You might fall completely and totally in love with your Heavenly Father
You might learn that God desperately wants to be in every detail of your life
You might her God speaking to you clearly throughout the day
You might not want to ever leave His presence again
You might dream the unimaginable and believe God to achieve it
You might see the blind gain sight, the lame walk and lay hands on the sick and watch them recover
Where do we start beloved? The most organized way is to take these in order. The first two "mights" on this list encapsulate the sloppy agape that these types of churches believe in and openly teach. It seems very slight and nuanced but it is not. God obviously loves us. He is not "in" love with us. This is a carnal term usually reserved for Eros love, which we know better as romantic love. Then there is Phileo love, which is brotherly platonic affection. Lastly there is Agape love, which is how God loves us. There is no romanticizing involved. A parent does not look upon their child romantically. Beloved. God so loved us that He sent His only Son to die our death. To take our punishment. God is love. The language used here however is from a Harlequin Romance novel. Fall completely and totally in love! God is in love with you! There are entire worship genres of music that embrace and promote this heretical theology.
Secondly, God is not desperate that we do anything. He is God. He can get along just fine, regardless of our posture. He does not wish any to perish but He is just as ready to exact justice and wrath -- believe it. So the notion that He "desperately" wants to be in every detail of our lives is simply inaccurate. Now, God has spoken about everything we might face in this world in His Word. If we want to know something we need look no further. But there is no "desperation" about it. Who is God in that scenario? We are! We are the creation, not the Creator. We ought to be desperate to please Him. Desperate to serve Him. This sentiment flips God on His ear and makes it all about us. This ties directly into number four as well. If we want to hear from God throughout our day then all we need to do is read our Bible throughout the day. It really is that simple. That is not however what they are saying. They are selling this emotional Christianity that relies upon our liver shivers and goose bumps to determine if something is "from God." We all know people who are lost in this false teaching. Everything is super spiritualized. I hate to break it to you but God did not decree that you should have the Frosted Flakes this morning over the Cap'n Crunch. I had friends who once determined "confirmation" to move based upon license plates passing them on the highway. If you were planning to move to Nepal and suddenly there Nepalese license plates everywhere then maybe we could talk but they were moving one state away and that is ridiculous, pagan, and the reading of omens.
These all seem to blend into one another as number five reveals the esoteric and mystical nature of what they are selling. That we would never want to leave His presence? Seriously? Where is that promoted in Scripture? How are we to be salt and light for a dying world and spread the Gospel if we are so wrapped up in chasing an experiential presence thingy? Number six continues the "I am god" theology as it encourages us to dream the unimaginable and then let God deliver for us. Except sometimes He doesn't. Sometimes the answer is no. You see our unimaginable dreams come from our wickedly deceitful hearts beloved. They are not to be trusted let alone pursued as automatically being righteous in the sight of the Lord. The final point is always the crescendo of false signs and lying wonders. The unaccountable miracles that we just have to trust happened. You would think with all the fantastical claims, there would one documented case to dismiss the critics. Bill Johnson's church has what they call a "Dead Raising Team"; where kids travel the world to pray for the raising of the dead. They claim about 15 resurrections to their credit. None of which are documented. None of which are verified. I believe in the gifts of the Spirit and that God still heals today but not without correct doctrine. Signs and wonders accompany the correct preaching of the Word of God. But many, like Charisma Magazine and Charisma News are no longer preaching the Word of God correctly. Instead they are peddling it, as our key verse speak about today. They do so with slick marketing devoid of sincerity. They are not commissioned by God and though they claim to speak for Christ they forget they are still in the sight of God. They are hucksters and snake oil salesmen leading people away from the real Gospel and the real Jesus Christ.
As we close let us return to the picture that grabbed my attention at the start of this. The little five year old girl. Without the Holy Spirit she is just a mess but with the Spirit she turns into Supergirl. What a fundamentally poor understanding. We do not come to Christ to be empowered but to give up our power. We turn our lives over to Him. He is the super hero. Sure the Spirit can give us victories over sin and the enemy but that leads to humility in who we are compared to God not pride and a cape. Except they are selling the pride and the cape. As we just saw, so much of this was about making you out to be God. The same sin that caused Lucifer to be cast down and Eve to disobey God. In order for God to truly increase in our lives then we must decrease. Not that we are that weeping little girl on the left or the Supergirl on the right. It is not about us beloved. No matter how Charismaniacs try to make it so.
Reverend Anthony Wade -- November 17, 2016
