Quest for the Radical Middle: NotesBy Bill Jackson This is a summary of Bill Jackson's Book, "The Quest for the Radical Middle" that describes the history of the Vineyard movement from the early 1960 thru 1998. There are fascinating lesson here and wonderful encouragement. Read at your own risk... it is a very rough summary and intended for people who want an overview. “The Churching of America” by Finke and Stark categorize churches ranging from Sects to Churches. Sects represent those movements in high tension with the world system. As time goes on, these movements, under pressure to lower that tension, accommodate themselves to the culture to better fit in, thus becoming churches. In so doing, they begin to lose their ability to sustain the newfound life that had been the reason for their genesis. This is called, "the Routinization of Charisma" Biblical Truth is found in the Radical Middle. Satan's strategy has been to polarize us to one extreme or the other.
Typical Poles of the Spectrum that we need to hold in tension:
A Sect begins through the new experience of a forgotten biblical truth. In order to enhance the life of the organism, organization is built to sustain it. Eventually routinization ensues and religion of the heart soon becomes religion of the head as well as the heart. A biblical balance is achieved and the sect/church is on the cutting edge and able to survive. With the passage of time, however, the radical middle becomes hard to sustain, precisely because it is a place of tension. The law of spiritual entropy presses the movement to choose a pole and become one or the other, to HARMONIZE THE DISSONANCE. The forces of evil push the new movement either away from biblical doctrine toward cultism or away from Spirit-led spontaneity toward dead orthodoxy and institutionalism. Jesus modeled for humanity the Word and Spirit in perfect Relationship and Balance..... “The Presence and the Power” by Hawthorne..... Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, ministered and performed miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit and not out of His deity! The Word submits to the voice of the Spirit, and the Spirit blows in accordance with the parameters of the Word. History shows that the Word without the Spirit quickly becomes dead orthodoxy, and the Spirit w/o the word quickly becomes cultish. The crucial issue for the Word/Spirit tension concerns how one is to know the will of God. The evangelical stream has always (and rightly) affirmed the Word as the true foundation; there is no new Truth because it has been once for all given to the saints (Jude 3). Evangelicals have also affirmed that there is only one meaning to a biblical text: the meaning of the original author. Spirit movements have 'rediscovered' forgotten biblical truths, thus bringing new balance and life to what was dying through neglect. Unfortunately, renewal has often come at the price of doctrinal purity by offering interpretations based not on historical/grammatical study, but on interpretations prompted by the 'Spirit.' ONCE OFF BIBLICAL / HISTORICAL MOORINGS, THE SLIDE TOWARD CULTISM BEGINS! The challenge has always been to affirm both Word and Spirit and aim for the radical middle. Montanists (2nd Century Movement) are an example of revival that slid off in the direction of cultism. Augustine was the 1st to suggest the concept of cessationism in his book, 'On the True Religion.' Before he died he saw a healing and changed his position to support the miraculous in 'The City of God,' but it was too late. His previous views deeply directed the course Christianity toward cessationism (i.e. the gifts of the Spirit died out with the Apostles and the early church; the supernatural realm is mostly rejected.) George Fox and the Quakers saw, perhaps, the greatest outbreak of spiritual gifts since the Apostles in the 1600's. Jonathan Edwards in the First Great Awakening in America was the first to develop a theological argument for renewal by the Spirit. The Cane Ridge revival occurred during the Second Great Awakening. The Welsh Revival and Evan Roberts in 1904 lead to the birth of Pentecostalism in 1906 in LA on Azusa Street. William Branham, Oral Roberts, Kathryn Kuhlman were all influential in this era. The Latter Rain Movement, later to be rejected by Pentecostalism, laid the ground work for Charismatic movements in 1960. Finally the Jesus movement occurred with Calvary Chapel and others. Calvary believed you should teach straight through the bible... communicates the Whole Counsel of God and helps keep the preacher off pet subjects! Section 1: The Beginnings of the Vineyard
WHATS WRONG #1- The CRISIS of 1974: 'John, would you go to this church if you weren't paid to?' 'No. God what is wrong with me?' The Lord immediately began to show him that in his desire to be a successful pastor he was using the flock to meet his own IDENTITY and SECURITY needs, rather than serving them in the love of Christ. God showed him that he has continually resisted the Holy Spirit's inner promptings, opting rather to support the institution. John left the pastorate.
1974-1978 Fuller Seminary & Church Growth He began to travel extensively and as church growth consultant for Fuller. He worked with 27 Denominations (none Pentecostal or Charismatic), 9 Para-church organizations, hundreds of local churches and some 40,000 pastors. Fuller introduces Wimber to the Engle Scale. Wimber also began to see the Bible provides for a Theology of Power and a Theology of Pain. Also he began to see the Kingdom as Already but Not Yet.
WHATS WRONG #2 - Using Ministry to meet our need for Identity & Security Wimber was traveling and working so much with Fuller ...."that he never saw his young family. Eventually the traveling took its toll on their children, and John began to wonder where things had gone wrong. His relationship with God has turned stale as well. He rarely prayed and read his Bible only when he had to teach from it. He was gradually becoming aware that he was spiritually bankrupt.” Carol had a 'personality meltdown' and was intensely and protractedly convicted by Holy Spirit that she had resisted His work in her life and John's. She repented and changed deeply in this season. In 1976 Carol and some friends from the Yorba Linda church start a Home Group. Many had been Pharisees. They discovered that worship was an End in Itself... it was FOR God! It didn't matter what they FELT like.... God was worthy of their worship! Worship was not a warm-up for the teaching. John gets the prophetic word from the woman who just cries!
WHATS WRONG #3 - Loosing Intimacy with Jesus because of the Business of Ministry 1977 - 'En Route to Detroit John cried out to the Lord, "Oh God, what's the matter? what's wrong with me?" He felt like he was going to die. His weight had skyrocked; his blood pressure had elevated; he never saw his kids; his head throbbed constantly; he was tired of people; he rarely prayed and never found solace in personal bible study. He wasn't sure if God was even listening anymore... in the middle of the night God woke him up and said, 'John, I've seen your ministry.... and now I'm going to show you mine. This pierced John like an arrow. He began to weep for joy saying, 'Oh, Lord, that's all I've ever wanted.' John attends the Home group regularly by January of 1997. By next April the group was about 100.
KICKED OUT #1 - by the Quakers Ministry and Counsel, the Quaker Leaders, asked the to leave at this point saying they didn't want a tongues outbreak. John and Carol said it wasn't about tongues but about Revival. Tongues was not a focus. The Friends gave the their blessing and John and Carol left. Carol believes that this blessing passed on the spiritual anointing from George Fox the founder of the Quakers. Calvary chapel of Yorba Linda has its beginnings in a Masonic Lodge on Mother's Day, May8th, 1977. John told the core that they would have to let go of the 'inner circle' and die to themselves to break up into smaller groups to bring in others.
Preaching on HEALING begins: o Christians had been called to heal the sick just as we have been called to Evangelize o The lack of emphasis on Healing was a misunderstanding of God's mercy for us o Doctrinal differences, regarding healing, in John's heart were really a cover up for a Pharisaical heart full of evil and unbelief o Christians were COMMISSIONED to heal and cast out demons and it was to be part of the normal Christian life.
