Going to see Stoneking tomorrow:

[deacon blues]

This is really sad.

In the mid-70s to early 80s LS preached a lot in the church I grew up in. When I was 8 I received the HG in one of those meetings. Hundreds of people received the HG in that time period. He would preach 6 weeks Tues-Sun with only Monday night off. There was such a buzz in our town people from other denominations were coming to our church to receive the HG, only to go back to their church. A charismatic revival was going on simultaneously. Methodists, Prebyterians, Catholics were getting filled with the HG. A strong Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship had grown. When someone couldn't receive the HG in their meetings they would encourage them to visit our church, and many of them got it. My uncle who was a very bitter man because of being severely abused as a child by his father cracked under conviction one Easter that LS was preaching. LS left the platform and went back to him and invited him to the altar and my uncl got saved. He turned into one of the sweetest, kindest and most genuine Christians.

One of the most profound miracles I have ever witnessed happened during that time. A man who had been in a terrible motorcycle accident came with someone. He was in a wheelchair and was virtually helpless. He could barely hold his head up. LS prayed for him. He had some men help him and they pulled him from the chair, praying for him and dragging him around the sanctuary. It was bold and dramatic, but LS had that kind of faith. The man's legs started moving. He didn't get healed completely, but he started recovering slowly. Eventually that man was able to return to a normal life with only a slight speech impediment to show for it.

I remember a message on the "Pearl of Great Price" LS preached that stays with me to this day.

These are the things that characterized his ministry in those days. He was in great demand as a result. I had many personal interactions with him as our family ate with LS after church on many occasions.

In the mid-80s LS preached a camp meeting in our district. He preached a message "Angels Unawares". It was basically a message filled with personal stories about angelic visitations and interactions. I didn't think much about it, it was a different kind of service, but I heard a preacher I really respected say after service, "That message wasn't very Biblical". The more I thought about it I agreed. There was barely a mention of Jesus in it. The focus was mainly on angels.

Then in the late 80s we had him come and do a short weekend revival. It had been a few years since we had him preach for us. I was on church staff at this point. One night he preached this message on hair. It included the thought about women and power in prayer and angels. No mention of witches or laying hair on the sick, but it was disturbing enough that over dinner later at the asst pastor's house some questions were asked at th table about the message. A debate didn't ensue but it was obvious several of us at the table had problems with the message. He never was asked back to preach for us again.

I don't know why LS wants to be identified with and focused on this message he has been preaching about hair when he was remembered for so long for his prayer life, his being led by the HG and the powerful anointing that marked his earlier days.

It makes me sad to see him become a caricature of what he used to be. I love him, and I am going to be praying for him. Admittedly I have not been.

[crakjak]

Originally Posted by deacon blues

This is really sad.

In the mid-70s to early 80s LS preached a lot in the church I grew up in. When I was 8 I received the HG in one of those meetings. Hundreds of people received the HG in that time period. He would preach 6 weeks Tues-Sun with only Monday night off. There was such a buzz in our town people from other denominations were coming to our church to receive the HG, only to go back to their church. A charismatic revival was going on simultaneously. Methodists, Prebyterians, Catholics were getting filled with the HG. A strong Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship had grown. When someone couldn't receive the HG in their meetings they would encourage them to visit our church, and many of them got it. My uncle who was a very bitter man because of being severely abused as a child by his father cracked under conviction one Easter that LS was preaching. LS left the platform and went back to him and invited him to the altar and my uncl got saved. He turned into one of the sweetest, kindest and most genuine Christians.

One of the most profound miracles I have ever witnessed happened during that time. A man who had been in a terrible motorcycle accident came with someone. He was in a wheelchair and was virtually helpless. He could barely hold his head up. LS prayed for him. He had some men help him and they pulled him from the chair, praying for him and dragging him around the sanctuary. It was bold and dramatic, but LS had that kind of faith. The man's legs started moving. He didn't get healed completely, but he started recovering slowly. Eventually that man was able to return to a normal life with only a slight speech impediment to show for it.

I remember a message on the "Pearl of Great Price" LS preached that stays with me to this day.

These are the things that characterized his ministry in those days. He was in great demand as a result. I had many personal interactions with him as our family ate with LS after church on many occasions.

