A drama skit being performed.

The CFOs (Camps Farthest Out) were established by Professor Glenn Clark in the 1930s to be a place where Christians met, learned effective prayer and enjoyed each other in various spiritual and recreational activities within a summer camp atmosphere. Prof. Clark was deeply influenced by the classic Christian work, The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. He modeled the CFO around the idea of Christians experiencing the presence of God in meditation, prayer, and creative activities such as drama skits and painting. That was a great insight. These camps were also intense opportunities for seeking God, asking and experimenting with effective prayer, especially healing prayer. This is particularly interesting when we recall that this was an era when cessationism reigned supreme in mainline Protestantism doctrine, when healing prayer and the miraculous were not present.

Image: Shrine Mont CFO

Unlike other Christian retreats, the camp schedule allowed for a several hours of free time for rest or recreation. A splendid idea. I have written a detailed account of the origins and development of the CFO in my work, Agnes Sanford and Her Companions.[1] A reader of this book wrote to me­­ on Facebook and said, “These folks were like a ‘Christian underground,’ fighting against the cessationism.” Yes, this is true. There were, in fact, several other groups during the 1930s-1960s that did the same thing. Take for instance Cecil Day’s Disciplined Order of Christ and the Order of St. Luke (OSL), which focused on bringing effective healing prayer to the mainline churches. This “underground” largely succeeded. Healing prayer has spread beyond being a Pentecostal thing and is a ministry done in many churches, even in some that are still stubbornly cessationist. Much of what was taught at the CFO became standard to charismatic churches, such as inner healing and deliverance prayer.

Looking SE at the Great North Mountain.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

These groups suffered from their successes, as it is no longer a pioneer thing to pray for the sick or do deliverance prayer, and you don’t have to go to a special camp to experience that type of ministry. There are fewer active CFO camps than at their peak (1960-1970) but the Shrine Mont Camp, established in 1952, has survived and thrived to this day. It is a family CFO. That is, much effort is spent to provide programs for children and teens. Other CFOs cater to adults, with little to no provision for children.

From the Shrine Mont CFO website: “Shrine Mont CFO is a place apart from the routine of everyday life where we practice the presence of the living God in community. Camps Farthest Out refers to Christian gatherings in locations in the United States and Canada, and through CFO International, in countries throughout the world.
“As our founder Glenn Clark described it, ‘Camps Farthest Out are dedicated to the purpose of discovering the wholeness of that abundant life which Christ promised – that life which is our rightful heritage whenever we dedicate our body, mind and soul completely to God in play, work and worship.’ CFO can best be characterized as a spiritual training ground, a time to practice experiencing the presence of Jesus, the love of the Father, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Campers have the opportunity to ask God to lead them in times of creative expression, giving the Holy Spirit the chance to minister to us.
“Our camp promotes a lifestyle of prayer rooted in the Trinity, passing on spiritual heritage to the next generation, and growing together as we experience the fullness of Christ’s love. In the rush and stress of the world today, our camp aims to create a safe place where campers can come together in the quiet spaces of God’s creation and hear His voice. We joyfully extend an invitation to you to join us in discovering the presence and kingdom of God together.”

I attended the Golden Isles (Georgia) camp for several years in the 1980s. It was a primarily-adults camp, and I really enjoyed the fellowship of fellow adults praying and doing creatives together. But I discerned a special grace at Shrine Mont. It has become a trans-generational camp where grandparents, adult children, grand-kids, and great-grand-kids can come together for a week. Laughter, joy, and love were in super abundant supply.

Shrine Mont follows the classic CFO schedule. There are two talks, one in the morning and another in the evening. This year’s speakers were Pastor Scott Hobbs of the Victory Church, North Carolina, located on the same barrier island where the Wright brothers flew the first fully-controllable aircraft. Pastor Hobbs spoke of revival and how true revival should be a place of homecoming for unbelievers.  The other speaker was Sen Buell, a layperson from California, who spoke on the gifts of the Spirit. His knowledge of the Bible would put many pastors to shame.

