Holiness and Revival

One of the things I love about The Salvation Army is our holiness doctrine. I believe that this holiness doctrine is essential for having and maintaining revival. If revival is brought by the Holy Spirit then we need to allow the Holy Spirit to move and sin grieves the Holy Spirit. This is why it is a big deal when people especially leaders, sin during revival, its a problem becasue it hinders the Holy Spirit.

I thought it was interesting how many of the big revivalists around the world have holiness doctrines:

Reinhard Bonnke
"We believe in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is able to live a HOLY LIFE."

Rodney Howard Browne
"The Bible teaches that without holiness no man can see the Lord. We believe in the Doctrine of Sanctification as a definite, yet progressive work of grace, commencing at the time of regeneration and continuing until the consummation of salvation at Christ's return."

Benny Hinn
"The Scriptures teach a life of holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. By the power of the Holy Ghost we are able to obey the command, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Entire sanctification is the will of God for all believers, and should be earnestly pursued by walking in obedience to God's Word (Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 1 John 2:6). "

Fresh Fire (Todd Bentley)
"We believe all Christians are called into a life of separation from sinful practices and they should take every opportunity to promote righteousness and godliness (James 4:4; Romans 12:1-2, 13:1-10; 2Cor 6:14 -18; 1 John 2:15 -17). Holiness is the release of Christ within each and every believer, changing us into His image, from glory to glory. (2Cor 3:18 ) "

Bethel Church (Bill Johnson)
"In the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live holy and minister super-naturally. The baptism of the Holy Spirit according to Acts 1:4-8 and 2:4 is poured out on believers that they might have power to be witnesses."

Planetshakers (Similar to Hillsongs shorter version...)
"We believe that in order to live the holy and fruitful lives that God intends for us, we need to be baptised in water and be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to walk in the fruits of the spirit and use spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues, which is the initial evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit. We believe the gifts are for every believer."

So regardless of whether people live it out all the time, we can see that the majority of revivalists and evangelists have a doctrince of holiness.

Jesus Culture

Jesus Culture is an awessome movement which is trying to light revival fires all over the world by empowering everyday people to step into supernatural ministry! They come out of Bethel which is the church Bill Johnson is the pastor of. (Speaking of Bill Johnson, I went to see him speak at a meeting here in Melbourne and over 50 people got uo to testify that God had healed them during the prayer time! God is good!) Theyre a great bunch of people. I also had the privilige of going to one of their conferences and it was great, empowering, inspiring and challenging!

Anyways, they have a fantastic website with a cool media player with testimonies, sermon chunks and chats and will motivate you to keep fighting in the salvation war and to remind you to always rely on God! I came across this page on their website which has a bunch of testimonies on it. Well worth the read!

Enjoy!

Christian Demonology

Been doing a little bit of study on demonology today. Thought this was good. Its taken from "Power Healing" by Wimber.

Demonology in the New Testament
· The New Testament clearly shows the existence of the devil and demons. (Luke 10:17-20, Revelation 12:7-10)
· Jesus life and ministry were marked by confrontations with demons. (Luke 4, 6:18, 7:21, 8, 9, 11)
· Jesus gave authority to his followers to drive out demons. (Luke 9, 10, Mark 16)
· The New Testament teaches on Christians authority over demons. (1 Corinthians 2:6-8, 10:20-21, Ephesians 6:10-18, Colossians 1:13-16, 2:20)
· The New Testament also tells of numerous exorcisms. (Acts 5:16, 8:6-8, 16:16-18, 19:11-12)

What about them?
· They have intelligence (Acts 16:16-18, 19:15-16)
· They are spirits (Matthew 8:16, 12:43-45, Luke 10, 24:39, Revelation 16:13-14)
· They manifest themselves in different forms (Revelation 9:1-11, 16:13-14)
· They are malevolent (Matthew 12:43-45, Mark 1:27, 3:11, Luke 4:36, Acts 8:7, Revelation 16:13)
· They know their own end (Matthew 8:29, 25:41, James 2:19)
· They have supernatural strength (Matthew 12:29, Mark 5:4, Luke 8:29, Acts 19:13-16)
· They must bow to Jesus’ name (Matthew 8:28, Mark 5:7, Luke 8:26-33)

How do they affect us?
· Temptation
· Opposition
· Posession

How could you support _____?