Initial Frustration of Preaching Healing but seeing no one Healed. John reacted against this in frustration to God and God responded, "either preach My word or get out..... Preach My word NOT your experience." 10 months of no success until the feverish woman in bed was instantly healed. The night before John has ended up on the floor yelling, "It's not fair! You tell us to teach what your book says, but you don't back up our act. Here we are; we're doing the best we can do, ad nothing happens. Oh God, it's not fair!" Jim walked away saying, "I'm never going to go behind that damn curtain again!" When he got home the Lord gave him a verse and upon looking it up read: "the ark of the Lord dwelleth within the curtains." (2Sam 7:2) Jim repented hard that night. The next day John saw the 1st person healed. After John left the woman's house who had just been healed he saw the Vision of the Honeycomb: "The problem isn't on my end, John. It's down there." Mercy and compassion are available to all. Sometime later à "As he was pouring the milk John said, 'It must be that when you teach the word of God the Holy Spirit....' He never finished his sentence. As he started to say 'Holy Spirit, ' his legs buckled and he caught himself on the counter; splashing milk all over in the process. He looked up at me with a surprising grin and said, 'I think we are on to something here, Carol Kay.' ' 1980 Mother’s Day Lonnie Frisbee and a visitation of God.... the people were being shaken like Rag Dolls, "It's like electricity, I can't even move!" After reading the bible and searching history all night long Tom Stipe call saying, "It's Me John."
KICKED OUT #2 - by Calvary Chapel 1982 @ Lake Arrowhead Conference with Calvary revealed animosity, not from Chuck Smith, but from Calvary leaders. This was deeply wounding to John. John and Gulliksen partner. Calvary pastors were hurt later by what they saw as 'transfer' growth to the new Vineyards. Calvary was a pre-Tribulational Rapture and John thought that was harmful because it prevented planning for the long haul. When John worked for Fuller he attended the Funeral of a church.... a Mother Church that had planted about 56 churches and then died. Shortly after becoming the leader of the Vineyard and after the Church Funeral he has the Vision of the 10,000 lights / fellowships in the United States. Church Planting is Born!
1983 VMI - Vineyard Ministries International is formed to support the Life that was flowing. Structure serving the Life! o To facilitate John's international conference activity Shortly after the 1st Vineyard Pastors conference was held John's church moves to Anaheim.
Jump back to 1982: MC510 at Fuller begins This course began in 1982 and ran until 1986. Wimber took the doctrinal focus off the Epistles and put it back on the Gospels --> Empowered Evangelicalism. Wimber also introduced the basic Healing Model - 5 Basic steps. Charles Hummel's "Fire in the Fireplace" calls for a balanced RELATIONSHIP between the Word and the Spirit. June 1984 was the first public MC510 in Anaheim Vineyard Facility. Learning to get and act on the 'Words of Knowledge' is ONLY done by TRIAL and ERROR... there is not absolute knowing that this is God until you do it and see the FRUIT.. We have to learn to HEAL and CAST OUT DEMONS the same way we LEARN to preach! Kicked out #3 - by Fuller Seminary Fuller finally stops MC510 in 1986. The School of Theology professors lead the way in rejecting this move of God... The faculty felt that a seminary was set aside for academic pursuits and that things like healing clinics belonged to the local church. Hummels book "Fire in the Fireplace" asserts that Fuller's task force.... MISREPRESENTS A THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING TO INCLUDE SCKNESS! Bill Jackson’s (the author) thinks that MC510 introduced them to the NUMINOUS of God! In 1984 John 1st heard from God that He was going to begin to judge leaders in the church in the US. In 1985 Wimber was diagnosed with Angina... put on Blood pressure medicine, exercise, and regulated his eating and tried to cut him back on his conference schedule. But he was still out 40 weeks in 1985. John said a number of times that he felt he could have died at any time during these years. John tried to birth prayer in the Movement and does the "Teach Us to Pray Conference." South American Pastors share how they pray and fast to take on Principalities and Wimber rejects the Theology and directs the Movement away from such 'spiritual warfare.' 'Wagner .... was intrigued by the South American men who were having such amazing results praying this way. Wimber, however, had pastoral responsibility over a young movement, and he was deeply concerned over the serious nature of immature believers taking on powerful demons in their innocent presumption without even implicit biblical ground.
Todd Hunter does survey of Successful and Unsuccessful Church planters: o They are hard workers - 100% 1986 AVC - Association of Vineyard Churches was formed. o Provide Legal covering for the movement 1986 - Jack Deere is Introduced to John By 1987 John was worn out and began to co-pastor the Anaheim Vineyard with Sam Thompson. During this year the Jim and Tammy Baker scandal came out. The next year Jimmy Swaggart was exposed. 2 of John's key associates were caught in sexual sin. There was disagreement regarding the kind of discipline needed and regarding the restoration process. This affected Anaheim’s leadership infrastructure. Servant Evangelism under Steve Sjogren took off during this year. Steve realized that non-Christians touched by their servant projects could not relate well to Sunday service. Therefore he made Wednesday Nights for the Core believers and Sundays more for the un-churched. This began to be called 'Seeker Sensitive.' Public Attacks begin in 1985 and 1986 but really pick up strength in 1989 and 1990. Wimber did not initially respond to criticism because of a prophetic word in 1977, "Your brothers and sisters are never your enemies, even when they act like it. Learn to turn the other cheek." But by 1992 John decided to write some position papers to defend themselves for several reasons: o The errors or criticisms were believed by a significant number of Christians Perhaps there is a difference between clarifying your position and dispelling outright lies and counter-attacking those you criticize you! Grudem's & Deer’s position papers are presently available on the web at www.theVineyard.org The Bible Answer Man, John MacAurthor, Some Baptists, Dave Hunt attack the Vineyard intensely. Section 2: The Prophetic Era 1989-1992
