|
|
Luke 6:38 - give, and it shall be given unto you... AGAPE.com
is visited:
|
DIFFICULT QUESTIONS AND DIFFICULT ANSWERSQUESTION:WHAT ABOUT THE THOUSANDS THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SAVED IN THE LAUGHTER MEETINGS? My question is `Are they really saved?' Unsubstantiated claims cannot be used as concrete evidence of souls saved in the Laughter phenomenon meetings. True Biblical salvation is a two part process- Repentance from our sins and Faith in Jesus Christ. In his video, Sign and Wonders Camp Meeting USA April 1994 (video #5), Rodney Howard-Browne made an altar call for "salvation" after testimonies of laughter, counterfeit joy and of God paying off debts. There was no message of repentance preceeding the altar call. This is a false and misleading Gospel. True Repentance involves a brokenness of spirit, conviction of sin and what the Bible calls a ` coming to of our senses'..... Luke 15:17-18 A person cannot `come to his senses' if he is laughing hysterically away or rolling on the floor or barking like a dog! Pastor Frank Duet has this to say about the majority of Rodney Howard Browne's meetings......... "...Now what kind of altar call is this? Well for one thing right here this whole idea of `No Prayer' and `No Repentance' would certainly disqualify a true `Refreshing' as described in the Bible." Signals Prophetic Newsletter@1991-1994, 1207 Apricot Street, Belle Chasse, Los Angeles, page 6. Here is also an excerpt from the video tape we mentioned earlier entitled "Signs and Wonders Camp Meeting USA, video #5, April 1994".......... "At four O'Clock in the afternoon the father was very upset because no one had been there to fix his lunch. And he began to chew his wife out. When the son said, "Mother let me explain to him what happened", the father fell out on the living room floor laughing. For thirty minutes he laughed. When he finally stood up, he said, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS ABOUT- [but] WHATEVER YOU'VE GOT, I WANT IT." And the young man led his own father to the Lord Jesus [applause]. Testimony by Richard Roberts, President of Oral Roberts University. Here is a testimony of a person accepting the Lord after a bout of laughter. Was it the Lord he wanted or was it the laughter that he wanted? Conviction of sin is the first step to salvation, not laughter. "A gospel invitation which merely invites people to come to Christ to "be happy" is found nowhere in the pages of the New Testament." Article entitled "Another Gospel" by James A Steward-Page 1,Herald of His Coming, July 1995 Issue. People are flocking in to receive the Laughter Phenomenon and the good feelings that come with it. Receiving Jesus Christ is just by the way. If you were to stand in the market-place and say " Jesus will bless you and prosper you if you accept Him", you would probably get a full load of well-meaning but MIS-GUIDED people coming forwards. We are in essence making a mockery of the grace of God. Repentance is coming to God on HIS TERMS, not ours. The Apostle Paul gave us ample warning of a different gospel being preached in Galatians Chapter 1 verses 6 to 8....... Gal 1:6-8 A FALSE GOSPEL TAKES AN UNBELIEVER ON A ROUND TRIP FROM HELL BACK TO HELL! Take heed! Beware! External appearances are rather deceptive. EVEN DEMONS BELIEVE AND CONFESS THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD (BUT WITHOUT ANY REPENTANCE)....... Matt 8:28-29 AN ALTAR CALL FOR SALVATION WITHOUT TRUE REPENTANCE CANNOT BE THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. QUESTION:WHAT ABOUT THE EVENTS RECORDED IN PREVIOUS REVIVALS? It is interesting to note that three
thousand were saved in Acts 2:41 and about five thousand men were
saved in Acts 4:4 WITHOUT ANY MENTION OF ANY MANIFESTATIONS. Acts
is part of the Holy Bible which is totally and completely
inspired by God. The "revivals" in Acts must serve as a
standard upon which other revivals are judged and not the other
way around. If the manifestations in previous revivals were
emotional responses to the move of the Spirit, then these
manifestations could be considered to be perfectly legitimate. "The difference between the present movement and the revivals of the 18th century is that the latter were characterised by powerful preaching, a strong sense of self-loathing and of repentance, none of which is a feature of the Toronto Blessing........."(9) QUESTION:WHAT ABOUT ALL THE WONDERFUL TESTIMONIES THAT WE HEAR OF IN THE LAUGHTER MEETINGS? The ultimate source of the Laughter phenomenon is Rodney Howard-Browne. If Rodney Howard-Browne has a wrong spirit, then all his followers will also have a wrong spirit........ Matt 7:17-18 If a tree is not from God, how can its fruits be from God? Rodney Howard-Browne preaches deception, half-truths and lies.His teachings are EXTRA-BIBLICAL. Can we expect anything better from his disciples? Isa 8:20 Attributing the kind of manifestations seen in the Laughter Meetings to a work of the Holy Spirit is close to blaspheming God Himself. We should, therefore, not put our immutable faith on the testimonies of people who bark like dogs, laugh hysterically and roar like lions. Next, what about the testimonies of transformed lives? Yes, what about these so-called supernatural transformations claimed by the laughter proponents? It is supernatural alright, but the truth of the matter is this...........If hysterical laughter and animal behaviour can transform a person's life, then this transformating power certainly could not have come from the Holy Spirit. How can we belittle the majesty and person of the Holy Spirit to the the level of animals? Is there no more fear and reverence of God in this present generation? The Bible clearly states that Satan transforms Himself into an Angel of light and his ministers into ministers of righteousness... 2 Cor 11:14-15 A monk of a false religion does not smoke, drink or commit adultery. He gives to the poor and prays regularly. Is his righteousness from God? What about the pharisees? They fast twice a week, do good works and even tithe their herbs [they also know the Scriptures]. Is the source of their righteousness from God? Certainly not! Because Our Lord Jesus stated clearly that they (pharisees) were candidates for hell. They obviously had the wrong spirit! Matt 23:27 Matt 23:33 What is the point I am getting at? It is
