The Last 40 Years: Yesterday's Problems Were Only

Preparation For Today's

The Last 40 Years:

Yesterday's Problems Were Only Preparation For Today's

I could have made this title read, "Today's problems are only preparation for
tomorrow's." What I mean can start to be explained by a description of the
church in the 1950s:

"Johnny, tuck your shirt in! Susie, get in the car. Finish your coffee,
dear, and don't spill any on your tie. We're going to be late for church if
we don't hurry," Mom said as she rushed out the door. Johnny tucked in his
shirt as he hurried out, the tail of it still hanging beneath the back of
his suitcoat. Dad placed his empty coffee cup in the sink as a car door
slammed shut outside.

The choir finished singing and everyone sat down to hear the preacher's
announcements. Then he launched into his sermon for the day. He preached on
Christ crucified, and the blood that was shed for all. He preached on God's
great love manifested in the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ.

On the way home, the family discussed what they had heard, Johnny and Suzie
at their Sunday School class and Mom and Dad at the service itself. As they
did, they drove by the Lutheran and Catholic churches, and knew there was a
sense of separation concerning those denominations. Catholics didn't marry
Protestants and Protestants didn't even think of marrying a Catholic.

I well remember the teaching and the warnings about other denominations in
the mid- to late fifties. I was a teenager then. When I took out a new date,
I would ask almost right off where she went to church. Every time I had a
new girlfriend, I knew I would hear Grandma's question, "Is she Catholic?"
or "Does she go to the Villa [a Catholic girl's high school]"? I even
remember going through the Bible with one Protestant girl to teach her about
my faith, even though I didn't really understand what I was doing. I just
had to somehow appease the fact that I was Catholic and she was Lutheran.
Fear and guilt were everywhere. It's funny. Grandma never asked me if my
male friends were Catholic. I remember sneaking into a Methodist church with
some friends once, and the terrible fear afterwards. Oh my, how times have
changed. Religion played a major part of a teen's life in those days.
Society was gentle and had rules, and manners were a priority backed up by a
stick Dad kept in the closet. Oh my, how things have changed.

Day and weeks and then years passed, and the status quo seemed to continue.
The problems of the day passed, and new problems arose and new decisions had
to be made concerning career, college, marriage, etc. The only thing that
seemed to remain unquestioned was religious practice. Family traditions and
beliefs prevailed and they were not to be interfered with or contradicted .
. . . until . . . .

Something began to happen in the 1960s, when the teen was now an adult. All
of a sudden the rules began to change. Spiritually, things seemed to be
blowing in the wind, pointing to a time of radical change. Yet there was an
unsureness about just what those changes would be. Many questions arose, but
the answers seemed to verify current changes as Scriptural and at the same
time introduce more changes on the immediate horizon.

We have seen various movements hit the Church over the past 40-50 years.
Previous to 1960, there were other movements, but they spit and sputtered
while trying to get their agendas off the ground. It wasn't until the 1960s
that doctrines, such as the New Order of the Latter Rain, began to find
acceptance through what was called a fresh outpouring of God's Spirit. We
have been here to see the rise of a global, apostate church that finally got
its engines running somewhat smoothly in the 1960s. It was during the 1960s
that the actual implementation of the global church agenda began. It was in
the 1960s that many had to change their convictions about religion, either
through peer pressure, an increasing spiritual hunger in one's sphere, or
the experience of something spiritual, personally or through others.
Suddenly, change came, and it picked up speed as new movements came forth,
each sprouting its own system of intricate networks and branches. The basic
and main purpose of these movements has been to:

1. Break down denominational walls by setting aside doctrine

2. Demonstrate the kingdom of God and unity

3. Bring in the Kingdom of God

We have had 40 years of intense spiritual change, and here are SOME of the
changes we've all had to deal with over the past 40 years:

1830-1960 Revival of the Pentecostal experience (Edward Irving to Latter
Rain in the late 1940s)

1960 The Pentecostal experience begins to manifest in mainstream
denominations (Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Lutheran)

1962-1965 Vatican II; window opened for a New (ecumenical) Pentecost (1964)

1962 David Du Plessis steps forward as bridge between Catholic Charismatics
and Protestant Pentecostals; calls for unity across denominational lines

