Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Christmas Break Coincidences

One winter a friend of mine named George and I decided to drive home to Michigan for Christmas break. George wanted to take back an old pick-up because he thought that they were worth more in Michigan than in Oregon. He figured he could make some money by selling it when we got back. So he found a 1945 Dodge pick-up and put a sheet metal canopy over the back in which we could store our stuff and sleep. He also put a stove in there for warmth.

On the day we were to leave George received a letter from his father. In the letter was a check, made out to George, for $127.10. We looked at each other with wonder on our faces trying to figure out why his Dad would send a check for such an odd amount. Stumped, he just folded the check and put it into his shirt pocket.

We were off. There were three cars in our caravan. Two were going to Michigan, while one was turning south at Cheyenne to go to Denver. Just to the east of Pendleton, Oregon, are some very large steep hills, about ten miles of six percent grade. I was driving the car behind the Dodge pick-up. At the top I saw what looked like oil spray out of the rear axel. I pulled in front and stopped the caravan. After inspection we decided that it would not be safe to drive the Dodge any further. One of the young ladies, Judy, had some relatives who lived nearby. She suggested that we stay there while we get the pick-up repaired.

A little further up the road we found someone to replace the axel. After having it towed to the repair guy we discovered that the local junkyard had three axels from 1945 Dodge pick-ups to choose from. Two of them were already out! After picking out the best, we all went over to Judy’s relatives for the next day or so, awaiting the repair.

Judy’s relatives raised beef cattle. We had steak. Did I say we had steak? The meals were tremendous. Soon, the repairs were done and we went over to the shop to get the vehicle and pay for it. George and I were walking together towards the shop office where the repairman was writing out the bill. We both looked at each other with a faith gleam in our eyes and knew what the check from George’s Dad was for. We stood at the window to the office and George said to the guy, as he was finishing adding the column, “Don’t tell me. It’s $127.10 isn’t it?”

“How did you know?” he replied as he turned the clipboard around so George could sign it. Not only was it for $127.10, but the guy took an out of town check, made out to and endorsed by George, for the payment. Did we ever rejoice!

Yet our troubles were not yet over. When we neared Evanston, Wyoming, the truck began to leak oil. The mechanic told us that it was the main seal between the engine and the transmission that needed to be replaced. He wanted to charge us $600. This is the kind of incident that re-coined the phrase “highway robbery”. No way could we afford such an expense. George made a decision. He went and bought a case of oil and a case of STP™. We were going to pour oil through it until we got home. Our plan was to stop every 50 miles or so and put more oil in. I checked it the first time or two and the oil never went down. The oil never went down until we crossed the Mississippi river. Then it used the last quart as we pulled near Port Huron, Michigan. George didn’t tell us that he had spent the last of the money to purchase the oil. What we had in oil was all we could have. Thank you Jesus!

One of the young men on the trip with us was a new Christian named Ramon. A hippie, he smelled like he bathed in patchouli oil. I had met him in Ypsilanti before I had ever met Jesus. That fall he had come down to visit some of us Portland Bible College from Alaska and just recently met the Lord. One night as we walked into a restaurant in Wyoming we asked Ramon what he would do if he ran into some of his old drinking buddies. Has he really put his old life behind? He contemplated his answer for a while. Once inside the restaurant we heard some raucous laughter and someone yelling, “Hey Ramon! You wanna go out and have a few beers?” Against all odds some of his old Alaskan drinking buddies were in that very restaurant, in December, in the middle of Wyoming, when we walked in. Ramon looked surprised and embarrassed. He told the guys after joyfully greeting them that he did not want to go drinking. He came and ate with us instead.

These coincidences are amazing. A friend of mine at our church likes to say that it is odd that when she stops praying those coincidences seem to stop happening. Keep trusting in God and the may those happy happenstances happen!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Being Testy For Christ

Let me give you an example of what I mean by testing the spirits. Let’s pretend that one day the world was at war again. Someone had released a pathogen that was killing off hundreds of thousands of people a week. It looked like mankind was really going to destroy themselves this time.

In the midst of all this strife some scientist noticed on his telescope that an object, very small, was coming towards earth at an incredible speed, faster than any comet. The militaries of the earth were alerted. Talk shows had experts tell us of the devastation that a small object could do if it struck the earth. This object was coming straight for earth. They calculated that it would hit the earth in two days. The people of the earth wondered if it was judgment from God.

