Jessie Penn-Lewis' book War on the Saints will prove very helpful to a believer who has opened his personality to some of the current phenomena and now is uncomfortable with what was said and done. Try to get the unabridged version of the book (Thomas E. Lowe, Ltd., 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 1500, New York, NY 10001). It is a classic on the subject of deception.

One simple way of testing a movement and the things done in an assembly is to ask yourself, "Would Jesus do this? Would the Apostles do this?"

If you cannot picture Jesus or the Apostles participating then leave the meeting at once.

Sometime we get the feeling that it would be good to humble ourselves and bark like a dog or roar like a lion. We may find a wonderful psychological release by making a fool of ourselves in public but this is not the Spirit of the Lord.

Didn't the Apostle Paul say, "If anyone howls like a wolf or neighs like a horse in the assembly, let him pray that he may interpret that others may be edified"?

My wife, Audrey, says when God is around the people do not bray like donkeys, rather the donkeys speak like people.

If someone has a dog and howls in order to get the dog howling (as I do at home sometimes), there is no problem here. That is between you and your dog. But please—not in the assembly of saints!

Is the power of suggestion being used? This is a form of hypnosis. Are you being asked to lay on the floor with your legs spread apart so someone can pretend he is delivering a baby? Are you being given to drink an imaginary glass of chocolate? Are you jumping off the platform pretending you are diving into the Spirit of God?

All of this is the power of suggestion resulting in self-hypnosis. Do you read of Christ or His Apostles doing anything like this?

The Spirit of God never behaves in an unseemly manner.

Some young people from our church went north of here to participate in a praise symposium. During one of the workshops a visiting pastor was prophesying in time to some current dance form, such as "rap."

The young people felt this was a bit unseemly and asked the Lord to show them if it was truly from God.

At this point the pastor looked at them and growled!

The marvel to me is that there were a number of seasoned, experienced elders present at the worship and none of them seemed to discern that something not of God was taking place. It took our kids (I am so proud of them!) to ask Christ if the manifestation was from Him.

No one enjoys the high praises of God more than we. But if the high praises are not accompanied by the two-edged sword of the Word there will be immorality and every other evil work.

Are we sticking our head in the water? Are we praying carefully or just diving into the river? It is how we drink that will determine whether we gain a place in the army of the Lord.

To be continued.