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In defence of God's Revival??

By Gil Howard-Browne

Over the past several years, I have been watching the proliferation of anti-revival/renewal web sites. It has troubled me deeply to think that there are people out there who hate the goings on of revival. It does not matter to them who got blessed, or how many suicidal people God saved from a horrible death, or how many marriages were prevented from ending up in divorce. It does not matter how many backsliders return to God or how many first time salvations there are, nor how many preachers, on the brink of quitting the ministry, suddenly found a new vision and purpose. It seems, regardless of the overwhelming evidence that God is behind this great global awakening, there are Christians, not non Christians, who have embarked on a campaign to attack anyone involved.

On the other hand, there are many strange things that have taken place under the guise of revival/renewal that one can almost not blame the skeptics for being critical. To many revivalists have depended on the manifestation instead of the manifestor. They have come for a party instead of the PRESENCE.

The sad truth is that there is no perfect revival. Anything God does in and through man, will carry with it signs of the flesh. People make mistakes, misrepresent the facts, exaggerate a little here and a little there. But the underlying truth to be considered is that God loves them and knows their shortcomings, and chose to use them. The great commission was not given to a bunch of super saints, but to very ordinary people. In fact Jesus had just rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, and then commissioned them to "go ye into all the world." So all of heaven knows that the "human imperfection factor" is involved. Yet God chose to use us.

I have found that I can not police revival. I can teach people everything I know, but they have to make the decision to follow anyway. Paul had the same experience with the people he ministered to. "Having begun in the spirit, have you now ended in the flesh" People loose sight of God so easily. That's what happened to Israel, when Moses was up in the mountain too long. He stood in the Glory of God while Israel turned aside from the signs and wonders and miracles of their deliverance to that which was fake. How could that happen? you say. Because of the "human imperfection factor" inherent in man. Because of the rule of the senses linked to the flesh rather than the rule of the senses linked to the Spirit of God

Answering the Critics.

Remember there are always two sides to a story. The view is always different from the opposite side of the fence. If you think the other side is bad, then your side needs to have something worthwhile to offer, in order to encourage the others to cross over.

I don't see any of the critics preaching anything other than criticism. I don't see a ground swell of excited, blessed and zealous followers winning the lost because of what the critics are preaching.

Within me lies the deep desire to try to persuade everyone, including the skeptics, to "taste and see that the Lord is good"

Browsing the various revival / renewal web sites, I have come across scathing attacks on various ministries, including ours, by people who apparently have set themselves up as the policemen of the Body of Christ. They have torn apart the credibility of men of God who have had a profound impact on my life. My first desire was to confront them with the glaring errors found in their arguments. Some of the statements made have been in a sense hilarious. Others have been downright degrading and libelous and I have had to exercise the fruit of the spirit, in order to overcome the anger I feel at having someone so far removed from me, be so outspoken about something so precious to me.

I had to concede, that some of the incidents they spoke about, were of concern to me. We do not encourage flaky stuff. But under the power of a perfect God, imperfect man reacts sometimes imperfectly. In his rush to have more of God, he inadvertently stumbles over his own imperfections and loses the very thing he set out to do.

No Perfect Doctrine

Over the past 32 years of ministry, I have realized there is no perfect doctrine. Men keep reading into the inspired word of God, their own understanding based on their circumstances, limitations, backgrounds and experiences. What a mine-field the Holy Spirit has to work through. He has to rearrange and reconstruct our hearts, minds and wills in order to finally implant the piece of truth that will set us free and open us up to receive more of what He has planned for us. If I were God, I would not be so patient with my church.

The Fighting Church

Amidst a hurting and suffering world, lies a church which has the opportunity to spread the Good News and make a difference. However, we have chosen rather to spend valuable and precious time to attack each other and divide rather than conquer. What a shame and indictment on the church, that we should stand before the Master one day and present to Him all the dead bodies we have killed, because of our intolerance of "human imperfection". How any one person, can think that he or she has the ability to understand all there is to know about God, is beyond me. We study for years and still don't fully understand God and His workings ..............

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