Prophecy in the Church: Pathway to Revival
Another useful teaching point I discovered was to first encourage the congregation to open up to public sharing with a song or psalm. Most persons have watched American Idol and its imitators for years and are quite comfortable in this. Again, I stressed a brief song or psalm. It was a glorious period in our church which ended all too soon.[15]
I am reminded of contemporary TV ads for prescription medications – thirty seconds to present the product followed by a minute of possible negative side effects. Yes, having your church move and operate in the prophetic can have negative side effects. But operating in the prophetic is what God wants of the Church (1 Cor. 14:1), and with proper preparation can lead to an exciting, Spirit-filled congregation that will naturally draw many to its healing and prophetic services, and, most importantly, be in obedience with the God’s desire for the Church.
PR
Suggested Readings
Catholic tradition:
Kelsey, Morton T. God, Dreams and Revelation. Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1974. Morton
Knox, Ronald A. Enthusiasm: A Chapter in the History of Religion. Oxford: Clerandon Press, 1950.
Ponticu, Evagrius. On Various Evil Thoughts. This work is a classic of discernment, from the 4th Century. Can be accessed on the web at various sites.
*Poulain, Augustine. The Graces of Interior Prayer: A Treatise of Mystical Theology. Trans. by Leonora L. Yorke Smith. London: Egan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. 1910 (modern editions available online and in print) Full text online: http://tarothermeneutics.com/classes/waite-trinick/books/The-Graces-of-Interior-Prayer.pdf
——. Revelations and Visions. Trans. By Leonora L. Yorke Smith. New York Alba House, 1998. This is the critically important part IV of Poulain’s Graces of Interior Prayer.
Rahner, Karl. Visions and Prophecies. Trans. by Charles Henkey. New York: Herder & Herder, 1963.
Synan, Vinson. “The Role of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit in the Mystical tradition,” One in Christ. 10 No. 2 (1974) 193-202. Synan is the dean of Pentecostal scholars.
Volken. Laurent. Visions, Revelations and the Church. Trans. by Edward Gallager. New York; P. J. Kennedy and Sons, 1963.
Pentecostal Charismatic tradition:
*Bickle, Mike. Growing in the Prophetic. Lake Mary: Creation House, 1996.
De Arteaga, William L. Quenching the Spirit. Lake Mary: Creation House 1996.
*Gentile, Ernest B. Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy. Foreward by C. Peter Wagner. Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 1999. A large (430pp) book on every aspect of the prophetic ministry from a Pentecostal perspective.
Hamon, Bill. Prophets and Personal Prophecy. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 1987.
*McDermott, Gerald R. “The Great Divider: Jonathan Edwards and American Culture,” Books and Culture, January/February 2010. Posted 2/04/2010. http://www.booksandculture.com/articles/2010/janfeb/thegreatdivider.html
Ruthven, Jon. What’s Wrong With Protestant Theology? Tradition vs. Biblical Emphasis. Tulsa: Word and Spirit Press, 2013. A great treatise on why prophecy should be normal in the Church.
Synan, Vinson. “The Role of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit in the Mystical tradition,” One in Christ. 10 No. 2 (1974) 193-202. Synan is the dean of Pentecostal scholars.
Notes
[1]William L. De Arteaga. Agnes Sanford and Her Companions: The Assault on Cessationism and the Coming of the Charismatic Renewal, Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2015. Chapter 1.
[2] On the Montanists and other Spirit-filled groups who had trouble with prophetic ministry see the classic work by Ronald A. Knox. Enthusiasm: A Chapter in the History of Religion. Oxford: Clerandon Press, 1950.
[3] On the rise and fall of this revival see: Barry W. Hamilton, “The Corsicana Enthusiasts: A Pre-Pentecostal Millennial Sect,” Wesleyan Theological Journal, 39 #1 (spring, 2004) 173-193.
[4] Demos Shakarian. The Happiest People on Earth (Old Tappan: Fleming H Revell/Chosen Books, 1975) chapter 1.
[5] See my blog posting, “Can Church be done as Paul mandated?” Posted, March 25, 2013. http://anglicalpentecostal.blogspot.com/2013/03/can-church-be-done-as-paul-mandated-in.html
[6] Agnes Sanford, Sealed Orders (Plainsfield: Logos International, 1978) 216-218. Described in detail in my work Agnes Sanford and Her Companions, 222-224.
[7] I especially treat with the discernment issues of the Great Awakening, and the opening the failures in discernment gave to the pharisaical opposition to the revival in my work, Quenching the Spirit (Lake Mary: Creation House, 1996) chapters 2 and 3.
[8] Vinson Synan, “The Role of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit in the Mystical Tradition,” One in Christ 10, #2 (1974), 193-202
[9]Augustine Poulain, The Graces of Interior Prayer: A Treatise of Mystical Theology. Trans. by Leonora L. Yorke Smith. (London: Egan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. 1910).
[10] Augustine Poulain. Revelations and Visions. Trans. By Leonora L. Yorke Smith. New York Alba House, 1998. Available from used book stores on the web such as abebooks.com
[11] Laurent Volken, Visions, Revelations and the Church. Trans. by Edward Gallager ( New York; P. J. Kennedy and Sons, 1963).
[12]Mike Bickle, Growing in the Prophetic (Lake Mary: Creation House, 1996).
[13] Ernest B. Gentile, Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy. Foreword by C. Peter Wagner. (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 1999).
[14] The fruit of that stage in my life was the book Past Life Vision (New York: Seabury, 1983) where I identified New Age beliefs as Gnostic and demonic.
[15] See note 5 above.
Category: Spirit, Winter 2016
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