Jump back to 1987 - Wimber begins to hear reports that some Vineyard Pastors are involved in various kinds of carnality and pride. God showed him that Vineyard was in desperate conditions. 1988- Wimber and the Vineyard debate becoming a DENOMINATION. Some felt that John was driving autocratically towards institutionalism. Carol's dream stops them... the porch cannot hold the grandchildren. They debated this in front of an open microphone. Jack Deere sets up the 1st meeting with John Wimber and Paul Cain. What Paul said to Wimber was helpful at time because Wimber was dealing with a leadership crisis. During the weeks after the Conference John became very depressed. He had a lot of things on his plate: o He was tired, overweight, overworked and feeling that he was not leading any of the 3 organizations well (VMI, AVC, or Anaheim) In his depression he watched TV and opted out of life for a time. Wimber meets Mike Bickle in 1985. In 1988 Bickle was invited to speak with Wimber in the UK and Bickle steered Wimber towards Psalm 89 about God sovereignty choosing John. John felt chastised by Mike in the exchanges but somehow also reassured. John thought, "Maybe God had a plan for the Vineyard after all..." December 5th 1988 - Paul Cain arrived in Anaheim to meet with Wimber. Deere had set up this appointment and told John, "by the way, so that you will know that God has a strategic purpose in this for Paul and the Vineyard movement, Paul says there will be an earthquake that day." Later Deere confirmed that this word was given before Paul arrived. The earthquake occurred under the Rose Bowl at 3:38 am and Paul chose the text out of Jeremiah 33:8 "I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me." Paul reassured John in the privacy of the Wimber's own living room with a three-word prophesy saying, "God has told me to tell you in the Vineyard, "Grace, Grace, Grace." Paul went on to explain that John had come close to committing the sin of Eli by letting his spiritual sons get away with abuse i.e. regarding the lack of discipline of immoral leaders. They were on the verge of being judged as a movement. Paul told John to discipline his leaders and not offer them "unsanctified mercy." If John complied with the Lord's direction, then He would change the movement by the next Pastor's conference in August, 1989...in nine months. In addition Paul said that God would also deliver their son Sean from years of rebellion and drug addiction. The evening of Paul leaving (Anaheim) on Dec 7th there was a major earthquake in Armenia at 10:51 pm PST.... Bickle would later write...."The prophetic symbolism seemed clear - God was speaking to the Vineyard churches through these events that He was going to shake the Anaheim Vineyard over the next season by prophetic ministry like the local earthquake shook Pasadena. The prophetic shaking would not merely be local, but would eventually cause a shaking internationally. This was pictured by the internationally known earthquake in Soviet Armenia." These events sobered John and propelled him out of his depression into action. The Latter Rain Movement: This movement ran aground because of an Authoritarian leadership structure and an elitist attitude driven by apocalyptic assumptions that they were the true church ushering in the last great move of God. They concluded that the biblical truth that was being restored during that time was the RESTORATION OF THE CHURCH, the glorious bride of Christ. It's Nature: o Fasting & Prayer It's Mission: o To finish the great commission It's Worship: o The Temple model It's Authority: o Allegorical Interpretation of Scripture Their basic premise is Armenian rather than Reformed. Reformed doctrine says, "God has..... therefore I will." Armenian doctrine says, "If I ..... then God will." The question posed by the Latter Rain had to do with the role of human obedience..... The Latter Rain movement's values have much in common with Paul Cain's values (except for the Manifest Sons Doctrine) Paul Cain met Bickle and KCF in 1987. Paul was looking for someone that God had told him would respond in a particular way when Paul met him. God would use this person to give the prophetic ministry a platform to be restored to the church. Paul traveled widely and visited some prominent Pentecostal and Evangelical leaders to see if they were the ones. Paul never even considered John Wimber until the day on Dec 5, 1988 when he was delivering the "Grace, Grace, Grace..." word. It was then that God whispered to him that John was the man he had been looking for. History on Mike Bickle and the Kansas City Fellowship: In 1982 Bickle had received a prophetic word from Augustine Alcala that he would leave St. Louis and plant a new church in Kansas City. They began to prepare. During this preparation Mike was in Cairo, Egypt and heard the "internal audible voice" of God. "I am inviting you to be a part of a work that will reach to the ends of the earth. I have invited many people to do this thing and many have said yes." (but have not done it) God spoke 4 values to Mike: o Night and day prayer "Mike, be careful, because well meaning brothers will try to take these things from you." And also, "I will change the understanding and expression of the church in one generation." Mike thinks we are in for a major change of Wineskins! Paul Cain has preached that the emerging church will be unparalleled in : o Power Bickle's believed that the move of God that is coming will bring about a reformation of the church that will be integrally linked to the restoration of Prophets and Apostles. Bob Jones and another prophet told Mike 4 things: o Multitudes of young people will rally to you In March of 1983 Bickle and others sit around the table of fellowship and accept Bob Jones and it starts to snow.... just as Bob said it would. The unpredicted comet also appears just as Bob said it would. Mike calls for a 21 day fast, even though he was afraid of being labeled presumptuous by the other Pastors in the Kansas City area, ... being the new kid on the block. Bob predicts the 3 month drought and the 1 day of rain in the middle of it. After the 21 days of fasting Bob says they will be humbled by God for 3 years so that they may really be used by God.... preparation.... Mike develops a serious throat condition that clears up 1 month after the 3 years. In 1979 Bob was told about a group 40 miles southeast of LA that was called "Worship and Compassion." KCF was called "Prophetic and Intercession." Mike and some others attended a public MC510 after Fuller's moratorium. 1987 Mike and his team met Paul Cain while they were scheduled to speak there. Paul was invited to speak before they did unexpectedly and Mike and his team ended up on the floor weeping. Paul remembered a vision, "Joel's Army in Training," when he saw the KCF building. He recognized it as the building in his Vision. The Prophets were saying that God would not use Superstars anymore but only a faceless generation... this did seem to contradict they way the Prophets themselves became the focus of attention. Perhaps, though, they were the last of that generation? The gifted people also seemed to violate the Vineyard Value of Lay Ministry... everyone gets to play.... everyone must serve.... but once the Prophets arrive, they were so gifted that everyone else just sat down and let them do the work of the ministry. 2 Prophetic ministers heard the audible voice of God saying that in 10 years (it was 1984 at that time-> 1994) He would begin to release the wine of His Spirit. Ten years later the Toronto Blessing occurred. 1989 - Wimber hosted the "Spiritual Warfare Conference" and invited Paul Cain, last minute, to speak at a couple of the sessions. The conference was so intense that it was held over for 2 days. Paul told the conference people that God had given him a torch to initiate the 'last days' ministry and the Lord had told him to offer that torch to the Vineyard. Wimber was stunned and did not know how to respond... it sounded so presumptuous.! Paul then proceeded to minister and gave words of knowledge to people. There were reported power surges in the building and a battery-operated video camera blew out and short-circuited the phone system. There was later some debate over these things... some said yes and others said no. The pastors conference in the summer of 1989 happened next at Tom Stipes Vineyard in Denver. They put Vineyard 1 on Isacc's altar, not knowing if the movement would make it through the fire of God's judgment. These things were said of Vineyard 1 : o It was sovereignly raised up by God
Many saw an opportunity through Paul Cain to re-ante... he being a parable for the movement - a faceless man who stepped out of life and a successful ministry in humility, choosing God rather than ‘success’ to be reinstated at a later time.
