It had never occurred to me that I could be involved with anything spiritually destructive. Yet when I reached the lowest spiritual level in my pastoral ministry, that is exactly what had happened. How could I have let things go so far? From my perspective, serving on the board of directors of the Association of Vineyard Churches (AVC) had always been a privilege. My wife and I developed close friendships with the other leaders'. Together we travelled to numerous countries, planted churches, and shared a vision for ministry. Led by a respected national leader, we considered ourselves elders of what was rapidly becoming a new denomination. We maintained a unified sense of mission and purpose as we pursued what we believed God was leading us to do.
One week, during a leadership conference in the mid- western part of the United States, several of us were invited to a private meeting. We were to be introduced to the "prophets" who were slated to have a major impact on the future of our movement. Since we were already enthusiastic about the use of spiritual gifts to enhance contemporary church life, our curiosity spurred us to accept the invitation to this landmark meeting. We entered the room, settled into our seats, and waited to see what the Lord had in store for us.
The prophets began to inform us that in the last days, the Lord was restoring the fivefold ministry of apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists to the church. We were challenged to accept the arrival of apostles and prophets because today's church already had plenty of teaching, pastoring, and evangelising. The arrival of the prophets and apostles would lead to the world's last and greatest revival. The prophets revealed that we had been chosen as the people and the movement that would lead Christians into this final display of power in the last days. We were told that one such prophet had been commissioned by God to find the apostolic leadership and apostolic ministry that, linked with the prophetic, would provide the basis for this new surge of endtime anointing. God had revealed to the "prophet" that he and our Association of Vineyard Churches were the chosen ones.
It all sounded downright intoxicating. After struggling with the daily duties of ministry and our fears of inadequacy, this was exactly what we wanted to hear. Being told that our struggles and sacrifices had made us special in God's eyes was a comfort in itself. We clung to the promise that spectacular things would follow the inauguration of this new move of God. We listened attentively to the flattery of our new friends, the prophets. Our scepticism barely peaked above the surface of our consciousness. It disappeared entirely later in the meeting when one of the prophets singled us out and proceeded to reveal, in detail, the secrets of our lives. Now they really had our attention. How could they not be from God? One after another, these accurate "words from the Lord" seemed to be the perfect validation for everything they were proposing. We became completely convinced of the validity of this prophetic anointing. How else could we explain their ability to "see into" our childhoods and personal histories through their prophetic gifting.?
We returned to our local churches with our minds wide open to this new phase in the growth of our movement. During the months that followed, many of us received a plethora of "personal prophecies" predicting our future roles, positions, and successes in God's new movement. There were words of prophecy for our ministries, for their locations and growth, prophecies about the great "restoration" to come and our important part in it. "Seers" would direct people regularly to their 'land of anointing." The recipients of such advice would immediately pack up. and go in faith, confident that the predictions of ministry success would come true. The prophets began telephoning pastors with words straight from God directing staff changes and adjustments in church policy and practice. They anointed individuals to healing ministries and apostolic appointments. Then, instead of waiting for the prophets to call, the pastors began calling the prophets for predictions, instruction, and advice. Ministry musicians and lay people were promised star status if they would remain faithful to the prophetic blueprint unfolded before our movement.
Nevertheless, some of the leaders began to voice concerns and uneasiness. They had seen people uproot their families and travel great distances to the "land of their anointing," fail, and then blame God. Associate pastors and other leaders were wrongly dismissed, indicted, and convicted by nothing more than a dream or prophecy that accused them of some spiritual crime. "Fortune cookie" faith soon became more popular than following God's clear voice in Scripture. Some pastors began raising concerns in board meetings. Even though we were uneasy, we nervously agreed that spiritual gifts don't always operate in human beings in a perfect manner. We thought we could solve the problem by applying one of the movement's most endearing philosophies: "Don't trim the bush until it's had a chance to grow," which means "Let's wait and see what comes of this." We put away our hedge trimmers, and the prophets continued to operate with impunity. After only a couple of years, the prophets seemed to be speaking to just about everyone on just about everything. Hundreds of Vineyard members received the "gift" of prophecy and began plying their trade among both leaders and parishioners.