The creative activities, such as drama skits and devotion in motion, using the body to worship, were especially good. One devotion in motion activity was to write a few words about how you survived COVID and walk through a “tunnel of love” as others prayed for you. There were creatives for drama and music. I chose the painting creative and I am glad I did as some of the paintings, other than mine, were really good.

I would urge every reader of this piece to go to a CFO next year. There is something really unique and special about them. Shrine Mont is great, and you don’t have to have children to come, but other camps may be nearer to you.

CFO national website where you can get the location of a camp near you and dates is:  https://cfonorthamerica.org

Notes

[1] William De Arteaga, Agnes Sanford and Her Companions: The Assault on Cessationism and the Coming of the Charismatic Renewal (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2015). [Editor’s note: See also “Agnes Sanford: Apostle of Healing and First Theologian of the Charismatic Renewal,” Part 1 at PneumaReview.com and the reviews of Agnes Sandford and Her Companions by Jon Ruthven and Martin Digard.]

David Livermore, “The Group Excluded from Diversity Programs” Center for Cultural Intelligence (November 11, 2020).

PneumaReview.com author David Livermore challenges DEI advocates not to exclude the white working class from their efforts. “I’m not suggesting we should shy away from calling racism what it is. Nor am I suggesting that polite conversations that treat all viewpoints as equally valid are the answer. But we have to stop and consider why so many working-class individuals feel like diversity programs teach people to tolerate and include everyone except them.”

J. Lee Grady, “Don’t Put a Lid on the Holy Spirit” Fire In My Bones (November 18, 2020).

The former editor of Charisma magazine writes: “People need the reality of God’s power. I wish we would stop being so worried about how the Holy Spirit might show up in church. Here are seven practical things we can do to encourage the freedom of the Spirit.”

Paul King, “Tribute to My Most Intensive Mentor—Dr. Chuck Farah” The King’s Round Table (November 28, 2020).

Paul King writes of Chuck Farah, who wrote the critique of the Word Faith movement, From the Pinnacle of the Temple: “He was a man of the Spirit—who combined the academic and the supernatural, a Ph.D. who experienced speaking in tongues.”

“We Prayed for Healing. God Brought a Pandemic: A coronavirus outbreak at France’s biggest Pentecostal megachurch changed their view of providence, judgment, and fellowship” Christianity Today (November 23, 2020).

In this (translated) interview with Jean-Paul Rempp, he describes how his church has taken a stance of forgiveness for those that accused them of becoming vectors for COVID-19 and how they have learned how to be a renewed and more welcoming community.

“Stanford E. Linzey, Jr. Collection Deposited at Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center” iFPHC.com (December 2, 2020).

For more on Stanford Linzey, Jr., see John Miller’s review of his book, The Holy Spirit in the Third Millennium: Handbook on the Holy Spirit: A Guide to the Spirit within.

Image: Le Duc

Frank Macchia, “How Flawed Is Our Gratitude? Learning from Jonah” FrankDMacchia.wixsite.com (December 7, 2020).

Roger E. Olson, “Critical Race Theory Examined and Analyzed” Patheos (December 21, 2020).

Brian Blount, “How Vineyard History Can Give Practical Insight to Discerning Prophetic Words” CrestwoodVineyard.org (December 12, 2020).

Pastor Brian Blount reflects on Bill Jackson’s book, The Quest for the Radical Middle and on what going through the prophetic movement taught him and other leaders in the Vineyard association. “We need to remember all three parts of discerning prophecy. We should weigh not only the revelation, but also the interpretation and the application. Correct revelation with incorrect interpretation or application can be very damaging.”

Thanks to William De Arteaga for pointing out this article.

Roger E. Olson, “About ‘Socialism’ and Christianity”  Patheos (December 26, 2020).

