I’ve been a Christian since 1971.  Since day one, I have had a passion for reality in my personal relationship with Jesus, and a passion for the Word.  I have always been convinced that it is only by the Word that I really know that I am on track.  Over time, I have come to recognize the voice of God in listening prayer.  “My sheep know My voice.”  But I also recognize that He will never speak contrary to what He has already revealed in scripture. Contrary to what is currently spiritually “chic” in some circles, there IS such a thing as sound doctrine.  And the corollary is also true.  There IS such a thing as UNSOUND doctrine.   

A lot has been shared and written recently regarding the need for discernment in respect to the prophetic.  For “testing the spirits”.  Those who have read my posts in various venues over time will know that this resonates deeply with me.  Any time someone becomes so “prophetic” that they feel they have gone beyond needing scripture as their sure ground and foundation, they have moved into deception.  The Spirit of God will NEVER contradict Himself.  We have the written WORD as our sure basis for sound doctrine, and for judging error.  “All scripture is inspired by God (literally “God-breathed”) and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16

Now I will admit, readily and freely and without apology, I am wired as a worshipper.  The idea of the Tabernacle of David, with the Shekinah Glory of God filling the tent so thickly that the priests couldn’t minister because of it, with musicians and prophets rotating shifts 24-7-365 for thirty years, with the Presence of God and NO VEIL…this idea just knocks me out!  And I am even more gripped by the notion that this was a foreshadowing of something greater to come.  It foreshadows a move of the Spirit wherein church history is no longer punctuated by revivals which wax and wane over time. It foreshadows a soon-coming day of the Lord’s HABITATION.   The restoration of the Tabernacle of David in the last days is ultimately not about the establishment of a place, but rather the establishment of a people. (I could write on this topic alone for pages and pages.) This IS the day.  This IS the season.  We are not discerning the times rightly if we do not see that Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Most Holy Spirit are even now calling together and preparing a people who are lovesick for God’s Presence and the coming of the Bridegroom.  A Bride.  And one who will be mature and without spot or wrinkle at the time of Jesus' appearing. A people who by being near Him grow more and more like Him, until on the day of His appearing they are finally transformed completely, having seen Him face to face.  But even now, the very creation groans in eager anticipation of their revealing, because they will manifest the reality of their relationship as God’s sons and daughters while still in the world. 

So as the Spirit of God has stirred in me, this passion of His has become mine, the establishing of a people for His glory. As I read the Gospels, I find a recurring theme, one which seems to take precedence over all others.  That is the theme of intimacy.  The “one thing”.  Of all those who came out to hear the Lord Jesus speak, and to receive ministry, He chose twelve.  And even among those twelve, there was an inner circle, Peter, James and John.  For some reason, He connected with them.  Perhaps because they pressed in for more.  They were impetuous.  The “Sons of Thunder” and the guy who was stupid enough to get out of the boat in the middle of the lake.  They spent themselves on drawing close.  Then there was Mary of Bethany, criticized for gluing herself to a place at Jesus’ feet while so many other more practical matters commanded her attention.  But Jesus himself not only praised her for choosing rightly the “one thing necessary”; He promised that this would not be taken away from her.  Now if our Lord Himself makes such a promise (and He seems in the habit of enforcing His promises), how can we but do the same?  If those who are desperate for God, who are hungry for more, and who spend themselves on ministering to Him and being with Him in radically abandoned worship are accused of being frivolous or self-indulgent, I question the spirit of the accuser and not of the accused.  Those who press in because of their own sense of poverty of spirit will be blessed with revelation and joy.  They will SEE God!

I cannot “dance” around these issues.  They are too crucial.  There are those who single out prophets, the prophetic, and particularly unusual phenomena, and accuse and cry “false revival”.  I don’t know you or your experiences personally, so I will not condemn as you condemn.  I will not question your motives, but I must question your understanding.  You do not know what spirit you are of. 

I have been a “leader” in the so called prayer movement (why must everything be a “movement”) for over twenty years.  My calling, my gifts, my function, have been as teacher, prophet, and watchman.  I leave it to others and to God to judge whether what I do can properly be called “prophetic” or “apostolic”.  Personally, I have little patience for titles on business cards.  I simply say this to say that in twenty years, I’ve pretty much seen it all.  Self-seeking self-appointed “prophets” and “apostles”.  Flakey intercessors calling up travail at will or manifesting wild jerks and grunts and “whoa’s” because they think it somehow adds power or spiritual authenticity to their prayer.  Worship overtaken by a spirit of entertainment.  Leaders creating little personality cults and building and protecting their own little fiefdoms (read “job security”).  And people so enamoured with signs and wonders and gifts that they lose sight of the Giver. 

You say you have seen people in the midst of “worship”  dancing in inappropriate ways.  So have I.  We corrected it.  In love. I’ve had people who insisted that they could not resist a prompting to travail, even to the point of squatting down in a birthing position in the middle of a gathering that was going in an entirely different direction.  So recognize that SOMETHING is occurring that requires attention and remove the person to a designated ICU area and have a couple ministry team members do their job.  Pray.  Listen to God.  They might be surprised at what they hear.

