SOAKING: PART 3

Soaking: Part 3

Do you really want to know how to judge or test this movement or any movement for its authenticity or lack thereof? Jesus commanded: "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15) The LORD also said "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19 The book of Proverbs says "He that winneth souls is wise." (Prov. 11:30) True revival brings repentance and preaching of the Good News - the Gospel - from all truly touched by the LORD. Any other fruit other than that shown in Holy Scripture reveals that a so-called move of God is not biblical, and points to deception and not true revival.  Read these following words of Jesus carefully:

"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another." John 15:9-17

Obedience to the LORD Jesus and His Word in the laying down of one's life and preferring others above oneself is the fruit of true revival. Anything short of this clearly reveals a false revival.

Who truly loves Jesus? Want to let Jesus answer this question?

"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him…Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." John 14:21, 23

According to Jesus, those who follow and obey Him are blessed with His presence. The presence of the LORD is in and with those who are following Him and therefore in motion expanding His kingdom - doing His bidding, not their own (self-seeking).

"Charity...Seeketh not Her Own"

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth…" 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Doers or Deceivers?

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." James 1:22

Abiding in His Love:

"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." John 15:9-14

The LORD is looking for those who will abide in relationship with Him and obey His Word from a sincere heart of worship. Beloved, bringing your pillow to church to lie on the floor and "soak" is a farce and a fable at best. This is not what the church needs - more coddling while doing little or nothing to obey Jesus. The true church is being called to fasting, prayer, seeking His holy face and obedience to the Word of God and not to be further pampered and fattened, and deluded with more strange fire experiences brought into the church world by the promised false prophets of the last hour (Matt. 24:4-4, 11, 24; 1 Tim. 4:1-6; 2 Tim. 3:7; 2 Pet. 2-2; Jude 3-4, etc.).

Remember what Christ told us about the believers at Laodicea?

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Revelation 3:14-17

Does the already overfed, overweight, do-nothing western world church need even more spoiling? This may sound harsh on the surface, yet I think the question has merit, all things given. Do you?

(continued…)

www.SafeGuardYourSoul.com

By Todd Tomasella Email: todd@safeguardyoursoul.com Click here for bio and archived articles

