Bible-believers chased out of Britain for not keeping to the script

It is perhaps ironic that, on the approach to the 400^th anniversary of the Mayflower’s sailing in 1620,¹ the British nation is plunged into the same sort of fractious, volatile scenario that led to that great exodus of the faithful.

When, following the Elizabethan era, James I ascended the throne in 1603, he introduced a policy enforcing religious conformity which almost blew up in his face.

First, there was the unsuccessful ‘gunpowder plot’ through which Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators registered Catholic opposition to the new king with their attempt to reduce Parliament to rubble.

Then the Puritans and Separatists came in for the monarch’s ire. At a time of significant political and religious tension, he tried to steady the ship by ensuring that all his people followed the same pseudo-Protestant script.

Harrying Out the Faithful

As with the Catholics, he also saw the Puritans as potential enemies, warning that he would “harry them out of the land”.

And indeed his dire threat duly succeeded in driving out the so-called ‘Pilgrim Fathers’, who had inaugurated the Separatist Church on the borders of Yorkshire and north Nottinghamshire.

Like other Puritans, they were devout Christians who believed the Church needed purifying from ritualistic dross. But whereas the Puritans sought change from within, the Pilgrim Fathers were convinced such endeavour was a lost cause and that they needed to “come out from among them” (Isa 52:11).

But some were fined, others were imprisoned and the pressure of persecution eventually led, in 1608, to their escape to a more tolerant Holland.

In the 17^th Century, devout Christians were imprisoned, persecuted and driven out of the country.

James I, whose policy of religious conformity made life difficult for Puritans like the Pilgrim Fathers.Seeking Freedom

It was a further dozen years before they sailed for the New World in the Mayflower, the king having changed his mind and given them permission to establish a colony there.

And so these Christians laid the foundations of what was to become the greatest nation on earth, built firmly on the principles of the Bible that had been challenged back in England.

These courageous pioneers were thus used to loose us from the chains of slavery to religious conformity which saw communities forced to attend the state-recognised Church where ritual and dead orthodoxy reigned, and where the Bible was chained to the pulpit.

Those who sought to experience the vitality of New Testament Christianity with its emphasis on freedom of the Spirit and a personal relationship with God were deemed outcasts.

Back to the ‘Dark Ages’?

It seems we have come full circle. Faced with the ever-present threat of terrorism, along with aggressive lobbying of secular humanists, we are now urged to follow the politically correct script - or else.

The Bible has been jettisoned in favour of what is effectively cultural Marxism, commanding what is and is not permissible to say and do.

Politicians condemn Brunei for proposing draconian new laws on corporal and capital punishment, seen as a return to the ‘Dark Ages’. But we are hardly squeaky clean ourselves in the way we have driven a coach and horses through the Ten Commandments, seriously undermined marriage (which is designed to create safe boundaries for the protection of family life and society in general) and by proposing state-sponsored child abuse through the indoctrination of children as young as four with the idea that they can choose their gender.

I suppose, in a way, this is the natural outcome of the state-sanctioned massacre of nine million unborn babies over the past 50 years.

Today, we are all urged to follow the politically correct script – or else.

The Blame Game

When will we acknowledge our own guilt? When will we stop pointing a finger at other people’s sins and take the ‘plank’ out of our own eye?

Under the proposed ‘no-fault’ divorce law, adultery will no longer be regarded as a sin – not even legally. It is supremely ironic that in a culture in which we are encouraged to blame everyone else for our troubles at a cost of millions, we are about to be exonerated in a key area of life on which almost everything else depends – that is, marriage and the family.

It means that no-one will officially be to blame for break-ups which will have caused untold heartbreak in countless homes. If we are no longer to be held responsible for solemn vows we have made in front of witnesses, what hope do we have of carrying out honest business in the wider world, or of being trusted by others?

What sort of spineless adults will emerge from witnessing their parents split at the drop of a hat? Throwing your toys out of the pram is surely an indulgence reserved for babies who are subsequently disciplined to consider the wider effects of their tantrums.

