In the midst of a series of lessons I have been giving on Islam and the Koran, I interject this message that is burning in my spirit today. As you digest what I am saying, you will realize it is no mere interruption, but very timely in connection with the falseness of Islamic dogma.

Ever heard God asking you what in the world you are doing in a particular place? I believe I have heard it in church circles more than anywhere, for my life has been a church-centered one, for sure. My pilgrimage has led me into a lot of places where I simply was not at home, and I eventually moved on. In the moving around, though, I have had a rich experience of so much that God is doing in the church, but unfortunately I have also seen what man does in the church.

I find myself at present in what is called the "Revival" churches. The revival churches have given themselves that name. The question that I am now facing as I travel with these people is how much of this revival is of God and how much is of men.

Just how far should we go with a revival? They say that all revivals in church history have brought with them their excesses in experiential phenomena and in off-the-wall teachings. So, people conclude, let's throw the revival out!

Nah. Won't work. True revival brings joy and renewal. A non-threatening giftedness of the Spirit that truly edifies without being showy is another fruit of revival. Repentance, leading to the salvation of huge numbers of people can follow. Bringing people back to their first love and a burning passion for souls... Please! Revival is a good thing! God, revive your work in the midst of the years!

So I say, better to throw out the excesses. Like in the Cane Ridge Revival, the things that gave birth to an evil cult called the Shakers. What if discerning men would have seen that coming and drawn a line in the sand?

This signs and wonders crowd, though, is tough to deal with. If indeed the signs are real, and if they are from God - and it is hard to deal with either of those pre-suppositions at times - the people are convinced that what the teacher teaches in that particular meeting must also be from God. People who are fired up emotionally will buy just about anything.

I'm not a good judge of the experiential. I'm not always touched by emotional things. I can't always tell what "stuff" should be allowed in a meeting, and what should not. There are churches, I am sure, that would cringe at a heart-felt testimony, while on the other extreme there are groups that would allow people to bark like dogs in the meeting. I'll leave that alone, simply adding that good pastors care about the edification of their assembly, and are not afraid to hurt someone's feelings who happens to be out of order. And it is possible to be out of order. And it is legal to stop such a person!

Having said that, I still want to keep my hands off things that God might be doing. But when the teachers begin to open their mouths, let me have a say here, as one to whom God has been faithful in explaining His Word carefully and in detail for 50 years.

The Bible talks about those who say they are apostles but are not. The Bible talks about false prophets and false teachers. So all the visiting mouth-pieces in a given meeting are potentially false? Yes, but how often have you seen any of the above openly rebuked for false teaching? One group might accuse another group, but seldom if ever does the rebuke come where it needs to come: in the meeting!

I say, "Throw the bums out!" And if you think "bum" is too disrespectful a word for a man who occupies a pulpit, check out I Timothy 4, II Timothy 3, II Peter 2, Jude, and II Thessalonians 2 for a list of other nouns and adjectives that truly apostolic men have laid upon these evil ones.

Wise pastors need to keep their eyes open for the false teachings that abound in the "revival" today. I don't like putting quotation marks around that word, for I have been refreshed and blessed often in some of these meetings. But just as often as not I have been bombarded with a teaching that flies in the faith of the Spirit of Truth. Men of God, tell your people what's going on and what to avoid!

Spirit of Truth. That's His Name. The promised Spirit was to be the Spirit of Truth first and foremost. He was to come and glorify Jesus, Who is the Truth. He was to bring the words of Jesus to the apostles' memories. Truth. A church where Jesus is preached and people are saved is a church run by the Spirit of Truth. He does not speak of Himself, but of Jesus. Then Jesus pours that Spirit on a congregation whose eyes are turned on Him. Those who turn away from Jesus but who keep desiring more and more teachings and signs and wonders that have nothing to do with Jesus will receive another spirit for their efforts, but not the Spirit of Truth.

You see, the Devil can duplicate some things, but not truth. He can bring miracles, signs, wonders, yes and signs that make you wonder, but he cannot bring truth. He is a liar. He can approximate truth but not duplicate it. As the wise men of Egypt discovered that they had power, but limited power, so today the Enemy has been granted some authority, but when we walk in the Truth, we walk in the Light of God, and we have all that we need. And our ears don't itch for more more more.

You say, can you be specific about some of these lies of the Devil in the present revival? Surely. I thought you'd never ask. Any "word" that comes against a revealed word of Scripture is to be condemned and thrown out. We do not need it.

Take for example the spiritualization of the Biblical texts regarding a literal Kingdom of God coming to this earth. What used to be our hope for the future is torn down to a present day manifestation of miracles, some of them highly questionable. Once the texts are destroyed and re-assigned, it is an easy thing to build an entire system of theology from the ruins.

The Kingdom, they say, is not then. It is now. We must rule now. All seven mountains of influence in the world are ours now. Go conquer.

After all, they say, you are the manifested sons of God. Now. Here they have destroyed a Romans passage that speaks of all creation groaning and waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. How it could be more clear I do not know. Jesus is going to return. Evil is going to be burned up. His people will rule the earth with Him one day! We are going to fix this planet.

But to the Kingdom Now Dominionist folks, then is now.

They destroy the book of Joel with this fantasy. Bible people know that Joel 2, with its talk of an unprecedented army, is linked with Revelation 9. A day of gloom and horror coming to the planet, as something akin to the devastation of a Middle-Eastern swarm of locusts, only worse, will erupt from "the bottomless Pit."

Not so for the Kingdom-now folks. They are convinced that this army is an end-time bunch of spiritual warriors who will raise up a spiritual/physical revolution that will essentially change everything in God's favor.