Azusa Redux: Lou Engle, Greg Laurie uniting denominations?
“Can you believe with us that denominations will unite, that the races could come together, that God could make us one, as the antidote to the terrific division in our day? Could you believe with us for stadium Christianity where signs and wonders are breaking out and mass evangelism explodes across our country- the Third Great Awakening?”
Lou Engle
So asks NAR-affiliated false teacher Lou Engle, founder of the "Azusa Now: The Call" set for April 9th at the LA Coliseum. "We are believing for an outbreak of God's glory that will touch the Lord on this day! If we move together, we can see a shift in the body of Christ, unto a day of greater healings and a great awakening for America!"
When Azusa Now calls all denominations, it includes the Church of Rome:
"In the invisible realm, intercessors of every stripe—evangelical, charismatic, Pentecostal and Catholic—felt the silver cord tremble in our hands. If prayerless vacuums have been responsible for eventually swallowing every previous revival, then the patient wisdom of God has been made plain. The Holy Spirit has preemptively architected a massive, global Worship-Prayer-and-Missions movement. Could this sustain the next wave in perpetuity unto His return? Since any true awakening brings enormous pressure and conflict, the next great revival now has a global anchor in prayer." (Source: Charisma Magazine, "Azusa Now: The Power of the Silver Cord Between Heaven and Earth.)
Engle is calling for 120,000 bodies in seats to bring about a huge revival:
The Bible warned us about this
This might be a good time to remind readers that Jesus never promised a giant outpouring of revival, but rather a giant falling away from the true faith. The Bible does, however, talk about a false revival. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 tells us of a coming counterfeit revival before the return of the Lord that will be both of such magnitude as to deceive the whole world and of such persuasion as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
Who's Lou?
Engle emerged from the Kansas City Prophets and Latter Rain movement, and was a senior leader of IHOP (International House of Prayer). Engle's Azusa Now signs and wonders revival was inspired by dreams, visions and extra-biblical prophecies. He claims that a friend had a dream telling him to buy 5 plane tickets on United Airlines that would expire 1080 days after the dream. Engle says "United Airlines" represents God's desire for denominational unity. They did some date forecasting, and figured God was telling them to gather people April 9, 2016, the 110th anniversary of the Azusa Street revival.
William J. Seymour initiated his historic Pentecostal Revival meeting in Los Angeles
Azusa's frightening "signs"
In 1906, the so called "Azusa Revival" kicked off the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement in the United States, with more than 500 million Pentecostal and charismatic believers across the globe - making it the fastest-growing form of Christianity today. Here's what one newspaper reporter observed:
"They cry and make howling noises all day and into the night. They run, jump, shake all over, shout to the top of their voice, spin around in circles, fall out on the sawdust blanketed floor jerking, kicking and rolling all over it. Some of them pass out and do not move for hours as though they were dead. These people appear to be mad, mentally deranged or under a spell. They claim to be filled with the spirit.
Here are two letters provided by Mark Jefferies: In the first, Pastor Greg Laurie and Harvest America recently invited Calvary Chapel pastors to a "Pastor's Brunch" to "Connect and catch the vision for Azusa Now".
In this previous Harvest letter, leaders are promoting joining with local Catholic churches toward the vision of unity:
Meanwhile, Engle says that getting youth to fill the stadium is the key to bringing a revival and great harvest of souls that only a "united church" can accomplish:
Ahead of this event in April are several significant "pre-rallies" in Des Moines, Iowa and Madison, Wisconsin, headed by Engle and Matt Sorger, who claims to "move powerfully" in signs, wonders and miracles. "Get ready to receive an impartation at the Global Presence Center in Madison."