Shirking Responsibility

New housing estates cannot be built fast enough to keep up with the ever-increasing number of people who no longer know how to live with one another. It’s surely time we encouraged people to take responsibility for their actions.

Instead of honouring role models of commitment to family life, we fawn over celebrities and sportsmen who become the heroes we worship even though, as in some recent high-profile cases, they have set a shocking example of leadership in the home.

On the other hand, rugby stars soon get knocked off their pedestals when they express Christian beliefs on the subject, as did multiple Wimbledon champion Margaret Court.

It’s surely time we encouraged people to take responsibility for their actions rather than resorting to the default position of blaming someone else.

The Way of Escape

The fact is, there is always someone to blame – not just for break-ups, but for the mess we get ourselves in every day, including the Brexit botch-up. That is why Jesus came – to set us free from the burden of brokenness, guilt and regret, and give us new hope, especially with broken relationships.

As we celebrate Easter, we remember that Jesus became our Passover Lamb who frees us from sin through his blood shed on the Cross, prefigured in Egypt 1,500 years earlier by the freedom from slavery of the Jews who marked their doorposts with the blood of a sacrificial lamb.

What Jesus has done for us can be likened to the action of a First World War chaplain who, when asked for prayer by an officer who was about to embark on a dangerous mission into ‘no man’s land’, said he would do more than that – he would go with him. And when a shell exploded near the two men, the chaplain threw himself on the officer and died in his place.²

Offer of Peace

Do not follow the politically correct script. When ancient Israel disobeyed the Lord’s commands, the Prophet Isaiah warned them that “there is no peace for the wicked” (Isa 48:22). But there is peace - and forgiveness, and life - with Jesus!

References

1 Find out more on the Mayflower 400 website.

2 CWR’s Every Day with Jesus, 15 April 2019.

From roots to fruits – and the future.

In the second part of our two-part critique of The Turning evangelistic campaign, Tom Lennie looks at the fruits of the movement and its future. Click here to read Part 1.

Easy-Believe-ism

A common counter-argument to all the concerns raised last week is that even if just one or two people prove to have genuinely come to Christ through The Turning campaign, it will make the whole thing worthwhile. Surely just one person’s salvation is utterly priceless! I would respond: certainly we should rejoice over any genuine conversion, but how many are also being turned away from Christ by this instant-results methodology?

Consider all those who believe themselves to be saved because they once made an on-street ‘decision’, or prayed a prayer, and were told they are now in the Kingdom of Heaven. They might have no real understanding of salvation or its cost (because no-one told them there would be any) and there might be no change whatsoever in their lives. Consider also those who become more cynical and hardened to the true Gospel because their ‘decision’ or prayer didn’t lead to any significant personal transformation. In either case, where will they end up on Judgment Day?

The Turning script used for outreach in Wales during 2017.Such easy-believe-ism would have been deplored by the great evangelist-preachers of former ages, who stressed the essence of repentance from sin. I mentioned The Turning to a full-time evangelist friend recently and he was appalled by the approach.

The underlying problem is that the present-day Church seems infatuated with instant, impressive results. It’s as if we insist on them for our own encouragement and gratification and then we proudly brandish them around. I feel that reducing souls to statistics in this manner effectively cheapens the Gospel. We’re called to sow seeds; we have no right to necessarily reap and record a harvest a few minutes later. Leonard Ravenhill calls it plucking unripe fruit: we’re trying to get folk saved who don’t even know they’re lost. We need to leave the Holy Spirit to do his work, in his time.

The Fruits

Jesus said regarding a person’s character, ‘Ye shall know them by their fruit’. He never said ‘Ye shall know them by their decision’, or even ‘Ye shall know them by their sincerity’. It takes considerable time after seeds are sown for fruit to appear: far more time than modern evangelism is willing to wait, apparently.