Just hours before the object was to hit, radio messages were received all over the earth that were purported as coming from the object. “Stop the war! I am coming! Stop the war! I am coming!” This was repeated over and over.

The object turned out to be some kind of spacecraft. It landed in the Middle East, in Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives. It landed with such force that a small earthquake resulted, cracking the mount in two. The spacecraft was so hot that it glowed.

It took only a few hours for the craft to cool. As it did, camera crews, the curious, military people, and politicians gathered to it. After it was cool, a door opened, and a man walked out. He was bearded, wore blue jeans, and smiled a lot.

He said he was Jesus.

People who were dying from the plague were brought to him, and he healed them. Many miraculous signs were done. An uneasy peace began to pervade among the warring nations.

What would you do? Everyone seemed to be amazed. The question you would ask yourself is, does what this person say square with what is written? If it did not, even if you could not explain how these miracles were done, you would not accept this person as Jesus. Yet you would review all you had previously understood. You would make sure.

Then came the announcement. “All nations are to worship me, or judgment will follow!” The Islamic nations that would not bend had fire come upon them from what seemed like outer space. All governments were abolished. The control of all the world's money was unified under his command. Allegiance had to be sworn in order to participate in any way in society. Now your life and the lives of your children depended upon your decision. Would your decision hold? Could you be swayed?

This may be an extreme example. But every day we have to make similar decisions, yet on a much smaller scale. Jesus taught us that if we’d be faithful with little we’d also be faithful with much. I’ve noticed that this works in all areas of responsibility. In discernment there are just a few elements that need to be balanced.

Is what I see consistent with the scripture or not? If what I see challenges my understanding of scripture, after further review do I find it consistent or not? Who gets the glory? Is it consistent with the God I know? What is or would be the fruit? Do I have peace? What is the Spirit saying inside me? What do others, whom I regard as spiritually mature, say? What are the immature saying? In essence, is this activity consistent with the Spirit and the Book?

Unless you are convinced that the Spirit stopped doing the things we see throughout the Bible, there will still be, from time to time, miraculous signs and wonders done by God’s people today. The gifts of the Spirit are manifested still.

Let’s look at a test case. Take the stuff that went on at the Toronto Airport Vineyard (now Toronto Airport Church). I went to see it for myself. I was negatively predisposed. At first I was bored, yet after observing those around me have experiences from which they would come away with the praise of God on their lips and with a fervor to serve Him, I wondered. At one point there was a general call for those with lower back pain to come forward to be prayed for. I laughed to myself saying maybe everyone is going to go forward for this one. Since I had back pain, and had for years, I went forward, pressured by my wife, despite my skepticism. I stood in a circle around the platform with many others. As someone came near me to pray for me, and as that person lifted their hand to lay upon me for prayer, yet before I was touched, I found myself ejected backwards in a ‘graceful’ arc, landing on my lower back.

My back pain was gone, and stayed gone. I had other encounters with the Holy Spirit throughout the week, yet none of them were particularly emotional.

I remember one afternoon, while standing on a balcony at the back, being asked by the Holy Spirit if I would want this fruit in my ministry. Would I want people to more willing to serve God and make positive strides in their confession of faith? I said that yes, I would. But what if it came with all these different reactions, I was asked? Then I saw what was going on. The things that people did, the falling, laughing, groaning, etc., were their reactions to the Holy Spirit, not manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of these encounters with the Spirit was not the reactions, but the strides people made in their faith.

The fruit of these encounters with the Holy Spirit in my life gave me faith to believe God for the time and money for short term missions. This is with 5 kids still at home. Sometimes my wife or one of my children would accompany me. Beautiful fruit for me and my family. I can trace this fruit back to my encounters with the Holy Spirit at the Toronto Airport Church. Does this mean that I endorse all that went on? Of course not. Few do. But after testing I can keep the good and avoid the evil.

