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The ‘Toronto Blessing’ or Laughing Revival has spread to over 4000 churches in England. Many claim both scriptural and historical support for it, although the main arguments used to support the phenomenon seem to be based on personal experience. As I have been involved in Charismatic churches for over twenty years now, the experiences of the ‘T.B.’ are no new to me, although never on the present scale. At the time I originally had these experiences I found it exciting and it seemed to encourage my faith. But, over a longer period of time, I found that they made no permanent impact on my spiritual life. I am no seeing great change in my life for the better, but it is not as the result of some dramatic experience. Rather, it is through years of hard times of testing by the Lord, a lot of praying, and a lot of time studying the Bible. I can now look back on those experiences of my early Christian life, and realise that they did nothing for me in reality.
Feeling the ‘manifest presence’ of God seems to have become important to many. Yet our emotional feelings can be affected by many factors. For example, music can affect your feelings. Think of the musical soundtrack on films and T.V. programmes. You can even predict what is going to happen next by the atmosphere of the music. Chemical balances and changes in the body can also affect our emotional state. Schizophrenia is often an extreme case of chemical imbalance in the body. So many factors affect our feelings. Therefore we must take great care not to judge any experience by feelings alone.
Hebrews 13:5 tells us that God “will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (KJV). The rest of the verse confirms that this means God is ever present with us, when it states that we are to be careful of our conduct. 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 also tell us that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit (interestingly, the original Greek states that we collectively are one single temple of the Holy Spirit). God’s presence with us is a solid fact. Whether we feel the presence of God or not is irrelevant; it does not affect the truth.
The danger of talking about feeling or sensing the presence of God is that, when people do not have those feelings, they may believe that they are missing out on something, or that God has forsaken them. They may start to believe that they must have committed some great sin (only they are unable to work out which sin). This can be especially harmful to young and immature Christians. Their faith may be seriously undermined. Romans 14:23 tells us that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin”. If our actions or conversation undermine the faith of others, the surely we also are guilty of sin. We should beware of any teaching that talks of ‘feeling’ or ‘sensing’, as anything emotionally based is very unreliable. Yet the word of God in the Bible is true.
And so to arguments that the T.B. is Biblical. The only Biblical defence that I have heard used scripture taken completely out of context. I have read a number of the books supporting the T.B. and have not yet found a solid scriptural argument defending it, only verse which in their proper context actually mean something different. I find it sad that so many people do not properly check the context from which others quote scriptures. I will consider some of these arguments here.
Guy Chevreau, in his book Catch the Fire, compares the manifestations of the T.B. with the appearances of God to “Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses and Israel … to the prophets … at Pentecost, and at the conversion of Saul” (Catch the Fire pg.41). This statement lumps a number of different types of experience together, the earlier ones of which are cases of Christopheny — appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament (see note 1). The experiences of Adam and Eve, of Abraham, Moses, and many others including Gideon, Manoah and King David were meetings with God in a solid physical form (in Genesis 3:8 Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden and hid from his sight; in Genesis 18:8 the Lord eats food). Even where there is no evidence of physical form, the Lord was at least optically visual, therefore suggesting that He was physically solid. These experiences are completely different to those associated with the T.B., and to compare them with it shows a poor understanding of the principles of Biblical interpretation.
Care should always be taken when listening to anyone preaching, to check that what they say agrees with scripture. It seems that the gospel spread in Berea partly as a result of the Bereans searching out the scripture to prove that what Paul spoke was true (Acts 17:10–12). Conversely, many preaching the T.B. are telling us not to question it, but to just open up and receive. Those who do take time to question it are often treated in a very insulting manner. Yet the Bible tells us not to believe every spirit, but to test every spirit (1 John 4:1). Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, tells us to “test ALL things” (my emphasis), yet the teaching of many today is not to question but to open up and receive. How do we know what we will receive, unless we first test things? It is interesting to note the context of 1 Thessalonians 5:21 — verses 19 and 20 tell us to “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings.” (KJV). Yet many are saying “just accept, do not question” lest we quench the Spirit. The question remains: how can we be quenching the Spirit when we test things, when the word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, instructs us that we should?