simply this....... QUESTION:WHAT ABOUT THE ARGUMENT THAT GOD IS SOVEREIGN AND THAT HE CAN DO ANYTHING HE WISHES? Take a look at the Scripture below..... Acts 19:11-12 You will notice from verse 11 that God did "extraordinary" or "special" (in the King James Version) miracles through Paul. Extra-ordinary means out of the ordinary. These are exceptional ways in which God acted. Each event appeared to be a 'one-time' occasion only, a kind of God's Rhema. Surely you are not going to take a leper to the River Jordan and dip him seven times as in the case of Namaan! Likewise, putting mud on a blind man's eyes for healing only happened once in the Bible. It is not the mud but the healing virtue of Jesus Christ that flowed through the blind man. These `one-time' events differ from the extra-biblical spiritual move of Rodney Howard Browne which has more or less become an experiential "doctrine". His spiritual move consists of an assortment of spiritual events which can be passed on and repeated in many different places. Have you come across a Rodney Howard Browne meeting without spiritual laughter or any of the other manifestations whether it be in City A or City B? So, any event that is spiritual in nature and that can be repeated must be in the Bible (otherwise we would never be able to know whether it is from God or not). Since Rodney Howard-Browne's spiritual move and the spiritual events associated with it are Extra-Biblical, they could not have come from God. QUESTION:AND WHAT ABOUT THE ARGUMENT THAT THE FATHER WILL NOT GIVE YOU A SNAKE IF YOU ASK FOR A FISH? I have not come across a father who will give his son a snake if the latter asks for a fish. Have you? So if a so-called son receives a snake, instead of a fish, then it must have come from a different father. Since "spiritual laughter" is not one of the Gifts of the Spirit, or a member of the Fruit of the Spirit or an attribute of the Holy Spirit that can be imparted, this "gift" could not have possibly come from the Father God of the Bible. There is another "father" in the Bible who also hears and answers prayer (especially unbiblical ones)..... John 8:44 QUESTION: A FRIEND OF MINE SAYS HE SENSED THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN A LAUGHTER MEETING. WHAT ARE YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS? Your friend 'felt' a spiritual presence in the Laughter meeting and THOUGHT that it was from God. One must not forget that there are very strong spiritual forces at work in a laughter meeting and spirits of deception appear to predominate. We need the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Cor 12:10) to truly distinguish between a holy presence and an unholy one. The sad thing, however, is the fact that this gift ceases to work in a deceived person. QUESTION: WE COMMONLY HEAR THE LAUGHTER PROPONENTS SAY THAT THEY BECOME CLOSER TO GOD AND HAVE A GREATER PASSION FOR JESUS AFTER A LAUGHTER/FALLING DOWN ENCOUNTER. COULD THIS BE TRUE? Genuine human relationships are built through years of fellowship and interaction. Likewise, a true relationship with the Living God can only come through a progressive and patient walk of faith. The Bible speaks of a walk of self-denial and self-crucifixion (the latter often a painful process) as part of the ingredients of a God-led life. If one can get closer to God by laughing and falling down, then the commands in Matthew 16:24 would appear to be utterly superfluous and meaningless! Matt 16:24 The so-called PASSION for Jesus described in the laughter meetings appears to be a sensual phenomenon as illustrated in the words of the song "True Love" (APPENDED BELOW). This counterfeit love labelled as passion is intended to replace the true spiritual relationship between Christ and His 'Bride'. Love for Jesus is measured by our obedience to him......not by our feelings. John 14:15 True Love (David Ruis) from the album "Winds of Worship Volume 3, Live from Toronto, Canada." Published in 1994. Jesus I need to know true love Let me know the KISSES OF YOUR MOUTH My heart my FLESH YEARN FOR YOU, Lord QUESTION: MOST OF THE 'GIANTS' ARE SUBSCRIBING TO THE LAUGHTER MOVEMENT. WHO ARE YOU TO GO AGAINST IT? God is no respecter of persons and His Truth is not dispensed according to apparent spiritual standing or size. A pastor of a big church does not necessarily have more spiritual truths than a pastor of a small church. Neither is the majority always right as far as the Bible is concerned. Remember the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal....... I King 18:22 Spiritual deception knows no boundaries [big or small] and more often than not, Satan targets his flaming arrows at the head [rather than at the toes.] QUESTION: LASTLY, WHAT ABOUT THE HEALINGS AND MIRACLES THAT WE HEAR OF IN THE LAUGHTER MEETINGS? The Bible has these words to say....... II Th 2:9 The Bible CLEARLY says that there are counterfeit miracles, signs and wonder.Go back to the source of the spiritual move. RODNEY HOWARD-BROWNE'S SPIRITUAL MOVE IS EXTRA-BIBLICAL AND CANNOT BE FROM GOD. HE IS EITHER WHOLLY RIGHT OR WHOLLY WRONG. SO WILL HIS FOLLOWERS BE. James 3:10-11 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? (NIV)
|
| ||||||||
Go
Back
