Pentecostals separated from the traditional Protestant denominations in the early 20th century. In the late 1940s a new movement emerged from Pentecostalism called the Latter Rain. Most Pentecostal dominations renounced the Latter Rain because they taught esoteric doctrines. However, no new denomations formed within the movement. Many new local congregations formed and stayed indepentent. Then some of pastors began to form alliances and/or spin off new congregations from their original group. These became cults, such as the Branham cult.
Then, in the late 50s, many traditional Christians started speaking in tongues, but they stayed within their denominations! Because Pentecostals tended to be viewed as legalistic, these decided to identify as Charismatic instead.
Somehow, the Latter Rain and WOF movements got labeled as Charismatic as well. So, in my opinion, two Charismatic movements may have been going on at the same time.
Today, we see another movement called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR for short). In my opinion, it is a resurgence of the Latter Rain, but this time, it's on steroids.
The major trait of the Latter Rain/WOF/NAR is the emphasis on miracles, signs, and wonders. This often comes with emotionalism and sometimes strange behavior that has nothing to do with Christ. Because of this, this new movement has been called Charismania.
What makes all this possible is a misunderstanding of miracles, signs, and wonders. I am not going to claim to be an expert on these things. I just want to give people a better understanding of them, so they won't be misled.
What is a miracle?
In general, a miracle is an event that someone can't explain, and that an invisible agent, such as a spirit or God must have made it happen.
But an unseen agent could be hidden instead of invisible. When someone performs an act that appears miraculous, it is an illusion. If done for the purpose of entertainment, we call it stage magic. When they do the same same thing to persuade people that a real supernatural event has taken place, it is deception, no matter if anyone calls it a miracle.
A true miracle happens when God intervenes in the physical realm. It is not just a supernatural effect.
False miracles can be performed by demons. Consider the confrontation between Moses and the Pharaoh's priests. All three serpents were physically real, but only one remained.
Sometimes things happen that someone can't explain how it happened, so they assume it was a miracle, especially after they prayed for it. If some time passed between the prayer and the answer, the event could still be totally natural. I once heard of an incident where someone wanted an air conditioner turned on, but it didn't start blowing until later. They said it was a miracle, but I had my doubts. I've had box fans that when they got old, the blades would turn slowly until speeding up to a full blow. In the case of the delayed AC, the same thing could have happened, but because the people involved could not see the fan, they assumed a miracle. They still had reason to be thankful - the AC wasn't dead yet.
Healing sometimes does occur naturally. Let's say you get a small scratch on your arm without any redness or bleeding. You don't even need a bandage, maybe just a little lotion, cream, or ointment. You don't pay any more attention to it. Then you notice it's gone a couple of days later. God gave our bodies amazing ways to heal and fight diseases.
God also gave us the intelligence to discover and develop medical treatments. But, our intellects are finite, so medicine is limited.
I believe that God heals through miracles as well as through medicine, and natural processes. Sometimes, God speeds up the natural processes, and those instances are miracles too, because those processes can not speed up on their own.
What is a sign?
A sign is a miracle. So, what makes a miracle a sign? What makes anything a sign? It has a message on it.
You drive down a main street and see a thing that is shaped like a cowboy hat. It has a name on in, Arby's. The message is, You can get roast beef and other kinds of sandwiches here.
So a supernatural sign is a miracle with a message attached.
What is a wonder?
A wonder is a sign, but you do not know or cannot figure out what the message is, so you wonder, What is God trying to say?
The best example of this that I know of is in Acts 2. The crowd that gathered knew that the speaking in tongues they heard was a miracle. They also knew it was a sign. But they couldn't figure out what the message was, so someone asked, What does this mean?
They did not ask if it was a miracle. They could tell that it was because they could understand what the tongue-speakers said.
Since nothing like this had happened to them before, they saw that it was also a sign.
Too many reports are coming out about staged 'miracles' performed by big name leaders in Charismania and it's predecessor movements. Many of their practices come from Spiritualism, and their doctrines come from Gnosticism.
People need to be aware of the deception and the deceivers out there.
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