WesleyGospel Ministries

36:40 – I just love this: “These people knew full well what Charles Finney was gonna preach–he was gonna preach the most piercing, eye socket blasting sermon they’ve probably ever heard in their lives.”

Taken from RevivalSchool.com mailing list.

I had a detailed dream where I was standing in a sea of people before the throne of God. I saw well known ministers, invisible ministers, people who had falsely accused me, people who had justly accused me, and many people I didn’t know. Weird, but everyone had a black spot on their chest. The numbers were too vast to count. I was standing pretty close to a televangelist known for $1,000 suits and for boasting of many healings. I had the distinct impression he was impatiently waiting for the Lord to finish speaking, to hand him a microphone!

We were all wearing name badges and (like military insignias) badges of rank. The Lord spoke to this vast group yet we each heard him as if he were only speaking to us individually, “Lay down your ministry, your vision, your promises. I have new assignments for each of you.” We all assumed a promotion. Then all went dead silent while the Holy Spirit ministered to each of us. To me he spoke, “I want you to become a field hand, a migrant worker. Go pick fruit.”

I was horrified. What is lower than a fruit picking migrant worker?

I burned with shame wondering what my family would think. How would we live? What about my hard won education? I have struggled with Lupus for years and cannot stand being in sunlight for long stretches of time. Such a call to work in the fields would surely kill me!

Finally, I bowed my head while weeping and said, “Thy will be done.” I stripped myself of my nice suit and donned the cheap clothing of a migrant worker. I told myself that if all I am capable of doing is harvesting fruit for the Lord, then I would do it with all my heart. I felt something inside of me begin to shake violently, burn, and finally die.

Though he slay me, yet will I serve Him, indeed! It occurred to me much later that migrant is just another way of saying “stranger and alien”.

Anyway, I looked up and saw a great separation take place. I realized that the Lord had whispered this exact same calling to everyone there. We were all being called to be migrant fruit pickers. This vast company were all ministers of the Gospel. The hard shock was that the great majority of those standing there heard this call to go be migrant laborers and had said, “No.”

I could hear the angry complaints: I built this church…I am too important…This ministry cannot survive without my leadership…If these fruit picking fools actually succeed, send the tithers to my church…and on and on. I could see sheep being culled from goats. It was like watching the birth of Gideon’s Army. Our ranks were greatly thinned and we were an unimpressive, motley lot. There was not a name tag, title, or rank insignia to be seen.

So there we were in our migrant worker clothes, like people you would glance at, and turn away from uncomfortably pretending that you did not see them. I noticed we all had a dark hole burned in our chests where the black spot had been and someone called out and asked about it. The Lord of the Harvest replied, “That thing that burned and died in each of you was your blinding pride.” And he breathed on us and the hole was filled with a kind of liquid light, His abiding presence and glory!

I thought, “Oh, you cannot fill that which is full. You can only fill a vessel that has been first emptied.” I looked back at the great company of ministers who had disqualified themselves from their true callings; and was suddenly glad to be in ragged clothes and holy company. The black marks on their chests were like a plague infection that suddenly began to ooze and spread. I thought, “They’re dead already and they don’t even know it.”

God is looking for those who will faithfully laborer for Him to bring in the great harvest of souls that the seed of His blood had spilled into the earth to bring forth. Faithful labor: There is no other qualification.

The Lord told us, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go forth. Be fruitful and multiply my kingdom!”

As our company marched off into the harvest field to be inglorious, nameless field hands, I could hear those left behind sneering in contempt, shouting out catcalls about what fools we all were. They seemed oblivious that the Lord of the Harvest was standing in their midst watching, listening, weighing their every word. And his eyes burned with holy fire.

Alexander, Archibald. Thoughts on Religious Experience. Ch. 7. Banner of Truth.

Jackson, John Paul. The Biblical Model of Dream Interpretation (3 CDs).

Jennings, Daniel, ed. The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley. Ch. 9. 

Milligan, Ira. Understanding the Dreams You Dream. Destiny Image. Riffel (not bad).

