and Light:

I suppose my own conclusions for now on what little I know of these events would be as follows:
I can look beyond unorthopraxy in those attending the Lakeland Revival, but what grieves my Spirit is that so many of those allowed to take the pulpit aren’t orthodox in what they teach or practice, both of which are important to genuine, full-orbed Christian faith.....

Sound doctrine and correct practice should accompany the Spirit-filled, Spirit-guided man of God, as the Holy Spirit not only teaches us the Scriptures, but even more-so, applies them to our hearts and lives. To claim to have come in the name of God, and to claim to be led by His Holy Spirit, yet to not teach Cross-Centered sound doctrine, and to not practice Biblical orthopraxy - well, of that person we should at least set our ‘discernment’ on ‘high’, and be very careful to ‘test the spirits’ in every thing we hear them say or see them do.

Please don’t leave your brain at the door in exchange for an experience. If you do so, there is no promise that the experience you have will be one from God, no matter how good it may make you feel at the time. Be blessed.

From CeruleanSactum:

Whenever the emphasis gets off Jesus, a revival’s focus is off target. The Holy Spirit always pulls people to Jesus. He doesn’t pull them toward angels, canny preachers, or displays of spiritual gifts. He doesn’t need gold teeth, gold dust, and angel feathers to point people to Jesus. (Those are illusionist and occultist tricks.) He just needs himself because He is sufficient to do the pointing. Real revival isn’t about what you or I want, but what Jesus Christ wants.

Update: From Peter Cockrell, after some negative comments there is this positive note:

These opening remarks therefore seem to be couched in negative terms. However, a friend of mine who actually attended the Lakeland meetings for several days felt ‘I hate this … I want to get out of here’ but actually went on to be blessed and, as he watched more closely, felt that he saw remarkable compassion and mercy, particularly being expressed to large numbers of poorer people who were flocking to the meetings.

Since his return to the UK, he has witnessed a number of healings, as indeed others have. It is claimed that what is happening is ‘transferrable’, and perhaps this is what makes these developments so fascinating and, for some, magnetic in their appeal.

My previous posts here and here.