Monday 25 August 2014

Altar Calls, Fire Tunnels, and Congregational Touches of God

I'm excited about sharing point six - something which I think can result in seeing greater moves of God's Spirit in some of our meetings.

Five common ways of ministering the Spirit in a public meeting which many of us are already quite familiar with include:

1. The Word.

The Holy Spirit can fall on a congregation while the Word is being spoken. But a disadvantage is that while the Word is being spoken, some people may not be open to receiving or manifesting the Spirit. Sometimes it wouldn't be appropriate for them to manifest while the Word is being spoken, other times it's entirely appropriate.

2. Music
It can help the ministry of the Spirit tremendously. People feel that they have more permission to yield to the touch of the Spirit while music is being played than they might while the Word is being spoken.

A disadvantage is in knowing what to do once the Spirit starts touching people. The tendency is to keep playing music, or to start playing louder, rather than sensitively assist what the Spirit is doing. If the music dominates too much, people tend to sing along rather than receive something different to the song. It can also stop the move of God from spreading around a room, because if it remains the dominant sound, it stops the sounds of people being touched by God from becoming the dominant sounds, which doesn't help it spread wider in the congregation.

3. Altar calls.

Altar calls and prayer lines are one way to let the touch of God come more directly into focus than it might be during congregational singing.  

There is usually room for those who come forward to remain on the floor and receive a prolonged touch of God.

A possible disadvantage though is that those who don't come forward might become not much more than spectators, especially if the band keeps playing loudly, because it means the congregation doesn't really get to hear and be edified by what God is doing in or through those who have gone forward.

So altar calls are edifying for the individual who goes forward, but the edification doesn't always spread to those beside him or to the congregation as a whole.

4. Encouraging the congregation to break into groups and lay hands on each other.

This is one way to get more people involved in receiving and giving of the Spirit. But it doesn't necessarily facilitate those times when Holy Spirit wants to move like a wave through a whole congregation, or when He wants to manifest through two or three for the whole congregation's edification.

5. Fire tunnels.

Fire tunnels is one way to allow the touch of God to come on almost the entire congregation as a whole. Most people tend to walk fairly quickly through the tunnel - in fire tunnels the majority don't usually seem to receive the type of touch of God where they end-up on the floor and stay there for a significant period of time under the work of the Spirit - most people manage to walk all the way through quite quickly. So an advantage is that a large number of people can be prayed for. 

But a disadvantage can be just that - that most people don't usually seem to stay on the floor under the Spirit for long. If they did, the fire tunnel would no longer be a feasible way to minister to a whole congregation because eventually no-one else would be able walk through the tunnel for all the people already lying on the floor. Not that being on the floor is always a prerequisite for God working in us of course.

Another disadvantage is that in a large crowd, fire tunnels might not make optimal use of time. If there are say a thousand people to be prayed for, it could take over an hour for everyone to walk through, yet each person might spend only about two minutes in the tunnel and the rest of the time they might not be much more than spectators, except to sing along with the band. 

It also doesn't necessarily facilitate those times when God wants to minister to the whole congregation spontaneously through two or three people who have been touched.

So imagine if there was a way where a whole congregation can be touched - with very few being mere spectators or just singing along - where everyone can spend the whole time being touched by God - the type of touch where many end up on the floor for a long period of time - and it begins spreading around the whole congregation as everyone hears the sounds and sights of everyone else also being filled with God - and then if God wills, two or three feel free to get up off the floor filled with God and spontaneously begin to minister the Spirit to the rest of the congregation either with tongues, or interpretation, or prophecy, or sharing a vision they've seen, or laying hands on others, resulting in the move of God going to whole new levels in the meeting due to the move of God being the dominant sound and focus in the meeting, with nothing else dominating or hindering (such as music, or preaching, or some other part of the program). From time to time we want to see time allocated in the meetings for this. I'm excited therefore to encourage this next approach...

6. ...Have times when you simply invite the whole congregation to begin to receive, in their seats.

If you hear a few people begin to be touched - let's say you hear a few people begin to laugh in the Spirit - simply encourage the rest of the congregation to receive as well. And then let it roll, for twenty or forty minutes or even an hour or for however long an altar call or fire tunnel would have taken.

Advantages include:

Everyone in the room immediately becomes a candidate to be touched by God, not just those who respond to an altar call; and

Everyone can be under the touch of God for the whole time, not just for the minutes that they're walking through a tunnel.

And it can be that deep touch of God where many people end up on the floor for a long time, without it meaning that they get in the way of others having room on the floor to be touched too.

I've seen the move of God instantly go to another level in a meeting through doing this.

