ARE WE MISSING OUT IF WE ARE NOT EXPERIENCING SIGNS AND WONDERS?

In Untamed Christian, Unleashed Church, Terry Wardle, professor of spiritual formation at Ashland Theological Seminary, confessed “I am bored in church.” Although many of us feel the same way, he tries to justify his boredom by pointing to the deficiencies in the church. He is bored because most churches do not manifest the dynamic and miraculous presence of the Spirit:

·         We must have his Presence. We are little more than a tame imitation without his [miraculous] Presence…We will only be a force in the world when we are once again clearly, and dangerously [because the Spirit is supernaturally manifesting through us], the People of the Presence. The people…experience and manifest the power of the living God…I am desperate because I have tasted…and the power of the experience is beyond words. (17)

What should this look like? Wardle writes that “the supernatural should be natural for all Christians (24)”:

·         Not always proper, sometimes messy…Dangerous is what the church should be…the church should be un-tame to the core. (25-26)

Wardle believes that signs and wonders should be the standard diet for the Church, even if messy at times. And he is not alone. Bethel Church, Redding California, is devoted to a “signs and wonders” revival, which they claim that they are experiencing. One young woman, who had previously been a student at Wheaton College, claimed that her experience of the Lord had previously been very limited:

·         “I even felt from a young age that there was something more to God. I mean, Jesus went around and healed people. What is salvation actually about? Why am I only pursuing one shade of salvation?” (Christianity Today, May 2016, 34)

She now claims that she has a more direct experience of God at Bethel. However, is the miraculous the unmistakable sign that the Spirit is at work? Not always! Jesus had warned that we would be confronted with deceiving wonders:

·         Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:23-24; ESV)

Jesus was referring to the end-times. Paul also warned that these miraculous deceptions:

·         The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

However, we’d be wrong to suppose that these signs and wonders would only be performed during the Tribulation. Even the Israelites had been warned about this danger:

·         “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-4)

Here is a case of a false prophet performing a miracle to lead Israel astray. However, if his teachings did not coincide with God’s commandments and teachings, then Israel was not to follow. Instead, this was God’s method of “testing” Israel’s love for God. If Israel truly loved God, they would obey Him and not the worker of miracles.

Bethel congregants report many miracles, but what does Bethel teach? Martyn Wendell Jones reports that they tend to mix the occult with Christian teachings:

·         Bethel leaders have been said to practice “grave sucking” or “grave soaking,” purportedly a means of absorbing the spiritual anointing of deceased Christians by lying atop the graves. Accusations of mixing New Age practices with Christianity are also common.

Nowhere in the Bible is such a practice commanded. Well, perhaps the Bible doesn’t reveal to us everything we need for a relationship with God? Instead, going beyond the Bible is prohibited in these matters. Paul had warned “that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another” (1 Corinthians 4:6). Similarly, Isaiah had warned:

·         And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. (Isaiah 8:19-20)

Does Bethel go beyond Scripture? According to Jones, they do. Repentance is essential to revival and a healthy relationship with our Lord. However, one observer commented:

·         “There is never a call for repentance or faith in Christ [at Bethel] – never. It is all about experience and signs and wonders.”

Instead, as two of their leaders have gladly confessed, Bethel is committed to spiritual experimentation to learn what will best produce signs and wonders:

·         “ I do not know how to learn except to experiment.” (36)

Evidently, this leader pays little heed to Scripture:

·         All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for EVERY good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

It is Scripture that enables “the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” not experimentation. Nowhere does Scripture advocate experimentation as a means of learning the ways of God. In contrast, another Bethel leader admitted:

·         “We celebrate creativity, revelation, invention, and innovation above comfort, safety, and security.” (36)

While there is certainly a place for “invention and innovation,” these are not scripturally encouraged to improve our relationship with God. Instead, the Bible is clear that our Lord requires faith, repentance, confession, and obedience to His Word and not our own innovations.