One trend associated with the T.B. is talking of ‘partying in the Lord’. Guy Chevreau makes much reference to this, as do Eleanor Mumford (who has been mainly responsible for introducing the T.B. to England), Sandy Miller (of Holy Trinity Brompton), and many others. This seems to fly in the face of Jesus’ call for us to deny ourselves and take up our cross (Mark 8:34,35). I believe it is a very self-centred and carnal way of thinking. 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us that all who live a Godly life will be persecuted. The New Testament consistently talks of the suffering that those who follow Christ will endure. The partying finished when Christ ascended (Matthew 9:14,15): now is the time to fast and pray!
It is a sad fact that the majority of Christians have not read the Bible from cover to cover. If we value this precious book more, then we will find that false teachings become blatantly obvious and we will spare ourselves much suffering down the line. God’s word is to be highly valued, and by understanding it we will be warned against deceptions that may cause us harm (Psalm 19:7–11).
So much for Biblical support. What about historical support — quoting from the experiences of past revivals? This has a big problem in that we may not know that past revivals were a genuine work of the Holy Spirit. God may have done many great works through men in past revivals, but it does not mean the everything they did or wrote about was right. The writings of people like Jonathan Edwards (who has been misquoted and maligned by advocated of the T.B.) are not scripture, and should not be treated as such. They are no a reliable source for any teaching in the Church today (though they may be a source or great encouragement and exhortation). We may also mis-understand the historical context in which these things were written, and thus our interpretation of the events may not be wholly accurate. It should also be noted that many of the modern editions of old books recounting revivals in former centuries have been slightly altered (mainly for reasons of readability). Some of these changes can be misleading.
It is also interesting to note that many physical manifestations of the T.B. such as ‘pogoing’ (see note 2) and Catch the Fire (pg.53) were previously considered as manifestations of a demonic spirit, yet are now seen as being of God.
Probably the most disturbing thing I find about the T.B. is its roots, which are in the Word of Faith movement (see note 3). Churches that would previously have had nothing to do with Word of Faith teachers because of the error of their teachings, are now inviting these teachers into their churches. T.B. is beginning to introduce Word of Faith teachings ‘through the back door’. People like Kenneth Copeland seem to be gaining a new popularity in England.
I live in a city where the ‘Toronto Blessing’ has had a major impact. At least one congregation has been totally split down the middle, with half the congregation leaving, and all the elders resigning. I feel fortunate to belong to a Church where the whole congregation has seen the error of this laughing revival. The reason I believe that our Church has seen this error is because of a growing sense of the fear of the Lord among us. Compared to the fear of the Lord, this laughing revival is just a shallow deception.
Many people who see that there are some things wrong with the T.B. argue that there are also some good things mixed in. They believe that they can ignore the bad things, and just take out of it that which is good in their eyes. Paul, when writing to the Galatians about the error of returning to the Law, makes a statement that shows the danger in trying to just take out the good. He writes, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9 KJV). Paul was telling the Galatians that there is no room to tolerate even the smallest amount of false teaching. It only takes a small amount of yeast (leaven) to affect the whole lump of dough, as it reproduces itself until it affects the whole lump. In listening to false teaching, just to pick out the good bits, we are tolerating error and it will spread. Even if we are fully aware of all errors and are unlikely to be lead astray, others may be. Our bad example could lead to the downfall of others.
James 3:1 is a warning to those who teach, that they will receive greater judgment. If you are teaching or promoting any form of error you will be accountable before God for everyone you lead away from the truth. So take care to test all things before you encourage others to follow anything. I refer not just to the ‘Toronto Blessing’, for whether you consider the T.B. as error or not, the fact is that before the return of Christ we will see many false teachings arise. So be alert.
There have always been people in the Christian Church who have taught that deep mystical or spiritual experiences like the T.B. will bring us into a deeper knowledge of God and a closer relationship with Him. Many long and yearn for such deep experiences. Yet the Bible tells us that the way to know God more deeply is not by seeking some experience, but by seeking knowledge, wisdom, understanding, treasuring these things, treasuring God’s commandments, and listening to instruction. We are even told to cry out for knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:1–4). If we seek after knowledge as a prized treasure, the Bible tells us “Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:5 KJV). Obtaining a deeper knowledge of God will not come easily through some spiritual experience, or by being ‘zapped’, but by hard work as we apply ourselves to the study of the Bible, and as we listen to those who teach sound doctrine.
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Last modified: 25th November 2005