Date: 28-Mar-1995 11:34am EST
Subject: Falling Down under the anointing
Mark, thanks for your note of March 24. Separately, I have sent you information regarding the location of the events at FM92. It was in Melbourne, Florida, in the USA, and it took place in January of this year. I first heard about it from Randy Clark when it had just happened, and at that time I couldn't figure out why he kept talking about Florida and Melbourne interchangeably--until I realized that the Melbourne he was talking about was actually a city in Florida, and not Melbourne, Australia!
You were asking about falling out under the Spirit. This has been a common phenomenon throughout history during times of revival. Your report is just about the only report I have heard of anyone being hurt as a result of falling in this context. The only exception is a rumor I heard to the effect that Charles and Frances Hunter were being sued because someone had been hurt when falling this way in one of their meetings. I have no idea whether there is any basis to this rumor, and I don't know the extent to which the person may actually have been hurt. I do know that in the vast majority of cases, it seems that nobody gets hurt. And I'm talking about hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of cases. If God is able to knock somebody down, He is also able to prevent the person from getting hurt. And I've seen this in action many times. I've seen people fall, and in those unusual cases in which there is nobody there to catch them, God also seems, sovereignly, in one way or another, to prevent injury. They'll fall on a cushion, or on another person, or the fall will not be as sudden as most falls, or some such thing. It's almost uncanny the way it happens. But in the vast majority of cases, someone is there to catch the person.
I hope this helps!
Sincerely,
Richard M. Riss
RRISS@DREW.EDU