People began carrying around little notebooks filled with predictions that had been delivered to them by prophets and seers. They flocked to the prophecy conferences that had begun to spring up everywhere. The notebook crowd would rush forward in hope of being selected to receive more prophecies to add to their prophetic diaries. Those identified with healing ministries were holding seminars on formulas and methods for healing prayer, such as finding "hot spots" on the body. Interpreting the meaning of physical sensations or "jolts" in the bodies of those who were prayed over became a necessary part of the healers' "training".
Dreams and their interpretation soon moved to centre stage as prophecy conferences taught devotees to keep a pencil and notebook on their nightstands to write down each dream as it occurred. These were later interpreted for God's message. People lived on the edges of their seats, waiting for the grandiose promises of prophecies to come true. Most waited in vain. Not long after 'prophecy du jour' became the primary source of direction, a trail of devastated believers began to line up outside our pastoral counselling offices. Young people promised teen success and stardom through prophecy were left picking up the pieces of their shattered hopes because God had apparently gone back on His promises. Leaders were deluged by angry church members who had received prophecies about the great ministries they would have but had been frustrated by local church leaders who failed to recognise and "facilitate" their "new anointing.'
After a steady diet of the prophetic, some people were rapidly becoming biblically illiterate, choosing a 'dial-a-prophet" style of Christian living rather than studying God's Word. Many were left to continually live from one prophetic 'fix" to the next, their hope always in danger of failing because God's voice was so specific in pronouncement, yet so elusive in fulfilment. Possessing a prophet's phone number was like having a store- house of treasured guidance. Little clutched notebooks replaced Bibles as the preferred reading material during church services. Some began to fake the shaking and eye fluttering symptoms they had been told were signs of the Holy Spirit coming upon them. They hoped the ministry team would recognise the signs of God and rush to their sides, lifting their hands and praying, 'More, Lord!"
Shaking, laughing, weeping, and eye twitching always ensured that the parishioner would attract the immediate attention of the leaders and their peers. One conference speaker, addressing 8,000 people, discouraged the use of reference books, commentaries, and language tools for sermon preparation. Rather, the pastors were exhorted to determine their Sunday messages through listening for prophecies during long walks with the Lord. Something was dangerously wrong in the movement. One of my own church board members refused to make any decision until his hands got "hot," indicating that his choice was wise. Disturbing symptoms were definitely beginning to show up in my own fellowship.
In my region of denominational jurisdiction, churches began to shrink because evangelism had been replaced by mysticism. People began to complain that church attendance would drop markedly during holiday periods because parishioners were apparently embarrassed to bring their out-of-town relatives to visit such a strange environment. Something bad was happening to the church we had planted fifteen years earlier, and I was beginning to realise that it was my fault. The 'bush" was clearly growing out of control. I had reached the lowest point in my ministry, and I was staring at failure.
One of my earliest pastoral mentors had taught, "When you're not sure what God is saying, go back to what God has already said.' The Bible! What a concept! I had grown weary of studying past revivals, movements, and histories of the church, vainly trying to find justification for what was happening in my own church. It seemed that as a pastor, I had given up what I knew for sure in exchange for what I could never know for sure. It was time to search the Word and get back to basics.
After years of pastoral training, teaching, and preaching, I knew that the bizarre changes in the fabric of our church needed biblical evaluation and correction if our flock was to survive. I was supposed to be the shepherd, but I had become a follower. My pasture was in danger of turning into a dustbowl. Most pastors I know have bouts with insecurity, performance anxiety, and periods when they are unsure that they have made the right ministry decisions. While most might think these bouts of emotional insecurity are rare, they happen every week of the year, between Sundays. One of a pastor's greatest fears should be that he or she has not been diligent to keep the wolves out of the sheepfold. The most effective entry point into the church for any "new" teaching is through the pastor.