Interestingly, Wardle admits that there is a downside to these “revivals”:

• I have experienced Christians moving in gifts in the absence of love. It can be a real mess. Spiritual pride, showing off, self-righteousness, a critical spirit – it all shows up, and when it does, it’s nasty…In the end, far more people are hurt than helped. (142)

• What starts out as a fresh move of the Spirit ends in a confusing and unproductive free-for-all of unbiblical spiritual excess…There has also been more than a little immaturity evident in these movements, which has not always ended well for the people or congregations involved…Not all people or congregations who have “caught the fire” [of the Spirit] have survived the experience. Individual believers, and in some cases local churches…experience division and in some cases destruction. (152-53)

Perhaps these weren’t revivals at all but demonic counterfeits. Instead, when we walk in the Spirit, we should manifest the fruits of the Spirit:

·         But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:22-24)

They also abide in the Word of God:

·         “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples… Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…” (John 15:7-10)

And what about the supernatural manifestations of the Spirit? Shouldn’t they accompany us? Not necessarily:

·         For we walk by faith, not by sight [of miracles]. (2 Cor. 5:7)

·         Now faith [not miracles] is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

In contrast to Bethel, we should not demand or expect miracles:

·         Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen [the miracle of the resurrection] and yet have believed." (John 20:29)

·         But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign.  (Matthew 12:39; Luke 16)

I certainly don’t want to miss out on any of God’s miraculous blessings, and so I pray in the manner of my Lord: “Not my will but thy will be done.” I don’t want my will anymore. I just want what He has for me. That might be the safe way, but the Holy Spirit promises to compensate for my failures to pray correctly:

• The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (Romans 8:26-27)

I’m therefore confident that I’m not missing out! He promises as much!

The New Testament Canon came to be as it was Written

It is claimed that the New Testament canon didn’t come into existence until the fourth century. Although the church, as a body, did place their authoritative stamp-of-approval on the exact 27 books NT canon in the fourth century, these individual books were being identified by the early church as soon as they received them.

First of all, Jesus promised to give His Apostles a new and authoritative revelation to take worldwide:

• And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20; all quotations in ESV)

Jesus’ Word was to take precedence of Moses’, and His Apostles were to carry His Word forth. They would have to teach “all that I have commanded you.” Clearly, Jesus’ Words carried at least the same authority as did the rest of the Scriptures. Therefore, they could not pick-and-choose which they preferred.

Clearly, He had specially ordained them for this ministry:

• You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:48-49)

They would be supernaturally equipped by the Spirit so that what they taught would be entirely the Word of God:

• But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26)

Because these teachings came directly from the Spirit, they were Spirit-inspired. As such, they were Scripture. Through the Spirit, Jesus would now instruct them clearly and precisely:

• “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you... I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. (John 16:12-15, 25 ESV)

Did this Spirit-inspiration include the writing of the NT Scriptures? Commenting on these verses, Norman Geisler writes:

• The question must be asked: What else could Jesus have been referring to but the New Testament? The New Testament writings are the only writings we have ever seen from these apostles. Therefore it is perfectly reasonable to believe that these very New Testament writings are the inspired “all truth” revelation Jesus promised. If Jesus had a high view of Old Testament written revelation (and he did) he certainly would have a high view of this future “all truth” written revelation. In this way Jesus affirmed beforehand that the New Testament was coming— and that it would be just as authoritative as Old Testament. (Evidence of an Early New Testament Canon)

How else could the Apostles fulfill their mission “to the ends of the earth” and “to the end of the age” unless they wrote down the teachings that they had been divinely given!

Even though Jesus didn’t explicitly mention “writing,” the Apostles understood that their “Grand Commission” included the written word:

• So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

For the Apostles, their oral teachings were equivalent to the written ones.

• When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. (Ephesians 3:4-5)

Did the Apostles understand that they were writing Scripture? Yes! They placed their writings on the level of the Hebrew Scriptures:

• So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:19-20)

• And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. (1 Thessalonians 2:13) 

Peter also placed the Apostolic writings on the same level as the Hebrew Prophets:

• You should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles... And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2 Peter 3:2, 15-16) 

Peter also regarded Paul’s writings as Scripture. For one thing, when Paul’s writings are distorted, they do it to their own destruction. This can only be said about Scripture. Besides, Peter refers to Paul’s writings and to the “other Scriptures,” signifying that he regarded Paul’s writings as Scripture.

