Today as never before believers are allowing themselves to be corralled into canyons of deception with no way out. Signs and wonders and all manner of spectacle are capturing this generation in a deadly snare with eternal consequences. Cloaking itself in liturgical vestments and using encouraging slogans and smooth rhetoric, the spirit of antichrist is drawing undiscerning believers into spiritual encounters that are real and convincing. Letting go of Scripture and embracing the paranormal, many are exchanging faith for experience and truth for a lie (Romans 1:25).
A group of young Christians traveling in Arizona by van were on a prayer trip. The driver sensed angelic beings nearby and knew he had to stop. The driver is quoted to have said
… driving up over Tehachapi Pass and coming down into the Mojave Desert, I began to feel angels. The closer we got, the stronger the impression felt. I could see them everywhere! I announced this to the group and said, 'We have got to stop! We have to stop somewhere...' As we drove around a corner I said, 'I think that we are going to wake up some angels here...' [1]
Wake up angels? Since when did angels sleep, and why in the desert? If this sounds strange, it is. But it gets worse! The driver felt led of God to stop and wake up the angels. As the story unfolds, the driver found just right place, stopped, got out of the vehicle with his fellow travelers, sounded a shofar (they had with them), and hollered, "Wakey Wakey!"
The driver then went on to say:
We got back into the RV and drove off. As we drove off, hilarious laughter broke out! We were stunned at the speed at which this all took place and were spinning from the adventure and the angelic activity. What in the world had just happened?! Heaven collided with earth. Woo hoo!! [2]
The unbelieving world and Christians alike are looking upon this "woo hoo" moment as pure lunacy. What would cause such behavior? This kind of behavior is becoming all too common in the church. During one charismatic service, a woman was observed laying on her back in a position common to giving birth. Giving off grunts and groans, a few people were taken back by the odd behavior and later asked the woman what she was doing on the floor. With a sweet smile on her face and with a soft-spoken tone she whispered, "I was giving birth to something, a new movement somewhere."
There is a long list of this kind of odd behavior. These accounts of lunacy remind me of an internet image showing an insane-looking lady (with a smile on her face) saying,
"I don't suffer from insanity…I enjoy every moment of it."
Louis Charles, author of Jesus Religion, presents arguments detailing the insanity created by Christian theology and says, "I know there are others out in the world like me, who know something is wrong with Christianity's claims." [3] While Louis' book is more about Christianity and its hard-to-fathom doctrines, the weird behavior witnessed in church (and elsewhere) serves to reaffirm such books that reject the Gospel and those who embrace it.
So then, why is such nonsense occurring in the church? What are these young people being taught and by whom? Should they not be taught to cast down every impulsive thought that wars against truth and God (2 Corinthians 10:5)? To think angels are like people, and sleep and rise and move about as we do, shows a level of witlessness that feeds fanaticism. Angels are not organic beings that need sleep (Revelation 4:8); and if they did, it would not be near a road in the desert.
One tactic Satan uses to discredit Christianity is to smear it with a lie. Politicians do this all the time, as though bearing false witness against another politician is virtuous. However, wayward believers who act out their faith in acts of lunacy give adversaries of Christianity plenty of reason to author books that discredit the cause of Christ.
Waking up angels, giving birth to a religious movement, and whatever else these people do (under the guise of the anointing) is a show — a smearing of precious truth. It is the result of delusional thinking caused by powerful deception that appears real and wonderful but is not. The inability of the younger generation to discern para-normal activity shows a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). *
Christianity is Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). Jesus never acted out of character and neither should believers. A genuine believer will, in time, grow in faith and learn to live a life consistent with the life of Christ. One attribute of maturity is self-control, we call temperance. While self-control is the last in the list of spiritual fruits, it (self-control) is the foundational fruit upon which all behavior rests for Godly living (Galatians 5:22-25).
Self-control or 'temperance' can be simply defined as the mastery of oneself, the capacity of individuals to so restrain their own emotions, desires, and impulses that they can serve others. The lack of such control in our culture, be it related to chemical abuse, overeating, or a host of other unhealthy behaviors, should concern every Christian, indeed every congregation of believers who wish to be a lighthouse of God's grace to those who are 'out of control.' [4]
The driver who sensed the nearness of angels was acting on impulse. An impulse is the sudden urge to do something without being able to control the act and outcome. Waking up angels is clearly outside scripture and certainly not our Christian duty.
When God wants our attention, He will get it but not in a way that discredits the Gospel, His Son, and His divine purposes on earth.
In this impulsive instance, the driver:
• Did not examine his impulse in light of scripture (2 Corinthians 10:5).
• Did not think about the spiritual aspect of angelic beings and their assigned roles on earth (Hebrews 1:14).
• Did not stop to reason his actions would have consequences (Colossians 2:18).
It would appear this young man's neurotic behavior was unintentional though to him a real experience with the para-normal results. While he did not set out to discredit the Lord of Glory and Christianity, he did and herein the issue and our woeful shame. To call oneself a Christian demands a level of answerability that can never be taken lightly because the world is watching.
In closing, the Bible says we are living epistles, open letters read of all men (2 Corinthians 3:2); and, that our readership includes a long list of family, friends, and professional associates. If what the world interprets from our behavior is lunacy, then we have no basis to defend the indefinable, and herein our most immediate need to examine these things (Acts 17:11).
Part 2 will explore the growing reality of spiritual beings among us and how to distinguish true angelic activity from demonic deception.
*On the flipside, people do encounter angelic beings that minister to the saints. There are many reports of angels ministering comfort and help during life-threating emergencies. These reports of angelic encounters are, although real, outside the scope of this series on lunacy in the church.
1. Andrew Strom; "
Warning – Bill Johnson and Bethel Church";
Apostasy Watch
2. Ibid.
3. Louis Charles;
Jesus Religion: A Critical Examination of Christian Insanity
4. Gary B. McGee; "
Self-Control";
Enrichment Journal