Friday, June 10, 2011

Dead Formalism

One of the greatest tragedies of my formative years (I believe) was the elders of my home church in Dunstable relentlessly banning life and dragging us from charismatic experience - all because of fear of excess. They had seen things like the Kansas City Prophets and the Toronto Blessing and felt it was fake and excess and were determined (even to the point of erasing years of awesome ministry tapes) to ensure we were "safe".

I wish they had paid heed to this excellent quote by C H Spurgeon;

"I would rather risk the dangers of a tornado of religious excitement than see the air grow stagnant with a dead formality".

Quoted in: Terry Virgo - "The Spirit-Filled Church" - Monarch Books, Oxford (2011) - p69.