_1 Weighed and Found Wanting
WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING by Pastor Bill Randies Introduction
Jude 1:24-25Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. My name is Bill Randies and I am a Pentecostal pastor, who is very concerned about the direction the church is taking these days, especially the Pentecostal/Charismatic expression of the church. The scriptures repeatedly warn of a huge departure from the faith which was once and for all delivered unto us by the apostles. They speak of a day when men would be swept away from faith in God by a tremendous delusion. Even more amazing, is the fact that the source of that delusion would be God Himself, as a judgement on those who wouldn’t "receive the love of the truth." The time has now come for those of us who have considered ourselves to be "spirit filled" and "full Gospel" and in some cases, even "cutting edge" Christians, to begin to take these warnings seriously. Who do we think we are, anyway? Are we above deception? Are the biblical warnings of the delusion only applicable to those in obvious cults, like Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, or are they for the elect?
Why I Write The current "renewal" or "revival" that is being promoted by people like Rodney Howard Browne, the Toronto Airport Vineyard, and others, actually has the potential of taking people’s eyes off of the God of the Bible and turning them to sensual manifestations and mystical experiences. Unless some leadership is offered anddiscernment is applied, I predict that many of God’s people will be hurt, disillusioned and even made shipwreck of their faith, as a result of this "Mystical Revival." And to make matters even worse, all too many shepherds and leaders do not know whether to join, oppose, or ignore the growing movement. This lack of confident principled leadership has thrown God’s flocks into much consternation. Many high profile ministries have endorsed this move. Peer pressure will sweep many of the undecided in, unfortunately. This book is written to challenge some of the prevailing notions, and to offer a different perspective to the public discussion. It is our desire to stimulate afresh, the vigorous Berean spirit ofActs 17:1-34(Acts 17:1-11), in the family of God!
After all, it would be bad enough if it was the believers alone who were hurt by these false revivals and false moves of the Spirit. But, sinners also are going to be hurt on two different levels. There are those sinners who look at the world as it is, aching, crying, in pain, suffering and confusion, and then look at this expression of the church, laughing hysterically, "partying in the Lord," acting unreasonably, even drunkenly, and they will rule the church out entirely, as a relevant, compassionate witness of truth. Unfortunately, they will also rule out the Christ and the Gospel which the church is representing. They will be heard saying, "These people don’t care, they are in their own world, they themselves are merely escaping from the harsh realities of this hurting world. Where is Christ in all of this?" There is a huge difference between being scandalized by the foolishness of the cross, and scandalized by people roaring like lions, going into trances and laughing ridiculously through sermons on the judgement of God!
Even worse than the first level of harm is the second. How could anything the church does be worse than "turning people off by a misrepresentation of Jesus? The only thing worse, would be to inoculate sinners to the Gospel, by giving them an artificial salvation experience. There are many who will make false conversions as a result of being "touched by the Spirit." The laughing, hilarious, drunkenness promoting "Jesus" of these meetings is definitely not the Jesus of the Holy Scriptures. In this way, many are being inoculated against true Christianity. They have had their "shot" of Jesus and the new wine, they don’t need anymore. They especially don’t need anything from any "dead or religious" churches. (Translate that, non-entertaining)! Let me repeat, the Jesus of spiritual drunkenness is not the Jesus of the Bible!
Roots of the Renewal This sensual revival has not just suddenly appeared out of the blue, however. Nor have these occurrences spontaneously burst out within the past year, as some would suggest. The idea that many have, is that it is like Pentecost which, suddenly, came with a rushing mighty wind. In the same way, people are being empowered by this intoxicating spirit. Rather, I would like to demonstrate for you that people have been preconditioned for this "move" for at least 40 years now, whether those involved realize it or not. The true roots of this revival go back to the now discredited New Order of the Latter Rain and Manifested Sons of God movement of the late 1940’s and 1950’s. Though the Assemblies of God denounced these movements as heretical then, they seem to have had a resiliency. The ideas that they have spawned, continually have cropped up over the years, perhaps with different emphases or diverse names of concepts, but holding virtually the same erroneous premises. One of those premises has been that the church should quit hoping and looking forward to the rapture (the physical return of Jesus Christ to rescue us from this world and complete our salvation). Instead they believe that we should get on with the business of ruling and reigning over this world, and in a very real sense, we are to complete our own salvation. The emphasis has subtly shifted from Christ to us. We are supposedly the ones who are to evolve into a "great end times army that will put God’s enemies under our feet," we are supposedly the ones to whom God said, "Ask of me and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance." In short, the church either replaces Christ or "is THE Christ." Whether the movement calls itself the Latter Rain Movement, the Manifested Sons, Kingdom Now, Dominion Theology, Restorationism, The Faith Movement, or the Third Wave, all have either come to or been based on this erroneous conclusion. The hope has shifted. Through bold teachers, "prophets," and "apostles," and their "words," the old idea of wanting Jesus to come back quickly to complete our redemption has been scoffed at as "escapist," "irresponsible," and "religious." Instead of that, the new hope is, for the time when the church would come into her own, be perfected by restored apostles and prophets and would enter into the "Latter Rain," the greatest revival ever seen or experienced. This is what people are looking for. If Jesus came back now, He would interrupt the "progress" that the church is making. We are actually told that He can’t come back yet anyway, for the Lord’s coming back for a perfectly united and unblemished church. (Actually,Ephesians 5:1-33Ephesians 5:1-33teaches thatHe mil present to Himself a church without spot or wrinkle,}Could this laughing revival be the long awaited "Great End Times Revival," "The Feast of the Tabernacles," or "The Latter Rain?" As you will see, these are some of the names now given for the new hope, which replaces the former hope: The coming of Jesus.