Historian of religion and theology, Roger Olson, discusses the many definitions of socialism, including the long-forgotten calls from Christians leaders of the past to urge the State to help the poor.

Michael Brown, “Don’t Let Anyone Threaten You With Prophetic Manipulation” YouTube.com (January 5, 2021).

John Lathrop writes, “Here is a new video, about 10 minutes long, in which Dr. Michael Brown speaks about manipulative prophecies.” Brown describes how “Touch not the Lord’s anointed” is often abused and says, “As leaders we are not just accountable to God, but we are accountable to other leaders and ultimately accountable, on a certain level, to whom we minister.”

Dave Johnson, “Interview with Lora Timenia about her book Third Wave of Pentecostalism in the Philippines: Understanding Toronto Blessing Revivalism’s Signs and Wonders Theology in the Philippines” (December 14, 2020).

In this interview from APTS Press, PneumaReview.com author Dave Johnson interviews Lora Timenia about her book.

David Livermore, “What I’ve Learned From 10 Years Leading The CQ Center” Cultural Intelligence Center (January 6, 2021).

Pneuma Review author David Livermore reflects on his work bringing Cultural Intelligence to the world. What is CQ and why is it important? Quick introduction: https://vimeo.com/468569477

“Revival Timelines” Revival-Library.org

The Revival Library has announced the publication of easy-to-read timelines of all major revival movements that have occurred in biblical history as well as prior and since the Great Reformation.

Médine Keener, “Lessons from Susie King Taylor” Asbury University (February 24, 2021).

A chapel message given by PneumaReview.com author Médine Keener has been converted into a podcast. From the introduction: “Dr. Medine Keener shares what we learn about racial and ethnic reconciliation through the life of Susie King Taylor—an invitation to embrace all God’s people.”

Paul J. Palma, The Antioch Legacy, by John P. Lathrop PJPalma.net (February 27, 2021).

Pentecostal scholar Paul Palma reviews Pastor John Lathrop’s book, The Antioch Legacy. Roger E. Olson, “American Evangelical Christianity: A Failed Movement?” Patheos (February 27, 2021).

Anthony Bradley, “Critical Race Theory Isn’t a Threat for Presbyterians” MereOrthodoxy.com (February 3, 2021).

While written to Presbyterians, the principles apply to all followers of Jesus: “CRT is not a real threat to the work of the Presbyterian Church in America. It does not tell us any more than what the Bible and the Christian tradition already acknowledge as a point of fact—namely, that people can be evil and that the parasite kingdom is wreaking havoc as far as the curse is found. There is racism in America and, at times, that racism can take on structural forms. It is proper to the work of the church to actively seek to bring solidarity and peace where there is racial conflict because of the hope of Resurrection. Presbyterians, then, can eat the meat and spit the bones of CRT, or any other secular social theory that does not presuppose the Triune God because the real war is against any manifestations of the principalities and powers (Eph 6:12) at work parasitically undermining the goodness of God’s creation.”

Thanks to Mark Galli for recommending this article.

PR

The 2021 Charismatic Leaders Fellowship (CLF) met on Feb. 22^nd and 23^rd in Augusta Georgia, at the Alleluia Community School. This was the third consecutive year the CLF has met there, much to the satisfaction of the participants. The Alleluia Covenant Community is well known for the spirit of generous hospitality it offers to its visitors, and this makes attending the Augusta CLFs especially pleasant. If you are interested in how Christian covenant communities operate you could not do any better than visiting the Alleluia Community. Its members are predominantly Catholic, but the community is splendidly and enthusiastically ecumenical (Bob Garrett, its moderator, is a member of the Vineyard Church). They would welcome your visit.

