Posts tagged ‘charismatic renewal’
Signs, Wonders, Tongues, and Miracles of Today, Part 3
Jesus used miracles to authenticate His credentials and ministry to the leaders of Israel. They rejected Him in spite of those credentials. Jesus spent His ministry meeting needs of the average person. Miracles mean nothing without actual love for people. Yeah, they can be exciting, noteworthy, and uplifting. The problem though is that miracles in and of themselves do not necessarily convince people that God is God. Often, it takes someone who is willing to spend time with someone, listen to them, and even help them in their need. This is exactly what Jesus did.
Signs, Wonders, Tongues, and Miracles of Today, Part 2
This is the problem with “voices,” signs, wonders, and dreams. How are we to accurately interpret them? In the Old Testament – and even in the New to a certain extent – those folks did not have the Bible to refer to, which is at least why, in a few cases, “fleeces” were used by petitioners to God in prayer. Since there was nothing written down to which worshipers of the One true God could look, God chose – at that time – to use dreams, visions, signs, and wonders. He also used prophets whom He raised up to be His voice to many in the nation of Israel. Because there was nothing written to which those folks of old could refer to, it seems likely that God would have offered some measure of protection from the enemy to keep deception away. This was even done to some extent in the situation with respect to Balaam (cf. Numbers 22). God would only allow the deception to go so far and deliberately kept Balaam from being thoroughly involved in it.
Signs, Wonders, Tongues, and Miracles of Today, Part 1
If you look carefully at the many spiritual movements that are afoot today throughout society, they all seem to have one thing in common, in my opinion. They cause people to turn inward. Admittedly, my involvement in the Charismatic Renewal movement was because I wanted to draw closer to God and I thought that to do that, I needed to learn how to worship properly, speak in tongues, and be around other people who were more sensitive to the workings of the Holy Spirit. In the end, as I look back at that, I fully realize that I was becoming very “me” centered. I wanted the experience of knowing God because I thought that would grant me the power to witness and to live a life that pleased God and brought Him glory. In the end, it didn’t and that’s not from a lack of trying. The reality is that whatever little bit you manage to receive in that movement, it’s never good enough and you must press on for more.
Coming Out of the Box with the Last Reformation?
This is extremely important: Notice they did not seek a “voice,” sign, wonder, or other miracle, to authenticate Paul’s teachings. They went back directly to the Scriptures they had at the time. We are to do the same thing and we have the greater responsibility because we have the entire Canon of Scripture, yet today we are too often told or expected to simply believe a person when they say God has revealed something to them or spoken to them directly. No thank you. I’ll stick with God’s written Word. If it was good enough for the Bereans, it’s most definitely good enough for me.
It’s All About Dominionism, Kingdom Now, and the New Apostolic Reformation, Part 1
Consider just how much Jesus fulfilled in His life – all the prophecies concerning Him found in the Old Testament; and He did this against all the power of hell and the sin natures possessed by all people – and then tell me that God is in any way limited. From the beginning of the Bible to the end, God always gets His work done, even if everyone is destroyed except one person – Noah – and his family! God always reserves for Himself a remnant of believers who stand with God. His purposes have never been thwarted and they will never be thwarted either. Dominionism says otherwise.
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