This is what Paul was steering us towards with these words in his letter to the Thessalonians. Paul wanted us to discern the intent of God in what is happening around us. This will take a familiarity with God has said and done in the past coupled with a openness to the Spirit. Even if we are not 100% correct in all our judgments we can at least move ourselves out of the place of debilitating deception into the range of non-dangerous differences of opinion.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Testing Prophecy

Paul exhorted us to test all things and to hold fast to the good. Because of the context it is clear that Paul wanted us to test prophecy given by fellow believers. Jesus also wanted us to test the prophets, even those in sheep’s clothing. Additionally, it appears that this testing could be extended to all ‘Spirit’ ministry. The purpose of this testing was for the believer to be able to tell the difference between what has truly come from the Spirit of God and what has not. This testing is so that we will be able to separate the good from every form of evil, preventing our deception.

Why be so concerned about deception? Jesus and his apostles taught us that in the last days deception would be the main danger. When we are deceived we believe a lie, but are not aware of it. Since belief is the basis for all action and relationships, wrong beliefs result in destructive actions and relationships. Ultimately we will be judged on what we have believed as evidenced by our actions. True beliefs lead us into a love relationship with God and others while false beliefs do not. Deception then is a means by which our healthy relationships with God and others are broken.

Because of this we can see how important it is that we are not deceived. Now it is true that not all false beliefs are equally dangerous. Believing that Jesus is not our savior is far more dangerous than believing in, say, a limited atonement. (I can feel a discussion brewing!) There are areas in which differences of opinion are not necessarily debilitating and there are other areas that will destroy our relationship with God. It is important that we maintain a sense of proportion.

How then can we tell whether or not some ‘spiritual’ activity is from the Holy Spirit or not? We will have to have some authority guide us here. We will have to be taught. Why do I say this? How would any of us know the answer to this question, for sure? Who has the right to say anything about this but those who undoubtedly have known this Spirit? This is why I propose scripture, the Old and New Testaments. No one in scripture has our cultural biases. And for my money, they are ones who undoubtedly knew the Holy Spirit.

Throughout time people have had to deal with the problem of who speaks authoritatively for God. Prophecy is where someone speaks for God as God directs, often in the first person singular. (Rev19:10, 22:6-9; Amos3:8) People who wanted to know the truth have always had to choose between those who spoke for God and those who claimed to speak for God. How were they able to distinguish between the two? What happened in the past and what can we learn from them?

The first situation that comes to mind is when Noah tried unsuccessfully to warn the world of the impending flood. Only his family listened. Even with the evidence of all these animals coming to the ark in pairs, people didn’t listen. No one had ever seen what Noah was talking about. Noah spoke of rain, floods, worldwide judgment, and cataclysm of a degree never before known. Besides, people didn’t want to repent. So Noah got no converts. Was Noah’s message from God? Yes. But people couldn’t tell because their hearts were hardened. They wanted their own way regardless. Noah’s message was right and he persisted with it for 120 years. He built an ark and gathered the animals (maybe even miraculously) and his family, demonstrating his sincerity. Still, his message went unheeded.

This shows us several things. The first is just because the message is strange and no one is listening does not prove that the message is not from God. It also shows that the reason we are not listening may have more to do with our hard heart than some flaw in the message. Herein is a ‘key’ to knowing the voice of God – the receptivity of our heart. Do we really want to hear from God, or do we only want God to confirm our own opinions? Unless we are open to correction we will have a very hard time hearing from God. Does this mean that when God speaks he only speaks correction? Of course not. But unless we are open to whatever God might say, we will have trouble hearing. Unless we hear, we cannot decide whether the message is from God or not.

Since Moses was afraid that the people would not believe that God had met with him, God gave him confirmatory signs. This method was used throughout the Bible. Jesus, the prophets, the apostles all had miraculous signs to confirm that their message was from God. Yet signs were never given total confirmatory power. In other words, signs could confirm the message, but the message had to conform to the standard already given. Signs alone, or signs with a suspicious message, confirmed nothing. Signs alone cannot accredit the messenger. But signs can confirm that the message, when the message was consistent with previous messages from God, is indeed from God. (Dt 13:1-3, 18:21-22)

Why the need for signs if the message was consistent with previous messages from God? Sometimes it is because the people who are being communicated with have not understood the previous messages. Take for instance the coming in of the Gentiles into the people of God. It took many signs from the Spirit of God to lead Peter to the house of Cornelius. It also took a mighty demonstration of the presence of the Spirit in the lives of those Gentiles for the Jewish believers to accept the Gentiles and baptize them. Even then Peter was called to task by the leadership in Jerusalem. His answer was simple. Who am I to resist God?

