I have been listening to a series of messages delivered by David Ravenhill for the past few weeks and I wanted to post something that he read in one of them. It is a prophecy originally delivered in 1906 at Azusa Street:
In the last days three things will happen to the great Pentecostal movement in America.
- An overemphasis on power rather than righteousness.
- An overemphasis on praise to a God they no longer pray to.
- An overemphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit rather than the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
I think all three of those are dead-on accurate. I’d like to take away a lot more than just saying, “yes, that seems about right,” but I don’t really have time at the moment. I might try to flesh out some of my reactions in the future if it seems right. For example, how do you think it happened? How can this imbalance be prevented in your life (or your church)? What can or should be done to come back into check?
I will leave you with one last question: All three of these statements are about priority and order. How are your priorities? Put another way, do you have your life in order?
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Also, I thought it might be appropriate for me to leave a note for the few of you who read this blog to let you know that I do intend to keep posting content. I have been really busy lately, and I will be for the foreseeable future, so I hope to write some posts that are not as involved as my last series.
Have a wonderful day in the Holy Ghost.
March 16, 2009 at 7:56 pm
This is an amazing insight. That prophecy, made so many years ago, reminds me of statements made by my great grandmother (my great grandparents were pioneers of the Pentecostal movement in their area.) She spoke about how successive generations would forsake righteousness, and not lead lives truly submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is my personal conviction that the current generation (myself included) is in need of stark self examination, and a return to the basic principles of the faith.
March 24, 2009 at 8:49 am
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April 15, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Hi Robert!
Sorry I did not respond sooner. You can probably see in some of my recent posts that I agree with you whole-heartedly about your last sentence. For a long time I was very perplexed that so many deceptions sweep through the church with very little resistance because I thought they were aberrations. As I have considered the patterns, it becomes more and more apparent that the problem is much deeper than that.
The things that are happening in and around the western church should be a serious gut-check for any Christian genuinely seeking God. Much of what we have seen so far is so blatant that it really requires very little discernment to spot the errors, but this will not be so forever. We absolutely need the discernment that flows from a sensitive, tender relationship with Christ & the Holy Spirit.
If we cannot or will not be led of Christ into His holiness, we will be led by the devil into destruction.
Thank you for your comment.
April 16, 2009 at 12:29 pm
[...] has. I have often concluded that all outward problems lead back to the heart. If we have our priorities mixed up, it is an indication that our vision is [...]