In the mid-80s LS preached a camp meeting in our district. He preached a message "Angels Unawares". It was basically a message filled with personal stories about angelic visitations and interactions. I didn't think much about it, it was a different kind of service, but I heard a preacher I really respected say after service, "That message wasn't very Biblical". The more I thought about it I agreed. There was barely a mention of Jesus in it. The focus was mainly on angels.

Then in the late 80s we had him come and do a short weekend revival. It had been a few years since we had him preach for us. I was on church staff at this point. One night he preached this message on hair. It included the thought about women and power in prayer and angels. No mention of witches or laying hair on the sick, but it was disturbing enough that over dinner later at the asst pastor's house some questions were asked at th table about the message. A debate didn't ensue but it was obvious several of us at the table had problems with the message. He never was asked back to preach for us again.

I don't know why LS wants to be identified with and focused on this message he has been preaching about hair when he was remembered for so long for his prayer life, his being led by the HG and the powerful anointing that marked his earlier days.

It makes me sad to see him become a caricature of what he used to be. I love him, and I am going to be praying for him. Admittedly I have not been.

Excellent post, we must all recognize that when the focus moves from Jesus to us, or any other thing, we are seriously off track!!!!

[Sam]

Originally Posted by deacon blues

...
I remember a message on the "Pearl of Great Price" LS preached that stays with me to this day.
...
.

Just curious,
did he preach that the Pearl of Great Price is Jesus that we find after seeking all over and then we must sell all we have to purchase Him
or
did he preach that the Pearl of Great Price is the one indivisible Church for which Jesus paid His all?

ref: Matthew 13:45-46

[Justin]

Originally Posted by Justin

If you have heard Stoneking's "Order of Creation" message: would you say this is an accurate summary of Stoneking's "Order of Creation" message? If I am wrong let me know! I'm not looking for criticism of his teachings, just whether or not this is an accurate summary of what he teaches and believes.

Summary of Stoneking's 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 exegesis:

God established an order or rule of submission called "The Order of Creation", which is built from 1 Corinthians 11:3; But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Thus it is layed out: God, Christ, Man, Woman. When a man or woman does not comply with this order, they are out of God's will. This is accomplished by men having long hair and woman having cut hair. Angels and the spirit realm are confused with a woman enters the presence of God with cut hair, in fact, a woman should not bother entering God presence or casting out demons if she has cut hair. A woman's hair can easily be "uncut" simply when a woman makes up her mind that it is wrong to cut her hair. From that point on, her hair is uncut and she is now back in line with the God's order of creation.

Evil angels seek women that are outside of God's order of creation by their unwillingness to keep their hair uncut. After roughly two years of not cutting their hair men begin to fight the spirit of homosexualism. Verse 10 shows that a woman has power on her head through/by/with angels. The power refers to authority, which is spiritual authority. Women have authority over angels by their uncut hair, something men cannot do. Woman can and should use this spiritual authority to protect and guard their homes, kids and husband. Thus, the full order of creation is: God, Christ, Man, Woman, Angels. There is nothing "magical" about a woman's uncut head of hair, but rather it is her faith that God will honor for her willingness to fulfill God's proper order of creation. There is nothing wrong with a woman letting down her hair to lay it over a loved one in order to remind God that she has followed the order of creation by not cutting her hair.

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

I have heard him preach this before. In fact, you just summoned it up in a way which took seconds for me to read, but took an hour for him to get across. My guess is that the total time he spoke was a little over two hours.

Thanks for your input Randy, are there any other takers? Have I properly and fairly summarized Stoneking's message entitled "Order of Creation".

[deacon blues]

Originally Posted by Sam

Just curious,
did he preach that the Pearl of Great Price is Jesus that we find after seeking all over and then we must sell all we have to purchase Him
or
did he preach that the Pearl of Great Price is the one indivisible Church for which Jesus paid His all?

ref: Matthew 13:45-46

I was a child, which was oh so long ago. I remember him talking about giving our all to gain the pearl that is Jesus. It stays with me I suppose because it made an impression on me as a child. I guess I stopped playing with toys and tic-tac-toe and started listening.

I just preached on the pearl of great price and the treasure in the field and prached that its both: we find Jesus and sell all to gain Him. He gave all so He could attain what He values most---the Church.