Sometimes signs are used when the message challenges our accepted beliefs. If it weren’t for the signs, we would not reconsider our beliefs. Yet signs do not have the strength to change our beliefs on their own. The message must be, as the Bereans noted, consistent with what God has communicated before in the scriptures.

Jesus also taught us to “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matt 7:15-20 NIV So we can tell if the Spirit is working through someone by their fruit. This presupposes a few things. One is that we know this person life well enough to test for fruit. The second is that we know what good fruit looks (tastes?) like. Knowing the person who ministers by the Spirit is essential.

I suggest that the fruit Jesus mentions is the same as the fruit that Paul lists in Gal 5:22 as “love, joy, peace,patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”. So also in Eph 5:9 the "fruit of light" is found in "all that is good and right and true." Contrasted with this are "the unfruitful works of darkness" (v. 11), the "fruitless trees" of subversive teachers in Jude 12. One of the characteristics of the "wisdom from above" is that it is "full of mercy and good fruits" (Jas 3:17, 2 Pet 1:8). In order to see such things we need to actually know that person. The more a person is disassociated with the local church the harder it is to assess fruit, and the easier it is to hide bad fruit.

If the prophetic word is consistent with scripture and is being communicated through a person of good fruit, it passes the initial test. All of this needs to done through a relationship with the Holy Spirit. You might remember when Agabus warned Paul of the binding he would receive by the Gentiles in Jerusalem. Paul wasn’t hard of hearing, he knew that what was said was true. He also knew the Lord was sending him and that he was willing to suffer for the Name. How the prophetic word given to Paul was to be interpreted by Paul, not others to whom this word was not addressed. So how the word is to be applied needs discernment.

Paul warns the Thessalonians not to put out the Spirit’s fire by looking down on prophecy. Instead they were to test everything and hold on to the good. Prophecy is one way that God mediates his presence though his people. If there is a need for anything now, it is for God to lovingly intervene in people’s lives. Prophecy is one way God does this. Let’s avoid evil by not putting out the Spirit’s fire.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The Spirit's Fire

One of my deep disappointments regarding the emerging church movement is its apparent rejection of the practice of the gifts of the Spirit. In its effort to distance itself from the excesses, doctrinal immaturity, exclusiveness, and fundamentalism of some of the previous ‘Spirit’ movements in the church, it has turned a deaf ear to many of the more dramatic types of genuine Spirit manifestation. This is not without justification. Yet Paul’s exhortation to us that we should not despise prophecy is applicable to us here.

The passage in Thessalonians reads like this: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”

As with all of Paul’s exhortations, there are good reasons for giving them. If we could not put out the Spirit’s fire, why he would have exhorted us not to put it out? But what did Paul mean by the Spirit’s fire? Does anyone besides me hear the echoes of the words of the prophets? Without the fire of the Spirit the distinction between the holy and the profane would be blurred. Fire marks the line of that which is totally devoted to the Lord and that which is not. The concept of radical zeal and devotion applies here. But it is the Spirit’s fire, a fire not of our own generation. Yet that cannot mean that the Spirit’s fire can burn without our consent and complicity. If it could burn in such a way, without our consent, how then could we put out the Spirit’s fire? So then for the fire of the Spirit to burn in us we need to agree with the Spirit. This results in a passion for the things of God – love, holiness, compassion, forgiveness, truth, justice, fidelity, and so on. By agreeing to live in these things we agree with the nature of the Holy Spirit. The more we are consumed by these virtues the more we are ‘on fire’ by the Spirit.

Yet there is an aspect of the Holy Spirit that manifests itself in the supernatural - things that happen that defy natural explanation. This will bug the confirmed rationalist that must have all things explained in a causative way. The difficulty in explaining the supernatural is that it ain’t natural. How come everyone isn’t
healed, or why did God answer that prayer but appears not to have answered this other prayer? The rationalist wants rules so it will work each time the same way. There probably are rules and purposes governing the manifestation of the supernatural power of the Spirit of God, but they are not natural rules. This is not magic. It is a relationship with the Being who made it all who desires to share His person and power with His children. God makes the rules and does what is holy and right every time.