Corporate Prophetic Words: o God was going to raise up a faceless generation, a new breed, dread champions who would only think of the righteousness and glory of God. In August of 1989 Paul Cain told John Mumford, "I believe that revival will probably find its starting point somewhere in October there (England), when the Lord will just start to move throughout London and throughout England." Mumford assumed October of the present year 1989... when October of 1989 came and went he wondered if Paul had missed the date. However, because of Paul's track record he withheld judgment. In March of 1990 Mumford recounted this experience @ Chorleywood and taught about receiving correct revelation but missing the interpretation and / or application. Unknown to Mumford, a tape of this talk was recorded and widely circulated in the UK. This would have a bearing later. Three Phases of Prophesy: 1 - Revelation Wimber had a regular schedule of ministering in October and continued to do so in 1990. He brought Cain to London in 1990 to meet some British leaders. On July 14th after the get-together / conference (but well before the October conference) Wimber, Cain, Mumford, and several others met with some leader who expressed severe reservations over the upcoming conference. One of the detractors brought up Mumford's comments regarding Cain from the Tape @ Chorleywood. This person asserted that this was an attempt to rationalize a word that was, in fact, wrong. Wimber records what happens next: "Before Mumford could respond, Paul Cain said, "I stand by every word I prophesied to John Mumford on August 5th" Almost as an afterthought, he added "Thus saith the Lord: Revival will be released in England in October of 1990... Tokens of revival will come in October 1990." I was stunned. I had never before heard Paul introduce a word with the phrase "Thus saith the Lord," and I assumed - correctly - that he was speaking with great authority. Suddenly the words that he had spoken in February took on greater urgency and importance. "Paul," I said, "what do you mean by that? Do you mean revived people or revived churches? Or both? Paul responded, "I mean both." " In Summary, Paul Cain prophesied: o The "first shot" of revival would come to England in October of 1990 Wimber was impacted by the gravity of the word and had to wrestle with believing if revival would or would not break out in 1990... Later John came to believe it would and to commit himself and the Vineyard to this word. Prophetic Honeymoon: The Vineyard had been enjoying a prophetic honeymoon from 1989 onward: After the 1989 pastor's conference there was a general renewal in the movement and in the individual lives of the Vineyard. Bill Jackson remembers coming home and pursuing God more ardently than at any other time in his life. Wimber had new hope for the church and his health eventually improved. God also used Bob Jones to bring John's son, Sean, to repentance. One day Bob Jones showed up at the Wimber's house and told John that he was there to see Sean. John told Bob that he did not understand what Bob was doing because Sean did not live there anymore and would not be coming home anytime soon. Suddenly, there was Sean and Bob delivered his word and it broke Sean's heart and opened him up to repent before the Lord. Sean became reconciled with his family. In the fall of 1989 there was a conference on Prophecy and in January a Massive conference on Holiness that ran for 2 separate weeks with 5,000 attendees each. Wimber began to extensively share the podium with Cain and Bickle. Bob Jones, John Paul Jackson, Jim Goll and Larry Randolf began to travel extensively in the Vineyard. Non-KCF men like Leonard Ravenhill, Rick Joyner, and Francis Frangipane began to travel in the movement also. Bickle began to teach about administrating the prophetic. This was very helpful because many prophetic people started coming out of the closet in their churches at all different levels of maturity. The Honeymoon is Over: The first shot of extreme controversy was fired on Jan 21, 1990 when Ernie Gruen, a local Kansas City Pastor, spent the Sunday morning sermon accusing KCF of all kinds of abuses. In the late 80s Gruen and Bickle had met to address Gruen's concerns and finally Gruen announced, "differences between us are resolved." After this, a sermon tape that accused KCF of false prophecy (esp Bob Jones) was sent around the world. Bickle sent Gruen an open letter and Gruen responded with a 233-page paper entitled "Documentation of the Aberrant Practices and Teaching of Kansas City Fellowship (Grace Ministries)." This indicted Bob Jones (especially) John Paul Jackson and Paul Cain. Wimber jumped in to cut off the controversy's momentum and declared that KCF to be a part of AVC. Bickle had approached Wimber with this idea in May of 1989. He was not seeking shelter from criticisms but wanted to fellowship with the Vineyard. On May 12, 1990 KCF became Metro Vineyard Fellowship. After a meeting on June 12th with Wimber, Cain and Deere, Gruen agreed to stop his attacks. Gruen exonerated Cain from all his previous accusations. He released all responsibility into Wimber's hands. The problems with MVF (Metro Vineyard) and Australia caused Wimber to reconsider his application of the prophetic word to "Turn the other cheek" when attacked. Wimber felt he had to change His stance of’ No Response’ to ‘Clarifying Misunderstanding’. Wimber did correct MVF on these points: o A lack of accountability for prophecy
Later it became public knowledge that Ernie Gruen was in an immoral relationship at the time he was attacking the Kansas City Fellowship! His ministry was eventually discredited. Bickle responded with deep humility and brokenness, despite that he had 'inside' prophetic knowledge that Gruen was having an immoral relationship. To Bickle's credit he never accused Gruen and choose rather to let the Lord bring judgment. Wimber did some disciplining of Bickle before 7,000 people at MVF's annual conference in 1991. Bickle repented and outlined 4 immediate adjustments in MVF: o The 'City Church' teaching - he realized he should have emphasized unity through Relational Lines rather than through governmental structure
George Mallone - writes hopefully about the merger between AVC and MVF... citing several differences: 1 Indicatives vs Imperatives Indicatives - statements of facts... "Christ died for your sins..." verses Imperatives - commands i.e. "repent...." Vineyard had always put Imperatives 1st and then lead to Indicatives... "Christ has died for you .... so repent." This caused Vineyard to rest in Grace and sometimes tended to be slothful in behavior. KCF on the other hand was serious about Holiness but tended towards legalism. 2 Vineyard was a movement of Pastors and teachers.... vs KCF that was a movement of Prophetic people 3 Historical-grammatical Interpretation of Scripture v.s. an Allegorical Interpretation of Scripture 4 Process v.s. Crisis: Process - "I am finding it" vs Crisis "I have found it!" Renewal vs Revival. Reformed v.s. Armenian Vineyard was all about going out and serving people now and plundering the enemy's camp now. KCF was waiting / praying and preparing for the Big Bang of Revival yet to come. 5 Wholeness vs Holiness
Did Revival Come in England during October of 1990? Wimber prepared his people and fully embraced the hope that this was it: "This week is the most crucial moment in the Vineyard. It is the most important task in VCF history. If we have success here, it will give us momentum for the next two decades. Our future could pivot on this conference.... All we have done in the last ten years has been preliminary for this very moment. We have been setting the stage for this week since we began. This is the time for each of us to do our jobs!" The conference was powerful indeed.... very powerful, but not beyond everyone's wildest dreams.... Expectations were very high. Bickle tried to clear up Paul's word about "tokens of revival." Paul was shocked when he read the brochures that quoted him as saying that "revival" and not "tokens of revival" would occur at this meeting. In the end Paul realized he was going to have to pay the bill on this one. There was tremendous power but few creative miracles. John, soon afterwards, admitted that he disagreed with Cain's exhortation to "come outside the camp," i.e. to leave the Evangelical church and rally together. John's call was TO the church, not outside of it. Paul eventually agreed that this word was 'out of season.' Paul Cain delivered the word to MVF about not losing the lay ministry of everyday people to do the work of the Kingdom when all the 'gifted' prophetic people show up. MVF was making adjustments. Wimber and Cain began to go in different directions and preach in different circles. Bickle remained in the Vineyard but some were telling him to pursue his own directions outside of the Vineyard. Wimber did not have vision for Vineyard during this time. No one knew what Vineyard 2 was going to look like. Someone Wimber trusted gave him a world that if he would spend less time with the prophets and more time with the Vineyard, he would get the direction for the movement. He discovered that of the Vineyard: 25% were for the prophetic He also discovered that some of the churches were no longer willing to pay the price they originally had to "do the stuff." There was a definite move away from encouraging a full display of the gifts of the spirit. It was hard to remain open to spiritual gifts while at the same time being effective in evangelism. AVC council meeting in Dec of 1991 Direction was decided on and it was evangelism and church planting... focusing on the 10,000 churches. There were now 300 churched and many were overseas in Europe. The decision was also made to birth World Missions. Revival Fires Conference, Anaheim 1991 There were good conferences but revival did not break out. In the winter of 91 issue of Equipping the Saints - Wimber addressed revival. He also exonerated Paul Cain and clarified the "tokens" of revival communication. Snoqualmine Falls, Washington, May 1991 Decision to make a direct move away from the prophetic. Secondly they confirmed the choice to Church Plant. Thirdly the Pioneers / Homesteaders test was dealt with by the board. Several original Calvary Pioneers stepped down and let the new Homesteader men and pastors take their places: within a year these left: Kenn Gulliksen These 4 were all original Calvary Chapel pastors. Jackson also comments that at this point he realized that many of them in Vineyard had gotten caught up in the elitist tendencies and apocalyptic fervor that were common IMMATURE responses to the prophetic messages. They were often so caught up in looking for the fantastic and extraordinary, the big bang, that it became hard to deal with the merely mundane events of everyday life. John realized that he had been intimidated by the prophet's giftings and had not realized that he had the authority to pastor them (and govern them just like you do teachers or any other leader). Wimber got back to his Reformed foundation. He was just a "fat man trying to get to heaven," precious treasure in clay jars. If God had used him, it wasn't because he had prayed harder than other men. It had been God's sovereign choice. Additionally John had always taught that 'everyone gets to play,' ministry was not just for the dread champions. Part of the Pioneer/Homesteader conflict was centering around how to pastor all the new churches. The Pioneers said, "Can't we just relate to one another?" The Homesteaders said, "We need to organize to support and pastor all the new growth." In the fall of 1991 Bob Jones fell into sexual sin. This seemed to put the nail in the coffin of the prophetic after all of Gruen's accusations. Behind closed doors it became apparent that John had become deeply hurt by the lack of significant revival in London and had become disillusioned. Gordon D. Fee said, "The Charismatic movement would be judged for 2 great sins: 1) The "health and wealth" gospel and 2) for the failure to weigh prophecy. Vineyard was suffering for the latter.