But in doing this, there is something else - something important - which we can also do to help the touch of God spread to the whole congregation. It is something else which, if we do it, it can give the opportunity for the move of God to deepen and to also result in edification for the whole congregation rather than just for the individuals receiving it. And that is to stop the music (or at least quieten it right down). 

The reason this helps so much is because whenever music plays loudly, it tends to dominate the atmosphere of the meeting no matter how God might be touching people, whereas if the music has been stopped (or at least quietened right down) then what dominates the atmosphere of the meeting is the sounds of people being touched by God - and then it spreads like dominos. Somehow it helps others to receive when the dominant sound they can hear is the sound of others being touched. It's because the move of God becomes more of the focus. People get more of an expectancy to receive.

Sometimes even having music playing quietly doesn't help what the Spirit might be wanting to do during such times in a meeting. For example, if music isn't playing, then the mood of the meeting is set by whatever manifestations the Spirit is bringing through whomever He is touching, but if music is being played, even if it's being played softly, then the atmosphere of the meeting is still influenced to some extent by the musician's choice of song, and by the mood of his or her choice of song, even if what the Holy Spirit might be wanting to say or do has a different mood.

Sometimes it's therefore good to stop the music altogether (or at least quieten it right down) and let the move of God dominate the meeting and also the mood.

(A musician usually has the gift of what the Bible calls the ministry of helps, and helps is not at the top of the list of ministry functions which Paul said God has set in the church. That means a musician is meant to help along the other manifestations and functions of the Spirit in a meeting, not to dominate them.)

If not much is happening in the congregation, then we can either lay hands on people, or have the congregation lay hands on each other, or sing some songs or go ahead and preach the Word, as God leads. But much of the time many people all over the congregation will begin to be touched by God. Then once God has finished touching everyone, the music can start up again - and by this time the congregation will really have something to celebrate and to sing about! That's the time in a meeting when it's appropriate for music to be the dominant sound again.

Another reason why it's sometimes good to stop (or at least quieten) the music for a while is because the move of God in a meeting isn't just about personally receiving from the Spirit - sometimes it's also about people ministering to the congregation out of the touch of the Spirit they just received.

After a congregation has been ministered to by God's Spirit, I've often seen it happen that after everyone else has picked themselves up off the floor, two or three people will remain under the Spirit, then they will get up off the floor and spontaneously begin to speak with tongues and interpret, or prophesy, or share a vision, or go around laying hands on people. This takes the meeting to a whole new level. You don't get to experience this if the stage dominates, or through altar calls and fire tunnels.

The move of God in a meeting would be unlikely to deepen to this stage if the music from the stage had been the dominant sound the whole time, because those two or three people might be reluctant to try to lift their voices over the sound of the band. Sometimes the people God chooses to use might not be leaders, or might be people who would not be comfortable asserting themselves over the program of a meeting. So if the stage isn't dominating loudly, then they are more likely to step out and be used by God.

I've seen waves of tears, and then laughter, and then deliverance, and visions and tongues and interpretations and prophecy and discerning of spirits sweep over whole congregations. These waves were able to spread to the whole congregation because the music from the stage wasn't allowed to dominate. In fact the music had stopped altogether because the worship leader herself had fallen under the power of God then eventually the musicians themselves also came under the touch of the Spirit and couldn't play anymore (a video of part of one such meeting can be seen here). But if the musicians hadn't come under such a touch and stopped playing, in that occasion I would have asked them to stop singing and playing anyway, in order to facilitate rather than to create an obstacle for the stronger manifestations which I knew God was wanting to bring into that meeting.

I explain it this way. It's very hard to sing and drink a glass of water at the same time. Singing and music is an entirely different function to receiving from the Spirit of God. And most of the time when a band is playing loudly, the tendency is for the congregation to try to sing along, rather than to be absorbed with receiving the touch that the Holy Spirit might be wanting to bring to them and then through them for the congregation to hear.

Other times the Lord indeed wants to use music to minister to people to the congregation. So of course each occasion is different, so we need to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit wants to do on any given occasion. But I've seen an increase in the manifestations of the Spirit through stopping (or at least quietening the music) and then encouraging the whole congregation to receive in their seats without giving an altar call or doing a fire tunnel. I do think this can help sometimes.

Try it sometime, if you feel led. When you see people beginning to be touched, open it up for the whole congregation, by suspending the music or other aspects of the program, and encourage them all to begin receiving. Watch it spread. Then allow it to deepen to the next level where the congregation as a whole gets to hear and receive some spontaneous ministry through two or three who have also been touched.

Every time I've encouraged people to try this, they reported that exciting things were poured out in their meeting.  I've seen it spill out into the community in revival, affecting homes, schools, universities and places of business. 

Let me know what happens!

No comments:

Post a Comment