In addition to rationalism, the mystical approach leaves much of what God is giving into this relationship still on the table. It receives well enough but seems to be weak on cooperating with the Spirit in the Spirit’s desire to express himself through people to other people. Jesus said that if we want to be his disciples we must take up our cross and follow him. This means, among other things, that we are to enter into Jesus’ work. This work is the work of giving our life to others through the power of the Spirit. God wants to do this work with us, not just pour into our lives. There is a difference between a friend and a siphon.

Here, in entering into the work of God, we discover the Spirit’s fire. The gifts of the Spirit are birthed in us by faith and compassion, also of the Spirit. The gifts are given to us so each of us can give a supernatural manifestation of the Spirit to someone else. As we participate in the Spirit’s desire to touch the heart of people at their point of need, the Spirit works in and through us, both with virtue and with power. By closing ourselves to either the Spirit’s virtue or power, we begin to put out the Spirit’s fire. We drift back into the gray area between light and darkness.

Why would we ever want to close ourselves off to the Holy Spirit, quenching the Spirit’s fire? Few of us willingly close ourselves off to the Spirit’s virtues. It is the Spirit’s power that is the sand in our sheets. Like with natural fire, we only feel safe if it is controlled. Yet the Spirit will not be controlled by us. Who is the Lord here anyway? The Spirit is the Lord, not us.

In the past the Holy Spirit had the people of God do many strange things. Ezekiel laid on his side for much too long, enacting the siege of Jerusalem. Hosea married a harlot. Jesus spat on people sometimes when healing them. How can we tell what is of the Spirit and what is because someone is nuts? Worse yet, what if I prayed for someone and they were not healed? What if I declared something in faith, waiting for the mountain to cast itself into the sea, and it didn’t go? What if I looked foolish and other people thought less of God because of me? Because of this many say that going down this ‘Spirit’ road is not worth the risk.

It is in this way prophecy and other Spirit manifestations are devalued. Because of the problems, the craziness, and the doctrinal uncertainties, the teaching and practice of the power of the Spirit is reconfigured to avoid these pitfalls. One way to reconfigure the teaching is to say that these gifts are no longer for today. Another is to say that they are not necessary, but you can practice them at home if you like. The problem is that it is by these very gifts, and the loving context in which they are supposed to be used, that God’s word is confirmed to those who are yet to believe. Additionally, it is also by these gifts that God intervenes in peoples lives to help them know Him better, to meet their needs, and to help people participate in the work of Christ.

So then how are we to differentiate between the Holy Spirit and the kooks? Do we need, like some early Pentecostals and some modern Charismatics, to accept everything that says it’s from the Spirit of God? Including barking? Do we need to accept all kinds of fanciful exegeses that say they are Spirit inspired? How do we ‘test everything’? To describe that will take another article. For now it will be sufficient for us to know that we can test everything, we should test everything, and that God wants us to test everything. There are controls on the gifts which need to be in place. These controls, when properly used, will not put out the Spirit’s fire. Indeed, these controls are themselves Spirit inspired. These controls are not controls on the Spirit, they are on us. The problem is not with the Holy Spirit’s manifestations, the problem is with our ‘manifestations’.

Because we are participating in the Spirit’s work, there are, at least, two sources for our activity: the Spirit and us. Since the Spirit wants to work with us and through us, we are always involved. The plan is for us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Yet when people are involved, mistakes will always be made. It is important to remember that the supernatural does not come naturally. To some, it will always look wrong and be offensive. Jesus did get nailed to a cross. And so will we who, through the Spirit, endeavor to participate in Jesus’ work.

Just because some people are put off by the power of the Spirit does not mean that we are to abandon the fire of the Spirit. Paul exhorted us to hold on to the good. Today he might have said “Don’t through out the baby with the bath water”. The gifts of the Spirit are intended to build up, to encourage, all those who are seeking God. Surely this is a work that still needs to be done. The gifts are intended to confirm the source of our message, the gospel. They are intended to heal people who are ill, deliver people who are in bondage, to reveal the plan and purposes of God, to cut through satanic opposition, to reveal some of the power of the kingdom of God.

Now what is wrong with that?