All of this has an appeal, for what Christian wouldn’t want a "great end times revival" that will sweep all nations? But, the fact that it all sounds good, doesn’t mean that it is of God. The real question we should ask is, what do the scriptures lead us to expect in the Last Days? That is all that truly matters. Do we hear the apostles preparing people for the ultimate expression of the church, or for an apostasy? Will whole nations be swept in to the kingdom of God, or will all nations actually "hate you for my (Jesus) name’s sake?" The revival concept is wonderful and there always can be and will be localized awakenings and revivings of God’s people, wherever they obey2 Chronicles 7:14.However, in scripture we are told to expect apostasy, deception, and a universal revival of "lying signs and wonders." We do not read of a Christian domination of the world! The only way to come to this erroneous conclusion is to use replacement theology, in which all the scriptures pertaining to Israel are reapplied to the church!
One concept underlying all of this mystical revival is experience over doctrine, in seeking the knowledge of God. Taking their cue from this wicked and perverted generation, too many spiritual leaders show a disdain for dogma, or teaching, as being cold, dead, or restrictive. The new authentication is experience. People are being lured into trying to "feel God," and "know Him intimately." Words like "passion," "abandonment" and "radical love affair with Jesus" are being held up as viable options, as opposed to cold, dead, "head knowledge" of God. Over and over again we are told by the likes of Rodney Howard Browne, "turn off your mind," "get out of your head" and enter in. "Come drink at Joel’s place, what’ll you have?" flows the seduction. Those who would question all of this are castigated as "religious deadheads," "mainlining on prunes and sucking lemons." These "apostles and prophets," never miss an opportunity to mock those who don’t "enter in" and "drink at Joel’s place."
Open Call to Shepherds
After you read the book, you’ll have some choices to make. Which way will you go? Will you rise up and offer your people some principled direction? I pity the rank and file, non-ministerial, uninformed member of the Body. So many "waves" to ride. How is one supposed to know? The Christian media seem to endorse this, and so do many high powered ministries. If God’s people need anything at all these days, it’s principled leadership. The book of Isaiah says, When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will lift up a standard against him. But asPsalms 94:16asks,Who will rise up with me against the evildoers?Pastor, you might be saying right now, "I just preach the truth, I never come against error." That would be great, if you were the only one preaching. With TBN, CBN, and Charisma Magazine and a host of other sources, error is having a field day these days! Never has the scripture been so easily fulfilled,
2 Timothy 3:6-7For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. As I said earlier, I’m writing as a pastor with a pastoral burden on my heart. I pioneered Believers in Grace Fellowship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa back in 1982. We are a small, tightly knit, loving community of faith. I love this church and if I wasn’t pastor, I’d go here anyway, for here I have found"koinonea"in the truest sense. As I have told this congregation many times, "I’d rather meet with 10 people who seriously follow Jesus, than 350 half baked ones looking for the next wave." I guarantee you the Christians I pastor are serious about "faith in Jesus and love for the saints" and the hope of His coming! Not only am I a Pentecostal pastor, I am a recent author of a book calledMaking War in the HeavenIies...A Different Look at Spiritual Warfare,in which I attempt to call attention to error in that particular field, and give once again the orthodox view of spiritual warfare. On a more fundamental level, I am a Christian, a husband, a father and I love the Lord Jesus and marvel at His grace and mercy. I love Him because I found out, He loved me first. It pleased God to reveal His Son in me in 1977, and it was also that year that I was endowed with power from on high to be His witness. I have a lovely wife, Kristin, and four lovely children, a son-in-law and a grandson. My wife is my best friend and I wouldn’t be the man I am today, had God not given her to me. My daughter, Dara,Isaiah 22:1-25, married to William and they have given us a grandson, Abraham. My next daughter, Anna,Isaiah 12:1-6and my sons are Samuel, 5 and Marcus, 2, and they bring me much joy. I am a rich man!
Well, there you have it. Who I am and why I write. Let’s pray. Father, in the precious name of Jesus, who is the true shepherd and bishop of our souls, give the reader of this book a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you, and let the eyes of our understanding be flooded with light, to know what is of you and what isn’t of you. Help us to stay charitable in our assessment of these things. To be willing to have a love that discerns. Deliver your people from the ravages of heresy and delusion by giving them two things. One, a love for the truth and two, shepherds after your own heart to feed them both wisdom and knowledge. Let shepherds receive clarity in these foggy times that there may be light houses, standards everywhere, for the floods have lifted up Oh, Lord, but we are confident that the voice of the Lord is more than the sound of many waters, in Jesus’ name, Amen! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit. Amen!