Honest Questions About Lakeland

There are multitudes of God’s people all over the Earth that are hungry for God to move in power in our generation; saving, healing, and delivering people, confirming his word with signs and wonders following.  This is all Bible.  You can’t read it and throw out the supernatural parts. 

You would be foolish to deny the gifts that Jesus died to give to his church.  They are not arbitrary gifts or simply for thrill seekers.  They are tools that God uses to build His church and reach people who are outside of the family of God.  Who are we to say that they are no longer needed?  We need them more now than ever!

That being said, we don’t need to bite into everything that looks like real food, even though it may be rotten, simply because we are “hungry.”  We can’t start gulping salt water simply because we are “thirsty.”  We need to “test all things and hold on to the good.”  That also means that we don’t throw the “baby out with the bath water” and overreact when we see things that we don’t understand or maybe can’t totally relate with.  For instance, those who have never experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit (a Bible doctrine backed by many scriptures), shouldn’t act as if it no longer for today simply because they haven’t experienced it.  We are also told to not “despise prophecy” as well as many other legitimate “charismatic” Bible teachings such as the laying on of hands, exuberant worship, gifts of healings, etc.

Concerning these things, I found a well written article from a fellow Charismatic believer, J. Lee Grady, asking some serious questions about the current happenings in Lakeland.  I found it to be fair and well balanced.  If you are interested in the discussion, CLICK HERE to read it.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you may still want to read it.  I believe we are living in the last of the last days.  We are experiencing the birth pangs Jesus spoke of in Matt 24.  There are many other signs of the times, and one of them is “lying signs and wonders.”  We don’t have to be fearful, but we do need to be seeking God continually for wisdom and discernment all the while not getting bogged down in side issues when we should be “putting our hand to the plow” and getting the Gospel to all of the peoples of the Earth (Matt 24:14).