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Comparative Hermeneutics

Here is an old e-mail that floated around years ago. Found it again, liked it, and thought I'd post it. Thanks to whoever wrote it, a name now shrouded in mystery.

Suppose you're traveling to work and you see a stop sign. What do you do? That depends on how you interpret the sign.

1. A post modernist deconstructs the sign (knocks it over with the car), ending forever the tyranny of the north-south traffic over the east-west traffic.

2. Similarly, a Marxist refuses to stop because he sees the stop sign as an instrument of class conflict. He concludes that the bourgeois use the north-south road and obstruct the progress of the workers in the east-west road.

3. A serious and educated Catholic rolls through the intersection because he believes he cannot understand the stop sign apart from its interpretive community and tradition. Observing that the interpretive community doesn't take it too seriously, he doesn't feel obligated to take it too seriously either.

4. An average Catholic (or Coptic or Orthodox or Anglican or Methodist or Presbyterian or whatever) doesn't bother to read the sign but will stop the car if the car in front stops.

5.A fundamentalist stops at the stop sign and waits for it to say go.

6. A seminary educated evangelical preacher might look up 'stop' in his lexicons of English and discover that it can mean: 1)something which prevents motion, such as a plug for a drain, or a block of wood that prevents a door from closing; 2) a location where a train or bus lets off passengers. The main point of his sermon the following Sunday on this text is: when you see a stop sign, it is a place where traffic is naturally clogged, so it is a good place to let off passengers from your car.

7. An orthodox Jew does one of two things: 1) take another route to work that doesn't have a stop sign so he doesn't run the risk of disobeying the law; 2) stops at the stop sign, says "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast given us thy commandment to stop," waits 3 seconds according to his watch, and then proceeds. Incidentally, the Talmud has the following comments on this passage:
Rabbi Meir says: He who does not stop will not live for long.
R. Hillel says: Cursed is he who does not count to three before proceeding.
R. Simon ben Yudah says: Why three? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.
R. ben Isaac says: Because of the three patriarchs.
R. Yehuda says: Why bless the Lord at a stop sign? Because it says, "Be still and know I am God".

8. A scholar from the Jesus seminar concludes that the passage "STOP" undoubtedly was never uttered by Jesus himself because, being the progressive Jew that he was, he would never have wanted to stifle people's progress. Therefore "STOP" must be a textual insertion belonging entirely to stage III of the gospel tradition, when the church was first confronted by traffic in its parking lot.

9.A New Testament scholar notices that there is no stop sign on Mark street but there is one on Matthew and Luke streets, and concludes that the ones on Luke and Matthew are both copied from a sign on a street that no one has seen called "Q" street. There is an excellent 300 page doctoral dissertation on the origin of these stop signs, and the difference between signs on Matthew and Luke street in the scholar's commentary on the passage. There is an unfortunate omission in the dissertation, however; it doesn't explain the meaning of the text!

10. An OT scholar points out that there are a number of stylistic differences between the first and the second half of the passage "STOP". For example, "ST" contains no enclosed areas and five line endings, whereas "OP" contains two enclosed areas and only one line termination. He concludes that the author for the second part is different from the on the first part and probably lived hundreds of years later. Later scholars determine that the second half is itself actually written by two separate authors because if similar stylistic differences between the "O" and the "P".

11. Another prominent OT scholar notes in his commentary that the stop sign would fit in better into the context three streets back. (Unfortunately, he neglected to explain why in his commentary). Clearly it was moved to its present location by a later redactor. He thus exegetes the intersection as though the stop sign were not there.

12.Because of the difficulties in interpretation, another OT scholar amends the text, changing the "T" to "H". "SHOP" is much easier to understand in context than "STOP" because of the multiplicity of stores in the area. The textual corruption probably occurred because "SHOP" is so similar to "STOP" on the sign several streets back, that it is a natural mistake for a scribe to make. Thus the sign should be interpreted to announce the existence of a shopping area. If this is true, it could mean that both meanings are valid, making the thrust of the message "STOP (AND) SHOP".