This year’s meeting accommodated the COVID-19 pandemic by being a hybrid of virtual and physically-present meeting. The international speakers and attendees had to do so by Zoom [a virtual presence platform], of course, as visas were not forthcoming during the present pandemic. It was also a scaled-back conference, two days instead of four, but turned out to be spiritually and intellectually full.  In fact, there was a special anointing over the whole meeting sensed by many of us. There were 30 at the on-campus meetings but another 70 joined in as speakers and participants via Zoom sessions. The technology needs for the Zoom session was a bit daunting, or at least I found it so, and after a few bumps, all went well.

This year’s theme was church unity and how to achieve it – perhaps that is why there was a special anointing present. The speakers outlined how their organizations attempted to bring forth greater unity among the sundry Christian denominations.

The next two speakers were from Europe and shared how their organizations were striving for unity in the hostile, anti-Christian European environment. There the Christian denominations are more united and less competitive than in the U.S. as a necessity (and grace) for survival. In a private Zoom exchange with me, Martin Buehlmann, the Vineyard coordinator for central Europe shared that the greatest obstacle to effective evangelization in Europe was the “disastrous” present condition of American evangelicalism, including the Trump cult, which has brought shame to Evangelicalism.

Fr. Timothy Cremeens, a Greek Orthodox priest who has spoken various time at the CLF told of the woeful resistance of the Orthodox hierarchies to both ecumenism and to any form of charismatic or Pentecostal input in their churches. He suggested continued intercessory prayer for the Orthodox churches, and on the earthly level something very doable.  That pastors of Evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic churches make special efforts to befriend their local Orthodox priest and plan joint events, as is food distribution to the poor. Who knows which of these priests would be eventually elevated to be bishops, and with them carry the possibility of Spirit-filled revival among Orthodox churches.

The next day’s program began with a tribute to two giants of the Pentecostal/charismatic world who died the previous year: Dr. Vinson Synan, and the Rev. Dr. Francis MacNutt [Editor’s note: See “Introducing Francis and Judith MacNutt” by William De Arteaga].  Both were members of the original founding group of the CLF leaders and frequent attendees at CLF conferences.

Brazilian Cardinal Tempesta and his assistant we the next speakers via Zoom. They detailed how the Brazilian Catholic church was making special efforts to reconcile with its Protestant and Pentecostal brethren after decades of often violent persecution. The ecumenism in Brazil is driven from the top down. That is, the hierarchy and clergy make plans and programs that often include joint ministry. It should be noted that Brazil’s Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, are rapidly become Pentecostal/charismatic.

This was followed by Bob Garrett’s talk on the practical results of ecumenism, using Augusta as an example. He shared that the city has been rejuvenated by its many ecumenical outreaches, and that the formerly run-down neighborhood around Alleluia community has been brought back to life.  He ended with a touching description of how he experienced the real presence of Jesus in Holy Communion with various Christian traditions: Protestant, Pentecostal and Catholic.

James Munk gave a talk on how to retain the next generation in the church in the face of an increasingly anti-Christian environment. His talk generated the most comments and dialogue of the whole conference.

My favorite presentation was given as a joint zoom session by Pastor Randy Clark and Dr. Mary Healy. Most readers of Pneuma Review are aware of the important role Pastor Clark has played in the charismatic renewal and authoring many books on healing and the Holy Spirit. But many may not have heard of Dr. May Healy, a preeminent Catholic biblical scholar. She was the first woman appointed to the Pontifical Biblical Commission. She has also been a long time charismatic and has written books about healing and deliverance.

Pastor Clark and Dr. Healy co-wrote The Spiritual Gifts Handbook (Minneapolis: Chosen, 2018), an unsung masterpiece of ecumenical pastoral theology. They described how they had no theological differences pertaining to the gifts of the Spirit, but how they did have to talk about what vocabulary and phrases to use to avoid putting off one group or another.

After that Zoom presentation the conference broke up into sharing and discussion groups, and then a final prayer and benediction. At that time, we laid hand on and prayed over Fr. Cremeens to be an instrument to bring a Holy Spirit revival to the Orthodox churches in America.

