Many people today are having trouble understanding the renewal movement. Some have even criticized it as a movement which does not seem to agree with the Christian faith. I think all of us have at some point wondered just what it is all about.
Every time, throughout history, whenever God decides to move He makes himself known. Because I live close to one of the major areas of renewal called "The Toronto Blessing" I have observed, first hand, what happens when God shows up.
Because of our humanistic tendencies and our man-ordered church services, it is difficult for us to believe in the REALITY of God. We learn about Him, we talk about Him, but to see and experience the power of God is something to which we modern people are just not accustomed. The Christ who rose from the grave and whose Spirit comes to indwell human flesh is once again in our generation revealing Himself.
For me, the reality of this power and glory has been as I have prayed for others and literally seen bodies shake and fall as the glory of this power touched them. One evening as some of my church members surrounded and prayed for a young lady, I prayed silently that the glory of the Lord would just push her down as a sign of His presence. Immediately, she bent over, and her body was actually pushed down. To me it brought the renewal movement into perspective, and I could understand what God is doing. He is simply trying to reveal Himself to us.
There has been much criticism of the laughter which often overcomes people. My defense of this is in the fruit of what happens to those who laugh. One man whom I have known to be a very serious, anxious man, one night at the renewal meetings fell over and burst into laughter for hours. Since that time, he is a much happier person, and is a strong proponent for the present move of God. You see, He experienced God's power.
Many times, when I have been feeling weary or oppressed, I have driven over to an evening meeting or a prayer meeting. Never once have I failed to return home with a happy, light heart and a new zest for living.
If we accept the Spirit of the resurrected Christ into our hearts, we can experience His very presence. Jesus said we could know a tree by its fruit, so if there may be an occasional manifestation which we may wish to identify as fleshly, there has certainly been very little demonic activity at these meetings. The reason? God does not allow it. It is God's move, not the devil's move. The secret of the success of the Toronto Blessing has been that the leaders have not tried to decide what is of God and what is of the devil. God knows, and God deals with it Himself. It is a rare occasion when a demon-possessed person has to be removed to an outer room for further prayer.
Of course, it is scary when God shows up. It is scary because it destroys our human pride and counters all our preconceived notions of how God does things. God does as God wants, not as we think He should. So as renewal of the Christian church now moves into revival, let us not be left behind. If we cannot accept the renewal as an act of God, the coming revival will be even more incomprehensible for us and we may find ourselves in a church actually working against God! Either we will be in a church where renewal and revival are welcome, where the body of all denominations are united in the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, or we will be in a church which believes that a world church is emerging where all faiths must join together to bring in world peace. The Bible tells us world peace will come through the return of Jesus Christ when He sets up His own millennial government; the others say that man will usher in His own perfect world order through a great leader when all governments and religions unite. In fact the Bible tells us exactly what will happen, and that many will fall from the faith in the process.
I choose to go along with God's manifested power and glory which He is displaying in many, many places throughout the world in many different ways. Sometimes it has begun with a breakout of true repentance, and then God shows His manifested presence. In whatever way He chooses to do it, His purpose is to demonstrate to sinful mankind His powerful presence and His love for them.
Can you trust God to reveal himself to you as He has in former revivals? I have decided to trust Him. I don't want to be left behind when He returns for His church. Do you?
© 1999, Doreen Palmer