13. A "prophetic" preacher notices that the square root of the sum of the numeric representations of the letters S-T-O-P (sigma-tau-omicron-pi in the Greek alphabet), multiplied by forty (the number of testing), and divided by four (the number of the world - north, south, east west) equals 666. Therefore he concludes that stop signs are the dreaded 'mark of the beast', a harbinger of divine judgment upon the world, and must be avoided at all costs.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

A Church of Believers

I had heard about a church in a nearby town that called itself the Church of Believers. They were endeavoring to restore New Testament Christianity. This meant, above other things, that they were to be led by the Holy Spirit. This was manifested by eschewing institutionalism in all forms (i.e. no formal leadership in picking out songs to speaking messages), emphasizing the gifts of the Spirit (especially prophecy), and freedom to dance and spontaneously sing together for long times our different personal songs harmoniously to the Lord. I had experienced this type of singing in Corvallis, Oregon, and was looking for a church who knew what this was and practiced it.

The Church of Believers was an offshoot of the Later Rain Revival that began at a Bible school in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1948. Prophecy, both to individuals and groups, the “song of the Lord”, and a strong desire for the ‘restoration’ of the New Testament church as seen in the book of Acts, were some of the main emphases. The Church of Believers also baptized in Jesus’ name, and were Jesus ‘only’ theologically. This meant that they had a non-traditional view of the trinity that taught that the Father was Jesus, the Son was Jesus, and the Holy Spirit was the Spirit of Jesus. This was how they protected the unity of God from tri-theism. Since when I had met God I learned that God’s name was Jesus I gravitated towards this type of thinking. Later the Holy Spirit through the Bible adjusted my understanding.

One time I was at Denny’s, a man in the Church of Believers. I needed some gas to make it home. It was late and I knew that no gas stations were open for many miles. I didn’t think I could make it home as I was past empty. Denny kept a large tank for gasoline for his farm stuff. I looked at the tank, it had been painted red, and it somehow looked full to me. I asked Denny if I could have some of the gas in his tank. He told me that he had tried that morning to get some gas and it was empty. But it really looked full to me. So I asked again if he would just humor me and pour some gas into my tank. He protested that this was foolish, as only a German could do, but would do it any way because I insisted. He reached for the nozzle and with a look of disgust on his face, probably because I didn’t believe him, he put it into my tank and pulled the trigger. Whoosh went the gasoline into my tank. Denny was absolutely shocked and surprised. My tank was filled and he had plenty to spare. Years later I asked him if he it was really empty and he assured me that it was.

There was one girl my age, Peggy, who went to church there with me. It was obvious to us that we were destined for each other. Although I had not yet emotionally healed from my breakup with another young lady earlier that year, I became attached to Peggy, and she to me. When I asked her to marry me, she said yes and we went to tell her parents. It was late and they had already gone to bed so we woke them up with our good news. Her parents were less than enthusiastic. They cautioned us to wait a year before we tied the knot. We happily agreed, oblivious to their implicit warning.

Sometime just before Easter, 1972, a man came into our assembly wanting help and some of us discerned that he needed to be delivered from demons. So we, as a group, gathered in a circle around him as he sat in a chair, often called the ‘hot seat’. I got this idea that I was supposed to, as in acting out a prophecy, grab above this man’s head and throw the demon away. This thought was very strange to me and I did not act upon it. Later, when walking Peggy to her car after the service, I shared with her what I had received. She said that she didn’t think that it was odd as she had seen others do that before. I filed this information in the back of my brain for future use.

That Easter there was a big get together in St. Paul, Minnesota for all the churches that were in some way associated with each other. The Church of Believers was a part and most of us were going. On the first night the worship was freewheeling. After the singing and dancing were over a person was brought forward who we were told had demons that needed to be cast out. They asked for spiritual male volunteers to come forward to pray. I decided I was spiritual enough and male, so I went up front.

As we gathered around the guy who needed the ministry I began to get the same leading that I had received earlier at home. I was to reach out my hands above the guys head, grab as if I were grabbing demons, and throw them as far as I could. This time I did it. Yet when I threw two odd things happened. The first was I let out a yell. This was no ordinary yell. This yell was fueled by all the anxiety that had been building up in me since I disobeyed God (another story) hitchhiking from Corvallis, Oregon to Michigan. Contained within was the anxiety of my earlier break up, through spiritual immaturity at all levels, all the way to the stress of Peggy’s parents not wanting us to be married. Not only did I yell, but when I threw I almost hit one of the elders on the chin with my fists, clenched as they were from 'grabbing the demons'.