What do we do with so called dodgey people who seem to get results in the Spiritual? Do we simply write them off and say everything they do ss demonic, do we make youtube clips demonstrating how trhey are wolves in sheeps clothing? or do we have a closer look at what they see as important and see what they believe and stand for?

William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, was accused of all sorts of things especially when he brought out his book, "In Darkest England and the Way Out." Its been well documented how the press handled him. At that time as a reader you could have though a number of things about him but those who he had ministered to would have no doubt he was a man of God. There would also be those in his meetings who didnt percieve God at work in themselves and would say his ministry was a sham and emotionalism!

Why do I consistantly bring up people who the world sees as dodgey? Because I can see what God is doing in their lives and ministries. I like what Bill Johnson has to say about Todd Bentley and see it as a perfect example of what I am talking about...

BJ Quote

I like this quote by Bill Johnson that I read the other day in his book, "The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind." It talks about some of the traps we can fall into as Christians... Ive had a think about where I am, are you game to do the same?

"On one hand the mind has been cast off by some creating a mindless gospel that is emotionalism at best, and cultic at worst. They delight themselves in doing things without reason, thinking that only then is God pleased by their great faith. On the other hand there are those who have elevated the mind above its rightful place, creating a gospel that has reduced God to the powerless image of man. This group lives in the illusion that they are spiritually safe becasue they only accept the things they understand, raising carnal Christianity to an elite status. They unknowingly embrace the very deception they hoped to avoid. The challenge before us is to give ourselves completely to the full purpose of God for the mind of man through the model that Jesus gave us, thereby giving us access to His supernatural life style."

Bodies hit the floor

I love these two videos! I know these guys have some dodginess to them, but therre is still no doubt God has used these guys in different ways. These vids are just a bit of fun rather than a theological something! However, Ive fallen over when people have prayed for me on several occasions, sometimes they have touched me other times they have not. For me, my time on the ground was relaxing and I heard God speak to me in a powerful way. It felt as though there was no one else around, just me and God. Enjoy!

Purpose of the Law

We have had some good discussion on the use of law in evangelism in todays world. Some believe it has no place, however I agree with Wesley, Spurgeon, Finney, Billy Graham, John Stott, C.S.Lewis, Luther and a host of other scholars and evangelists who say it does have a part to play. Please understand I AM NOT SAYING THE LAW HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE GOSPEL, rather the law leads us to Christ, it shows us our sinfulness and need for a saviour.

Here are some points from Galatians 3.

1) Firstly, I agree, Paul is not saying “we should use the law in evangelism.” BUT from what he has said, and I’ll go into this, it means we can use it in evangelism because of what the purpose of the law is. Before I go any further I want to state that I do not believe the law is the gospel, far far from it!

2) The law that God gave in the 10 Commandments were already laws before God said what we should and should not do. (Sabbath is the only law that we could argue about but we’ll save that for another day…) We see clear evidence of this with Cane and Able, Noah and the flood and many more stories. Sin was sin before and after the law. This is why the 10 Commandments are also known as the moral law. The law then is more of a “Rules for living with a Holy God so that you don’t get destroyed.”

3) Galatians 3:19 is important. “What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.” So people were sinning and God added the law, verse 22 then takes this further by saying, “But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.” It’s saying that everyone is a sinner, with or without the law. Verses 23-25 then talk about how horrible it is to be under the law.

4) So what is the law for? While the Jews had the law they were under it and its consequences. It is in light of how horrible it is to be under law because it is so hard to keep that we understand that a) we cannot be justified by keeping the law and b) we are sinners in need of a saviour. Hence the law is there to lead us to Christ. The law shows us why we need Jesus.

