a great quote from john wimber
"Don’t be afraid of pain. All my life I’ve been afraid of pain. But pain’s not so bad. I’ve been in the valley and it’s not so bad. In fact the view is wonderful. You never get to see Jesus quite as well as you do in the valley.
It isn’t prosperity that gives you the complete, the indepth, the intimate view of Jesus. It’s pain. It’s in the midst of pain, it’s in the midst of heartbreak, it’s in the midst of the rendering of relationships, its in the midst of tragic circumstances that you get the heart of God revealed to you.
So don’t be afraid of pain. If God’s allowed it he’ll have purpose in it. . . I love and know my Savior today more than I have ever known him. And I am now 31 years in the Lord. I’m so grateful for cancer. I’m so grateful that I went through it. Because I could never have known Jesus the way I now know him. And frankly I could never have known my wife the way I now know her."
- wikipedia on john wimber
ht: steve addison
5 comments:
john was amazing.
l.
The quote was heartfelt.
Wimber has always been at the center of controversy because of two major theological concerns;
1. I had an experience, therefore it is from God.
2. My experience was from God because I feel that it was.
This is dangerous and the root for so much confusion in the Church.
I attended a Vineyard church for a time and had to leave because of the "extreme" experiencial based beliefs that were not rooted in clear biblical teaching.
Nothing new under the sun...
dude, you might want to dig a bit deeper into wimber.
joe
i see what you mean, and it has been the root of much strife within the vineyard. ah but this belief did not come from wimber, he was very precise as to what he thought about th emanifestation of the gifts and your subsequent experience of them.
as to your comment about expereince and the church, i really think it falls more to the church leadership in allowing much of the experiencial stuff.
i am personally a firm believer in the fact that your experience is all you really have, the only "absolute" you can count on. If a person feels they have some hairbrained thing from God, it is the leadership of that body to choose whther or not to allow that in thier midst. they don't have to.
if that is not your style though move on to another church that is more to your liking. that "fits" you. as a vineyardite for many years I haev had the same issue, and finally had to come to the realazation that many people meet God in that enviroment. i just don't to that extent. so i sought elsewhere.
JMO
l.
Despite my concerns over Wimber's teaching, my comment to Steve's quote was insensitive and I apologize to all.
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