John also regarded his writing as Scripture. He wrote about it in the same veneration as the Hebrew Scriptures:

• I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19) 

Such a warning is only given regarding Scripture (Deut. 4:2; 12:32). The only possible conclusion is that John was aware that he was writing Scripture. Meanwhile, Paul quotes Luke 10:7 as Scripture, and Jude quotes 2 Peter 3:2, indicating that he regarded it too as Scripture.

In many other ways, we see that the Apostles treated their writings as divinely inspired. They directed their letter to be read by other churches (1 Thess. 5:27; Col. 4:16). They spoke as if they were backed by the authority of God (1 Tim. 6:3-4; Gal. 1:8-9; Titus 3:10).

Were the Apostles faithful to commission? Had they gone astray? One powerful indication that they hadn’t gone astray was that the Lord was endorsing their teaching by signs and wonders:

• For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; (Romans 15:18-19)

Why did the church regard Paul as an Apostle even though he hadn’t been a companion of Jesus? His ministry was attended by the signs of his Lord:

• For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. (2 Corinthians 12:11-12) 

For the early church, there was no guess-work regarding who bore the Gospel of Jesus:

• And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. (Acts 19:11-12) 

• So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. (Acts 14:3) 

The Lord also bore witness to the other Apostles:

• For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:2-4)

Skeptics insinuate that the writings of the NT can’t be trusted because they had been written after the Apostles had passed by those who weren’t eyewitnesses. However, Geisler cites a skeptic who believe that the NT was written a lot earlier:

• John A. T. Robinson, leader of the “Death of God” movement revised his dates saying all books were written between AD 40 and 70, with Matthew as early as AD 40, Mark AD 45, Luke AD 57 and John AD 40. Robinson’s concluded that “ all the various types of the early church’s literature … were coming into being more or less concurrently in the period between 40 and 70.”  Renowned archaeologist William F. Albright said that “every book of the New Testament was written by a baptized Jew between the forties and the eighties of the first century A.D. (very probably sometime between A.D. 50 and 75 ).” This would put the writing of all New Testament books during the lifetime of the apostles and eyewitnesses.

However, the Church Fathers – some of them actually had had with the Apostles - are far more credible than our modern day skeptics, two thousand years removed from the actual events. According the Geisler:

• Apostolic Fathers confirm [the Apostolic] authorship. The Apostolic Fathers were the next generation of believers after the Apostles (AD 95 to c. 150). They were either direct disciples of the apostles or had personal knowledge of them. There is considerable evidence from these Fathers (and many more after them) that the Apostles were in fact the source of the New Testament writings. 

In fact, Geisler claims that by 110 AD, the Fathers had cited 19 of the 27 NT books as Scripture. By 300 AD, the Fathers had quoted “nearly every verse of the NT.” Only 11 verses gone unquoted.

Perhaps the leading NT scholar of his day, Bruce Metzger, concluded:

• Neither individuals or councils created the canon; instead they came to recognize the self-authenticating quality of these writings, which imposed themselves as canonical upon the church.

The commentary writer, William Barclay, who was by no means an inerrantist, admitted:

• It’s the simple truth to say that the NT books became canonical because no one could stop them from doing so. 

And the church councils? Hadn’t they decided which books were to be included in the canon? It had already become patently obvious.

Seeking Signs and Wonders

A dear friend just gave me a copy of Untamed Christian Unleashed Church by his professor, Terry Wardle. He is a professor of spiritual formation at Ashland Theological Seminary. Although Wardle is a committed Christian and a humble man, I am not at all pleased with his book.