5) Now, in light of Romans chapters 1-3 (I’ll write more on this later) we see that the whole world has sinned, we all have the law written on our hearts, we all have known that there is a God and many have rejected Him. With this in mind that people’s consciences accuse them we can preach the law so that, a) like the Jews they can understand that they cannot be justified by keeping the law or in today’s language, “By being good,” and b) so that they understand their need of a Saviour.

Persecuted Church

Very busy week this week with a bunch of assignments so cant write much now... Instead check out www.prsecution.com. Its a website devoted to keeping us informed and to advocate for persecuted Christians around the world. Click here and sign up for their prayer newsletter.

Peace Out

H.S Evangelism

Just a quick note,

I had to write an article on evangelism and I again realised possibly the most important part of evangelism...

For me, my life as an evangelist happened after the Holy Spirit set me on fire. Once the Spirit did this I had a natural burden for the lost which has only intesified the more I have grown in my relationship with God.

Salvation belongs to God. The Holy Spirit is essential for true evangelism. The Holy Spirit motivates and empowers the evangelist and convicts the sinner.

If you want to be a great evangelist then ask the Holy Spirit to make you one then in obedience preach the good news of Jesus Christ and give people an opportunity to respond.

Graham Evangelism

Here are two great evangelists, father and son, they both understand that we need to repent of our sin to be saved, and both understand that we need to know what sin is before we can repent of it!

Billy Graham is one of the worlds best evangelists, he has preached to literally billions of people and millions have stepped forward to recieve salvation! Billy Graham holds the record for most people at the MCG, (around 130,000), and influenced a whole generation.

Billy Graham “The Holy Spirit convicts us...He shows us the ten Commandments; the law is the schoolmaster that leads us to Christ. We look at the mirror of the Ten Commandments, and we see ourselves in that mirror."

Franklin Graham “Each person we meet on a daily basis who does not know Christ is hell-bound. That may make some folks bristle-but it's a fact. When we refuse to warn people that their actions and lifestyles have eternal consequences, we're not doing them any favors. If everybody feels good about his or her sin, why would anyone repent?”

On a side note, does anyone find it interesting that some of the most influencial evangelists ever have all used the law in evangelism? I find it interesting!

Theologian Thursday

Some people still don’t agree that we should use the law in evangelism and that it is a theologically unreasonable argument to suggest that it is. Well, here is a short list of a few selected theologians who beg the differ… Also, click on their names and it will send you to their wiki pages so you can see if they are credible or not. These guys werent bums, check it out. We start with the earliest theologians and go through to current theologians... Enjoy!

John Wycliffe “The highest service to which a man may obtain on earth is to preach the law of God.”

Martin Luther
“The proper effect of the Law is to lead us out of our tents and tabernacles, that is to say, from the quietness and security wherein we dwell, and from trusting in ourselves, and to bring us before the presence of God, to reveal His wrath to us, and to set us before our sins.”

“The first duty of the gospel preacher is to declare God's moral law and to show the nature of sin.”

“I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived' (Romans 7:9). So it is with the work-righteous and the proud unbelievers. Because they do not know the Law of God, which is directed against them, it is impossible for them to know their sin. Therefore also they are not amenable to instruction. If they would know the Law, they would also know their sin; and sin to which they are now dead would become alive in them.”

Matthew Henry
“Of this excellent use is the law: it converts the soul, opens the eyes, prepares the way of the Lord in the desert, rends the rocks, levels the mountains, makes a people prepared for the Lord.”

John MacArthur
“Grace means nothing to a person who does not know he is sinful and that such sinfulness means he is separated from God and damned. It is therefore pointless to preach grace until the impossible demands of the Law and the reality of guilt before God are preached.”

John R. W. Stott
“We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses and acknowledged our sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there.”

Tomorrow, more law preaching evangelists! Heres a clue who they might be... They are a father son evangelistic team. Stay tuned for more...

Spurgeon Evangelism

Yesterday I promised another law preaching evangelist, so today I decided to choose Spurgeon. I know, I know, Hes a bit Calvinist but isnt it interesting we've had a strict wesleyan (Wesley) and now a Calvinist saying use the law. I wonder if there is a link somewhere that despite some seemingly massive theological differences we can agree on this topic...

