Are you ready for a new move? In March of 2000 Volume 5, Issue 3 - Inner-City Christian Discernment Minstiry in Detroit, Michigan wrote a research "A Very Close Look At The "God Chasers", a book written by Tommy Tenney and in conclusion they write: "I admit these have been strong words, but I refuse to even attempt to be "politically corret" regarding what can only be considered spiritual poison.
"Charismatic believers in general have always been seeking the next "move" of the Spirit or a higher "level" in God because their current practices and experiences do not satisfy their souls. This spiritual ennui is now transpiring as the Toronto / Pensacola phenomena is quickly winding down. Various leaders have been sticking their spiritual fingers in the air seeing which way the wind of the Spirit is now blowing. I believe that Tenney's book about striving to manifest a mystical presence and experience a non-biblical pseudo-intimacy with God is part of the "next move."
Tenney is on the cover of the March Charisma magazine, which automatically gives his book global exposure and carries the charismatic imprimatur. He has already been making the "revival rounds." The Toronto web has picutres of him teaching at TACF (http://www.tacf.org). There are now a myriad of web sites pushing his book and threads of God Chasers sharing their experiences.
Tenney has no obvious love or even deep appreciation for the Bible, this apparent from his many snide comments regarding Scripture. He comes from a cultic background, which he has never formally renounced and he is promoting experiences which God has never promised to grant His people.
The growing popularity of his book is further proof that many of God's people lack a solid biblical foundation in their lives. This lack of doctrinal understanding has left them open to spiritual deception. Contrary to Mr. Tenney's views the God of the Bible has never promised to grant us deep and individual "God encounters" of such a variety that the lost will be saved by our mere presence. The Lord Jesus said in John 20:29 that it was more blessed to believe and not to have seen (experienced).
I enjoy spiritual experiences as much as the next person, but I do not "live" for them, nor actively seek them out. God has not promised them to me as part-and-parcel of my daily Christian walk. The New Testament neither commands nor recommends us to seek His "manifest presence." The NT does not mention the "presence" of God in the present tense at all. Nor does the Bible command us to attempt to generate an atmosphere where He is "welcome," which is common in many charismatic groups. I speak from ministry experience when I say that almost all of our worship was geared towards attempting to create an atmosphere for God's Spirit to move in (former Charismatics). Benny Hinn has stated this exact sentiment regarding his "miracle crusades" in several televised interviews.
I believe the Word of God is totally a sufficient guide by which we can know our God. It is a false distinction to teach that some Christians only know about God and other Christians actually know Him. I would rather know Him according to His Word than according to subjective experiences, that once embraced are hard to dislodge.
Tenney is simply another extremist pied-piper leading people away from a simple and pure faith in the written Word of God. All he offers in place of the old "dusty old love letters" is an invitation to seek paranormal mystical experiences. He is a blind guide who is mileading many people by diverting them away from the only true way to know the Lord, the Bible, into uncharted regions ruled by demonic forces.
There is nothing wrong with seeking God. All of us should have a passion for our Lord and we all, myself most definitely included, should be more zealous for Him and His people. Yet we must make sure that our zeal is according to biblical knowledge. If our zeal is without knowledge than it is nothing but excited ignorance.
The Church does not need an "out of control revival" (p.71), what we do need are people who are doers of the Word, not people seeking something beyond the Word of God. We do not need present truth (there is no such thing), we need to be obedient to the faith once delivered to the saints.
Tenney is a false teacher dangling the proverbial carrot-on-a-stick in front of the eyes of those who have cast aside the sure anchor of their souls. Let us be sure to pray that Tenney truly encounters the God of the Bible to such a degree that he will renounce his errors and publicly repent of misleading God's people. Please pray for those who have been taken in by his false concepts, may our Lord graciously bring them back to a biblical understanding of who He really is. (If you wish to have copy of the newsletter Truth Matters, March 2000, please email us with your address so we can mail it to you.)
The Inkhorn Newsletter had this to say: "The Assembly of God leadership has ignored the warnings and the questions of conservatives, both in and out of the Assemblies. But the divisive and nagging questions will not disappear. What is disappearing is a growing number of discouraged, disenchanted and disenfranchised believers from the ranks of the Assemblies of God. Unless the Assemblies of God leaders forsake their current direction and get back to the old paths (Jeremiah 6:16) of biblical Christianity - that is, back to sound doctrine and biblical precedent for manifestations - they may find themselves leading a numerically large fellowship, but one that is spiritually weak, spiritually immature and spiritually decimated by experiential religion. What a tragedy that will be! Because of Jesus, Larry.
Now what brought this up since the article was written a year ago. We received a flyer in the mail advertising:
Raising Up A Generation of God Chasers! Purchas the New Curriculum of 13 or 52 weeks - $119 / $446 - This new curriculum is intended for kids from 10 - 14 years old.
We have hired Stephen Yake to produce 12 icebreaker drama skits on video for this curriculum. Stephen does all of Carman's music videos and has received 12 Dove Awards. Mark Harper Ministries.
Scripture he uses: pardon me, it is not Scripture, only looks like it the way its written.
"What if we could raise up a generation of children who would not backslide or rebel against God." Don't know where that comment was made.
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