In a report given at a local church meeting I attended, it was stated that one third of the 1,850 who initially responded to The Turning in Reading have subsequently become associated with churches and are moving on in their faith. Such a proportion would be any evangelist’s dream come true! A third works out at over 600 extra church-goers - a massive boost to Reading’s congregations.

I’ve had contact with someone on the leadership team of another Reading church, who said that 2, 3 or 4 people have been added to various churches across the city as a result of the campaign. Nothing approaching 100, let alone 600. Another good Christian friend of mine who lives in Reading, when I asked him earlier this year about The Turning’s success, had no idea what I was talking about. He had never heard of it, nor anyone who claims to have come to Christ through it.

And yet, the entire Turning initiative spreading all across the United Kingdom is based purely on the ‘phenomenal’ success of the supposed mighty ‘outpouring’ of the Spirit on Reading – as it was reported by The Turning’s own leaders. In his report, Yinka Oyekan claims that The Turning represents a similar outpouring to Azusa Street in 1906, and is comparable to Billy Graham’s mass outreaches – only better.¹

The significant hype that accompanies The Turning is, for me, another warning sign. As I often share in my talks on revival history, where you find a lot of puffed-up talk about a spiritual awakening, it’s a tell-tale sign there was no genuine revival in the first place. No true move of the Spirit requires hype.

Where you find a lot of puffed-up talk about a spiritual awakening, it’s a tell-tale sign there was no genuine revival in the first place.

Even if the above statistical claim is true, it still means that two-thirds of those who ‘made a decision’ on the streets of Reading have now, in Oyekan’s words, ‘brushed off’ attempts at follow-up and “not wished to continue the dialogue”.² Again, this speaks volumes about the types of ‘decision’ being made.

I’ve tried to engage politely with Yinka by email and on Facebook, thanking him for his heart for evangelism and sharing a few of my concerns, hoping to receive a constructive reply. He refused to answer me and quickly proceeded to block me completely.

The Future

We can only hope and pray that as The Turning gathers momentum (there is now an app, a network of regional hubs and plans for a nationwide mission in 2020) in conjunction with other mission groups, it will be developed into a helpful mission campaign. But at present, I am afraid I cannot put much store in what appears to be a quick-fix strategy.

To the extent that the Turning is inspiring Christians to get out and share the Gospel within their needy communities, it’s a positive thing. I have several friends who are involved in the initiative and in no way do I wish to dampen their genuine, compassionate, evangelistic enthusiasm. But how we do mission is very important.

I do believe the harvest is ripe. I long to see the people of my neighbourhood and city come to a true personal knowledge of Christ. But this will be by our obeying the word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit for our own precious locality.

We need to be bold, and be ready to become the answers to our own prayers for our neighbourhoods. Lord, send the workers into the harvest field, following the leading of Your Spirit all the way.

About the author: Tom Lennie has a long-standing interest in revival and has authored a trilogy of historical studies on Scottish revivals: ‘Land of Many Revivals’ (1527-1857), ‘Glory in the Glen’ (1880-1940) and the newly-published, ‘Scotland Ablaze: The Twenty-Year Fire of Revival That Swept Scotland 1858-79’ (December 2018). His interest in The Turning was sparked by reports of the Reading ‘outpouring’ and fuelled further by its arrival in Edinburgh, his home city, as well as by the involvement of several acquaintances.

References

1 Oyekan, Y. The Turning Learning Review: ‘The Outpouring’, p6 and p8, respectively. This document is also available at http://theturning.eu/learning-review/.

2 Ibid, p20.

The first of a two-part critical analysis of the growing British ‘revival’.

The Turning is an evangelistic campaign that was begun in Reading, UK in 2016 by the local Gate Church.

Following a prescribed method of street outreach imported from the States, a total of 1,850 people accepted the invitation to pray to accept Christ over a four-week period in the Berkshire town. It was seen as a miraculous response.