I remember well the first time I stepped aside and allowed false teaching in my church. I was told that we had 'quenched the Holy Spirit long enough" and that it was 'now time to give the church back to the Holy Spirit." I was told that the penance for the ecclesiastical felony of "quenching the Spirit" was to include an "anything goes" time during every meeting. Order would be set aside, and chaos was to be invited with prayers like, "Come, Holy Spirit!" This command to Deity was typically followed by a long period of waiting to see what the Spirit would do.
A mounting sense of anticipation would grow as we waited for the 'manifestations' to appear. If there was any anxiety, it was dispelled by a liberal application of Matthew 7:9-11: 'Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?'
All of this seemed very comforting at the time, but I always wondered how far the magic "Satan Shield" extended- 100 yards of perimeter? Two feet? Was there a time limit, say midnight, for example, before Satan's minions could again return to their normal, attacks? How long did the bread and fish "kryptonite' ward off psychic duplication of God's "voice"? Some of us were suckers for this kind of manipulation. My feelings of guilt were conjured up by suggestions that I had exerted too much human leadership and control in the church. All of my peers were confessing their sin of control and letting go, so I followed suit.
Despite the fact that Scripture nowhere advocates this misinterpretation of Matthew chapter seven, and in fact commands order in the church (I Cor. 14:17-19), chaos reigned in my church because I had come to believe I needed to forfeit my duty to maintain order. I had almost lost my commitment to presenting a clear gospel message to visiting nonbelievers and instead allowed subjectivity to reign over reasoning from the Scriptures. I needed to repent and become a true shepherd again.
As my wife and I prepared to attend what would be our last Vineyard board of directors meeting, we rehearsed what we would say: how we needed to eliminate the swirl of subjectivity that had entered our church; how we needed to get back to the basics of Christian evangelism and discipleship; how we needed to restore Bible study to our members' daily lives. We didn't want to cause trouble. We had formed close friendships with these people, loved them, and considered them an important part of our lives. But we could no longer remain silent concerning the truth.
During the series of meetings, various leadership concerns were raised about the effect "prophetic" influences were having on the core of our theology. Some of the leaders who dared to reveal their misgivings were quickly warned that the "prophet," the "one whose words never fall to the ground,' had supernaturally heard our conversations and would report them to the national leader for disciplinary action. Since 'Big Brother" was watching us, we were forbidden to discuss -these issues with other board members.
.
One week, during a leadership conference in the mid- western part of the United States, several of us were invited to a private meeting. We were to be introduced to the "prophets" who were slated to have a major impact on the future of our movement. Since we were already enthusiastic about the use of spiritual gifts to enhance contemporary church life, our curiosity spurred us to accept the invitation to this landmark meeting. We entered the room, settled into our seats, and waited to see what the Lord had in store for us.
The prophets began to inform us that in the last days, the Lord was restoring the fivefold ministry of apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists to the church. We were challenged to accept the arrival of apostles and prophets because today's church already had plenty of teaching, pastoring, and evangelising. The arrival of the prophets and apostles would lead to the world's last and greatest revival. The prophets revealed that we had been chosen as the people and the movement that would lead Christians into this final display of power in the last days. We were told that one such prophet had been commissioned by God to find the apostolic leadership and apostolic ministry that, linked with the prophetic, would provide the basis for this new surge of endtime anointing. God had revealed to the "prophet" that he and our Association of Vineyard Churches were the chosen ones.
It all sounded downright intoxicating. After struggling with the daily duties of ministry and our fears of inadequacy, this was exactly what we wanted to hear. Being told that our struggles and sacrifices had made us special in God's eyes was a comfort in itself. We clung to the promise that spectacular things would follow the inauguration of this new move of God. We listened attentively to the flattery of our new friends, the prophets. Our scepticism barely peaked above the surface of our consciousness. It disappeared entirely later in the meeting when one of the prophets singled us out and proceeded to reveal, in detail, the secrets of our lives. Now they really had our attention. How could they not be from God? One after another, these accurate "words from the Lord" seemed to be the perfect validation for everything they were proposing. We became completely convinced of the validity of this prophetic anointing. How else could we explain their ability to "see into" our childhoods and personal histories through their prophetic gifting.?
