Another Claim of Coming Revival

[TBC: While the Scriptures establish the validity of spiritual gifts, the error of the Latter Rain movement of the late 1940s has inspired movements such as the New Apostolic Reformation, those associated with the Elijah List, and those holding unbiblical teachings that bring confusion, but no promised revival. As Dave Hunt noted in a TBC newsletter, “Luke:18:8I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
See All... is very straightforward. The Lord asks specifically, ‘Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?’ The implication is obvious. The Lord knows the heart of man and his susceptibility to deception and his willingness to follow another. 'I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive' (John:5:43I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
See All...). The Lord will return to the earth not during a time of great revival but in a time of apostasy. The question naturally follows: ‘Shall he find faith on the earth?’” The apostasy we see today is increasing, leading naturally to the conclusion that the time of the Lord’s return draws near. With so many false teachers, cults, and false Christs being presented, “shall he find faith on the earth?” The following article shows the continued growth of these teachings, with claims again of much promise, but no parallel to the New Testament accounts. “And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it” (Acts:4:14And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
See All...).]

PENTECOSTAL REVIVAL SWEEPS PARTS OF WEST COAST [Excerpts]

They call it the West Coast Rumble: a set of multiweek revivals in Seattle and San Diego, plus a large Christian rally in Los Angeles two weekends ago. The main players are 30-something Pentecostals who are just as apt to broadcast their messages via Periscope, Skype and Twitter, as well as on their ministry’s Facebook pages.

Meanwhile, in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Bernardo, a series of meetings that was supposed to end Jan. 25 has morphed into what is now a 12-week revival. The meetings were sponsored by an Albany, Ore., group called The Elijah List...

Just the week before, Nelson continued, a Franklin, Tenn., evangelist named James Goll, 63, had prophesied that a “West Coast rumble” would break open in port cities along the West Coast from Tijuana, Mexico, to Vancouver, B.C.

The San Diego meetings are part of a tapestry of events connected to Azusa Now, a large evangelistic meeting held April 9 at the Los Angeles Coliseum that attracted 56,586 worshippers.

Perhaps the most unusual occurrence during the rally was when Catholic charismatic leader Matteo Calisi knelt and kissed the feet of Azusa Now organizer Lou Engle in the name of Catholic-Protestant reconciliation. (Engle then returned the favor.)

Charlie Shamp, 34, a Nashville preacher who helped jump-start the Seattle meetings, said he doesn’t like calling the West Coast Rumble a revival. “They only last a year or two,” he said. “I really believe this is the Third Great Awakening.

During a typical meeting in both venues, the preacher will get what charismatics call a “word of knowledge,” usually an interior sense that God is healing certain people of a particular ailment.

Those who are physically at the church will walk up to the front to be prayed for, although online viewers can also identify themselves as having that ailment. One of the pastors — usually Stott — monitors the viewer feed and will announce to the congregation the names of people claiming to be healed or asking for prayer.

The congregation has no doctor-verified healings, although on March 11, it posted on its Facebook page a PET scan of what appeared to be a person’s spine and identified as “before and after photos of Stage 4 cancer.”

Shamp said he was inspired by members of a 1980s movement known as the Kansas City Prophets, a loose network of Christian leaders who considered themselves apostles and prophets to the church.

They’ve integrated controversial parts of past U.S. revivals: reports of feathers mysteriously floating through the air during services, gold fillings appearing in the mouths of attendees, hands covered with oil or gold dust and people being overcome with fits of so-called holy laughter.

(Duin, “Pentecostal revival sweeps parts of West Coast,” Religion News Service, 4/19/16)