I was Wrong About the Toronto Blessings
Have you heard of the Toronto Blessings?
Many people believe it to be a genuine revival. However, there are also many who would disagree.
It began in 1994 at Toronto Airport Vineyard Fellowship which was founded by Pastors John and Carol Arnott. In the first year of the revival, the attendance tripled. Over the next few years, it attracted thousands of visitors from all over the world.
About 10 years ago, I saw a few videos taken during the revival.
I was disturbed.
The congregants were crying, twitching, shaking, laughing uncontrollably, falling to the floor in a trance-like state, and making animal noises. For example, they roared like lions and barked like dogs.
So, I dismissed the Toronto Blessings in its entirety. Their behavior was unbiblical and the whole thing was too chaotic and strange to have come from God. I concluded that the Toronto Blessings was one huge demon fest.
A few years ago, I was so surprised when I heard my founding senior pastor, a great man of God, spoke positively about it.
I thought he must have made a mistake. But I didn’t think too much about it.
2 weeks ago, I came across the Toronto Blessings again in Pastor Dr. Philip Lyn’s book, Slingshots. Although he mentioned the strange occurrences, he wrote:
There was such a glory present. We returned home refreshed, having experienced unusual freedom and power in our spirits.
I thought: what is going on? How can not one, but 2 men of God be so deceived to condone this fake revival?
I spent some time thinking about it.
Last weekend, while talking to a friend, I found my answer.
She described a revival that happened in a small village in Sarawak in the 70s. It started out very orderly. The villagers experienced the presence of God and went to the church every day to confess their sins. They would go on until the wee hours of the morning — the pastors had to remind them to go home.
But, after some time, strange occurrences begin to happen — people started making animal noises, etc.
She said, “At a certain point during the revival, there will be a period of heightened spiritual activity. That is when the demonic forces will create disorder and try to discredit the revival.”
A lightbulb went off in my head.
That made a lot of sense. The demons will not sit still and allow a genuine revival to continue in an orderly fashion. They will do all they can to make it chaotic and confusing. They might even cause a scene to distract people from the message of the cross.
I know what some of you are thinking, “Ivan, demons cannot enter into a place where there is genuine revival because the unholy cannot be near the Holy.”
The problem with this statement is that revival doesn’t happen in a physical place. It happens in the heart.
So a more accurate statement will be, “Demons cannot enter into hearts where there is genuine revival because the unholy cannot be near the Holy .”
3 examples:
- In the book of Acts, a demon-possessed slave girl followed Paul shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). She did this for days. Given how often Paul preaches, this could mean that she tried to disrupt his revival meetings (which could also explain why he got “greatly annoyed”).
- In the same book, Simon, who practiced magic, attended the revival meetings in Samaria, got baptized, and even did the evil act of offering the apostles money to buy the Holy Spirit there (Acts 8:19).
- In 2016, I had a revival when I was born again at a conference in Singapore. No one can ever convince me that God wasn’t there. Yet, throughout the conference, there was someone there who was making loud, Chewbacca-like sounds from the balcony.
Genuine revival and demonic activities can coexist in the same place.
She added, “This is why the leader’s role is so important. They must discern between the work of God and the work of demons and act accordingly.”
I have now concluded that the Toronto Blessings was a genuine revival. Unfortunately, there were also a lot of demonic activities there that in the eyes of many, discredited the work of God.
The big idea: don’t immediately discredit a revival because of strange occurrences. Discern!!!
I welcome your comments and questions :)