We returned to our local churches with our minds wide open to this new phase in the growth of our movement. During the months that followed, many of us received a plethora of "personal prophecies" predicting our future roles, positions, and successes in God's new movement. There were words of prophecy for our ministries, for their locations and growth, prophecies about the great "restoration" to come and our important part in it. "Seers" would direct people regularly to their 'land of anointing." The recipients of such advice would immediately pack up. and go in faith, confident that the predictions of ministry success would come true. The prophets began telephoning pastors with words straight from God directing staff changes and adjustments in church policy and practice. They anointed individuals to healing ministries and apostolic appointments. Then, instead of waiting for the prophets to call, the pastors began calling the prophets for predictions, instruction, and advice. Ministry musicians and lay people were promised star status if they would remain faithful to the prophetic blueprint unfolded before our movement.
Nevertheless, some of the leaders began to voice concerns and uneasiness. They had seen people uproot their families and travel great distances to the "land of their anointing," fail, and then blame God. Associate pastors and other leaders were wrongly dismissed, indicted, and convicted by nothing more than a dream or prophecy that accused them of some spiritual crime. "Fortune cookie" faith soon became more popular than following God's clear voice in Scripture. Some pastors began raising concerns in board meetings. Even though we were uneasy, we nervously agreed that spiritual gifts don't always operate in human beings in a perfect manner. We thought we could solve the problem by applying one of the movement's most endearing philosophies: "Don't trim the bush until it's had a chance to grow," which means "Let's wait and see what comes of this." We put away our hedge trimmers, and the prophets continued to operate with impunity. After only a couple of years, the prophets seemed to be speaking to just about everyone on just about everything. Hundreds of Vineyard members received the "gift" of prophecy and began plying their trade among both leaders and parishioners.
People began carrying around little notebooks filled with predictions that had been delivered to them by prophets and seers. They flocked to the prophecy conferences that had begun to spring up everywhere. The notebook crowd would rush forward in hope of being selected to receive more prophecies to add to their prophetic diaries. Those identified with healing ministries were holding seminars on formulas and methods for healing prayer, such as finding "hot spots" on the body. Interpreting the meaning of physical sensations or "jolts" in the bodies of those who were prayed over became a necessary part of the healers' "training".
Dreams and their interpretation soon moved to centre stage as prophecy conferences taught devotees to keep a pencil and notebook on their nightstands to write down each dream as it occurred. These were later interpreted for God's message. People lived on the edges of their seats, waiting for the grandiose promises of prophecies to come true. Most waited in vain. Not long after 'prophecy du jour' became the primary source of direction, a trail of devastated believers began to line up outside our pastoral counselling offices. Young people promised teen success and stardom through prophecy were left picking up the pieces of their shattered hopes because God had apparently gone back on His promises. Leaders were deluged by angry church members who had received prophecies about the great ministries they would have but had been frustrated by local church leaders who failed to recognise and "facilitate" their "new anointing.'
After a steady diet of the prophetic, some people were rapidly becoming biblically illiterate, choosing a 'dial-a-prophet" style of Christian living rather than studying God's Word. Many were left to continually live from one prophetic 'fix" to the next, their hope always in danger of failing because God's voice was so specific in pronouncement, yet so elusive in fulfilment. Possessing a prophet's phone number was like having a store- house of treasured guidance. Little clutched notebooks replaced Bibles as the preferred reading material during church services. Some began to fake the shaking and eye fluttering symptoms they had been told were signs of the Holy Spirit coming upon them. They hoped the ministry team would recognise the signs of God and rush to their sides, lifting their hands and praying, 'More, Lord!"
Shaking, laughing, weeping, and eye twitching always ensured that the parishioner would attract the immediate attention of the leaders and their peers. One conference speaker, addressing 8,000 people, discouraged the use of reference books, commentaries, and language tools for sermon preparation. Rather, the pastors were exhorted to determine their Sunday messages through listening for prophecies during long walks with the Lord. Something was dangerously wrong in the movement. One of my own church board members refused to make any decision until his hands got "hot," indicating that his choice was wise. Disturbing symptoms were definitely beginning to show up in my own fellowship.
