Anglican Pentecostal Perspective on Charismatic Leaders Fellowship 2015

This year the Charismatic Leaders’ Fellowship (CLF) met on February 23 to the 26, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the Oral Roberts University campus. The weather outside was cold and icy, and in fact about one third of the registered participants could not make it in. But the atmosphere inside the conference was warm with the Holy Spirit.

For those of you who are not familiar with the CLF, it is the descendent of the Charismatic Concerns Committee, an important leadership group that was, among other things, instrumental in warning and ending the discipleship controversy of the 1970s. Every year the CLF brings issues of current importance to the attention of its members to inform them and to receive their discernment.

The theme for this year was “Muslims, Jews, and the Kingdom of God.” The lead speaker was Pastor Emmanuel Doulat, a native of Pakistan and convert to Christianity. After sharing his witness, Doulat proceeded with his analysis of Islam as a religion. His thesis was that the Koran is not really a “revelation” since there is absolutely nothing new in it about God or the spiritual world. Rather, the Koran is a mish-mash of elements of Judaism, Christianity and several religions that occupied the Arabian Peninsula at the time. The elements taken from the Gospels did not include the centrality of the cross or that Jesus is the son of God – both of which are denied in the Koran.

In his second talk Pastor Doulat shared the successes that Christian Church in Pakistan is now having in attracting new believers and converts from Islam in spite of the dangers involved. He shared pictures of his own revival/healing meetings in Pakistan. The key is to talk about Jesus, whom Muslims already esteem as prophet and healer, and then heal the sick in Jesus’ name. It is important to say nothing negative about Islam. That is against the law in Pakistan, as in most Islamic countries, and would put the evangelist in danger.

Doulat’s insight dovetails my understanding that the Koran is a mediumistic (non-incarnational) document. [1] That is, unlike the books of the Bible, where the Holy Spirit inspired various writers, yet respected their personalities, vocabulary and viewpoints, the Koran is the product of mediumistic dictation. In mediumship the host person is bypassed and a spirit brings forth a “revelation” without use of host’s history, vocabulary or personality. Usually the host is entranced and does not remember what the invading spirit said. Muslims claim that the angel Gabriel whispered to Mohomet the verses of the Koran which he then repeated and these were subsequently written down. This is mediumship. Thus, since the Koran is a mediumistic document, it is necessarily demonic in origins, and like most all mediumistic works, unoriginal – the point of Pastor Doulat presentation.

Pator Doulat’s talks were followed by a well-researched presentation by Dr. Don Swenson of Mount Royal University in Calgary. His thesis was that Islam has had a violent and expansionist agenda from its very inception. Thus the current manifestation of “radical Islam” is nothing new and fully in accord with its origins. This has been denied by many in the academic community who see Islam as one of the “great” three monotheistic religions, and a full equal to Christianity and Judaism. Swenson’s position would be called “Islamophobic” by many in the media and academia. But his position has been affirmed now by the influential article that recently appeared in the Atlantic, “What ISIS Really Wants.”[2]

I was asked to enter into the discussion about Islam and gave a brief presentation on the duty and necessity of the American Church to pray for the conversion of the Islamic peoples. I asked, what is the use of the literature on strategic praying and intercession, territorial spirits, etc., if the Church cannot mount a coordinated and effective intercessory prayer campaign for the conversion of the Islamic peoples?[3]

The next speaker came as a replacement to one who could not make it through the icy winter storm, but many of us found him to be the gem of the conference. Not an ordained minister, but simply a Spirit filled and obedient servant of the Lord, and businessman. Mr. Neil Blake is the founder of the One in Christ Center in Wilmington North Carolina. Mr. Blake came into the baptism of the Spirit in 1984, and heard about a prophecy made by Derek Prince, back in 1978, that North and South Carolina would have a major revival, and that people from all over the would come to see and imitate it. This excited him greatly, and he began praying for that revival to come. As he prayed, he was told by the Lord that before that revival came to the Carolinas it must first be offered to “my people” – the Jews in Israel.

This precipitated a series of amazing providential contacts and circumstances. To wit that Mr. Blake has now gotten the funding, equipment, permits and permissions to do four tent revivals and healing campaigns in Israel, one each in, Hebron, Jericho, Nazareth and Jerusalem. Permission for the revival at Hebron, in the West Bank and a rough town for any Christian, was made possible when Mr. Blake befriended the son of the sheik of Hebron and leader to its local militia. The son was a cook at a Jerusalem hotel where Mr. Blake was staying, and one thing led to another …

Permission for a Christian tent revival in Jerusalem seemed impossible. The mayor of Jerusalem is famous for his dislike of Christians. That obstacle was providentially disintegrated. But then Mr. Blake heard the Lord tell him to get a blessing for his revivals from the Chief Rabbi of Israel. Again, through amazing circumstances Mr. Blake was allowed access to Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, the Chief Rabbi, and had several conversations with him.

Mr. Blake reported that Rabbi Riskin believes that the chief priest of the Temple had a “prayer language” and that that Jesus spoke in tongues! Additionally, Rabbi Riskin believes that all followers of God must trust the Holy Spirit.[4] Blake was not only given a full blessing for the four Israeli revivals, but Rabbi Riskin promised to come to North Carolina and worship with Christians at a planned forthcoming event in the summer of 2015.

