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 John G. Lake ?blameless

Ravenhill and others talk about John G. Lake and that even God would send many of the same who have the same influnce with God. My question is John G. Lake the best example of an revival preacher? It is obvious he had borne much fruit to God but I also know that alot of his doctrine was very much off from the bible, one doctrine being that hell doesn't exist? Did he start to falter in his doctrine later in his ministry and life?

Here is an article that is very much pro Lake, one stat I have a hard time believing is that he [b]raised[/b] over 1,000,000 converts...



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[b]John G. Lake "A Man of Healing"[/b]

If there was ever a man who walked in the revelation of "God in man," it was John G. Lake. A man of purpose, vision, strength and character, his one goal in life was to bring the fullness of God to every person. He often said that the secret of heaven's power was not in the doing, but in the being. He believed that Spirit-filled Christians should enjoy the same type of ministry Jesus did while living on earth, and that this reality could only be accomplished by seeing themselves as God saw them. John G. Lake lived his life and fulfilled his ministry in the earth with this type of spiritual understanding. If we would just grasp the reality of our position through Jesus Christ, as Lake did, every nation would ring with the praises of God.

was responsible for raising over 1,000,000 converts, 625 churches and 1,250 preachers in five years of ministry.

because of his resurrection revelation, had a deadly plague germ die in his hand, yet at the start of his ministry thought one could only be healed in Dr. Dowie's Healing Home.

had such an incredible healing ministry, that according to statistics, the U.S. Government declared his city, Spokane, Washington, to be the healthiest city in America.

John G. Lake was known as God's "Apostle to Africa". Born in Canada in 1870, his family soon relocated to the United States, where he grew up. His healing and preaching ministry spanned the years 1898 (when he saw his wife instantly healed under the ministry of John Alexander Dowie) until his death in 1935. In 1908, God sent him to Africa, where his anointed miracle ministry resulted in what has been described as "the most extensive and powerful missionary movement in all Africa." As Gordon Lindsay wrote, "during that time he spent five history-making years in South Africa, engaged in a ministry which in some respects rivaled that of the Early Church." Upon his return to America, Lake established a ministry in Spokane, Washington which resulted in no less than 100,000 astounding miracles of healing within the space of five or six years. He then established a similar work in Portland, Oregon, which also attracted widespread attention.

Like Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake had already experienced mighty breakthroughs, powerful anointings and a real calling from God for many years before Azusa Street and the Pentecostal Revival. The following is a condensed account of the spiritual hunger and preparation that Lake was taken through by God, near the beginning of the most anointed period of his ministry. (Taken from the book, 'John G. Lake - Apostle to Africa', compiled by Gordon Lindsay, and told in Lake's own words):

"Eight years passed after God revealed Jesus the Healer to me. I had been practicing the ministry of healing. During that eight years every answer to prayer, every miraculous touch of God, every response of my own soul to the Spirit had created within me a more intense longing for an intimacy and a consciousness of God, like I felt the disciples of Jesus and the primitive church had possessed... Shortly after my entrance into the ministry of healing, while attending a service where the necessity for the Baptism of the Spirit was presented, as I knelt in prayer and reconsecration to God, an anointing of the Spirit came upon me. Waves of Holy Glory passed through my being, and I was lifted into a new realm of God's presence and power. After this, answers to prayer were frequent and miracles of healing occurred from time to time. I felt myself on the borderland of a great spiritual realm, but was unable to enter in fully, so my nature was not satisfied with the attainment..." (Pg 16).

"Hundreds, and hundreds of people were healed by the power of God during these ten years. But at the end of that ten years, I believe I was the hungriest man for God that ever lived. There was such a hunger for God that as I left my offices in Chicago, and walked down the street, my soul would break out, and I would cry, 'Oh God!' I have had people stop and look at me, and wonder. It was the yearning passion of my soul, asking for God in a greater measure than I knew. But my friends would say, 'Mr. Lake, you have a beautiful Baptism of the Holy Ghost.' Yes, it was nice as far as it went, but it was not answering the cry of my heart. I was growing up into a larger understanding of God, and my own soul's need. My soul was demanding a greater entrance into God, His love, Presence, and Power. And then one day an old man strolled into my office, sat down, and in the next half hour, he revealed more of the knowledge of God to my soul than I had ever known before. When he left I said, '... God, if that is what the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with tongues does, I am going to possess it.' Oh the wonder of God, that was then revealed to my heart!..."