1967 First Catholic outpouring of the new Pentecost at Duquense University,
soon followed by ecumenical prayer meetings

1974 The Lausanne Committee For World Evangelism

1977 International ecumenical Charismatic/Pentecostal meetings begin

1980s Vineyard and Kansas City prophets; restoration of apostles and prophets

1983-1994 Revivalistic signs and wonders at individual places throughout the
world; filling of teeth, "Toronto-like" experiences (drunkeness, laughing
phenomena, being frozen, etc. Toronto had not happened yet)

1987 March for Jesus begins; implements prophetic spiritual warfare tactic
of marching, on the belief that everywhere the foot falls becomes God's
territory

1989 Rodney Howard-Browne's ministry begins

1989 Global Consultation on World Evangelism by AD 2000 and Beyond

1990 Promise Keepers Founded by men associated with Vineyard churches

1990-1993 Various revivals in individual places, including
Rodney-Howard-Browne (1991). The prophetic word is that God is preparing the
Church for revival

1991 First open-air Promise Keepers meeting in Boulder, Colorado

1992 Ministries announce the redefining of the Church

1993 March for Jesus International begins

1994 Effort toward doctrinal unity begins at North American Protestant
Church Council (42 Articles)

1994 Toronto Blessing begins

1994 - 2000-4000 churches in the UK have experienced Toronto; pastors drawn
to Toronto from all over the globe

1994 Signing of Catholics and Evangelicals Together: The Christian Mission
in the 3rd Millennium

It was in 1992 that the prophetic word came forth that God was redefining
and restructuring His Church. The message was that God was doing a "new"
thing. All that had come before was only preparation, setting the outline of
that restructuring. The supposed complicated form of Christianity would be
torn down and the "Spirit would bring about freedom" to worship as one felt.
Great revival was promised and millions would come into "the Kingdom,"
necessitating this restructuring of the Church to handle the saved numbers.

From 1995 to the present, all of this was filtered into church planting and
cell churches, undergirded by tranformational theology and headed by the
apostles and prophets. But this is only a drop in the bucket of the
unbelievable number of changes, and shifts, and branching out that occurred
while the Church was redefined and those changes demonstrated through signs
and wonders. If we outlined them all or stacked up all the writings
concerning these changes, how many pages would it take? 50? 1000?
1,000,000+? I believe it would be 1,000,000+. If one printed out all the
changes of the last 40 years that have redefined and restructured the
Church, it would probably create a stack of paper that would become the
eighth wonder of the world.

On top of this, the mind cannot even begin to fathom the interconnectedness
and purpose of all of this change: uniting the "body of Christ" and ushering
in the Kingdom of God in a visible way before Christ can return. The very
purpose for the tearing down of walls and doctrine to unify the body is to
bring about the return of Christ, because Christ supposedly cannot return
until the body is unified.

As you read the above list, you probably said to yourself, "Hey, he forgot
to mention this" or "Whoops! He left out that." I was being kind because I
didn't want this newsletter to be 1,000,000+ pages long <G>. It is
phenomenal that for 2,000 years the Church survived on the simple gospel,
and all of a sudden, we're told that the Church and the gospel it contended
for is insufficient for this day and age.

Besides being mind-boggling passing through these past 40 years, and
especially the last 10, I have wondered if people have dealt with all the
hurts and sorrows and sadness that the revival has caused in their lives. I
know that during the 90s, many divisions were caused by confrontations over
doctrine. These confrontations brought about a separation of the ways
between those who did not believe this was a "move of God" and those who
did. Families, long personal friendships, church affiliations and good
ministries suffered and were torn by divisions and disagreements and
separation.

I remember hearing from or talking to many people who were driven to tears
over what was happening - literally - especially in the first five years of
the revival. Most said the sorrow and agony over these disruptions lasted
for about two or three weeks, and then they would face the fact that they
had not and would not compromise God's word by continuing to fellowship with
those who wandered off after the signs and wonders. Many cried their way
through these changes and the loss of friends following uscriptural practices.

From what I have observed during the past year, I think the basic groundwork
for apostasy has neared its peak. Christians have at least some
comprehension of what HAS BEEN happening for the past decade. For example,
the 1960s mixing of Catholic Charismatics and Protestant Pentecostals was
just the first aspect of the agenda. After the initial mixing, the two were
pulled together and solidified as one by Promise Keepers, March for Jesus,
and national and international conferences held in large arenas and
stadiums. The initial bringing about of unity through the tearing down of
walls implemented and, for the most part, accomplished its immediate purpose.