All this is astounding, but also in accord with a providential move within Orthodox Jewish rabbis and scholars to appreciate and affirm Christianity and the Holy Spirit in terms that would have been unimaginable just decades ago. Many Jewish Orthodox scholars and rabbis are now of the opinion that the Apostle Paul succeeded where the Pharisees failed – he brought the worship of God of Israel to the whole world. This is a radical reversal of traditional orthodox rabbinical thought which has considered Paul as villain and chief apostate of the Jewish people.[5]

Everyone in the CLF meeting was excited about what Mr. Blake and the Lord had accomplished. We are looking forward and praying for a great revival in Israel this May as Mr. Blake’s tents are planted and he and his team bring healing and the good news of the Kingdom to our brothers in that land.[6]

Amazing stuff, but it continued.

The next presenter was Rabbi Marty Waldman. He is the senior Rabbi of Baruch HaShem Messianic Synagogue in Dallas, Texas. He is also on the governing board of an organization called “Toward Jerusalem Council II” (TJCII). From its website, the group defines its purpose as:

an initiative of repentance and reconciliation between the Jewish and Gentile segments of the Church. The vision is that one day there will be a second Council of Jerusalem that will be, in an important respect, the inverse of the first Council described in Acts 15. Whereas the first Council was made up of Jewish believers in Yeshua (Jesus), who decided not to impose on the Gentiles the requirements of the Jewish law, so the second Council would be made up of Gentile church leaders, who would recognize and welcome the Jewish believers in Yeshua without requiring them to abandon their Jewish identity and practice.[7]

In his presentation, Rabbi Waldman gave a brief overview of how the Church of the first centuries marginalized and then expelled Messianic Jewish bishops and clergy from its councils, while at the same time Jewish rabbis declared that a believer in Jesus could not be a true Jew. Rabbi Waldman believes that the work of Jerusalem Council II would include retracting all Church decrees and restrictions against the Jew, and repenting for all acts of anti-Semitism.

Waldman has worked recently with Fr. Peter Hocken, the English Jesuit scholar and charismatic leader, to bring reconciliation between Jews and Christians.[8] Recently they went to Spain where they and other intercessors prayed prayers of confession and repentance at the places all over Spain where Jews were mistreated, persecuted and expelled during the Middle Ages.[9]

Waldman’s presentation provoked a host of questions from the CLF audience. For instance, does he believe in following the Old Testament dietary laws? His answer was yes, not as a means of salvation, but as a sign of community. He personally only follows what was written in scripture, not the huge elaborations now practiced in kosher Jewish homes, as in having separate plates for dairy and meat dishes.

I had a reservation about Rabbi Waldman’s presentation that I did not have a chance to voice before he had to leave. That is, that he presented the Messianic Jews of the first centuries as pure victims of Gentile misunderstanding and persecution. Yes, the Gentile Church grievously mistreated its Jewish brethren, but Waldman did not mention that they were also mostly of the Ebonite perspective. That is, they did not accept the writings of Paul as scripture, and although they accepted Jesus a s messiah, they did not believe in his divinity. They also believed that their salvation demanded adherence to the Mosaic Law in addition to trust in Jesus. The Early Church rightly discerned these as error. Although the Jewish/Christian alienation and separation was tragically violent (and demonically energized) it may have had a providential element also. Specifically, it led to the extinction of the Ebonite variety of Messianic Judaism, and allowed (after a period of time much longer than necessary) for the rise of a “Full-Gospel” Messianic Judaism.

The CLF conference of 2015 ended with a session by Dr. Billy Wilson, current president of ORU. He shared how smart, enthusiastic and motivated the present students at ORU are, and how much of an impact they will surely make on the world. He also warmly invited CLF back next year.

The next morning at the CLF business and admin meeting, we took Dr. Wilson at his word and made plans to return to ORU for 2016. If you are a church pastor, teacher or leader and cherish the gifts of the Spirit, come join us. Contact either the Rev. Scott Kelso at: stkelso@gmail.com, or Mr. Bob Garrett at bobg@yeslord.com. I’ll be doing the morning devotions and I hope to see you there.

PR

Notes

[1] See my blog posting in the Anglican Pentecostal for June 20, 2014, “The Wrath of God in the Present Sunni-Shia War.” At: http://anglicalpentecostal.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-wrath-of-god-in-present-sunni-shia.html

[2] Graene Wood, “What ISIS Really Wants,” Atlantic, March 2015. http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/

[3] On this see my blog posting, “A Call to Prayer,” Anglican Pentecostal, December 16, 2014. http://anglicalpentecostal.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-call-to-prayer-let-church-be-what-it.html

[4] On the increased appreciation of the Holy Spirit in modern Orthodox rabbinical thought, see Ruach HaKodesh, “The Ruach and the Rabbis,” Jewish Jewels blog, March, 2015. http://www.jewishjewels.org/news-letters/ruach-hakodesh-march/

[5]See the key twin articles by Daniel R. Langton in the Journal of the Study of the New Testament, “The Myth of the “Traditional View of Paul and the Role of the Apostle in Modern Jewish-Christian Polemics, 28, no. 1 (summer 2005) 69-104, and “Modern Jewish Identity and the Apostle Paul,” 28 no 2 (December 2005) 217-258.

[6] Mr. Blake does not have a website for his organization, but he can be contacted at: neilblakejr@aol.com

[7] At: http://tjcii.org/about/ , accessed March 5, 2015.

[8] Fr. Hocken has written one of the truly classic books on the charismatic renewal, The Glory and the Shame: Reflections on the 20th Century Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Guildford, UK: Eagle, 1994). In this book he laid out the importance to the whole Body of the Messianic Jewish movement. Read my review of The Glory and the Shame here at PneumaReview.com.

[9] On the particularly shameful treatment of Jews in Medieval Spain, Fr, Hoken has written a pamphlet for TJCII, The Marranos: A History in Need of Healing (Dallas: Third Jerusalem Council II, 2006).