Evangelist Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of the late Reverend Billy Graham, says God has spoken to her. His message came to her through her experience as a cancer patient. She has drawn the conclusion that since she was born one week after the modern state of Israel was established, that her life is prophetically entwined with national events of the modern state of Israel. God has spoken to her about Israel through her recent recurrence of breast cancer. She believes that through drawing a correlation between her experience and passages in the Bible she can "hear God's voice." In other words, through contemplating the patterns and events of her life and being sensitive to impressions she can perceive a Revelation from God, which can be a source of divine personal guidance or even prophetic revelation for the church. Here is what she says God is telling her:
At 70 years of age, why did I come down with cancer? My cancer is potentially fatal. It struck swiftly and unexpectedly. It required immediate, prompt, drastic surgery and follow-up treatments that include chemotherapy and radiation. Through our prayers and God’s answers, I believe I will be victorious over it. But the word of the Lord has come to me, Anne, what do you see? As I have contemplated the answer in light of my present circumstances, I have wondered…Could it be there is more to my cancer at the age of 70 than just a random coincidence?...For years I have believed that my life was entwined with the nation of Israel. I was born one week to the day after her rebirth. We are both 70 years old. Could it be that God has given me a message for her that I am living out in my own experience? This is what I seem to see…The warning I feel deep within is that Israel is in danger of a surprise attack in this, her 70th year. This is the message God has placed on my heart for her, “Even now”, declares the Lord, “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning…” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows but that he may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing…[5]
These kinds of notions are as common in the church today as hymnals were two decades ago. Since the publication of Henry Blackaby's EXPERIENCING GOD series, the Renovare movement and the contemplative prayer movement, many Christians make important life transforming decisions based on what they perceive to be revelatory experience. They look for ways to infer a correlation between life experience and something they see in scripture. Or sometimes they draw conclusions from their feelings and impressions and believe "God" has spoken directly to them without any Biblical correlation. If their resolutions lead to "tranquility," then they are certain the leading is from God. If the results are disquieting then they doubt that "God is in it." God's voice is heard in internal spiritual impression which affirms that their attitudes and actions are the product divine revelation. They have heard God's voice.
While some would openly say we know God's will by "looking for what He is doing and joining him," as a formula for "hearing God's voice," others assert that a failure to heed these private revelations is equivalent to disobeying a specific command of scripture. Does God guide us through private revelations and personal experience as certainly as he does through scripture? While I have seen people who have attributed their blessings and success to these "word[s] from the Lord." I have also seen great dysfunction and damage and evil evil committed under the justification "God told me to do" it.
My observation is that God is faithful and His Word is true. That when we faithfully follow his Word we experience his purpose for our lives. God's Word never fails:
A faithful disciple can live confidently trusting the Word of God. When one regularly looks to the Word of God for guiding principles, God will regularly engage and guide her everyday experience in vital and meaningful ways.
The Holy Spirit guides our experience individually and directly. God never disappoints; however, many today seem to process their experience through searching out scriptures that affirms what their impression is of the divine purpose for their lives. In other words the word of God is validated in their life because of experiences which they believe are God directed. As a former pastor and now a chaplain I often encounter people who find blessing in these spiritual experiences and who accomplish "great things for the kingdom of God," unfortunately just as often I find sincere people convinced that God has told them to make a certain decision or action who fail destructively and sometimes bring disgrace to the name of God and hinder the progress of his kingdom.
A sincere conviction that God is leading us can be misconstrued. It is possible to be sincerely wrong. When someone tells me that "God told them to do something" I dare not diminish their experience; who am I to say whether God spoke? However, I am skeptical when he seems to speak inconsistently. When my sense or impression of God's leading is different then theirs whose revelation is authentically from God? If what God is saying to me is different from what God is saying to you, then either one of us is wrong or we both are? How do we discern truth in the face of what may seem to be contradictory revelation."[3] His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, [4] by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:3–4 ESV)" God has given us his promise, his revelation to lead us to "life and godliness." Is their a difference between revelation and sincere conviction? How do we distinguish between sincere conviction and divine revelation? This post in the first in a series on understanding divine personal guidance? Does God lead us through private revelation or Spirit lead scripturally based discernment?