Ya’ll come and join us next year in Augusta if you have a leadership role in any Pentecostal or charismatic church or organization. Contact Bob Garrett at the Alleluia Covenant Community (www.alleluiacommunity.org).

In a guest editorial, Pastor Erwin Lutzer offers two words to encourage followers of Jesus to look to our heavenly Father for hope. 2020 was a tumultuous year but what assurances do we have that 2021 will be a better year? 

Welcome to 2021! So many people say I am so glad to say goodbye to 2020 with a pandemic. But I do need to ask you very candidly, do we have any assurance that 2021 is going to be better? We don’t know that; do we? Frankly, we have no idea what’s going to happen. We could face brand-new troubles, personally and nationally, that none of us are able to predict. How will we cope?

I’m going to introduce you to two words. You don’t even have to write them down, though you can if you wish. And I want those words to guide you as we think about the unknown future. The first word comes to us from Joshua 3 (verses 3-4). Here’s what happens. God is saying to the nation of Israel, “now you have not traveled this way before.” How do you face that unknown future and in the very next verse, God says, “I want you to consecrate yourselves.” What does it mean to “consecrate” yourself? It means to set yourself apart for God. As a matter of fact, Jesus even did this when He said, “I sanctify myself.” In other words, He was affirming the fact that He was set apart for God and for God’s purposes. Just the other day I was reading in my devotions from the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, where the Bible says, “Lay aside every weight and the sin which easily entangles us.” And God really spoke to me about some weights in my own life, even things that may not be sinful, but they are hindrances. They stand in the way of my worship and my fellowship with God. Ask yourself that question. What does it mean for us to get rid of sin—to consecrate ourselves to God? That’s what the Lord told Joshua that the people should do because they were traveling a way they had never been before.

But there’s a second related word that I want to introduce you to. At least the word sounds the same, and that is to “concentrate”—to concentrate means to focus. Now, in that passage of Scripture, God says the Ark is going to go ahead of you 2,000 cubits—a cubit is more than a foot. That means 3000 feet, which is a half mile—just a bit more than a half mile. Why? Because God says. “As you go across the path that you’ve never gone before, I want you to look at the presence of God that the ark represents.” And that’s what you and I have to do. We need to look beyond the present to the future and there’s no passage of Scripture that helps us do that more than the sixth chapter of the book of Hebrews and I was going to read the passage, but I’m going to invite you to read it on your own. As you get to the end of the passage, it says this: “we have fled for refuge and we have a hope that is sure and steadfast that goes behind the veil where Jesus is as our fore-runner.” That’s a summary of what he says.

“We are excited to announce the line-up of Spirit-empowered leaders from around the world who will be joining us virtually in January. They will share insights about how you can effectively reach the next generation with the gospel.”

• Gibson Anduvate, Kenya
• Max Barroso, USA
• Eli Bonilla, USA
• Stephan Christiansen, Norway
• Jamie Corcoran, Ireland
• Daniela Freidzon-McCabe, Argentina
• Ben Gomez, USA
• David Grabovenko, Russia
• Josh Heward-Mills, Ghana
• Rob Hoskins, USA
• Tan Seow How, Singapore
• Terry Parkman, USA
• Steve Patta, India
• Assif Reid, USA
• Jeremy Seaward, Singapore
• Andrew Yeo, Singapore
• Vanessa Mistretta, Israel
• Sharon Witton, Canada
• Ben Woodman, USA
• Billy Wilson, USA

Worship and Creative Arts

• Cornerstone, Singapore
• International Christian Centre, Kenya
• Jesus Revolution, Norway
• Lighthouse Church, Ireland
• ORU LIVE, USA
• Rey de Reyes Worship, Argentina
• Southeastern University, USA
• The Awakening, USA

Register  

“The NextGen Network exists to empower the next generation of leaders in the global Spirit-empowered community.”

The vision statement of Empowered21: “That every person on Earth would have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit … by Pentecost 2033.”