There is much to be praised in our Word of Faith and Charismatic branch of Christianity. We lead people to Christ, as do many Evangelical denominations, but we also introduce believers to the power of the Holy Spirit and His gifts. Additionally, we seek to bear witness to the reality of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ by praying for the sick, casting out devils, and exercising faith in God for various kinds of breakthroughs, miracles, and answers to prayer. We believe that Jesus Christ is alive and still working the same miracles that he did in his earthly life 2,000 years ago. And we endeavor to be instruments of his grace and vessels through which he can pour his wisdom and power out to a hurting and helpless world. However, as with any movement, we also have our negatives. For years, many of us believed that if we left the errors alone, God would somehow sovereignly replace all errors with truth. Some ministers still feel that the best approach is to simply "live by example." They feel that to confront any error in any way is "being negative." Needless to say, ignoring error, rather than identifying and refuting it, is much easier on our flesh. Perhaps that is why it is so easy to talk ourselves into doing nothing. I believe that things have developed to the point where ignoring error is no longer an option. There is a whole generation of Charismatics and Word of Faith believers who have seen nothing but error, hype, and extremes, and our silence perpetuates their ignorance. I believe history shows what is needed today. In the 1500's, Martin Luther, a German priest, reached the point where he felt prayer for change, living by example, deference to Church leaders, and quiet patience were no longer sufficient. Church leadership had become drunk on money, power, impressive titles, the applause of men, and sex. The people were being led further and further away from the Bible. Sound doctrine had been replaced by personal opinions, traditions, rituals, and information gained from visions. Believers were promised every imaginable blessing, even free trips to Heaven itself, in return for "generous giving." As Johann Tetzel quipped at the time: "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs." Now we should say, "As soon as thine offering check doth clear, thy miraculous blessing shall surely appear." In the Charismatic church world, I believe we have come very close to that same place of greed, ego, immorality, and unbiblical teachings that the Church had fallen into back in the 1500's. I believe that sound doctrine and biblical preaching has been largely replaced in our circles by personal opinions, supposed words of prophecy, and questionable visions. The solution 500 years ago was presented by Martin Luther. He wrote down 95 Thesis (questions or objections) to the unbiblical teachings and practices of the corrupted Church of his day and nailed them to the door of the Wittenburg Church. In other words, he identified what he believed to be unscriptural teachings and behavior, and publicly refuted them with reason, scripture, and logic. Rather than grieving God, Luther's actions honored God's word, and God honored him. Luther asking pointed and uncomfortable questions nearly 500 years ago, sparked the Protestant Reformation that swept the world, burning down the religious works of men, and ushered in a new move of God. I can only hope that asking similar questions today will light the fire of Reformation among us Charismatic and Word of Faith adherents. May God make it so. I propose that we engage in a comprehensive re-thinking, and a scriptural re-examination of the extreme teachings that have crept into our midst, leading hopefully to a substantial Reformation of our Word of Faith and Charismatic movements. I am urging that we begin to "prove all things, hold fast that which is good." We need to examine our teachings in the light of scripture, sifting out and casting away the chaff from the wheat. On this site, and in my meetings, I present the changes I believe we need to make. I believe we need to return to our original biblical teachings, to sound doctrine, to genuine manifestations and gifts of the Holy Spirit, to ministerial integrity and accountability, to financial transparency, to doing all things decently and in order, and most importantly of all, to the winning of souls by the powerful preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not believe that fervently ignoring the negatives will make the picture any brighter. Although Christ is the Head of His Church, He has command that we see to it that all things are done decently and in order. We are failing in that role. I long for a genuine move of God's Spirit. I have experienced the real thing. But the real thing has for a long time been replaced in many of our circles with hype, dishonest appeals for money, unbiblical teachings, ridiculous conduct, open immorality, and other excesses. I believe God's real blessing will come again only as we humble ourselves, judge and repent of the sin in our midst, and develop again a holy reverence for God's word and a holy awe of His Holy Spirit, a holy fear of God's Judgment, and a holy passion for the preaching of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Listening to the Giants of the Faith is a transforming experience. I was fortuante enough to have the opportunity to sit under the instruction of Sister Goodwin in her final years. She and her husband had taught Kenneth Hagin Sr. about spiritual gifts, and Brother Hagin patterned his prophetic ministry after the flow he saw in the Goodwins. Brother and Sister Goodwin had sat in the meetings of Smith Wigglesworth, and Howard Carter preached for the Goodwins in their church. This couple operated in all nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, had a keen sense of spiritual order, and adhered tightly to the scriptures and sound doctrine. They stayed sound and stood the test of time while William Branham, and several other notable prophets and healing evangelists went off the deep end. I present on this site for your listening edification, numerous rare recordings made of the Goodwins preaching at their church, along with other recordings entrusted to me of: Howard Carter, Stanley Frodsham, F. F. Bosworth, David Du Plessis, and others. These can be listened to by download, for free. I invite you to listen to recordings of the Pentecostal giants we revere. You can hear for yourself that the gospel we are preaching today has little in common with the powerful Pentecostal messages that swept the world as they fell from the lips of our forefathers in the faith. You can read articles in which I teach on tongues, spiritual gifts, prophetic ministry, and on other Bible subjects. You can also read articles I've written or collected that address the extreme teachings that have taken over our branch of Christianity. I present these to you for your prayerful consideration. I have been and intend to remain a Charismatic and a member of the Word of Faith, which has been my spiritual home now for nearly 30 years. I note with deep regret though that multitudes have become so discouraged by our extremes that they have left our movement and rejoined previous denominations. Others have set up websites in which they confront some of our extremes, but they do so in a hate-filled and condemning way, filled with mockery. I refuse to join their ranks. I'm proud of our branch of Christianity, and I have no intentions of leaving my spiritual home. I am not available to come to your church for the purpose of getting everyone to fall on the floor, laugh in the Spirit, and to engage in various legitimate spiritual manifestations just so that people can have "an experience." Personal prophecy, declarations of faith, spiritual warfare, and others areas have been over-emphasized in our circles to the point where many people have drifted off into extremes and into error. Ministers that I know, some of whom are nationally known, tell me that they find widespread ignorance in Charismatic and Word of Faith circles of the genuine move of God. When they come and flow in a strong move, it provides a refreshing and blessing, but then when they leave, the people frequently revert right back to extreme teachings which leads people back into bondage and ignorance. It is my belief that we need such strong moves of God, revivals, and times of refreshing, but in between those special meetings, we need to teach and reinforce sound doctrine and give believers the tools they need in order to discern between the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error. To this end, I present the "real deal" to the world through the recordings and articles on this site, and in meetings in the local church. If you believe as I do, that sound doctrine and teaching must undergird all that we do and teach, then I am available to come to your church or conference and preach on the correction and Reformation that we must endure in order to return to sound doctrine and the genuine moving of the Holy Spirit. While I am there, if the Spirit of God moves in a Revivalist or Prophetic anointing, I have the training from the Goodwins and years of ministry experience to be able to flow along with God. But if He does not choose to flow in that way, I am equally comfortable with teaching and preaching the Word and letting the seeds of the Word go into people's hearts to produce a lasting harvest. One way in which you can join with me in this task of praying and working for a Reformation is by signing up for our monthly newsletter. This will keep you updated on our latest articles, materials, recordings, and itinerary. Another way to help in working for a Reformation is by sharing these Reformation articles and rare recordings with others. A third and equally important way to help in this ministry is to support us financially if you are so led. Kind Regards, Brother Mel Contact Brother Mel |