Based on these results, The Turning has become a national initiative, with churches and mission groups in over 230 towns and cities reportedly requesting to become involved.¹

The Turning has support from the World Prayer Centre and accompanying resources have been produced in conjunction with the Bible Society. The London Mission Collective is looking to roll out The Turning across the capital. In Scotland, The Turning website boasts the support of “national leaders of: The Baptist Union of Scotland, Assemblies of God, Apostolic Church, Destiny Church, Scottish Network Churches, [and the] Redeemed Christian Church of God”.²

There are a number of positive aspects to The Turning. It challenges believers to step beyond the safety of their cosy fellowships and reach out to a world that is spiritually dying. It is firing believers with enthusiasm to share with those who know nothing of Christ. And it inspires churches of differing streams to come together, working as a team.

However, while I totally applaud the heart-desire behind The Turning, I have concerns about its roots and methodology. Does it represent a true revival, a widespread ‘turning’ back to God? Read on and make your own mind up!

The Roots

The Turning was brought to the UK by American ‘revivalist’ Tommie Zito, whose website boasts an international ministry of ‘awakening’ countries, ‘hallmarked’ by “the heavy Glory of God, unique signs and wonders and an unprecedented anointing to mobilize and equip the [Body] to win souls.”³ These are substantial claims – but do they bear out in reality?

Zito was hosted by Reading’s Gate Church, led by Pastor Yinka Oyekan. Much of the information in this article has been gleaned from Oyekan’s personal 2017 report on the outreach.

While I applaud the heart-desire behind The Turning, I have concerns about its roots and methodology.

‘The Turning’ uses a formula of evening meetings for believers, followed by morning outreach on the street aided by a simple script. It encourages believers of all ages and backgrounds to engage in mission. I applaud Oyekan’s concern that church not be a spectator sport and understand his frustration at fellowships not being geared towards large-scale outreach. However, in justifying his own approach, he also disparages virtually all traditional methods of evangelism and accuses Reading churches of hitherto squandering God’s grace.

Broad Street, Reading. See Photo Credits.

Oyekan claims that God has for some time been looking “to release this evangelistic grace” but has “not found an Apostolic or denominational outlet to land in”⁴ – until the Gate Church started The Turning. Again, these are significant claims about his own ministry and about other churches that warrant further exploration.

Worryingly, Oyekan’s report implies strongly that the success of the ‘outpouring’ depends to some extent on believers and churches embracing practices associated with the ‘NAR’.⁵ Oyekan claims that the Reading churches that welcomed The Turning were made more receptive by their previous embrace of ‘soaking’, a practice associated with the Toronto Blessing. Oyekan praises Christians who “have stood in the fire of the outpouring”⁶ (i.e. participated in each evening’s ‘soaking’ session). He himself is a self-confessed disciple of Bill Johnson,⁷ founder and leader of Bethel Church in Redding, California, which has received criticism for its New Age overtones.

All this implies that churches participating in The Turning are not just buying into an outreach campaign, they are buying into a particular stream of charismatic Christianity – a stream that many Christians find to be at least partly, if not totally, heretical. Those who express concern are branded ‘resistant’ to the things of God.

It remains to be seen how these roots impact The Turning’s practical, on-street encounters. However, they are signs that should prompt further, prayerful investigation, not acceptance of the campaign at face value.

The Method

Oyekan dedicates several pages of his report to discussing the pros and cons of using a script as a basis for outreach. He admits openly that The Turning’s script is “virtually identical to the one formulated by Dr Rodney Howard Brown [sic] in his book “The Great Awakening, Power Evangelism Manual””, and that “The evangelist we invited, Tommie Zito, was a disciple of Dr Rodney Howard Brown [sic]”.⁸ It is unclear exactly why Oyekan believes Howard-Browne to be a worthy source of inspiration, but the fact that he does is another warning sign.⁹

The script takes the form of a short introduction, followed by three short Scripture verses quoted in succession. A prayer is offered, during which the subject is invited to repeat a version of the ‘sinner’s prayer’. Emphasis is placed throughout on being quick; the entire process can be over in a few minutes. The subject continues on his/her way – now apparently a new creature in Christ - and another ‘response’ (‘decision’) is recorded.