Responsibilities of the Prophet: 1) Learn to receive accurate prophetic words and not add their own 'stuff' 2) Language: to communicate these words as invitations not as the infallible event that would occur. Or if the word is contingent on the recipients response that is important. Conditionality. Learning to defend ourselves from disappointment and disillusionment. 3) The setting : most of these words were given on center stage in front of hundreds or thousands with no time to decide how one felt about the word, how to respond ... neither was their time with the prophetic person later to clarify or process the word. NT prophecy is to be WEIGHED... a major difference between it and OT prophecy ... 4) The prophetic person has to be secure enough to have his words weighed and possibly rejected. 1991 Pastor's Conference This was the biggest pastors conference yet. Wimber introduced the term "Centered Set" to describe the Vineyard. 1 Fuzzy Sets - groups that have no organizational center. A group of little league baseball parents... they have a common interest but no core values define their existence 2 Bounded Sets - groups that have banded together around a common center, but also have clearly defined rules about beliefs and practices. 3 Centered Sets - groups that have joined together a common center articulated by core values. They generally agree on where they want to go and how to get there and who will lead them. However, there is a lot of latitude for collegial disagreement on non-core issues and flexibility in forms. Wimber's Analogy of Trimming Back the Bush: John's highest value in leading the movement was always to obey God within the confines of Scripture as determined by our evangelical hermeneutic. Regarding trends or emphasis that occur, John wanted to generally let them alone until they could be studied biblically and examined for long-term fruit. In describing this philosophy he used the analogy of growing a bush. It s a temptation to trim a bush back too soon before a Gardner knows what he has. This means letting things go for a while, thus having to endure the bush looking messy and untrimmed. Then, when the course the branches are taking becomes clear, that which is unwanted is trimmed back. This allows for more growth in the rest of the plant. In this way the boundaries of our centered set were being defined. The immature way we had responded to the prophetic ministry had all but stopped our forward progress. John also took time to explain why some prophetic words did not come to pass: 1 Sometimes the ministry come from false prophets 2 The message is misinterpreted by the person giving it OR the person receiving it 3 The person receiving the word either responded with a lack of faith or encountered conditions that altered the word's fulfillment. 4 Not enough TIME has passed since the prophecy was given 5 There might be factors that we can't see or we don't understand They also reorganized the Vineyard with APC's (Area Pastoral Coordinators) and RO's (Regional Overseers) and lastly Task Forces for specific needs like Evangelism / Church Planting / World Missions World Missions was birthed in 1991. Missions began with David Owen in South Africa and Lonnie Frisbee Visiting ... then returning to the US on the well remembered Mother's day in 1980. Later in 1981 David Watson gets involved with the Vineyard and so does David Pytches. A team of 30 visit their churches in 1981 from the Vineyard. Lots of ministry came via youth and children which greatly impacted the British clergy and highlighted the Priesthood of All Believers. In 1981, before the 1st team went to England, Bob Fulton had a vision about ministering in the streets of England and saw a whole series of churches popping up. When they told Watson about their desire to plan churches in England, Watson made Wimber promise NOT to plant Vineyards in the UK but to work THROUGH the existing Anglican Churches. In 1984 Watson died, which was another source of deep heartache for Wimber. Once again, the Kingdom is here but also not fully consummated. This said that Vineyard was not part of the Faith movement. It's faith allowed for pain as well as signs and wonders. John Mumford and his wife Eleanor moved to Anaheim wanting to embrace the Vineyard experience and culture. They returned and planted a Vineyard, explaining that they were no longer Anglicans. David Pytches also felt that Watson's view was wrong and encouraged the young churches. This was about 1986. The band on church planting was officially lifted in 1993. Wimber and Bob Fulton are released to focus on international church planting and missions. The board released control of these non-US arenas into their hands. Vineyard Bible Institute is started in 1992. In April of 1993, just before world wide renewal was about to break out in Toronto, Wimber is diagnosed with cancer in the left side of his nose. X-ray and proton radiation ensue. He lost tons of weight and the ability to produce saliva. Carol Wimber (The Way It Was) documents the excruciating pain and suffering that went on with these treatments. John strength, balance and ability to just function as a normal human were greatly harmed. He never had the same stamina after. He began to slowly fade into the background as he gave more authority to the international board. May 16, 1993 Brent Rues dies of cancer. Section 3: The Toronto Blessing
Randy was the Pastor of an American Baptist church in Spillerton, Illinois during which time Randy was filled with the Spirit at a James Robinson conference in 1984. John Wimber was one of the speakers and prophesied over Randy that he was a "Prince in God's Kingdom" and was being called to an apostolic ministry. By "apostolic" John meant "translocal." Shortly after this conference Blaine Cook took a team to Spillerton and the move of God was so strong that it was called the "Spillerton revival." Randy tried to lead his Baptist church into the things of the Spirit, but met much opposition. On a 21 day fast he sensed the Lord speak to him that we was supposed to plan a Vineyard in St. Louis. He worked frying donuts while he planted the church. However, Randy wrote that it seemed to him as if the "Holy Spirit stayed in Illinois." His effort to make the church grow were mostly fruitless. Randy began to move away from power-based ministry and move more towards church growth principles. Randy concedes that there is nothing wrong with church growth principles, but he knows in his heart that he was looking to the wisdom of men and not to God. By July of 1993 he was close to a nervous breakdown and felt like he was barely hanging on. "Job's counselors" were telling him that he needed to pray more and read his Bible more, but he couldn't; he was broken and didn't know what to do to fix it. It is interesting to note here that Randy, later, would say that God chose to use him to spark the Toronto Blessing because he was an ordinary man and a relatively unsuccessful pastor. In the middle of his brokenness a friend called and asked how he was doing. Randy lied and said he was fine. His friend went on to tell Randy of his own problems and how he had been helped by Rodney Howard-Browne. Jeff told Randy to go to a meeting but Randy resisted because he didn't like the "word of faith" teaching. Randy eventually went out of sheer desperation. Randy was exposed to people being massively slain in the Spirit and laughing hysterically. He found himself skeptical, but the Lord nailed him on his bitterness toward the word of faith movement. He then opened himself up for ministry and got in line again and again, being slain in the Spirit repeatedly. Randy felt wonderfully renewed and came home. That 1st Sunday the same phenomena were released in his church. Randy then asked Happy Leman if he could share 5 minutes at the Vineyard’s regional pastors meeting. It turned into several hours of ministry! Randy met John Arnott, next month, at the Vineyard board meeting and later John got Randy to come to Toronto. Randy was nervous about this but Anni Shelton, his worship leader, had a vision of the map of Toronto being set on fire. On the night before the pastors conference God spoke to Carol Wimber and told her that John was to go to the nations to stir up renewal and revival. Carol replied " Lord my husband is sleeping 20-22 hours a day. He has no voice. Tomorrow pastors from all over the world are going to be here, and he won't even be able to participate. If this is indeed your will, touch him tonight. Please give him his voice back, so that he may minister." And that is exactly what the Lord did. When John woke up, he was able to speak and had just enough energy to go and participate in the conference. By October of 1993, the same month Randy was being used by God at the regional conference in the Midwest God had spoken to John 27 times confirming that he should go to the nations. 