Ok, so Spurgeon was around 1834-1892 and is known as the "Prince of Preachers!" It is estimated that he preached to 10,000,000 people! Not bad considering time and his ministry dities... Heres a tiny bit of what he had to say...

“I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law.”

“Lower the law and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt. This is a very serious loss to the sinner rather than a gain, for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion...I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary (most powerful weapon) when you have taken away the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ. They will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy law. Therefore the law serves most necessary and blessed purpose and must not be moved from its place."

“Preach earnestly the love of God in Christ Jesus, and magnify the abounding mercy of the Lord; but always preach it in connection with His justice.”

We are going to change track a little bit tomorrow before we head back to law preaching evangelists, so Stay tuned tomorrow for Theologian Thursday the topic: the law and evangelism...

Charles Finney Evangelism

Ok, so some people dont agree with me or John Wesley that law has a place in evangelism... Im not sure what we're suppose to call people to repent of then if we cant even tell them what sin is... Anyways, heres what Charles Finney had to say about the law...

“I remark the law is the rule and the only just rule by which the guilt of sin can be measured.”

“The essence of the Law should be unsparingly applied to the conscience until the sinners self righteousness is annihilated and he stands speechless and self condemned before a hold God.”

"Evermore the law must prepare the way for the gospel. To overlook this in instructing souls is almost certain to result in false hope; the instruction of a false standard of Christian experience and to fill the church with false converts."

Stay tuned tomorrow for our next famous law preaching evangelist!

Wesley Evangelism

John Wesley, preached holiness and was a great evangelist. Stacks of people got saved through his ministry. The Salvos come under his tradition... Wesley is a model for us to follow, he loved the poor, lived a holy life and rpeached the gospel! Just what we salvos are to do... I want to focus on his evangelism today, take a look at these quotes and see if you stack up to his style of evangelism...

“If the gospel is preached well sinners should be angry or convicted of sin righteousness and judgement to come. If they are not then I don't think they are to be an evangelist." Wow, do your converts even hear you speak about sin?

“It is the ordinary method of the Spirit of God to convict sinners by the Law. It is this which, being set home in the conscience, generally breaketh the rocks in pieces. It is more especially this part of the word of God which is quick and powerful, full of life and energy and sharper than any two-edged sword." What? You mean he preached law?

“Before I can preach love, mercy and grace, I must preach sin, Law and judgment." Wow! He really did!

“Preach 90 percent Law and 10 percent grace.” Ok, this has got to be a joke right? Wesley, known for his holiness doctrine, full of love, preached law more than grace?!? Why would he do that?

Romans 7:7b says, "I would not have known what sin was except through the law." We need to know how we have sinned before we can repent of it and be saved!

Check out www.wayofthemaster.com to learn how to use the law in a fun, non judgmental way and lead people to repentance!

Going, Going, Gone

"Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." Mark 16:15

"And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:14a-15

Are you going anywhere with the gospel?

Sats or people?

One day my family (Mum, Dad, and my two brothers) and I were in England and I got lost. I was terribl.y worried and I think my parents might have been too! My family decided they didnt want to go home until they found me. My parents wanted 3/3 of their boys to go home with them. Numbers were important because numbers represented people.

In the book of Acts we see the explosive growth of the early church. Luke, the author of the book, constantly reminds us how many people were saved at different times. Numbers were important because numbers represented people.

In Luke 15:1-7 the Good Shepherd counts His flock and realises one is missing. So He starts searching for this one sheep. Numbers were important because numbers represent people.

So often people complain about people talking about numbers, but we need to remember that numbers do represent people, they represent people that Jesus wants to save and He wants 100% of the earths population. Praise God I was one of the numbers that were added to the Kingdom!

Street Preaching Stats

Some say that street evangelism does not work in our culture today. However we have statistics that prove this wrong. We have been doing some street evangelism since February...