Wardle starts by confessing, “I am bored in church.” Although many of us feel the same way, he tries to justify his boredom by pointing to the deficiencies in the church. He is bored because most churches do not manifest the dynamic presence of the Spirit:

·        We must have his Presence. We are little more than a tame imitation without his [miraculous] Presence…We will only be a force in the world when we are once again clearly, and dangerously [because the Spirit is supernaturally manifesting through us], the People of the Presence. The people…experience and manifest the power of the living God…I am desperate because I have tasted…and the power of the experience is beyond words. (17)

What should this look like? Wardle writes that “the supernatural should be natural for all Christians (24)”:

·        Not always proper, sometimes messy…Dangerous is what the church should be…the church should be un-tame to the core. (25-26)

However, this description seems to contradict what we find in Scripture:

·        The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints. (1 Cor. 14:32-33)

In contrast to Wardle’s “un-tame” description, Paul argued that those who speak have a responsibility to tame their spiritual inclinations. Instead of a “messy,” disordered church, Paul argued that it had to be characterized by “peace” and order. A “messy” church fails to give accurate witness to the Master of the church – Jesus. Consequently, Paul argued that the church must be conducted in an orderly manner:

·        So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? (1 Cor. 14:23)

If a visitor sees chaos – rolling in the aisles, holy barking or laughing, or a cacophony of incomprehensible words – she will not be impressed by what she sees. Therefore, this is something to guard against, according to Paul.

However, according to Wardle, we are just missing it if we are not continually uplifted by supernatural manifestations:

·        There is something wrong when the church gathers and there is little [supernatural] evidence of the Spirit’s presence. (125)

But is there “something wrong” if we walk by faith and not by the sight of the miraculous (2 Cor. 5:7)?  Or should our lives in Christ be characterized by a steady diet of the excitement of the miraculous – just like the 1^st century church? There is much to suggest that the typical Christian life is more accurately characterized by “groaning” (2 Cor. 5; Romans 8:23) than by unrestrained laughing - the ordinary rather than the extraordinary:

·        Now faith [not miracles] is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

The faith walk should characterize our lives as we continue to hope and wait for things unseen. In contrast, Wardle states, “I am desperate for the Spirit to move upon me and through me” (17). While we should all be seeking the things of the Spirit, “desperation” shouldn’t characterize our loves, nor even the sense that we are missing-out if we don’t have regular tangible manifestations. Thomas had demanded a miracle, but Jesus corrected him for making such demands:

·        "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen [miracles] and yet have believed." (John 20:29)

Thomas had been seeking the wrong thing. Although we can ask for miraculous encounters, it is wrong to demand or depend upon one, making it a pre-condition to come to the Savior:

·        He [Jesus] answered [the Pharisees], "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. (Matthew 12:39)

The Pharisees had already had enough signs. They instead needed to act in concert with the evidence. Perhaps Wardle is placing undo emphasis on signs and wonders. In themselves, they might cure boredom, but they fail to prove that God is in them. Instead, they may reflect the deceptive work of Satan:

·        The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders. (2 Thes. 2:9)

Perhaps, instead, it is our God’s purpose to give us a miracle-lean diet of trials:

·        You have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 1:6-7)

Our faith is exercised when we have to endure lengthy trials without the light of miracles bursting out all over. Interestingly, the epistle of First John is “so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Of the many criteria that John specified, he never mentioned any manifestations of the Spirit.

   

Miracles and ecstatic encounters might even prove counterproductive. Thirty-five years ago I had an ecstatic encounter with God in the midst of a life-threatening chainsaw injury. I lied dying in a pool of blood, when suddenly I realized, without any doubt, that God was with me. I was flooded with His love, joy and peace and nothing mattered anymore – not even death – because of His glorious presence. I knew that I was protected and loved and that even death couldn’t separate me from Him.

As I convalesced in the hospital, the surgeon warned that I would have to exercise my hand or I’d loose mobility. Instead, I was convinced that the God I had met was all-powerful. As He rescued me from death, He would also rescue my hand. So I didn’t move my hand

Sadly, my theology – my understanding of God – did not match my experience of God. I didn’t exercise my hand and lost mobility. I didn’t have the theological maturity to take away the right lessons from my encounter with God.