Sandford, John. The Elijah Task. Chs. 12-13. Charisma House. Classic from 1977.

—. Elijah Among Us. Ch. 12. Chosen Books. (Baker)

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BEWARE OF MORTON KELSEY:
JUNGIAN “EGO” VIEWS OF DREAMS

Jungian and New Age views have crept into a lot of charismatic books on dreams and visions through the writings of Morton Kelsey. This is mainly because he was very academic and thorough in his approach; and his word was taken to be unquestionable on the subject of dream interpretation. His influence can be found in John Sanford (Dreams: God’s Forgotten Language, not to be confused with John Loren Sandford, author of The Elijah Task), Herman Riffel (Dream Interpretation: A Biblical Understanding), and John Opmeer (Those Controversial Gifts, ch. 3). Kelsey’s greatest contribution to this area of study was his research on dreams and visions in the writings of the church fathers (God, Dreams, and Revelation, chs 5-6 and Appendix A from Tertullian’s A Treatise on the Soul, chs. 44-49, Appendix D from Augustine’s Letter 9, and Appendix E from Augustine’s Letter 159). What should be ignored, but whom Kelsey unfortunately regarded as orthodox church fathers, are the appendices from Origen and Gregory of Nyssa: both were universalists; Synesius of Cyrene should be brushed aside as well as a heretic, because he rejected the soul, resurrection, and the end of the world, and kept Neoplatonist influences; and Benedict Pererius is out of the question, since he was a Catholic priest from the 1500s. 

A WORD ABOUT JACK DEERE:
UNBIBLICAL “BAPTIST” BELIEF ABOUT SUICIDE

Jack Deere’s Surprised by the Power of the Spirit is one of the best charismatic books ever written. I believe it will outlast his life, probably for the next 50 years, as a powerful argument against cessationism. His other books are good as well: Surprised by the Voice of God and The Beginner’s Guide to the Gift of Prophecy. But his book Surprised by the Voice of God, which presents great historical information on visions among the Covenanters (ch. 5), and a great Biblically based chapter on dreams and visions (ch. 15), regrettably has a tendency to validate Paul Cain, a prophetic minister who had a horrific fall, and on pages 176-177, prophesied to Deere that he saw a vision of his father in Heaven, even though he had committed suicide. Without Biblical support for the vision, Deere bought into it. He should have rejected that vision based on the testimony of Scripture (Matthew 4:5-7; 27:3-5; John 17:12; Acts 16:27-28). Sadly, it was because of his Baptist “once saved, always saved” view, combined with Cain’s false vision, that led him to believe his once-Christian dad, ended up in Heaven even though he shot himself. Deere’s son later followed suit with suicide, probably misguided by Deere’s false belief. Much to my surprise, this “Christian suicide” belief seems to be floating around Baptist circles, and is supported by the Baptistic site GotQuestions.org; and even Ravi Zacharias suspends his judgment about it, although he has a negative view.

I think Judas Iscariot is the clearest Biblical example of someone who committed a major sin in betraying Jesus, and in a confused state retracted his condemnation of Christ, but then killed himself due to the guilt of it: and Jesus still said he was doomed to Hell (Matthew 27:3-5; John 17:12). No amount of one-time faith in Christ, can protect you from hellfire, if you kill yourself. If Jesus didn’t treat Judas with grace, then why should He show grace to anyone that commits suicide? A heroic act of self-sacrifice, like stepping in front of traffic to save someone else, or a soldier sacrificing his life for 10 other soldiers, is totally different. But suicide for the sake of suicide, is nothing more than self-murder and is against the sixth commandment: “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). The Catholic Encyclopedia says, “That suicide is unlawful is the teaching of Holy Scripture and of the Church, which condemns the act as a most atrocious crime and, in hatred of the sin and to arouse the horror of its children, denies the suicide Christian burial.” At one point, the Catholic Church refused to conduct Christian funerals for people who committed suicide, lest they give off the false impression that such souls are well and in Heaven.

