WHAT HAPPENED to THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT? | Wayne Greulich

A number of people have decried the Pentecostal/ Charismatic movement as being the doorway through which the current corruption has entered the modern church. There is an element of truth in this, but it is not entirely accurate.

I was born into a Pentecostal church 56 years ago, was raised there, was educated in one of their colleges, and pastored 3 of their churches. I think this gives me a degree of knowledge and familiarity with the movement and its history... I also had the privilege of meeting with and conversing with some of the Pentecostal pioneers while they were still alive. In addition, I have owned a number of Frank Bartleman’s books for years. This is not to put myself forward as an expert, but to let you know that what I say next is not said from a vacuum of ignorance, assumption, and speculation.

The Pentecostal movement was born out of the holiness movement. Many of those who were involved in its birth were people of holiness who had died to self, had picked up their crosses and were following Jesus Christ as He directed them by His Spirit and His Word. The multitudes of transformed lives, the miracles, and the persecution were very real. We can thank God for those pioneers who – under the move and hand of God – paved the way for a renewed freedom and move of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s Church. The problems which arose were not with the move of the Spirit or with many of those who sought the Lord and came into the Baptism and life of the Spirit. Mostly the problems arose – as they do today – from those who wanted to avoid the cross. These were people who wanted the blessings of life in the Spirit, but who did not want to die to sin, flesh, and themselves.

As early as 1907, Frank Bartleman wrote of his dismay over these types of people who infiltrated the Pentecostal movement. Many flocked to Pentecostal movements all over the continent seeking the blessings of the spirit, but not wanting holiness, confession of sin, brokenness before the Lord, and taking up of the cross. We have the same root problem with us today. The modern church is filled with selfish, sinful people who want God’s blessings, but who do not want to go the way of the cross.

The problem has been further compounded by those false preachers, prophets, and teachers who refuse to preach the cross and what it costs to be a follower of Christ. Instead today’s “Christian” heaps to himself preachers, teachers, and prophets who tickle his flesh and make it feel comfortable – those who have become experts at creating a brand of “christianity” which seems to marry the flesh with the Spirit. This CANNOT be, however, since the flesh and the Spirit are enemies against each other. Scripture makes it clear that one must follow one or the other – God or mammon.

It is the shame of many Pentecostal/ Charismatic churches – although, not all (... the mistake of generalizing) – have abandoned the preaching of the cross, holiness, separation from the world, and the true full Gospel. Much of the modern church has abandoned the Christ of the Bible in favor of a “new and improved Christ” who has no cross, but only “love;” who has no holiness, but only “grace;” who has no justice, but only “blessings;” and who is not Judge, but merely a cosmic Santa Claus.

How we need those who will die to self, take up the cross, and be witnesses of the true Christ! How God longs for those who will live godly in Christ Jesus – in spite of the persecution! How we need those who choose to reject the world, who hate sin, who fear none but God; those who will do what He wants, speak what He says, and be molded into the image of Christ by the Word and the Spirit that Christ may have human representation of Himself to a lost and dying world. This is the Church of Jesus Christ.

May God help us. Brothers and sisters, work while it is yet day, for the night is coming when no man can work. Labor faithfully with Him. Fear not what man thinks or what man can do unto you, but fear Him who is your Redeemer and your King.

This article can be viewed also at www.johnthebaptisttv.com

AW Tozer | THE OLD CROSS and THE NEW

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental. From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and a jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill-seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship."

The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public. The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross. The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended.

The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more. The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape.

God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life. That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers.

The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die. We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him. What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die. Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power.

The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ. To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval. Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.

(A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966).

An Uninvited Guest: Shame

As I was going through my blog archives, I came across an article that I'd written a few years back on 8/9/07 that I never published. I was rather surprised by my blunt vulnerability and thought that it could be useful for further dialogue.

Enjoy...

I wrote a response to Brian Heasley’s blog that turned into something far more than just a short reply. In this blog posting, Brian bears his heart concerning the feelings of shame that he encounters in life. Unfortunately shame is an issue that I am well acquainted with—which, explains why I was intrigued by Heasley's stories and brute honesty.

Even today shame seems to raise its tormenting head to whisper lies into my soul. Do I listen?—well, I try not to. Often it is simply a “feeling” that swarms me at moments of vulnerability and personal letdowns. For many years it was a constant companion, reminding me of my every shortcomings and failures. Literally it drove me to the edge. Interestingly eight years ago when sharing with a prophetic gentleman concerning the suicides of my biological father shortly after my birth and the suicide of his father several years previous—this man-of-God said, “It was shame the drove him to end his life.” Although one could argue that we don’t know with absolute certainty, I certainly couldn’t refute this statement and it did bear witness with my spirit. I believe the Lord desired to uncover a generational curse that has sought to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10) the fullness of God’s calling upon my life.

Shame has plagued me for most of my life including my Christian walk.

Lately I’ve been astounded by the shame that engulfs me after delivering God’s Word through teaching and preaching. Honestly I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with this issue after the Lord graciously enabled me to walk in victory over past sins such as lust. Now I am blitzed by shame when I feel that I didn’t quite do as good as I intended when preaching or teaching at my home group. The full brunt of shame and humiliation vex my spirit in the aftermath of such times—it is quite disparaging. The very thing that I love and burn to do—preach the Word of God with authority—becomes the very thing that the enemy seeks to nullify through a pervasive onslaught of shame. This I believe has roots in several childhood experiences that gave entrance to a wrong self-perception that borderlines sin because ultimately it does contradict God’s Word and His intentions for my life. In essence I am permitting the spirit of darkness to trump what God’s Word declares about me.

Two early childhood experiences come to mind when reflecting on this diabolical root in my life.

The first experience was simply the placement into special education classes for the hearing impaired in elementary school. I came to despise this as I grew older because it made me feel as if I were different, inferior to the other kids. This was especially true since we had to wear phonic ears that consisted of a box strapped to our chest. Superman had his big ‘ole "S" plastered on his chest—meanwhile, I was sporting a strapping box on my chest. This device was intended to amplify the voice of the teacher speaking into the microphone—yet, from my vantage point the bull's eye on my chest communicated to others that I was different. This translated to a “feeling” of being dumb, which continues to plague me to this day even though I’ve attained the following: a BS in History and Political Science from Bridgewater College; a Bachelor of Practical Ministry from the Wagner Leadership Institute; a two year degree from Christ For the Nations Institute; and last year I earned a M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Regent University. Somehow in the process of all of this schooling, I can still feel the lingering shame of feeling dumb.

Then in fifth grade I can recall having to stand in front of the class to share my science fair project, which I was greatly ashamed of. It fell short of the electronic devices and gadgets that others had put together. My project was a drawing I had done of an astronaut explaining the different parts of their gear. I threw it in the trash before my scheduled presentation, but the teacher made me take it out of the trashcan in front of the class. Befuddled, I stood without anything to say. Finally the teacher asked me a question to try to get me to speak—my response triggered laughter from the class. Especially humiliating in that moment was the scene of two girls that I had a crush on, simultaneously laughing in the back of the room. My desire was simply to crawl away never to be seen again.

So these experiences formed the bedrock of a lifelong feeling of inferiority even when my schoolwork and experiences proved otherwise.

I wonder how many people around us are in a place where they must confront the pangs of shame. Obviously I am not referring only to those in the world, but also to those who are of the Redeemed.

I don’t have any easy answers. Yet, I press on towards Christ so that I may walk more fully in the reality of who I am in Christ. Two steps forward…one step back, etc. Henceforth, I refuse to allow myself to waddle in a place of shame that robs me of my confidence in the Lord. I have some more thoughts on this whole issue, but I’ll save them for another day. Initially this whole post started as a response to what Brian Heasley wrote on his blog, but I felt compelled to turn it into a posting for the blog.

What are your thoughts?

For the Cause,

Brian Francis Hume

Avoiding Pressure Like the Plague

Isaiah 50: 4-5 “The sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious.”

Remember these are urgent times that we live in. The pressures that we face continually can be quite daunting and exhausting in the long run. What are you doing to ensure that you are daily being renewed by the sustaining grace of God?

My answer might surprise you.

I think Luke 9:23 captures what must be done daily in order to come into the fullness of what is in the Father's heart for your life—Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." We must take up our Cross daily as we confront the pressures of life. This is the place of the sustaining grace of God: bearing the Cross through your difficult, stressful situations.

What CROSS (in the form of pressures) has the Lord set before you this week?
What tension have you felt rising up in your heart this week that you tried to avoid?
Whose conduct towards you "crossed" your will?
What kind of undesired pressure have you felt on the job recently?

During work on Monday I came across an article in the Harvard Business Review that caught my attention. The author postulated that successful leaders who are able to continue their growth do so by the following principle: "Learn to Love the Pressure."

Oh man, that wasn't what I wanted to read!

Don't get me wrong, there are some type of pressure that I thrive in. But then there are the "pressure-cookers" that seems to highlight my shortcomings or my sheer...uh, shall I say laziness? As I get older, I find that there are areas of my life that I am quite content to remain comfortable. Often we try EVERYTHING we can to AVOID hardship, suffering, or any thing that is uncomfortable. The American way is the way of comfort. And I must add that the "narrow way" is not the way of comfort! As Christians when we avoid such pressure cooked situations, often we are avoiding the very Cross that the Lord has designated uniquely for our lives. He knows EXACTLY what we need to expose the idols of our heart. (By the way I am preaching to myself here too!)

Interestingly an Olympic gold medalist in rowing, Greg Searle, is frequently asked if his success merited all of the sacrifices he made. Without hesitation he responds: “I never made any sacrifices; I made choices.”

So today make a CHOICE to take up your CROSS daily regardless of the pressure that you are encountering. The sustaining grace of God comes to those who humble themselves by taking up their Cross daily. We shouldn’t bemoan the “sacrifices” we’re making—rather we must recognize that the Lord orchestrates our circumstances for a greater good. The pressures in life represent an opportunity for the Father to fashion you for his greater purposes—namely, to forge the image of Christ in you!

Blessings,

Brian Francis Hume