A second conviction is that our experience must never be dismissed. A faithful follower of Christ will have a relationship with God that is one of both of the head and the heart, that is based on good exegesis and sound theology but also is rich in emotion, passion, and divine intervention. Jesus said so himself:
Yet the Bible warns about an ungrounded zeal. Loving God is a matter of both heart and head. The heart cannot accept what the mind rejects. Paul said that what prevented the Jews from recognizing Jesus as Messiah was a misplace zeal. In other words, they did not understand what God was communicating to them through their rich covenental relationship. "[2] For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:2 ESV)"
While some of us have defining life transforming experiences in which we encounter God in new and vital ways, others find Christ in the pursuit of truth and gain a new perspective or insight that is equally as transforming. The tendency is to assume your experience validates the revelation. When you discover a new insight that transforms your belief and behavior you tend to appraisal all behavior by your insight. Human nature causes us to want our closest friends and family to find the same vitality of experience or everyone or to assure they embrace the same theology we do. What we fail to realize is the neither the knowledge or the experience is the substance of the relationship. Jesus spoke to the issue himself:
A faithful follower of Christ loves the Lord his God with "heart and mind;" she worships him in both "spirit and truth." Unless we understand the spiritual dimension of the truth we will mis the moments of divine intervention in our lives. If we fail to discern our experience through the lens of scripture we risk a misplaced zeal that can be dangerous. The purpose of these next few posts will be to help us be able to worship in both "spirit and truth;" only then will we be able to recognize God's voice.
There is absolutely no basis in scripture for Mrs. Lotz to believe that her life is somehow a prophetic revelation of the destiny of Israel. Yet we would be remiss to discount the lessons she has learned as she has engaged Christ through her cancer. The question becomes what transferable life lesson she has God taught her. There is little doubt that God calls upon his people to pray for the peace of Israel. This would have been true regardless of what had happened with Mrs. Lots. There is no new truth in her experience that adds to or takes away from that scripture, nor is there anything particularly that helps us to understand what relationship those commands have to the 21st century Israeli nation. There is nothing in her experience that any believer may not have discerned from the study of scripture. There is much in her experience that affirms the reality of God's promises for the sick and suffering, and that gives other humans confidence that God is faithful.
This is the essence of what I believe people misunderstand. I believe we will show that while God is engaged in our lives in vital ways and often guides us individually, while our experience affirms God's faithfulness and his direction, it reveals no new truth content. Experience affirms our faith. It does not bring new truth content. I am a weak finite human. Sometime I need affirming experiences, but I must be careful to draw propositional truth from experience or to seek to "join what God is doing." God is at work whether we see his actions or not. Revelation is true regardless of our experience. As the reformer John Owen said.
[45] Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. (Joshua 21:45 ESV)
[10] “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
[11] so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
(Isaiah 55:10–11ESV)
[24] He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESV)
A faithful disciple can live confidently trusting the Word of God. When one regularly looks to the Word of God for guiding principles, God will regularly engage and guide her everyday experience in vital and meaningful ways.
The Holy Spirit guides our experience individually and directly. God never disappoints; however, many today seem to process their experience through searching out scriptures that affirms what their impression is of the divine purpose for their lives. In other words the word of God is validated in their life because of experiences which they believe are God directed. As a former pastor and now a chaplain I often encounter people who find blessing in these spiritual experiences and who accomplish "great things for the kingdom of God," unfortunately just as often I find sincere people convinced that God has told them to make a certain decision or action who fail destructively and sometimes bring disgrace to the name of God and hinder the progress of his kingdom.
A sincere conviction that God is leading us can be misconstrued. It is possible to be sincerely wrong. When someone tells me that "God told them to do something" I dare not diminish their experience; who am I to say whether God spoke? However, I am skeptical when he seems to speak inconsistently. When my sense or impression of God's leading is different then theirs whose revelation is authentically from God? If what God is saying to me is different from what God is saying to you, then either one of us is wrong or we both are? How do we discern truth in the face of what may seem to be contradictory revelation."[3] His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, [4] by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:3–4 ESV)" God has given us his promise, his revelation to lead us to "life and godliness." Is their a difference between revelation and sincere conviction? How do we distinguish between sincere conviction and divine revelation? This post in the first in a series on understanding divine personal guidance? Does God lead us through private revelation or Spirit lead scripturally based discernment?