Re: Sounds like you're frustrated. Posted On: 09/15/06 02:26:58 PM Age 57, VA If you call it being in agreement, I sure would hate to be in a disagreement with him. This is not fun. I am out of here. Sounds like you're frustrated. Posted On: 09/14/06 12:39:21 PM Age 30, VA Boy, aren't we nice, when people ask for information. You really showed him, didn't you. You're one of those, if you don't know, I'm not telling you type of people and it's bad because I say it is people. All this person wanted was some facts or Scriptures. Please quit assuming and worrying about peoples background/motives when they ask for information. I think he's not against you, or Todd, based upon his feedback. It's late, bring the religious cows home already! Clearing the Air #2 Posted On: 09/13/06 11:22:48 PM Age 22, FL To say if its not in the Word, dont do it, is ridiculous without instruction or explaining the instruction/ admonition/ doctrine from the Bible that says to stay away/avoid or dont do something. Its like saying I should never stare at the moon and think of and maybe even talk to God (Jesus), because that's not in the Bible and It's a strange experience, not taught in the Bible. Thats plain and simple religion, saying that if its not in the Word avoid it, without Biblical instruction or noting the doctrine/teaching it violates. With that said, the articles and linked articles from lighthousetrailsresearch show a definite connection with what the soaking prayer movement people are doing and with several of the eastern religious experiences/teachings, as well as a tie to the methods if not directly to the soaking prayer movement. I think the best article for avoiding this movement is the one entitled TORONTO BLESSING: CHRISTIAN-BASED MAGIC? by Kent Philpott which spells out authoritatively some of the challenges and errors with the original Toronto movement, which is still being encouraged in this new thing TACF is doing (that's a fact). Thanks for your input. Hopefully in the future, (I still have to work on it myself based upon what Ive learned today) we all will be able to put into words the Biblical admonition and why, factually, to avoid this movement, and its errors, before we encounter more people who ask about it, as I did, or are caught up in this tangled mess of false-teaching. Clearing the Air #1 Posted On: 09/13/06 11:18:42 PM Age 22, FL Karen, inspite of what you apparently, wrongfully believe, I've just been looking for the truth, not trying to change you or even show you're wrong but just trying to get more out of you/the author than it's bad and it's a reincarnation of false-revival X or false teaching Y. I just wanted someone to explain what's the evil/false-teaching connection with this soaking thing, establish the facts not just opinions/innuendo, and maybe even show from the Scriptures where it's wrong. It seems nobody has. All I've heard factually from the feedback and the article sofar is that fruit is how to determine if some movement is "real" or true to God's Word, beyond obviously their Biblical teaching, right on or not. I know the rodney brown/laughter thing was and is false teaching and was/is simple audience manipulation by a Bible speaker/minister. I've read where these movements/revivals from the 90s have crossed paths and have had some similar "manefestations." I've never heard of this soaking prayer movement thing before this article, and frankly the article and feebacks doesn't give enough information for a person, who's not a false-teaching exposing junkie, to make an informed, logical, and especially Biblical stance one way or another. <more> Re: Re: Where's the Biblical and doctrinal facts? Posted On: 09/13/06 05:43:17 PM Age 57, VA Hey, what took you so long? I knew you would not be able to say "no" and let "sleeping dogs lie." You followed the trail and the cows are not home yet, so I should have expected you to show up! Let me guess. You have more of a heart to lead people out of deception than we do so you keep nagging us to prove what we believe because (in your words from the Soaking Article #2 by Todd) you said and I quote, I want to reach these people when I encounter them. That's why I keep asking.... to reach the lost and the deceived. The interesting thing is that you do not believe a word we say, yet you make no attempt to lead us away from the deception you think we are in, which only proves that you are not really interested in helping those who you think may be deceived but rather you just like to argue. Since you think we are deceived and you care as much as you say, I would expect that you would spend some of your written words trying to lead us on the "right path!" However you are doing as poor a job, if not poorer, of reaching those you believe to be deceived, those who you say you so badly want to help, as you accuse us of. Excuse me while I go get my fly swatter! I have a feeling we are in for another annoying "nag-arama." Re: Where's the Biblical and doctrinal facts? Posted On: 09/13/06 02:40:59 PM Age 44, TX If "soaking" (laying around in meditation, open to strange experiences) is not in the Word of God, WHAT OTHER PROOF DO WE NEED THAT IS IT TO BE AVOIDED?? Re: Where's the Biblical and doctrinal facts? Posted On: 09/13/06 10:40:30 AM Age 40, FL If you Google "soaking prayer" you'll find several articles for it and contemplative prayer, transendental meditation, and you'll find several articles describing this soaking stuff, specifically. Check out http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/soakingprayer.htm and the article by Roger Harper linked from that page. Thanks. Scott Soaking PrayerAnd it's connection to Contemplative, Reiki and the Occult Posted On: 09/13/06 10:34:57 AM Age 40, FL http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/soakingprayer.htm This website has lots of research beyond just soaking. There is a link to an article on Christianitymagazine's website that has a comprehensive article about "soaking". ALERT It must be noted that Christianitymagazine.co.uk embraces the post-modern church culture, Greg Boyd in particular, so scrutinize the article with this in mind. They do make a good arguement for steering clear of this "movement." Thanks. Scott Re: Re: Soaking: Part 3 Posted On: 09/13/06 09:44:49 AM Age 45, MT You hit the nail on the head. The Pastor or Leader makes the congregation. No one is allowed to question him or be a Berean. I was in a church that the pastor turned Charismatic. The whole bit. Not only where all these supernatural things welcomes so everyone could feel and experience. It became the measure of your spirituality and bragging points. It became the only thing. Preaching the gospel became getting the new person to expereince the supernatural.That was success. So the nickels, noses, and numbers was added to experiencing the supernatural = success, and we must be right because we are growing. "A healthy church is one that is growing." That may or may not be true. A healthy church could also be one that has shrunk because it didn't allow false doctrine and people became offended and left. I've expereinced both. Anyway, the pastor makes the church and it's doctrine, and people even start copying him and acting like him. Re: Where's the Biblical and doctrinal facts? Posted On: 09/13/06 09:33:46 AM Age 22, FL There are three websites condemning this "soaking" thing. Todd's(article/website) and two others. None of the three establish what they(the soaking people/church) are teaching, in context, that are in error, Biblically. They emphasize parts of statements by people of this movement, and basically say, "See, I told you so!" "This proves my point." "Here's an example of established false teaching... now go and read it into this quote." Still DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TEACHING/DOING THAT CAN BE SHOWN TO BE WRONG, BIBLICALLY? Nobody wants to address this CRITICAL ISSUE. The websites don't cover this. I don't have their materials. Can someone who has some of their "soaking" materials, or has been to a "soaking" meeting, or witnessed a "soaking" meeting video comment? Can anyone defend this judgement/condemnation without hiding behind "spiritual" discernment?