Error?  Immaturity? Has it occurred to you that immature people sometimes do immature things?  I’ve raised two kids to adulthood and am working on a third plus a grandchild.  Babies are fundamentally messy, disruptive creatures.  They don’t care what your agenda is.  Or your sense of propriety.  They simply require your attention.  And care.  And love.  Unconditional love.  As they mature, you can guide them.  Discipline them. Teach them. PLAY with them. But always, always love them.  Even when they make you crazy.

Make no mistake.  The Harvest is going to be a messy business.  It IS messy business.  People come into the church as new Christians and they bring all their “stuff” with them.

And God in His amazing grace meets them right where they are and pours out His Spirit.

Not a snake.  Not a rock.  His Spirit.  And when His Spirit meets their “stuff”, “stuff happens”.  Sometimes the results can be quite unusual.  And sometimes their responses might not be entirely “appropriate”.  At other times, though, “appropriate” may not be an applicable concept.  God, at times, HAS been known to do things that are completely off our grid.  Is it safe to assume that the more powerful the outpouring, the more likely it is that something unusual may happen?  Not wrong.  Just…unusual.  And aren’t we all praying for and expecting the single most powerful off the grid outpouring of the Holy Spirit in all of human history?  (Remember when the prophet Amos asked “Are you really sure you want the day of the Lord?)

Weird manifestations?  Like laughing?  Or gold dust?  Gold teeth?  Jewels?  Feathers?

Can’t God just choose to give joy?  Or signposts of His Presence? Or just play with His kids?  Purpose?  What about the purpose of just giving delight in Him and His wonders? 

“But the bible says all things must be done decently and in order.”  Of course it does.  And they should.  But whose sense of order are we complying with?  God’s sense of order often conflicts with ours.  And He can orchestrate a beautiful symphony out of many diverse instruments.  He can weave an incredible tapestry from an infinite variety of threads. 

Disruptive?  Desperate people are disruptive.  Deal with it.  They beat on the door at midnight demanding bread.  They hound the judge at his house insisting on justice.  They rip the roof off and lower the lame onto the platform in the middle of the sermon.  And they get what they came for.  God just seems to have a thing for crazy people.

These are the people who find the news of the Kingdom to be GOOD news.  Incredible news. When they get what they came for, their loyalty is sealed.  When they rejoice, they dance like crazy people.  If someone doesn’t like it, too bad.  They’re not dancing for approval.  They’re dancing for their Lord. 

And when they fight, they fight like crazy people.  Like David’s mighty men of valor. 

It is those who have nothing to lose, who are driven by a sense of desperation for the coming of the Kingdom, who will plunder the enemy’s camp.

I have, over time, been blessed and fed by these ministries in ways I cannot count.  And I have personally seen incalculable fruit born of their labors.  Good fruit.  Fruit that will last.  I have been blessed to meet, and talk with many people from these and related ministries.  I cannot politely tolerate those who would call their ministries demonic!

Cult watchers and heretic hunters will look for something negative and they will find it.  They believe that to be their job description.  They believe they serve the truth.  But instead they bite and devour the body of Christ.  The apostle Paul warns that there will come in the last days those who work lying signs and wonders and will lead many astray, and if possible even some of the elect.  But this warning comes in context of his discussion of the rise of the man of lawlessness, the anti-christ, a world ruler with a false prophet ministering alongside.  These lying signs and wonders he warns of are designed to set people up for acceptance of a substitute messiah and the beast system.  They have nothing to do with what some are calling “false revival”.  Go ahead.  Test the spirits.  Is Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed as Lord and God come in the flesh?  Are people being saved?  Are the poor and the widow and the orphan being ministered to? Are the fruit of the Spirit being manifested with greater consistency in people’s lives?  Are they falling more and more deeply in love with their Lord?

I am deeply committed to historic biblical orthodoxy.  For thirty three years, my wife and I have been members in good standing of a conservative reformed denomination.  And many people there do not speak in tongues or fall on the floor or dance with abandon, but tremble and weep under the weight of God’s glory and the reality of His Presence as they pray and scripture comes pouring out of their hearts, and as they sing the psalms from the psalter.  And believe it or not, it has been some of these very saints whose prayers and encouragements have birthed the regional prayer ministry that I’m now a part of.

I have seen and experienced amazing things.  Things which were completely off my grid.

And I have heard from God.  His voice.  "Make a safe place for the desperate.  Gather the forerunners.  They are sheep without a shepherd.  There has been no place for them.  No one has given them a place or permission to be desperate for Me."  This is what I have heard, so this is what I do.  I cannot therefore help but speak.

It is bad theology and worse pastoring to conclude that a phenomenon or manifestation, is UNBIBLICAL simply because it is EXTRABIBLICAL.  We cannot and should not expect that every authentic manifestation resulting from the ministry of the Holy Spirit will have a clear corollary spelled out in scripture. And it is even worse theology and pastoring to place people under condemnation or under law simply because you have fundamentally aesthetic objections to the way they behave when the Holy Spirit is moving!

Please hear me.

Do not quench the Spirit.  

Pastor the flock.  Don’t beat them! Recognize that the Bride is NOT mature yet, and is NOT without spot or wrinkle. In fact, she probably still has a long way to go and a short time to get there. 

But PLEASE, stop beating the sheep.  And stop telling them they’re goats. 

And stop judging what you do not understand.  It is intolerable.  And it is dangerous.  For you.  Do not censure the work of the Holy Spirit and call it the work of the devil.

Do not!

Please!

Love and Let the Wind Blow,

Don