Since February we have seen 11 people decide to start following Jesus and ask Him for forgiveness. Hallelujah! This is roughly 1 out of every three times we go out someone gets saved! So far two have fallen away.

To add to this the gospel we preach is that God is holy, we are sinful, sin separates us from God both now and forever, Jesus died and rose again to save us and bring us into right relationship with God. We always give an opportunity to accept this message. The way we tell people they need to accept the message is to "Repent and Believe."

2 have fallen away from faith. These 2 made a committment then that was it. This is dreadful and shows the importance of true repentance. Statistically speaking though this all means that lots of people get saved and 2/11 fall away at this stage. We have preached about once a week on average with an average of more than one a week deciding to follow Jesus, 1/3 times someone gets saved. (so on the time someone does get saved more than one have followed)

We accept this research is only 2 months old and it could all change quickly but the real question is, does our way work better than yours? If we are serious about winning the world we need the most effective and quickest ways (notice plural, we need to use all the ways we can!) of getting people to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Heres a way you can test which is better... How many people have you lead to repentance and belief since February?

RAMMING IT DOWN

Oh! people say, you must be very careful, very judicious. You must not thrust religion down
people's throats. Then, I say, you will never get it down. What! Am I to wait till an unconverted,
godless man wants to be saved before I try to save him? He will never want to be saved till the death rattle is in his throat. What! Am I to let my unconverted friends and acquaintances drift down quietly to damnation, and never tell them about their souls, until they say, 'If you please, I want you to preach to me'? Is this anything like the spirit of early Christianity? No. Verily we must make them look--tear the bandages off, open their eyes, make them bear it, and if they run away from you in one place, meet them in another, and let them have no peace until they submit to God and get their souls saved. This is what Christianity ought to be doing in this land, and there are plenty of Christians to do it. Why, we might give the world such a time of it that they would get saved in very self-defence, if we were only up and doing, and determined that they should have no peace in their sins. Where is our zeal for the Lord? We talk of Old Testament saints, but I would we were all like David. Rivers of water ran down his eyes because men kept not the Law of his God. But you say, 'We cannot all hold services.' Perhaps not. Go as you like. Go as quietly and softly as the morning dew. Have meetings like the Friends if you like. ONLY DO IT. Don't let your relatives, and friends, and acquaintances die, and their blood be found on your skirts!!!
Catherine Booth - Founder of The Salvation Army
(Some would say that at this time The Salvation Army was the fastest growing Christian movement ever in world history!)

The Call to Preach

I look to the Bible to see what it says about a passion for souls. Where do people get their drive from? How do people get so filled with passion to see the lost saved? Paul said, "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" What an amazing testimony!

Heres a list that came to me through prayer...

We are called, commanded and compelled to preach the gospel.

Called - "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men!"
Commanded - "Go into all the world and preach the gospel!"
Compelled - "For I am compelled by Christs's love!"

Today I heard another list, from a guy in the house church movement in Asia, on where our calling to preach the gospel comes from...

Above - from God - Mark 16:15
Below - from hell - Luke 16:27-28
Inside - from our heart - 1 Corinthians 9:16-17
Outside - from others - Acts 16:9

Someone asked him, "Has the western church lost its passion for the lost?" He replied, "How many people have you lead to Christ lately?"

I'm challenged, how about you?

We did pubs again tonight which I love but I keep hearing something that disturbs me a bit. The phrase I keep hearing is, "I like the salvos, you dont ram religion down our throats." Now, I know alot of Christians would take that as a compliment, but I don't think it should be!

If anything it highlights how we don't preach anymore! It shows that people who are not saved yet know we are Christians and are saying I like you because you dont preach! And Paul says in Romans 10 that if no one preaches no one will hear, and if they dont hear they wont believe, if they dont believe they wont be saved.

It is sad that we dont preach the gospel anymore, and we can say "Ah, but we do preach, we preach with our words!" That is fine but again, look at Romans 10! We need to preach otherwise they cant hear and then believe and be saved!

What are we more interested in, souls or human gratification?