Today, it's strongly evident that there is major division in the Church. The
swirling winds of doctrine have blown many from pillar to post. Discussion
forums on the internet appear to be "stalemated," with both sides speaking
to closed, unbending ears. Some forums have closed because moderators did
not find them beneficial anymore; they only gave a platform for false
doctrines. In other words, people have pretty much decided where they want
to be and who they want to follow. I believe there are possibly a precious
few who are still willing to forsake wrong doctrine if talked to long
enough, but I don't believe that number is very large at all. That does not
mean that warnings of the apostasy and all it entails should not go out. I
don't mean to say that nothing else will come up or that there will be
nothing new, because there is much to happen yet. But I think the basic
foundation has been laid for wherever this is going.

As far as influencing Christians against being deceived into a false agenda
or for walking in the truth, I think the situation is to the point where
many are also beyond reach. Many who have stood against the redefining of
the Church have told me that is how they are feeling. There is much
frustration over the issue. I have noticed a few other researchers, and
those with what I consider important web sites, come to these same
conclusions. It is not a matter, though, of changing what we are doing. It
is a matter of stabilizing our hearts concerning where we have been and what
we have come through, and checking our hearts to make sure we've dealt with
any personal damage we've suffered through the battering winds of revival -
unforgiveness, hurts, sadness, sorrow, frustrations, loss of churches and
friends.

Why have these things happened to you over the past decade? Because you made
a choice to follow Jesus wherever He goes. You chose to allow Him to work in
you according to the truth of His word:

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any
twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents
of the heart.

Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth
went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in
his strength.

Rev 2:12 These things saith

HE WHICH HATH THE SHARP SWORD WITH TWO EDGES;

There are those who have accepted the sharp thrust of His word and made
decisions to follow Him according to His word, and there are those who have
not. That's a fact and there's no changing it. I truly believe God has
spoken to every heart and some have listened and some have not. It is not
God who has caused division and sorrow and pain and hurt, though He is
Sovereign over all that is happening. Don't blame Him. If it weren't for Him
being faithful, there would be no Church left. He has been faithful and true
according to His word:

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These
things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness,

Face it. Even though the revivalists don't think so, Jesus has been
redefined, and so has the Holy Ghost. The Church has been redefined and
restructured. Get over your hurts and sorrows and pain and resentments and
unforgiveness - IF you still have them:

Phil 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus.

Maybe you've reacted in the opposite way. Maybe in your anger you've become
arrogant and prideful, and justify these sins because self-righteousness has
set in. Maybe you have the attitude of the self-righteous Pharisee Jesus
spoke of:

Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank
thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or
even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his
eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a
sinner.

Either way, God wants us to be holy in ALL that we do and say. You made your
choice to follow Jesus, but remember the ultimate call of that choice: to be
conformed to the image of the Lamb (Romans 8:28-30). I've heard people cry,
and seen the pain revival has caused, and I've also noticed the pride and
arrogance and self-righteousness of some who are fighting the apostasy.
Those things need to be repented for. Paul knew how to handle his anger at
the sin that invaded the body of Christ. I'm sure the sun never went down on
his anger. Face what has happened as fact, pray for those you have concern
for, and present God's word to them if you have the opportunity to do so.
Through it all, maintain the fruit of the Spirit in your life: love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance
(Galatians 5:22-23).

Having said all of that, I will say this. I have also seen those with an
honest heart towards the Lord whose concern is for the souls of the
Christians who have wandered off after fables. They have spoken firmly, but
they have done it in the love of the Spirit.

Remember, yesterday's problems were only preparation for today. The apostasy
came in little by little, advancing day by day, and we have adjusted to it
as it evolved. Each day it has gotten greater, but that is advantageous for
us in that we've been able to adjust to it at the same pace. What happened
yesterday was there to make you stronger to face today. So let's make sure
sure our hearts are right and walk in the perseverance the Lord has formed
in us:

Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

2 Pet 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises:
that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to
virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience
godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall
neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Pet 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are
accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by
Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle you.
11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.http://www.ncinter.net/~ejt/List.htm