John G. Lake Crusade Meeting held in a big tent.

"Finally I was led to set aside certain hours of the day that I dedicated to God, as times of meditation, and prayer. Thus a number of months passed, until one morning as I knelt praying, the Spirit of the Lord spoke within my spirit, and said, "Be patient until autumn." My heart rejoiced in this encouragement and I continued my practice of meditation and prayer as formerly. It became easy for me to detach myself from the course of life, so that while my hands and mind were engaged in the common affairs of every day, my spirit maintained its attitude of communion with God... I said, 'God, if you will baptize me in the Holy Spirit, and give me the power of God, nothing shall be permitted to stand before me and a hundred-fold obedience.'

"I prayed for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for nine months, and if a man ever prayed honestly, and sincerely in the faith, I did. Finally one day I was ready to throw up my hands, and quit. I said, 'Lord, it may be for others, but it is not for me. You just cannot give it to me.' I did not blame God. One night a gentleman by the name of Pierce said, 'Mr. Lake, I have been wishing for a long time you would come over, and we would spend a night in prayer together. We have been praying for the Baptism for a whole year and there is not one of us baptized yet. Brother, I do not believe that you are either, so we can pray for one another." I was so hungry to pray, so I went with all intentions of praying for the rest, but I had not been praying five minutes until the light of God began to shine around me, I found myself in a center of an arc of light ten feet in diameter, the whitest light in all the universe. So white! Oh how it spoke of purity. The remembrance of that whiteness, that wonderful whiteness, has been the ideal that has stood before my soul, of the purity of the nature of God ever since.

"Then a Voice began to talk to me out of that light. There was no form. And the Voice began to remind me of this incident, and that incident of disobedience to my parents, from a child; of my obstinacy, and dozens of instances when God brought me up to the line of absolutely putting my body, soul, and spirit upon the altar forever. I had my body upon the altar for ten years, and I had been a minister of the Gospel. But when the Lord comes, He opens to the soul the depths that have never been touched in your life. Do you know that after I was baptized in the Holy Ghost, things opened up in the depths of my nature that had remained untouched in all my life, and that which was shadowy, distant, and hazy became real. God got up close and let His light shine into me.

"Shortly after this experience, one afternoon a brother minister called, and invited me to accompany him to visit a lady who was sick. Arriving at the home we found the lady in a wheel chair. All her joints were set with inflammatory rheumatism. She had been in the condition for ten years...While my friend was conversing with her, preparing her to be prayed with, that she might be healed, I sat in a deep chair on the opposite side of a large room. My soul was crying out to God in a yearning too deep for words, when suddenly it seemed to me, that I had passed under a shower of warm tropical rain, which was not falling upon me, but through me. My spirit, and soul and body under this influence soothed into such a deep still calm, as I had never known. My brain, which had always been so active, became perfectly still. An awe of the presence of God settled over me. I knew it was God.

"Some moments passed; I do not know how many. The Spirit said, 'I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears. You are now Baptized in the Holy Spirit.' Then currents of power began to rush through my being from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. The shocks of power increased in rapidity, and voltage. As these currents of power would pass through me, they seemed to come upon my head, rush through my body, and through my feet into the floor... Even at this late date, the awe of that hour rests upon my soul. My experience has truly been as Jesus said that He shall be within you 'a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.' That never-ceasing fountain has flowed through my spirit, soul, and body day, and night, bringing salvation, and healing, and the Baptism of the Spirit in the power of God to multitudes.

"Shortly after my Baptism in the Holy Spirit, a working of the Spirit commenced in me, that seemed to have for it's purpose the revelation of the nature of Jesus Christ to me and in me. Through this tuition and remolding of the Spirit a great tenderness for mankind was to awaken in my soul. I saw mankind through new eyes. They seemed to me as wandering sheep, having strayed far, in the midst of confusion, groping and wandering hither and thither. They had no definite aim and did not seem to understand what the difficulty was or how to return to God. The desire to proclaim the message of Christ, and demonstrate His power to save and bless, grew in my soul until my life was swayed by this overwhelming passion." (Pg 16-20).