17 of these were in the context of the Lord saying that this would be a season of new beginnings, "I'm going to start it all over again." What the Lord appeared to mean was that the same anointing that fell on the church in 1980 was going to start all over again. John identified with Abraham and Sarah saying to the Lord, "Shall I have this pleasure in my old age?" The Lord assured him that he would and this reassurance gave life to John. John gave this word at the Board meeting. This was the same meeting where Happy Leman shared with John Arnott about the Midwest Regional meeting with Randy Clark. John Arnott talked to Randy asking him to come to Toronto. On January 6th, 1994 the Holy Spirit spoke the word, "Pentecost" to John Wimber. John asked the Lord what it meant, but got no answer. During the service John has a picture of the young people in a certain order. He asked them to come up and God consumed them with His love and power. That night began an outpouring that lasted for months. Just a few days later Randy was nervously getting his team ready for Toronto afraid that nothing would happen. The night before they left he got a call from Richard Holcomb, "The Lord says to you, Randy, 'Test me now. Test me now. Test me now. Do not be afraid. I will back you up! I want your eyes to be opened as Elisha prayed for Gehazi that you can see into the heavenlies and see my resources for you. And do not become anxious because when you become anxious you can't hear me.' As the team left for a 4 day conference, Randy had no idea that he would be there from Jan 20 to March 26! The first night consisted of 160 people. Randy gave his testimony and many people were slain in the Spirit and getting "drunk" in the Spirit and going into fits of laughter. This happened for the next four days. John Arnott told Randy he couldn't go home. DeAnne, his wife, was home alone with 4 children and they had almost never been apart in 19 years of marriage. He was constantly on the phone with DeAnne extending the time. Finally, the Lord himself gave her assurance through the Scriptures. The church also gave it's blessing, not realizing that it would take Randy out of town for 175 days per year. Services began going on 6 nights a week and service in other churches in nearby cities picked up the movement of the Spirit also. By the 3rd week Randy became distraught over the lack of healing in the services. He went to the Lord about it and got the intercessors at home praying about it. Soon afterwards, during a meeting he felt excruciating pain in his back. Finally he realized that the Lord was giving him a word of knowledge and called people up to pray for back pain in that exact location. The first person Randy prayed for was healed of scoliosis and also of asthma. From that time on healing became a normal part of the renewal. Rob Allen, at that time was one of the national leaders in AVC, had an encounter with the Lord as he prepared to go. The Lord told him, as he was packing a notebook, "If you go to criticize, I will lift y anointing. You go to receive." Ron put the notebook away. God has especially opened doors among the Pentecostals with the outpouring in Toronto. In early Sept of 1995 cumulative attendance (for the last, roughly, year and a half) was about 600,000 ... including 20,000 Christian Leaders and 20,000 first time visitors. Toronto put tape on the floor to show people where to stand for prayer and had catchers for those people if they fell. Vineyard took a distaste to both. One could argue that Toronto was forming structure to facilitate the life that was flowing. Others said this was not 'Vineyard.' Wimber later criticized the catchers because if done improperly, it could create an unconscious feeling that one 'should' fall. Wimber was against that. Holy Laugher was one of the 2 most criticized things in this event. This is funny ( really that is not a joke.... and this is my own input - Chris S - if we can accept a Donkey talking to a prophet, a fish or whale swallowing Jonah, God calling Isaiah to walk NAKED for 3 years to prophesy captivity, God calling Hosea to MARRY a PROSTITUTE (which was unlawful), Jesus spitting on the ground to make mud and put on the Blind guy's eyes to heal him, etc.... etc... etc... even if we reject these, what about believing that a dead guy that had been buried for 3 days came BACK TO LIFE? If we can accept and believe these things..... aren't we being incredibly petty and small objecting to laughter? Just a question..... ) As Paul Cain used to say, "God offends the mind to reveal the HEART." To date no other country has embraced the Toronto Blessing like England (Especially many Anglican churches).Holy Trinity Brompton was deeply affected by the Holy Spirit on May, 1994 and afterwards. The secretary could not even get off the floor and crawled to a phone to give Sandy Miller, the Vicar or priest, a phone call regarding the Presence of God over everyone. "The effect was instantaneous. People fell to the ground again and again. There were remarkable scenes as the Holy Sprit touched all those present in ways few had ever experienced or seen. Staff members walking past the room were also affected. Two hours later some of those present went to tell others in different offices and prayed with them where they found them. They too were powerfully affected by the Holy Spirit.... many falling to the ground. Prayer was still continuing after 5 pm." At 4pm Sandy Miller was at a serious meeting of the Evangelical Alliance when he got an emergency call from the church secretary, Glenda. She briefed him on the events. Sandy remembers the conversation to be something like this: "I said to Glenda, 'Is it good?' 'Yes, it's a very good thing, indeed,' she replied. So I replied, 'What are you doing on the telephone then?' So she said, 'Well I'll tell you.... I have crawled to the telephone on my hands and knees.' So I managed to look solemn for another minute, and I said, 'Thank you very much. I will get back as soon as I can.' Randy Clark would note that 7,000 churches in the UK were affected. History on Wesley Campbell and his team: Previously in December of 1987 Wesley Campbell, Roger Helland, David Ruis, their wives and others of the New Life Fellowship Baptist Church were intensely visited by God. In 1985-86 they were exposed to the ministry of John Wimber and began to hold conferences on the Kingdom of God and pray for a release of power. On that night in 1987 when God manifestly showed up, these people were shaking and speaking in tongues... and these guys were Baptists! Stacy, Wesley's wife, began to rophesy intensely. This soverignly initiation began a learning curve that would teach them how to PASTOR in the midst of revival. Mott Auditorium and Che and Sue Ahn would take off in May, 1995. Melbourne, Florida and the Tabernacle Church of the late Jamie Buckingham would receive an outburst of the Spirit also. Randy Clark had a vision of a tidal wave hitting the Florida coast. Bill Jackson, the author of this book, and Fred Grewe were present during this time. Brownsville, Florida (just outside of Pensacola) w/ John Kilpatrick and w/Steve Hill in June of 1995 took off. By July there were about 4,000 attending nightly being bussed. The meetings would go until 3:00 am in the morning. By August of 1996 (about a year later) over 700,000 people had attended. Randy Clark took a worship team who learned the songs in Russian to Moscow in Oct of 1995. The Russians were floored that Americans had learned the songs in their own language. There was also lots of activity by Holy Spirit in many other areas. Specifically with students at Southwest Baptist seminary, Wheaton College, and Taylor University. Major confession and healing was occurring. In July of 1994 Billy Graham was announcing that, 'America is at the center of a great revival.... I am praying for a new touch of the Holy Spirit.' Bill Bright, president of Campus Crusade for Christ, went on a forty-day fast to pray for revival. This became a world wide prayer movement. In 1983 Bob Jones heard from God that a world wide move of God would begin in 10 years time. It would be global and could crescendo in the end-time move of God. Larry Randolph in 1986 heard the Lord say that He was going to bring the rain of his Spirit on the earth and it would start in embryo form in the Fall of 1993. Wimber has a vision regarding Toronto & the revival: "In the vision the Lord showed me a magnificent mountain lake. Beautiful sunshine reflected off water that was fresh and inviting. The water of the lake spilled over a dam and cascaded into a river and came down the sides of a mountain into a large plain. In the plain there were thousands and thousands of acres of vineyards. I saw men working in the fields, digging irrigation ditches. Then the vision ended. So I said,’ Lord, what does it mean?' In my mind, He gave me, 'The lake is the blessing I'm pouring out. Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it fresh?' I was so touched, I began to cry. He then said, 'The cascading stream is the church. I'm pouring it first into the church.' I wept more. I just thought, 'Oh thank You, Lord. Thank you for the blessing on the church.' Then I saw again how the water came down to the bottom of the mountain into the plain where the workers were tending the irrigation ditches. I recognized these irrigation ditches as ministry to the poor, ministry to the weak, sick, broken and lost. There were different kinds of vineyards with different kinds of fruit growing on the vines. Then He said, 'That's My People. This blessing can either stay in the church, with great meetings that eventually end. Or we can pull the gates up and let the water begin flowing. If you want, you can direct the water, the blessing, into the fields.' I got the clear impression of co-laboring. God was pouring out His blessing. But if we didn't dig the channels, if we don't go out into the highways and by-ways, if we don't put evangelism forward, if we don't do the things God calls us to do, revival won't spread." Randy Clark, on the other hand, did not think we could box it in: "This renewal which God sovereignly chose to birth in Toronto is so much bigger than any one church or any one denomination. Any attempts to box it in will fail and only harm those you try to restrain it." In April of 1994 Wimber had a 'fatherly' talk with Randy warning him 1) not to give up his church, and 2) to pace himself. He expressed genuine concern for Randy's family, telling him that it might not show up immediately, but his traveling could greatly affect his kids in the future. In Reflections magazine in May/June of 1994 Wimber asked that this stage of the Spirit's activity be called a "renewal" instead of "revival" because he said historically revival resulted in mass conversions, increased holiness, societal change, and a fire to fulfill the Great Commission. This seemed more to affect the people already inside the church instead of those outside. However, his preliminary conclusions were that this could be revival but it was just too early to tell. The second item to he highly criticized were peoples reactions to the Spirit of God or the 'manifestations'. Especially those involving actions resembling animals (Lion's roaring, Oxen, ....) Although these were rare in meetings (and most churches reported never having them), because of the strangeness, they brought heavy and intense accusation and criticism. Because of all the conversation about manifestations Wimber looked into principles for judging what Jonathan Edwards called 'affections.' Edwards exhorted his readers of his day to be patient and judge the long-term fruit. Wimber asked the smaller churches to avoid wearing out their people with meetings and asked the larger churches to make sure that their renewal meetings did not override the work of the church. John asked that the renewal stay Christ-centered and not become manifestations-centered. He was concerned about training catchers and putting tape on the floor. He thought that it planted the notion that people should fall, thus putting the emphasis on the manifestations and creating first and second class citizens...i.e., those who experienced manifestations and those who didn't. Reflections July/August 1994 John brought the renewal home to Anaheim w/a Conference called "Let the Fire Fall." About 5,000 attended and afterwards they were flooded with over 1,000 phone calls, letters, faxes, and notes. This was the largest response they had ever gotten from a conference. The communication was both positive and negative. John assured pastors that it was ok to pastor the renewal. It was ok to put a stop to "holy" laughter during the preaching if it was bothersome; it would not be quenching the Spirit to do so. He walked pastors through I Cor 14 where Paul asks for 1) Intelligibility 2) Order and 3) Edification. Not everyone defines ORDER in the SAME way, but however it is defined, as pastors we need to make sure that our people are being edified. Reflections Sept/Oct 1994 John shared insights from counsel gained from noted Pentecostals Jack Hayford and Vinson Synon. John reiterated 6 things that we Vineyard Churches must continually be doing, renewal or not: 1) Teaching the Word Wimber concluded, "In my opinion, any Vineyard pastor who neglects the above to pursue or give too great a place to phenomena long-term is making a potentially fatal mistake as far as that local congregation is concerned." Wimber also quoted Guy P. Duffield saying, "Our message is not the Holy Spirit and his gifts. It is Christ Jesus and His resurrection." Wimber wanted the Vineyard to embrace the present-day ministry of the Spirit ONLY as it is built off the "main and plain" foundation of Jesus. Any other preoccupation with the Spirit's ministry is illegitimate. The first incident of 'animal noise' occurred about 5 months into the renewal. Some have commented that in the renewal people were acting out prophetic messages replicating the movements of these creatures. Actions imitating Lions or Oxen were associated with the Lord driving back the enemy with great strength and power. As stated before, these occurrences were actually rare. However, the furor caused by these bizarre behaviors drove John to call an emergency meeting of the Vineyard board. Randy Clark, John Arnott, and Wes Campbell were invited to Anaheim to meet with the Vineyard's Regional Overseers and key leaders. They were faxed a list of 20 possible items to be discussed, each one addressing the concerns over pastoring the renewal. Todd Hunter said this was the classic tension that existed between the "bishops" and the "charismatically endowed." Randy Clark, who could only stay a couple of days, expressed consternation that most of the discussion centered on the animal noises. These manifestations had not occurred in his meetings and he had what he felt were more pertinent issues to work through. The Regional Overseers, on the other hand, had to come up with a board policy to govern the phenomena because they were devastating some of their churches. Hank Henegraff, The Bible Answer Man, of the Christian Research Institute used his radio broadcast to warn his listeners that the renewal was really a Satanic deception. Hank was a member of Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel. In May of 1995 Lee Grady wrote in Charisma magazine, "Does the Church need Heresy Hunters?" Grady noted that at the time there was a group of 30 former employees who were asking for Hanegraff's resignation because he has violated ethical standards and isn't accountable to anyone! The Board Report came out and stated several things - only a few are listed here: o The Vineyard has always tried to "bless what the Father is doing" and will continue to invite the Holy Spirit to come with a willingness to pastor the results Todd Hunter comments: " You may ask, 'In simple terms, what does all the above mean?' It means that it is our desire to embrace all that is good about this renewal while correcting that which is excessive, long-term hurtful or contrary to biblical mandates. We also want to interact with the renewal based on our historical and firmly held vision, mission and purpose... we are committed to "power evangelism," not just "power"; we are committed to "signs and wonders and church growth," not just "signs and wonders." The Lord had clearly instructed us to direct these current blessings into practical activities that will minister to and bless those outside of our churches. It is our hope that every Vineyard pastor will do so through the grace and power of God." James Beverly wrote an article for 'The Canadian Baptist,' and gave a critique of Toronto that had positive as well as negative points: o God's power is exalted over the devil's On the other hand: o He thinks the preaching is notoriously weak - there is a lack of focus on Christ and an over-emphasis on the Spirit. In the end Beverly comments: 'If Toronto is too wild, are not dead and boring services an equal, if not greater, sin? .... If the Holy Spirit is over emphasized, what shall we say against churches that ignore the Spirit?' By March of 1995 Peter Jennings of ABC News did an hour long special called "In the Name of God." He examined Bill Hybel's Willow Creek Community Church, The Vineyard, and the laughing revival under Rodney Howard-Browne. Vineyard let the News team take footage from a service in Anaheim in the face of a 21 year policy to preserve the privacy and intimacy of the worship service. ABC didn’t focus on the main and plain aspects of worship but went for emotional or unusual responses of the people present. Phil Donahue had Toronto leaders on his show. John Arnott's book comes out in 1995 called 'The Father's Blessing.' His desire was to focus the renewal on Jesus and the Father, however his chapter 'The Prophetic: Animal Noises and