Strange Things We Do When God Moves

December 16, 2008

I was initially going to title this post “Lakeland Revival Learnings”, based on the recent revival/renewal/spiritual stirring that took place earlier this year in Lakeland, Florida. The meetings took place under the leadership of evangelist Todd Bentley. They ended when Bentley (who was the primary speaker at the revival meetings) left back in August and the meetings have since fizzled.

Just this week comes further revelation about why the revival meetings ended and what was happening behind the scenes. You can read the story here.

Sadly, stories like this are not limited to Lakeland’s Outpouring. All too often, sticky issues such as pride, arrogance, and self-aggrandization come into play for those leading such a move of God.

I write about this not for sensational purposes, but for educational reasons. As Pastors and Church Leaders, we have got to figure out how to set ourselves up for long term effectiveness even when the Spirit of God is moving in His power and force.

For some reason, when the supernatural occurs, we think it makes US supernatural too. In truth, the supernatural is ALWAYS about Jesus, not us. We do not all of a sudden have a life that is without its limits.

Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision, had a famous phrase that as he traveled the world while his family was at home, he believed God would answer his prayer. That prayer was, “God, I’ll take care of your little ones around the world if You’ll take care of my little ones at home.”  Somewhere, Bob got his roles mixed up. He wasn’t God, and his kids needed him at home.

You can say all you want about the massive and great work that World Vision does today and I wouldn’t slight you one bit. But Bob’s kids missed their father, and one of his daughters ended up committing suicide.

If God used you for such a move of the supernatural, what would you do to make sure that self-care was a high standard for your life?

Posted by Paul | Filed Under Brokenness, Burnout, Church life, deception, duplicity, Emotional health, Expectations, Failure, Leadership, Margin, Pace of life, Pastor, Physical health, Things that drain life, Things that give life, vulnerability 

Comments

4 Responses to “Strange Things We Do When God Moves”

  1. Veronica Joy on December 17th, 2008 10:22 am

    Hi Paul,
    I am so glad that you are addressing these issues with the body of Christ. It is so important. I like the thought provoking question at the end. Most supernatural things many times seem so natural that we can miss them. I believe that God uses us in supernatural ways almost every day. Most of the time we just don’t know that He is, (probably ego related) because the work is being done in a person’s heart and the fruit is not produce right away. Supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit that is quite different. I believe if we are connected and walking with Jesus the way we should be then we know we are dust and that the manifestation of the Spirit has nothing to do with us and everything to do with God. I am sure that the accolades that come from the people during such movements have got to be difficult not to absorb causing pride to rise up. I have been praying for Todd Bentley that true repentance would be in his heart and that he would confess publicly his offense to the Lord and the body of Christ. Keep up the good work Paul. It is a blessing. Veronica Joy

  2. Jan Owen on January 1st, 2009 11:55 am

    Paul, the most interesting comment made in the article was this one “the annointing can be addictive”. That really struck me because it reminded me of the rush of physical adrenaline we also can become addicted to.

    There is a tendency to feel that God cannot move without us……

    This whole story has disturbed me deeply for many reasons but perhaps because it reminds me so much of myself and my refusal to take a break when I needed to.

  3. Phil Henry on April 25th, 2009 2:18 pm

    Jan’s comment about how the “annointing can be addictive” is good. Jesus said not to rejoice over our power, but rejoice over our position–that “our names are written in the Lambs book of life.”

    Great blog, great topics. Thanks for the inspiration and reminders about how the scope of pastoral faithfulness goes beyond the “checkboxes” in Timothy and Titus.

  4. Friday Top Five (on Saturday;) | Shooting the Breeze on February 5th, 2011 3:32 pm

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