Not surprisingly the rest of the group figured that there was something wrong with me. They bound demons left and right and had me sit down on the front pew. They left me there and ignored me. While sitting in front the thoughts came to me that if I have demons, Jesus can cast out demons, I have nothing to worry about.

Yet I was left alone. The next day I gathered some of the non-leaders who were leaders in the Church of Believers. I asked them to solve the problem, do I have demons or not? They responded by gathering some of the other leading non-leaders who tried to help discern what condition my condition was in. They asked me probing questions. I responded by confessing every sin, real or imagined, leaving no sin unturned. By the time they were done, they had discerned seven demons. They also decided that it was the demon of lust, discerned through the confession of some of my dreams, that had caused my relationship with Peggy. So they brought her into the room and I had to confess to her that our relationship, on my part, was caused by these demons. She cried and they ushered her out of the room. She was to stay in St. Paul. I never saw her again or have communicated with her since.

These leading non-leaders now had a problem, how to get the demons out of me. I tried to cooperate as best I could. I had heard that sometimes when demons are exorcised the victim vomited. So, on my hands and knees, I tried to vomit, but I couldn’t. Nothing would happen, no demons came out. After a long while, may have been an hour or two, one of the ladies performing the exorcism said that she knew why the demons were not coming out. They were not coming out because I had blasphemed the Holy Spirit. Although I had not been a Christian very long, I knew that this was bad, really bad. Fortunately, the rest of the people did not agree with her, and escorted her out of the room.

In the end they could not cast the demons out. The reason they couldn’t, I was told, was that I had sin in my life. Yes, that really was the reason I was given. I was also told that the demons would try to deceive me and draw me away from the fellowship. If I left the church I would loose my salvation.

I was pretty glum. Someone handed me a book by Merlin Caruthers called Prison to Praise. I read it on the way home. It impacted me deeply. The gist of the book is that God is worthy of praise regardless of the situations we were in. Mr. Caruthers took very seriously Paul’s exhortations to praise God in and for everything.

After I arrived home I decided to put into practice the stuff I had learned reading this book. I stood in the middle of my living room/bedroom, lifted my arms and hands into the air, and began to praise God with all my strength. I praised and thanked God for the seven demons which He, in His wisdom, allowed me to have. This outburst of faith, expressed in praise and thankfulness, must have really tickled God. God filled me with so much joy that for the next two weeks it was all I could do to walk instead of dance wherever I went. The grin on my face was so wide and perpetual that the back of my head behind my ears continually hurt. If God would have injected me with any more joy I would have exploded all over the walls.

When I communicated with the Church of Believers what I had been experiencing, about the joy that didn’t quit, they looked at me with condescension and said that they noticed that I had some measure of joy. I was intimidated by their comments and the intense joy I had been experiencing began to ebb away. Before too long I was depressed and shriveled spiritually.

A friend of mine from another church came over one day and noticed my poor spiritual state. He said that I needed to leave that church. I said I couldn’t, I would loose my salvation because of the demons. He said that he did not believe I had any demons. It never occurred to me that what I had been told might not be the truth.

I began to think about this. How could I be sure it was not just the demons trying to deceive me? It was a logical conundrum. Yet one day I happened to be reading the book of Acts in the Bible. I came across the passage in Acts 8 where Simon the sorcerer believed, confessed Christ, and was baptized. Yet when he saw that the gift of the Spirit was given through the laying on of hands by the Apostles, he wanted to do it too. He offered to pay Peter for this ability to impart the Holy Spirit. Peter took offense and noticed that Simon’s heart was still bound up in iniquity. Before I read the next sentence I thought, now here is the perfect time to establish once and for all that Christians can still have demons from their previous life of sin after they have become Christians. Here is a guy with all the requirements: He was a sorcerer, he believed and was baptized, and now he sins in a big way. Cast the demon out, Peter! Yet Peter didn’t cast a demon out. He commanded Simon to repent. Repent, that was all. Ask the Lord to forgive. I had done that. I then knew that I did not have any demons, and that I was right with God, regardless of what the Church of Believers taught! So I quit my job, left the Church of Believers, and moved to Portland, Oregon.