Unable to calculate the hidden costs, perhaps we are asking for the wrong thing when we demand a mountain-top experience.

I never again had an encounter like that one. It certainly wasn’t because I didn’t ask for them. I craved them! Nor was it because I displeased God! At that point, I wasn’t yet a believer. I didn’t even know who God was! (However, the encounter worked itself out to change all of that!) I trust that today, as a believer and God’s friend, I’m far more pleasing to Him now than I had been then (Romans 5:8-10).

Well, what went wrong? Nothing! I believe that my God can produce any miracle at any moment. However, I now trust that He knows what’s best for me. He knows my needs even before I ask. Nevertheless, as Wardle advises, I always ask Him for more, while I trust that He is giving just what I need. Although I would like to have miraculous evidence of His presence at every turn, I am now willing to wait and hope without it:

·        For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? (Romans 8:24)

Nevertheless, I agree with Wardle that some Christians are unwilling to trust God for the miraculous:

·        There are countless Christians who attend churches that go beyond minimizing the place of the power of the Holy Spirit – they discount it all together.

This is both unfortunate and unbiblical. God has not lost His powers since the 1^st century. He remains a miracle working God. However, the “signs and wonders” theology does not recognize the fact that He purposely works in different ways at different times. When the children of Israel wandered in the desert, they were miraculously fed by manna. We aren’t today, but this doesn’t mean that God is at fault or even that we are at fault.

When the Holy Spirit was given (Acts 2), tongues of fire rested on the heads of the disciples and they spoke in tongues. I’ve never heard a report of this happening today, but this doesn’t mean that there’s a problem with God or with us. Instead, our God does different things at different times.

Right after the Lord saved me, I got a powerful impression that the Spirit wanted me to talk about Him to a young woman in my social work class. However, I wasn’t about to approach her and make a fool out of myself.

Instead, I proceeded to the administration building to take care of some business. I went to a men’s room on the top floor, away from all the student traffic. There, I again felt what I thought might be the Holy Spirit prompting me to talk to this woman. I prayed, “Lord, if You want me to talk to her, please make it very plain to me. Cause her to be right outside of this door when I leave this men’s room.” When I emerged, I was shocked. There she was, the only person in that wing, wandering around aimlessly.

I knew I had to speak, “You’re not going to believe this, but I was just praying about you…” We had coffee together, and I told her all about the Lord. That was the last time I ever saw her.

Although I’ve experienced other supernatural phenomena, nothing ever happened to me like that encounter. Why not? Had I fallen from favor? No! Did I stop trusting the Spirit for those kinds of encounters? Certainly not! It had been such a blessed experience that I prayed for others like it. What then? God has His timing and His purposes. Besides, this is a faith-walk, not a sight-and-wonders-walk.

We are not going to be satisfied here. We will never be fully satisfied with our church or even with our families. Our real home is elsewhere. Consequently, if we are bored with church, perhaps this is God’s prodding to more proactively minister to others?

Wardle observes, “I encounter Christians all the time who are dissatisfied with an information-based approach to faith” (54). He approvingly adds this quotation:

·        Christianity is not about propositions and beliefs, but about a love relationship with Christ. (134)

However, information is a critical element of faith. We are not saved by a mere feeling of faith but rather faith in a certain Person and information about the work that He has done and what He will do. Besides, “a love relationship with Christ” depends upon the knowledge of who He is. He does not want to be loved based upon our erroneous understanding of Him. Jesus affirmed that “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).

We do not have the liberty to love Him in any manner that we choose. Our love has to be governed by truth, what Wardle calls “an information-based approach to faith.” Likewise, my love for my wife has to be governed by truth of who she is. For example, I am not free to love her because she reminds me of my first love. She wouldn’t approve of such a love!

