Date: 17-Apr-1995 08:49am EST
Subject: Reply to Tom Sathre
Tom, thanks for forwarding your questions of me, posted to the Christia and Science & Christianity lists. I'll be glad to interact with you on these questions to the extent that I'm able to do so.
I had mentioned that Rodney Howard-Browne has read entire chapters of Scriptures at his meetings, and you asked, with respect to this, for my estimate as to the number, or percentages, of people who had been convinced by these Scripture readings.
At first, I didn't understand the question, since most of the people who attend these meetings are believers (and it therefore wasn't clear to me why there would be any doubt that anyone would be convinced by the Scriptures). Then it occurred to me that perhaps you were referring specifically to Scriptures that mention laughter. I'm sorry if I misled you--although many Scriptures are read at these meetings, it is only on an occasional basis that Scriptures are read that have to do specifically with laughter.
In other words, I am not aware of any attempts that have been made to justify the laughter using proof texts, although I haven't been to every meeting associated with what's happening, so it's quite possible that this may have been done in some instances, but I have no first hand information on this, one way or another.
While it is true that there are some Scriptures that associate laughter with mockery against God, I think it would be wrong to conclude on the basis of those passages that all laughter is a sign of mockery, or derision, of God and His works. I think that most people would agree that people laugh when they are happy, and that since Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, that laughter would not be inappropriate for those whol basis that Scriptures are read that have to do specifically with laughter.
You asked about the number, or percentage, of people who are converted to Christianity as a result of meetings associated with what is happening. There are many people who either re-commit their lives to Christ or who are converted for the first time to Christianity at these meetings--several hundred at just about every Rodney Howard-Browne meeting (i.e., between five and ten percent). However, most of the people who go to these meetings are already Christians, so there is not a large pool of potential new converts. Also, I have no way of knowing what proportion of these people are re-committing their lives to Christ, and what proportion are coming to the Lord for the first time.
At the Toronto Airport Vineyard, 2,000 came to Christ and 1,000 recommitted their lives to Him during the first six months of 1994, out of 60,000 visitors, 30,000 of which were first time visitors. During the six months previous to the revival, there were 200 conversions and 100 recommitments. This is a different order of magnitude.
You later asked about allegations to the effect that some of the same phenomena that we've seen at these meetings have taken place among non-Christian groups. If this were the case, it would not surprise me, since it is often the case that the enemy will imitate the things that God does. We've seen holy laughter, drunkenness in the Spirit, and falling down under the Spirit's power in many revivals of past history, and it would not be surprising if the enemy has also been simulating some of the same things within the context of Eastern religions or occult groups. This has certainly been the case for many, many years with respect to such things as the gift of tongues and the word of knowledge.
I hope you're doing well. My best wishes to you in the Lord! Take care and God bless.
Sincerely,
Richard M. Riss
RRISS@DREW.EDU