Insights:' solidified for many on the Board that John was willfully not complying with the Board's 1994 parameters. John Wimber was particularly upset about this book because his name appeared on the back with his endorsement and he had never read or seen this chapter or animal like phenomena. Vinson Synan applauded AVC's desire to stick to the main and plain, not forbidding manifestations but putting them to the side, away from the cross, discipleship, and world evangelization. In early December 1995 the board had made the decision to withdraw its endorsement of the Toronto Airport Vineyard - for 2 reasons: 1) The board's perception was that TAV (Toronto Airport Vineyard) had a different vision and direction from AVC 2) The board felt that TAV was not complying with the 1994 policy decisions, demonstrating that the AVC board members were not their leaders. Wimber later said that the AVC could no longer endorse what it no longer had authority over. Given these 2 factors, AVC was going to set TAV free to pursue its own direction and values. When they met with TAV on Dec 5th the Toronto leaders were shocked having thought Wimber was coming to work things out.... not step away from them. AVC also contacted Wes Campell and his church, because of their close association w/TAV, and told them what was occurring the day before. Wimber said that the Board and leaders of AVC had contacted and communicated with TAV, but had gone unheeded and that lack of response led to this current separation. TAV on the other hand objected saying that they had no idea that the Board felt that strongly and that this would be the next step. TAV delivered a letter to Wimber's hotel in 2 hours accepting the choice of the Board and asking for the Vineyard's blessing. Within a week, however, TAV was preparing to appeal the decision. They believed on the basis of Matt 18:15-17 that they were deprived of due process - that steps along the way had been skipped and this was too sudden . Wimber admitted that there had been flaws in the process and that communication had been mixed. However he was not willing to concede that there had not been enough clear, unambiguous communication or that the resulting course of action had not been warranted. In a memo to the board, Todd wrote: "For what it's worth, my reading is that this is very sad for both parties, but that the separation was inevitable. Furthermore, they are glad to be rid of restraints that we put on them, and we are relieved not to have to answer for the excesses any more." While the Vineyard Regional Overseers made the decision to refrain from teaching in Toronto and hosting Toronto-style meetings, Todd made it clear that TAV was not being 'black-balled.' 40 churches left Vineyard to follow TAV. Randy Clark, still in the Vineyard, expressed how hurt he was y the suddenness of it all ad the allegations that Toronto was not 'Vineyard.' Don Williams had sent an 11th hour appeal to the board in the form of a single long fax, to defend Toronto as begin quintessential Vineyard. The board never saw the fax until later. Ted Haggard, pastor of a 5,000 member church in Colorado felt an urgent impression from the Lord to visit TAV on Dec 5th at his own expense. That day he learned of the board's decision and felt the Lord had sent him there to address this issue and work towards reconciliation. He also enlisted the help of Jack Hayford. Haggard challenged the process and called for an improved model. He suggested a panel of 5 men to work on this present decision. Later after a meeting with Wimber, Haggard said Wimber told him he was 'finished' and 'tired' and rejected the offer on the table. Wimber and his son Chris had both been fighting cancer, and AVC had been taking the heat for Toronto for 2 years. Wimber spent the next 2 issues of Reflections trying to explain why AVC withdrew it's endorsement from TAV. At the time of this writing, Randy Clark, Wes Campbell, and David Ruis are still in the Vineyard. Randy had his associate Fred Grewe had continued traveling the world, but not in Vineyard circles. Audiences are mostly Pentecostal and Charismatic. Randy said to Bill Jackson that he feels that Vineyard is reverting back to it's Calvary Chapel roots out of embarrassment for the Holy Spirit's ministry. Other's would look at the lack of evangelism in the Vineyard's renewal history and see our current stance as coming back in-balance. No sooner had the Toronto dust settled than the question of Mike Bickle's status in the Vineyard surfaced. By mid-1996 Bickle stepped away from the Vineyard. Two years previous to this, Rick Olmstead, the RO for Bickle's geographic area, had a dream - considering the nature of the dream it is unusual because he does not move prophetically. In his dream he found himself in the main MVF facility All through the building the signs read 'Vineyard.' He felt assured that Metro was really now in the movement. For some reason he felt himself go into the basement, and there, etched in the concrete foundation were the words, 'Kansas City Fellowship.' John Wimber told Christianity Today that the Vineyard had been asking Metro Vineyard for 6 years to withdraw from the Vineyard but they refused on the grounds that they felt called to be in the 'Vineyard.' On the eve of MVF annual June Conference, Mike said he received words independently from 5 different sources telling him that he needed to overcome his fear of leading out ad he must again trumpet the divinely entrusted 4 banner themes of the church. During the conference Rich Nathan delivered a message about David's wife, Michael, who despised her husband out of her prideful concerns for her own reputation. God busted Mike as he saw that he was, also, concerned over his own reputation. The next day Paul Cain met privately with Mike and with deep compassion delivered a word to Mike to repent over a divided heart. Out of fear of losing key relationships, Mike says that he had not been faithful to the message that God had given him. Two days later Tri Robinson spoke on Gideon blowing the trumpet of God at a time of bondage and compromise in the heart of God's people. Tri had no idea that this same passage had been given to Mike as his inaugural sermon at the church. To top it off, Mike says he received 3 prophetic dreams that week that confirmed all that God was trying to say. Bickle wrote the Executive counsel and challenged them about cross-pollinating with the 4 banner themes of MVF. Additionally he asked Vineyard to revisit 3 unresolved issues: 1 - The possibility that Holy Spirit was not fully satisfied with the way AVC governed the Toronto Blessing. In another letter Mike and his prophetic team brought up 5 insights regarding AVC. They believed the Vineyard had: 1 - A spirit of slumber
On July 11, 1996 Wimber wrote the Executive Council recommending that: 1 - They not call a special meeting of the Council In July Rick Olmstead met with Bickle and his team. After the meeting it became clear that the Vineyard was not willing to meet the conditions articulated, nor did they believe the prophetic words about AVC were of God. In the light of AVC's decision, Mike Bickle and his church withdrew from the Association of Vineyard Churches on Aug 8, 1996. John Wimber, having suffered over the years from angina, cancer, and a stroke, incurred a massive brain hemorrhage the evening of November 16, 1997 after a fall in his house while still recovering from heart by-pass surgery. He passed away peacefully at 8:00 a the following morning in the presence of his family. He was 63 years old. Todd prepares to talk with the Board. He considers "apostolic networks" as a future model for the Vineyard. Groups of churches relating to a leader. He calls Steve Sjogren, John Arnott, and Bickle and offers this to them. None of them are interested. Bill Hybels tells Todd to 'just lead.' Todd presents the board with the Columbus Accord on April 20th, 1998 (restructuring program) and lets Todd lead the Vineyard. Todd transitions the movement through Wimber's death and then steps down and out of Leadership to disciple other young pastors in church planting and community. As of 1998 there were 449 churches in the US and 370 churches internationally.
(Me -Chris) I think it is incredibly important to note 2 items here. During the Prophetic period 1988-1991 there is relatively little increase in the number of churches. (Now this may be due to internal growth and strength and will result in outward growth later or it may just represent stagnation). The second period I want to point out is the jump in International church planting from 1993- present-1998…. Right during the Toronto Blessing the International Church plants go through the roof! Interesting isn’t it. The Domestic Churches did not see much of a numeric growth until a little spurt in 1998. I wonder if Toronto really did spark revival? Questions? Comments? Email me at ChrisSarris@hotmail.com |
