Product Description

Hank Hanegraaff documents the danger of looking for God in all the wrong places and goes behind the scenes into the wildly popular and bizarre world of contemporary revivalism. Hanegraaff masterfully exposes the stark contrast between these deeds of the flesh and a genuine work of the Spirit by contrasting modern revivals with the scriptural examples of God's movement among His people.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105754 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

Must Read For Those Who Hunger For Revival
I have attended Brownsville Assembly of God on two different occasions. Both times I walked away with a hunger for God. I did not shake. I did not fall down. I simply walked away with a hunger for God's presence in my home church. I walked away longing for people to be sovereignly saved. I walked away challanged to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16).

I bought this book before I went to Brownsville. I knew that Hanegraaff was having some problems with the so called "revival movements." I too was having those problems.

What did I learn? This book will call you to study the Word of God. Revival must be based on the clear teachings of Scripture. I fully stand with Hanegraaff on this issue. Nevertheless, I did not like the "spirit" which seems to be in this book (as opposed to Christianity In Crisis). While I felt that there was (and still is) a great need for men like Hank to call the Body of Christ back to the Bible but we must do this in a spirit of humility (2 Timothy 2:24-25).

I would encourage you to read this book but continue to pray for revival. Don't be discouraged. Seek Jesus with all your heart and fall in love with Him and His awesome truth.

Relies on old data and false impressions
Hank Hanegraaff's long-awaited book against what he perceives as a counterfeit revival (rooted in Satan the "master counterfeiter" who "masquerades as an angel of enlightenment") represents a significant moment in Christian publishing. Its significance lies in three things. First, the spectacular selling run of Hanegraaff's work alone makes it a must-read for those who want to track trends in the Christian community.

Second, Counterfeit Revival exposes some real excesses and imbalances in the current charismatic renewal movements. Hanegraaff rightly criticizes the undue emphasis on strange manifestations in the world of modern revivalism. This misplaced focus is especially disturbing given the regular diet of anti-intellectual rhetoric, slim biblical exposition, and revelatory claims on which many who participate in these movements are nurtured. Hanegraaff also documents some very intemperate judgments made against him by South African evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne at a renewal meeting in Anaheim and warns against sectarian judgments and spiritual death threats from prophets and leaders connected with the Toronto renewal, ones that should be publicly and finally repudiated by Toronto Blessing leader John Arnott.

But Hanegraaff's work is also important for a third and tragic reason. In the end, it is a misleading, simplistic, and harmful book, marred by faulty logic, outdated and limited research, and nasty misrepresentation of key charismatic leaders. Unlike many, I do not question Hanegraaff's motives, but his zeal has blinded him from taking the path of principled Christian discourse.

Counterfeit Revival is an indictment composed of hundreds of specific assertions about individuals and groups. These claims cannot be accepted or rejected in toto; each must be weighed on its merits. In the scope of this review, it is possible only to give representative examples of Hanegraaff's failure to take account of evidence that contradicts his sweeping claims.

Consider, for example, Hanegraaff's assertion that Howard-Browne denies the deity of Christ in order to elevate himself: a damning charge indeed, if true. But in a 1995 published interview with me, the South African evangelist explained his one controversial statement on the topic and clearly affirmed orthodox doctrine.

Similarly, Todd Hunter, the national coordinator of the Vineyard, is targeted for a four-sentence statement he made in a 1994 sermon about three controversial Pentecostal healers. This becomes the centerpiece for an entire chapter in which Hanegraaff trashes Hunter by linking him with the worst excesses of these healers. Hunter phoned and wrote Hanegraaff just as the book was going to press to say that he deplored the very sins and falsehoods catalogued in Counterfeit Revival and explicitly denied Hanegraaff's interpretation of his statement. Despite that clarification, Hanegraaff did not modify his attack on Hunter in subsequent printings.

In chapter 14, John Wimber is targeted for prophetic views that he has not held since 1991, ones that he has publicly acknowledged as the biggest mistake of his ministry, while his crucial decision to disaffiliate the Toronto Airport Vineyard from the Association of Vineyard Churches is relegated to an endnote. Hanegraaff has 46 references to Wimber's tapes and writings, but there is only one reference from the last six years! Fully half of all the references concern Hanegraaff's critique of a 1981 tape series expressing views that Wimber no longer holds.

Counterfeit Revival also attacks Wimber for his association with Lonnie Frisbee, a former Jesus People evangelist. Hanegraaff refers to a 1979 service where Wimber "turned his church into a laboratory and his church members into guinea pigs. Tragically, the 'lab technician' who experimented on them that night was a hypnotist struggling with homosexuality. In 1995 he died of AIDS."

The evening service in question was on Mother's Day in 1980, not in 1979. Frisbee died in 1993, not 1995. Frisbee dabbled in hypnotism when he was a hippie but totally repudiated it after his conversion. What Hanegraaff neglects to mention is that Frisbee, in spite of homosexual tendencies, was a formative influence on Chuck Smith, Greg Laurie, and other Calvary Chapel pastors besides Wimber. At Frisbee's funeral, held at the Crystal Cathedral, Chuck Smith referred to him as one like Samson. That image is a lot more gracious and redemptive than the one used to malign John Wimber.

Hanegraaff demonizes Wimber and Hunter by using their words to paint them as Quaker-like subjectivists who value the inner light over Scripture, a stance that Jonathan Edwards calls the view of Satan himself. Hanegraaff shows bad faith in reading their comments in the worst light, failing to cite their clear and repeated declarations of biblical authority and inerrancy, and refusing to alter his text in response to Hunter's letter of clarification.

Of course, