Revival you need reviving after?
There's been a lot of words lately flying around the blogsphere regarding the recent "revivals" going on in Florida. People I know all over the world are talking about it. Most of the talk seems to center on whether it is genuine or not.
At the heart of this whole thing is a preacher named Todd Bentley. Mr. Bentley has a penchant for the theatrical, the bizzare, the daring. He is sometimes violent, and always volitile. You can judge for your self by looking at some of his activies in the video clip here.
I don't really want to write about Todd and his hystronics. But it does make one ponder something: what do we have to do to be woken up and really see what's going on?
It seems that, even in the church, we need a kick in the pants to get moving. Churches and congregations will amble along week to week to week, with nothing really exciting happening. Then BAM! Some guest preacher comes in and fires everyone up. Is it that that preacher is really, really annointed? Or is our human nature to become complacent unless something new and unusual happens? Do we need to have someone kick us in the head figuratively (or literally in the case of Mr. Bentley) to awaken us?
Several years ago, I was on a mission trip to Belize in Central America. On our last evening there, we had a service (it was a Sunday evening, the typical "main" service of this church.) I was speaking to the worship leader there, someone whom I'd known from a previous trip and from correspondance when I'm not there. She asked me when I would be returning. I didn't know, but I said that it would be sometime soon, because, I said, "I need to come here to fill my spirit up." She looked at me with an amused little grin, and said "No, you don't."
I think about that time often. Lisa was right; I don't need to go to Central America, or have some new preacher slap me in the head to be filled. I can get filled right in my home church, or in my home, for that matter. All it takes is a willingness to listen to the still small voice of my maker.
I haven't been back in a couple of years (though I hope to go in 2009) and I still feel filled up. And no one has punched me in the gut to do it.
Judge Todd Bentley for yourself. I don't say he's right or wrong, annointed or not. We each need to decide where God calls us, and how He feeds us.
At the heart of this whole thing is a preacher named Todd Bentley. Mr. Bentley has a penchant for the theatrical, the bizzare, the daring. He is sometimes violent, and always volitile. You can judge for your self by looking at some of his activies in the video clip here.
I don't really want to write about Todd and his hystronics. But it does make one ponder something: what do we have to do to be woken up and really see what's going on?
It seems that, even in the church, we need a kick in the pants to get moving. Churches and congregations will amble along week to week to week, with nothing really exciting happening. Then BAM! Some guest preacher comes in and fires everyone up. Is it that that preacher is really, really annointed? Or is our human nature to become complacent unless something new and unusual happens? Do we need to have someone kick us in the head figuratively (or literally in the case of Mr. Bentley) to awaken us?
Several years ago, I was on a mission trip to Belize in Central America. On our last evening there, we had a service (it was a Sunday evening, the typical "main" service of this church.) I was speaking to the worship leader there, someone whom I'd known from a previous trip and from correspondance when I'm not there. She asked me when I would be returning. I didn't know, but I said that it would be sometime soon, because, I said, "I need to come here to fill my spirit up." She looked at me with an amused little grin, and said "No, you don't."
I think about that time often. Lisa was right; I don't need to go to Central America, or have some new preacher slap me in the head to be filled. I can get filled right in my home church, or in my home, for that matter. All it takes is a willingness to listen to the still small voice of my maker.
I haven't been back in a couple of years (though I hope to go in 2009) and I still feel filled up. And no one has punched me in the gut to do it.
Judge Todd Bentley for yourself. I don't say he's right or wrong, annointed or not. We each need to decide where God calls us, and how He feeds us.
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