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Book Idea: “Biblical Dream Interpretation”

Part 1: Dreams Through Christian History

1. The Old Testament
2. The New Testament
3. The Early Church
4. The Catholic Saints
5. Reformers and Revivalists

Part 2: Prophetic Ministry

6. Rules for Judging Dreams
7. Biblical Dream Symbolism
8. Prophesying Dreams
9. Dreams Just for You
10. A Warning Against Pride

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.

Not the labour of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die!

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

Both the Old and New Testaments clearly teach that the gay lifestyle is sinful and detestable, but transformation is possible through repentant faith in Jesus. The church should be kind and helpful to those trying to forsake this lifestyle, but those who refuse to turn away from it will not inherit the kingdom of God. We totally reject the claims of psychiatrists who say that homosexual orientation and sex are healthy, natural things. While original sin inclines the human body to sinful desires, it does not mean that homosexual orientation is a part of God’s creation. Scripture even suggests that diseases such as HIV and AIDS are divine punishment for gay sex (Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:24-27; 7:14-25; 1 Timothy 1:8-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Jude 1:7; Galatians 6:1; 1 John 1:9).

Retractions: I would just like to mention that it has come to my attention that Steve Harper (The Way to Heaven) affirms same-sex marriage, as of 2018. This book has had a tremendous impact on my view of the Gospel and spiritual life and helped me to formulate my views in my book The Gospel of Jesus Christ (2015). God has used this book in an amazing way, but sadly I will have to part ways with Harper, even as Wesley had to part with Count Zinzendorf, although he was influenced by his theology. “The man of the world will let you down, but Jesus never fails.” I used to believe that Harper was part of an evangelical renewal movement in the UMC called the Confessing Movement. At the very least, it looks like Harper is not confessing evangelicalism anymore. Remaining influences from that book would be Kenneth Collins’ Wesley on Salvation and The Scripture Way of Salvation, Harold Lindstrom’s Wesley and Sanctification (1946), which was written before the UMC was founded in 1968: and is favorably quoted by Vinson Synan in The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition (p. 5), and Thomas C. Oden’s John Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity. Oden was interviewed by Al Mohler in 2016 and affirmed the UMC stance against gay marriage. So Harper has fallen. So sad, he also had a good presentation of the “Wesleyan Arminian” view of conditional security in Four Views on Eternal Security. As a replacement, I would suggest Life in the Son by Robert Shank.

I don’t necessarily agree with everything here, but some of their observations might be valuable. Most of them are by Sword of the Lord:–which is fundamental Baptist.

1. Ignacio Palacios’ Biblical Apparel. Allegheny Publications. Wesleyan.

2. Elizabeth Handford’s Your Clothes Say It for You. Sword of the Lord Pub.

3. John R. Rice’s Bobbed Hair, Bossy Wives, and Women Preachers. Sword. Chs. 2, 5

4. Mike Allison’s Preaching Standards. Sword. ch. 5.

5. John and Donna Bishop’s What’s the Big Deal About My Clothes? Sword. 

6. —. The Witness of Your Wardrobe. Sword.

7. The Works of John Wesley, Baker, 3rd ed., vol. 14, “Dress,” p. 410

8. Adam Clarke’s Clarke’s Christian Theology, “Dress,” p. 401

9. David Cloud’s Dressing for the Lord

I regard both Protestant and Catholic publishers to have good light to shine on the nature of miraculous gifts. Although I reject Marian dogmas, prayers to saints, Purgatory, and extreme asceticism, I still believe there is a great deal of written material that shows evidence of the true Holy Spirit at work in the lives of certain Catholic saints, which informed the Catholic charismatic books below, usually with the language of mysticism. The Catholic Church is the natural habitat for charismatic Christianity. After the Protestant Reformation, it became harder to find charismatics that held to Protestant beliefs. Only during revivals did they appear and then disappear into obscurity. The list of books below is the most conservative that I can think of with regard to Protestant and Catholic views of miraculous gifts. All of them are charismatic. For the sake of curiosity, I am going to provide a numbering system below for the frequency of certain publishers’ names, so as to bring them to light. These books are the result of years of rumination on this subject. Only those with a “3” and above will be highlighted in red. The blue “H” means available in hardcover, which usually means its publication was more costly, and was taken more seriously. Paulist Press is the most attention getting, for me, of the Catholic charismatic publishers on miraculous gifts. They are the ones that do the “Classics of Western Spirituality” series; on the Protestant side, we have Gospel Publishing House (GPH), which is the publishing wing of the Assemblies of God; and HarperCollins, which is very mainstream and published John Wimber’s Power series as well as Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline and Prayer. It comes out that there is significant representation of these three denominations: 

