Originally from here.

So, where have Pentecostals and charismatics been going since the Brownsville Revival ended? Reading the Charisma Magazine back issues from the year 2000 to the present might be a good indicator of that, if you can get your hands on them. But I would say what has happened, and where the Holy Spirit seems to be guiding me the most, is in the direction of Vineyard USA (to a degree). Bill Johnson and his Bethel Church has pretty much led the way in the area of the “prophetic movement,” or what is now called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), which is comprised of thousands of non-denominational charismatic churches committed to the idea of prophetic ministry, among other things. Rick Joyner’s MorningStar Ministries, John Arnott’s Catch The Fire Toronto, Randy Clark’s Global Awakening, Mike Bickle’s IHOP-KC, John Sandford’s Elijah House, Patricia King’s Extreme Prophetic, Jim Goll’s God Encounters Ministries, and many others featured on elijahlist.com and Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural! are pretty much leading the way in Pentecostalism right now. This new charismatic stream was documented in Julia Loren’s Shifting Shadows of Supernatural Power (2006), and has pretty much set the tone for the way Pentecostal and charismatic churches are right now. In 2008, the Lakeland Revival with Todd Bentley ended in an adultery scandal, and has been a sore spot for many charismatics. Bill Johnson’s Bethel Church has also come under scrutiny from Andrew Strom for New Age type practices. Strom wrote an article called “Why I Left the Prophetic Movement” (2004), which was later turned into a book (2007, 2012). John MacArthur’s Strange Fire (2013) issued a fresh attack on charismatics and was answered by Michael Brown’s Authentic Fire (2015). I had raised concerns about Bethel Church in an article and video that had quite a spike in viewers in 2017-2019, but I have since withdrawn it, because they have responded to a lot of those issues in their “Rediscover Bethel” series.

UPDATE: 1/22/25

Since I wrote this article, it has come out that Mike Bickle was a false prophet that has been involved in clergy sexual abuse since the 1980s, so says the G.R.A.C.E. report and the Julie Roys Report. This should make Pentecostals and charismatics reconsider the moral foundations of the NAR model of non-denominational prophetic ministry churches. It seems that a lot of these types of churches, are following a cultlike model of church government akin to the shepherding movement of the 1970s, an idea that encourages people into anti-judgmental, anti-critical thinking about what their pastors are teaching. I believe that John Bevere’s The Bait of Satan (1994) and Under Cover (2001) are the main ideological causes of spiritual abuse going on in these non-denominational charismatic churches. These books and the current charismatic culture seem to encourage “control freak” behavior among charismatic pastors. Lack of Reformed and Wesleyan theology, is another problem among charismatic pastors, aside from controlling behavior and clergy sexual abuse. Everything seems to focus on being the center of attention while holding a microphone, giving positive confession themed words of knowledge, and a new form of cheap grace called “sonship.” Dr. Michael Brown has also brought Messianic Judaism and Annihilationism into the charismatic ministries, so many charismatics are just confused about the Christian life, distanced from fundamentalist beliefs, and are living a lot like Seventh-day Adventists who revere certain aspects about Jewish culture for fear of being called antisemitic; and don’t know what to believe, teach, or preach about Hell. Whether he will ever come out and reverse his positions on these issues remains to be seen. UPDATE (10/24/24): On Sid Roth…Dr. Brown recently shared a Hell vision while on drugs when he was a young man. Sid said, “What!” Jews don’t believe in Hell. But at that point Dr. Brown sure did. UPDATE (10/25/24): Dr. Brown said he thinks Messianic congregations are not gospel-focused enough; and that they tend to focus too much on the topic of being Jewish.

I believe that Pentecostals and charismatic PASTORS really need to get back to studying John Wesley and Charles Finney like they did in the early days. It couldn’t hurt to also become acquainted with Sword of the Lord Publishers and the writings of Dr. John R. Rice. What I really feel is needed in Pentecostal and charismatic churches right now, is a revival of licensed Pentecostal evangelists coming out of the Assemblies of God, Church of God (Cleveland, TN), the Foursquare Church, and the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Pentecostal evangelistic ministries that are grounded in the classic Pentecostal denominations, if not in terms of ordination then at least in systematic theology, and have an independent approach to itinerant evangelism in all denominations and non-denominations, with a definite focus on preaching REPENTANCE, PENAL SUBSTITUTION, MORAL INFLUENCE THEORY, and ETERNAL PUNISHMENT. In other words, evangelistic sermons and soteriology that are based on Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and Charles Finney. Not only that, but also a move of fiery preachers that are willing to REBUKE SIN and REFUTE FALSE DOCTRINE. I currently remain optimistic about Living Waters, but I believe a really strong push in the direction of classical Pentecostal itinerant evangelism is greatly needed across the board, and shouldn’t be limited to just one big ministry.

BOOKS FOR SPIRIT-FILLED GOSPEL PREACHERS

Ronald Enroth, Churches That Abuse (Zondervan, 1992). 

Thomas C. Oden, Pastoral Theology: Essentials of Ministry (HarperOne, 1983).

—. John Wesley’s Teachings. 4 vols. (Zondervan, 2014).

Stan Telchin, Messianic Judaism Is Not Christianity (Chosen Books, 2004).

Robert Peterson, Hell on Trial: The Case for Eternal Punishment (P&R Publishing, 1995).

Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity In Crisis: 21st Century (Thomas Nelson, 2012).

Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Bethany House Publishers, 2003).

Harald Lindstrom, Wesley and Sanctification (Zondervan, 1984).

Charles G. Finney, Lectures to Professing Christians (Goodrich, 1879).

Dr. John R. Rice, Adultery and Sex Perversion (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1978).

—. Evolution or the Bible: Which? (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1963).

—. The Evangelist (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1968).

Dr. Hugh Pyle, The Truth About the Homosexuals (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1978).

R. A. Torrey, ed. The Fundamentals, 4 vols. (Baker Books, 1994).

The Works of John Wesley, 3rd ed. (Baker Books, 1996).

P. C. Nelson, Bible Doctrines (Gospel Publishing House, 2009).

E. S. Williams, Systematic Theology, 3 vols. (Gospel Publishing House, 1953).

Vic Reasoner, Fundamental Wesleyan Systematic Theology. 3 vols. (FWP, 2021).