"I found that my life began to manifest in the varied range of the gifts of the Spirit. I spoke in tongues by the power of God, and God flowed through me with a new force. Healings were of a more powerful order. Oh, God lived in me; God manifested in me; God spoke through me. My spirit was energized. I had a new comprehension of God's will, a new discernment of spirit, and a new revelation of God in me.

"Then a new wonder manifested. My nature became so sensitized, that I could lay hands on any man, or woman, and tell what organ was diseased, and to what extent, and all about it. I tested it. I went into hospitals where physicians could not diagnose a case, touched a patient, and instantly I knew the organ that was diseased, its extent, condition, and location. And one day it passed away. A child plays with a toy, and his joy is so wonderful, he sometimes forgets to eat."

Before obeying the call into full-time ministry, Lake felt the need to dispose of his very successful business interests. He sold everything, giving the money to God's work, and embarked on full-time ministry with a heart full of the fire of God. Soon afterward, when he was ministering in a city in Northern Illinois, God spoke to him clearly and distinctly: "Go to Indianapolis. Prepare for winter campaign. Get a large hall. In the Spring you will go to Africa."

John G. Lake continues: "One morning when I came down to breakfast, I found my appetite had disappeared. I could not eat. I went about my work as usual. At dinner I had no desire to eat, and no more in the evening. This went on till the third day. But toward the evening of the third day, an overwhelming desire to pray took possession of me. I wanted only to be alone to pray. Prayer flowed from my soul like a stream. I could not cease praying. As soon as it was possible to get to a place of seclusion, I would kneel to pour out my heart to God for hours. Whatever I was doing, that stream of prayer continued flowing from my soul ... On the night of the sixth day of this fast, that the Lord had laid on me, while in the act of washing my hands, the Spirit said, 'How long have you been praying to cast out demons?' and I replied, 'Lord a long time.' And the Spirit said, 'From henceforth, thou shalt cast out demons.' I arose and praised God." (Pg 21). An opportunity to test this newly-given anointing to cast out demons came the following Sunday, when a violently insane man was brought to Lake, who commanded the demon to come out of him in Jesus' name. The man was instantly delivered, and two days later was released from the institution that he had been confined in.

In April 1908, Lake and his family left for South Africa. Though they had no visible means of support, they were miraculously provided for every step of the way. And thus began a tremendous Revival, with mighty healings, miracles and deliverances, which was to profoundly impact the African continent for years to come, even long after Lake was gone. In 1913, following the tragic death of his wife, Lake returned to America, but by this time the torch had also been passed on to Elias Letwaba and others in Africa, and the work went on there, in great power. Lake continued his ministry in North America until his death in 1935, and like Smith Wigglesworth, he fought an outstanding fight and ran a great race, right to the very end.

http://www.healingrooms.com/history.htm


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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

 2005/12/16 20:27Profile
sj
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 Re: John G. Lake ?blameless

Fortunately this is one of the few subjects i do know a little but about!
John G. Lake believed in Hell i did see that one quote on the tentmakers website but i seriuosly doubt it was genuine. Otherwise there would be alot more uproar about it.

I suggest you check out this website:
www.jglm.org

It is the official John G Lake Ministry website which was passed on to Curry Blake who fit the prophecy Lake gave in 1935 about who was to take over the ministry. He really did see one hundred thousand healings in 5 years and then did it again. I suggest you read some of Lakes works, you will see that he was Scripturaly sound. I am not aware of any controversy regarding his doctrine.
Curry Blake (current overseer)reports that they see 30,000 healings a month through his ordained ministers. He has testimonies on the website. I've met bro Curry, he's a good guy, not money hungary, very humble and he lives what he speaks of. Again I've read several John Lake books and have never got the impression the man did not believe in Hell.

 2005/12/19 10:34Profile









 Re: John G. Lake ?blameless

I don't have time to read your post.

But, I read Kenneth Copeland's book on him (well they own the rights i believe) "His Life, His Teachings, and His Boldness of Faith"

Do he believe in hell? I think he did, don't remember him mentioning it, or 'denying it'.

But, "ALOT" of unbiblical things Greg? like what else?