In my region of denominational jurisdiction, churches began to shrink because evangelism had been replaced by mysticism. People began to complain that church attendance would drop markedly during holiday periods because parishioners were apparently embarrassed to bring their out-of-town relatives to visit such a strange environment. Something bad was happening to the church we had planted fifteen years earlier, and I was beginning to realise that it was my fault. The 'bush" was clearly growing out of control. I had reached the lowest point in my ministry, and I was staring at failure.
One of my earliest pastoral mentors had taught, "When you're not sure what God is saying, go back to what God has already said.' The Bible! What a concept! I had grown weary of studying past revivals, movements, and histories of the church, vainly trying to find justification for what was happening in my own church. It seemed that as a pastor, I had given up what I knew for sure in exchange for what I could never know for sure. It was time to search the Word and get back to basics.
After years of pastoral training, teaching, and preaching, I knew that the bizarre changes in the fabric of our church needed biblical evaluation and correction if our flock was to survive. I was supposed to be the shepherd, but I had become a follower. My pasture was in danger of turning into a dustbowl. Most pastors I know have bouts with insecurity, performance anxiety, and periods when they are unsure that they have made the right ministry decisions. While most might think these bouts of emotional insecurity are rare, they happen every week of the year, between Sundays. One of a pastor's greatest fears should be that he or she has not been diligent to keep the wolves out of the sheepfold. The most effective entry point into the church for any "new" teaching is through the pastor.
I remember well the first time I stepped aside and allowed false teaching in my church. I was told that we had 'quenched the Holy Spirit long enough" and that it was 'now time to give the church back to the Holy Spirit." I was told that the penance for the ecclesiastical felony of "quenching the Spirit" was to include an "anything goes" time during every meeting. Order would be set aside, and chaos was to be invited with prayers like, "Come, Holy Spirit!" This command to Deity was typically followed by a long period of waiting to see what the Spirit would do.
A mounting sense of anticipation would grow as we waited for the 'manifestations' to appear. If there was any anxiety, it was dispelled by a liberal application of Matthew 7:9-11: 'Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?'
All of this seemed very comforting at the time, but I always wondered how far the magic "Satan Shield" extended- 100 yards of perimeter? Two feet? Was there a time limit, say midnight, for example, before Satan's minions could again return to their normal, attacks? How long did the bread and fish "kryptonite' ward off psychic duplication of God's "voice"? Some of us were suckers for this kind of manipulation. My feelings of guilt were conjured up by suggestions that I had exerted too much human leadership and control in the church. All of my peers were confessing their sin of control and letting go, so I followed suit.
Despite the fact that Scripture nowhere advocates this misinterpretation of Matthew chapter seven, and in fact commands order in the church (I Cor. 14:17-19), chaos reigned in my church because I had come to believe I needed to forfeit my duty to maintain order. I had almost lost my commitment to presenting a clear gospel message to visiting nonbelievers and instead allowed subjectivity to reign over reasoning from the Scriptures. I needed to repent and become a true shepherd again.
As my wife and I prepared to attend what would be our last Vineyard board of directors meeting, we rehearsed what we would say: how we needed to eliminate the swirl of subjectivity that had entered our church; how we needed to get back to the basics of Christian evangelism and discipleship; how we needed to restore Bible study to our members' daily lives. We didn't want to cause trouble. We had formed close friendships with these people, loved them, and considered them an important part of our lives. But we could no longer remain silent concerning the truth.
During the series of meetings, various leadership concerns were raised about the effect "prophetic" influences were having on the core of our theology. Some of the leaders who dared to reveal their misgivings were quickly warned that the "prophet," the "one whose words never fall to the ground,' had supernaturally heard our conversations and would report them to the national leader for disciplinary action. Since 'Big Brother" was watching us, we were forbidden to discuss -these issues with other board members.
.