• The Roman Catholic Church
• The Assemblies of God
• The Association of Vineyard Churches

CATHOLIC PUBLISHERS

Paulist Press – 4

PROTESTANT PUBLISHERS

GPH – 5

HarperCollins – 4

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H – Paulist Press – Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle

H – Paulist Press – Athanasius: The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus

H – Paulist Press – Celtic Spirituality: “The Life of Patrick”

H – Paulist Press – Bonaventure: The Life of St. Francis

H – GPH – Harold Horton’s The Gifts of the Spirit

H – GPH – Stanley Frodsham’s Smith Wigglesworth: Apostle of Faith

H – HarperCollins – John Wimber’s Power Evangelism

H – HarperCollins – —. Power Healing

H – HarperCollins – —. Power Points

GPH – Donald Gee’s Concerning Spiritual Gifts

GPH – Howard Carter’s Spiritual Gifts and Their Operation

GPH – Smith Wigglesworth’s Ever Increasing Faith

HarperCollins – John Wimber’s Power Encounters

H – Banner of Truth Trust – A. Alexander’s Thoughts on Religious Experience (1996)

H – Banner of Truth Trust – John Howie’s The Scots Worthies (1996)

H – R. & T. Washbourne – Arthur Devine’s A Manual of Mystical Theology

H – Routledge and Kegan Paul – A. Poulain’s The Graces of Interior Prayer (1957)

H – Burns Oates – Albert Farges’ Mystical Phenomena (cf. John Arnott)

H – TAN Books – John Arintero’s The Mystical Evolution

H – Burns Oates – H. Thurston’s The Physical Phenomena of Mysticism

H – Princeton University Press – Jacobus de Voragine’s The Golden Legend (2 vols)

H – Eerdmans – Nicene and Post-Nicene (1956) – St. Jerome’s “Life of  Hilarion”

H – Eerdmans – Nicene and Post-Nicene (1956) – St. Jerome’s “Life of Paul”

H – Alan Orr Anderson, ed. – Adomnan’s The Life of Columba (1961)

H – Cosimo – Gregory the Great’s The Life and Miracles of St. Benedict (2007)

H – Hamilton, Adams, and Co. – Thomas Boys’ The Suppressed Evidence

H – Howard Gannett – A. J. Gordon’s The Ministry of Healing

H – Whitaker House – Frank Bartleman’s Azusa Street

H – Voice of Healing Publishing – Gordon Lindsay’s The Gordon Lindsay Story

H – Pyramid Books – John Sherrill’s They Speak with Other Tongues

H – Regal Books – Gary Greig’s The Kingdom and the Power

H – Baker Academic – Craig Keener’s Miracles (2 vols)

H – Zondervan – Jack Deere’s Surprised by the Voice of God – except for ch. 12 when he argues in favor of covering theology; and for the salvation of “Christian” suicides.

H – Zondervan – —. Surprised by the Power of the Spirit

Chosen Books – —. The Beginner’s Guide to the Gift of Prophecy

Crossway Books – Wayne Grudem’s The Gift of Prophecy

InterVarsity Press – George Mallone’s Those Controversial Gifts

Hendrickson Publishers – Max Turner’s The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts

SEAN Multimedia – Daniel Jennings’ The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley

Chosen Books – Sam Storms’ The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts

TAN Books – Joan Carroll Cruz’s Mysteries Marvels Miracles

Liturgical Press – Gottfried and Theoderic’s The Life of the Holy Hildegard

Christ for the Nations – Gordon Lindsay’s Commissioned with Power

Walking Barefoot Ministries – Jeff Doles’ Miracles and Manifestations