Just curious, maybe I should glimspe over the book that I have on him and see if there is any 'denial' of hell but he also didn't mention it as much as I know. (it's been a while since i read it)

So, what else is 'unbiblical' of Mr.Lake's teachings?

 2005/12/24 22:45
jimp
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 Re: John G. Lake ?blameless

hi, ravenhil said that he never saw a more annointed or ppowerful preacher in his life than oral roberts before hollywood got to him. if paul looked trough a glass darkly, why do we look for nail prints in the hands and feet of ordinary men who were used of God. jimp

 2005/12/25 2:27Profile
sonsigns
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 Re:

Hey, thanks for the link to the ministry site.
I don't know much about John G. Lake, haven't read any books by him, just articles from sermon index.


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William Cato

 2010/4/17 18:18Profile
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 Re: John G. Lake ?blameless

Quote:
Ravenhill and others talk about John G. Lake and that even God would send many of the same who have the same influnce with God. My question is John G. Lake the best example of an revival preacher?



The best is yet to come brother Greg. Why does God always save the best for the last?

There are two revivalist preachers that God is going to raise up, that are coming, that are going to bring a good portion of the world to their knees in repentance in the greatest revival and outpouring of the Holy Ghost since man has been on the earth...The glory of this latter house (which is the Bride of Christ) shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.


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David

 2010/4/17 20:32Profile
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Joined: 2009/12/10
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 Re: John G. Lake ?blameless

I would suggest you take a look at Roberts Liardon's compilation of his life's works/biography; it is around 500 pages long, but if you're interested, it's quite an encouraging read. I have only read about 70 pages out of it, but it seems that he had a very anointed ministry, and the book concurs with the numbers and figures you just stated in terms of salvations in his ministry in South Africa. It also tells the entire story behind the healing rooms in Spokane, as well as a very funny story about the Better Business Bureau investigating his "so-called healing rooms" in Spokane, and finding out that the Lord was truly healing that many people. The BBB's closing comment was something to the effect of, "we have no desire to impede the great work being done here."

Again, Roberts Liardon: John G. Lake Anthology, The Complete Collection of His Life's Teachings


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Jonathan

 2010/4/18 2:53Profile
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 Re:

jwlassi, I just got this book and am super excited to get into once I finish a few other books I'm reading right now. It's funny though, my copy of the book is acutally around 940 pages, maybe large font or something.

As for the topic, all I can say is that on Judgment Day all will be revealed. Many we think have had great ministries may not have, and many we may not think were too great, may be the ones exalted. The Lord knoweth.

Mat 15:13-14 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Certainly, this would apply to men that are no longer living as well, for it seems even more foolish to attack them now. I like Paul West's position on these types of critiques, just don't get into it.


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Paul

 2010/4/18 11:07Profile
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Joined: 2007/1/15
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 Re:

Brethren,
May the Lord continue to find us willing and worthy servants.
I do not know the intent of the heart of the OP but I am beginning to be weary of these cross-examining of others' ministries. The other day it was John Wesley, not it's John G. Lake.

Men and brethren, God bless you.


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Tolu

 2010/4/18 17:35Profile
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 Re: John G. Lake ?blameless

It is a myth that John G. Lake did not believe in Hell. The quote in question is this I believe: "There were days when the Church could club men into obedience by preaching hell to them, but that day has long passed. The world has outgrown it. And men are discovering there is only one way and that is the Jesus way. Jesus did not come with a club, but with the great loving heart of the Son of God. He was "moved with compassion" [Matthew 9:36, Matthew 14:14, Mark 1:41]."

Nowhere here does he even insinuate that Hell does not exist.

He also said, "Think of Jonathan Edwards who thundered the terrors of God and what Hell was like until men grasped their seats and hung on to them, fearing they were falling into Hell itself. Men were moved by fear to escape damnation. That was believed to be Christianity. Why any coward wanted to keep out of Hell. He might not have had one idea in his soul of what was the real true earmark of Christianity. –John G. Lake"

I have read most every sermon the John G. Lake ever had recorded in pen, and he ABSOLUTELY believed in Hell.

His point was that preaching on the heat of hell was not the proper way to win the lost to Christ. Any man wants a fire escape. Men need Jesus for the sake of relationship with God, not as a way to simply avoid what they fear.

Travis


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Travis

 2010/4/19 20:14Profile





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