A second conviction is that our experience must never be dismissed. A faithful follower of Christ will have a relationship with God that is one of both of the head and the heart, that is based on good exegesis and sound theology but also is rich in emotion, passion, and divine intervention. Jesus said so himself:
[35] And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. [36] “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” [37] And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the great and first commandment. (Matthew 22:35–38 ESV)
[29] Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [30] And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Mark 12:29–30 ESV)
[25] And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” [26] He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” [27] And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” [28] And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:25–28 ESV)
[20] In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. [21] Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:20–21 ESV)There is no doubt that a disciple of Christ will experience a vital engaged loving relationship with Christ, and that the Father will manifest himself through the Holy Spirit in her experience. A ritualized Worship based on an esoteric theology offers little to improve the daily life of the individual; it is Pharisaical. Jesus opposed that (John1:17 ESV). The scriptures makes very clear that God engages with our spirit in ways that give us a sense of confidence, direction, and sometimes just brings joy in an otherwise dark time:
[11] And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. [12] And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. [13] And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11–13 ESV)God engaged Elijah in a way that gave him direction and confidence and blessing.
[9] And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” [10] And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16:9–10 ESV)Paul receive direction from a divine vision and changed his plans accordingly.
Yet the Bible warns about an ungrounded zeal. Loving God is a matter of both heart and head. The heart cannot accept what the mind rejects. Paul said that what prevented the Jews from recognizing Jesus as Messiah was a misplace zeal. In other words, they did not understand what God was communicating to them through their rich covenental relationship. "[2] For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:2 ESV)"
While some of us have defining life transforming experiences in which we encounter God in new and vital ways, others find Christ in the pursuit of truth and gain a new perspective or insight that is equally as transforming. The tendency is to assume your experience validates the revelation. When you discover a new insight that transforms your belief and behavior you tend to appraisal all behavior by your insight. Human nature causes us to want our closest friends and family to find the same vitality of experience or everyone or to assure they embrace the same theology we do. What we fail to realize is the neither the knowledge or the experience is the substance of the relationship. Jesus spoke to the issue himself:
[19] The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. [20] Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” [21] Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. [22] You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. [24] God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”[25] The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” [26] Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” (John 4:19–26 ESV)This woman had a life transforming engagement with Jesus Christ, and she immediately asks him about her experience. She asked whether the Samaritans religious experience was superior to the Jews. Jesus says that the Samaritans worship is based on experience whereas the Jews is based on knowledge. Jesus responded that neither was authentic, as both were imbalanced. "[22] You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. [24] God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Authentic worship is a balance of spiritual experience and theological proposition. It is when we get imbalanced that we get off course.
A faithful follower of Christ loves the Lord his God with "heart and mind;" she worships him in both "spirit and truth." Unless we understand the spiritual dimension of the truth we will mis the moments of divine intervention in our lives. If we fail to discern our experience through the lens of scripture we risk a misplaced zeal that can be dangerous. The purpose of these next few posts will be to help us be able to worship in both "spirit and truth;" only then will we be able to recognize God's voice.
There is absolutely no basis in scripture for Mrs. Lotz to believe that her life is somehow a prophetic revelation of the destiny of Israel. Yet we would be remiss to discount the lessons she has learned as she has engaged Christ through her cancer. The question becomes what transferable life lesson she has God taught her. There is little doubt that God calls upon his people to pray for the peace of Israel. This would have been true regardless of what had happened with Mrs. Lots. There is no new truth in her experience that adds to or takes away from that scripture, nor is there anything particularly that helps us to understand what relationship those commands have to the 21st century Israeli nation. There is nothing in her experience that any believer may not have discerned from the study of scripture. There is much in her experience that affirms the reality of God's promises for the sick and suffering, and that gives other humans confidence that God is faithful.
This is the essence of what I believe people misunderstand. I believe we will show that while God is engaged in our lives in vital ways and often guides us individually, while our experience affirms God's faithfulness and his direction, it reveals no new truth content. Experience affirms our faith. It does not bring new truth content. I am a weak finite human. Sometime I need affirming experiences, but I must be careful to draw propositional truth from experience or to seek to "join what God is doing." God is at work whether we see his actions or not. Revelation is true regardless of our experience. As the reformer John Owen said.