Churches participating in The Turning are not just buying into an outreach campaign, they are buying into a particular stream of charismatic Christianity.

Those who take issue with the script are casually dismissed: Oyekan admits that “one pastor was in tears as he felt it was deficient in its gospel proclamation. Emotionally, the script touches on everyone’s pride…”.¹⁰ In other words, those who are humble accept The Turning; those who dare to criticise it must have a prideful heart.

This lack of self-reflection is concerning, but Oyekan goes further, suggesting that local leaders surrender their authority and get on board with The Turning without dissent: “it is strongly advisable that the leaders humble themselves and acknowledge that their need of a grace from Christ is no less necessary than that of their flocks”.¹¹

Oyekan then takes aim at traditional evangelistic tracts which, in his view, focus too much on explaining people’s need for salvation, appealing “primarily to the intellect” rather than to the heart.¹² What is needed instead are touchy-feely, emotional ‘encounters’ of God’s love. Somewhat confusingly, however, Oyekan later admits that The Turning script needs more scriptural content and that it has been revised since the Reading outreach in 2016.

Obsession with ‘Decisions’

One of my main operational concerns with The Turning is its near obsession with clocking up ‘decisions’ (or ‘responses’ as Oyekan prefers to term them). Each day of the campaign in Edinburgh, Oyekan inserted in huge bold type on his Facebook page the number of decisions recorded. Scores of his followers exulted enthusiastically over such an amazing move of the Spirit – signs of a great spiritual awakening.

I, on the other hand, could in no way rejoice over such statistics. What ‘decision’ did the individuals make? Were they presented with the true Gospel? Do we really expect hundreds of people to truly be spiritually regenerated within a few short minutes of being approached?

I think we need to be wary of instant decisions. Christ calls for a deeper response – one which may not be so easily ascertainable. It’s not that a decision is in itself wrong, but it cannot be taken as synonymous with a true conversion.

I think we need to be wary of instant decisions. Christ calls for a deeper response – one which may not be so easily ascertainable.

Oyekan actually admits that Tommie Zito was happy to let the outreach happen without any follow-up whatsoever. However, Oyekan rightly disagrees with this and states that since the goal is to make disciples, not converts, follow-up is vital. Though Gate Church had “no credible follow-up plan” in 2016,¹³ an emphasis on follow-up is now much more visible on The Turning website, so one hopes that this aspect of the outreach is now receiving proper investment.

Click here to read part 2 of this analysis.

About the author: Tom Lennie has a long-standing interest in revival and has authored a trilogy of historical studies on Scottish revivals: ‘Land of Many Revivals’ (1527-1857), ‘Glory in the Glen’ (1880-1940) and the newly-published, ‘Scotland Ablaze: The Twenty-Year Fire of Revival That Swept Scotland 1858-79’ (December 2018). His interest in The Turning was sparked by reports of the Reading ‘outpouring’ and fuelled further by its arrival in Edinburgh, his home city, as well as by the involvement of several acquaintances.

References

1 The Story of The Turning, World Prayer Centre, 1 February 2017.

2 The Turning, Scotland.

3 See Zito's website, here.

4 Oyekan, Y. The Turning Learning Review: ‘The Outpouring’, p7. All further quotes and page references are from this document, which is also available at http://theturning.eu/learning-review/.

5 p6. ‘NAR’ stands for ‘New Apostolic Reformation’, a short-hand term for a group of ministries that promote teachings from the 1940s Latter Rain Movement.

6 p10, p20.

7 p26.

8 p12.

9 For more information on this, see Blessing the Church?, chapter 4: ‘From North Battleford to Toronto’.

10 p13.

11 p7.

12 p14.

13 pp18-19.