Instead, Wardle’s faith seems to be based on a constant flow of miracles – a miracle-based faith. Even spiritual transformation depends on this:

• God wants more, and has placed in the hearts of people a longing for more. And as we meet and pray for more, the Spirit will come. I am sure of it. He will come and frighten us, and exhilarate us. And do a transforming work within us. (140)

• When you pray for the Holy Spirit to fill you, get ready, because things about to happen. You are about to change. You will very soon find that you have been supernaturally marked as a member of the People of the Presence. And as you say yes, you will embark on an exciting journey of transformation. (144)

Of course, God wants ever more for us. He will withhold no good thing from those who love him (Psalm 84:11). However, Wardle claims that this “journey of transformation” depends on supernatural manifestations. There is a secret, unspoken indictment embedded in these words. Since God wants to give us these supernatural visitations and since we don’t have them, well, the problem must be with us! Either we don’t really want the things of God or we’re not praying for them. Even worse, if we are without the supernatural manifestations, we are without spiritual transformation. This is a theology that condemns!

However, there are many verses about our transformation – our renewal into His image - that make no mention of manifestations:

• Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

• And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:17-18)

• To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)

• Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory [transformation] that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:16-18)

Consequently, I think that any believer is “on an exciting journey of transformation.” Our Lord promises as much:

• And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

• Confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philip. 1:6)

Wardle readily admits that his proposal has a down-side, perhaps even many:

• Some Christians, desperate to appear powerful, try to fake it…Others are reckless, failing to discern the difference between what is from God, what is of the flesh, and what is of the evil one. (126)   

These problems are endemic to the “signs and wonders” movement. Therefore, we have to wonder whether it is God who sends these manifestations and why he would give them to those who cannot make good use of them.

• I have experienced Christians moving in gifts in the absence of love. It can be a real mess. Spiritual pride, showing off, self-righteousness, a critical spirit – it all shows up, and when it does, it’s nasty…In the end, far more people are hurt than helped. (142)

If this is the case, why does the “signs and wonders” movement continue to push people to seek the manifestations? Wouldn’t it be more Biblical and safe to instead,

• Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

Wardle also admits,

• What starts out as a fresh move of the Spirit ends in a confusing and unproductive free-for-all of unbiblical spiritual excess…There has also been more than a little immaturity evident in these movements, which has not always ended well for the people or congregations involved…Not all people or congregations who have “caught the fire” [of the Spirit] have survived the experience. Individual believers, and in some cases local churches…experience division and in some cases destruction. (152-53)

This hardly seems like the Spirit’s work. If transformation results from the Spirit’s manifestations, it would seem that these congregations would become examples of spiritual maturity, but they clearly aren’t. Perhaps they have been pursuing the wrong thing? Perhaps instead they need to tone down their expectations and find satisfaction in their “daily bread!” Perhaps contentment is the virtue that needs to come first:

• But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money [and perhaps also “signs and wonders”] is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Tim. 6:6-10)

Money isn’t an evil, but it becomes an evil when we expect too much from it. Perhaps we are expecting too much from miraculous manifestations? While many people might experience boredom with the humdrum of the more traditional churches, many seem to be experiencing shipwreck within the “signs and wonders” movement.

What has this movement brought to the Christian world? Are we now more respected or influential because of it? Has the church become a more loving or faithful place as the “signs and wonders” movement has grown? Many people are attracted to their promises, but a greater number seem to be crushed by the disappointments. I think that we need to be careful and Biblical about what we seek. Here’s a good place to start – with Jesus’ words:

• So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:31-33)

Yes, I know that the “signs and wonders” preachers will insist that we ask specifically for miraculous visitations or we’re just going to miss out. Pastor John Arnott of the Toronto Blessing fame warns:

• “If you play it safe with this thing, the Holy Spirit, you know what? You’re never going to get anywhere.” (Counterfeit Revival, 52)

I certainly don’t want to miss out on any of God’s grace, and so I pray in the manner of my Lord: “Not my will but thy will be done.” I don’t want my will anymore. I just want what He has for me. That might be the safe way, but the Holy Spirit promises to compensate for my failures to pray correctly:

• The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (Romans 8:26-27)

I’m therefore confident that I’m not missing out! He promises as much!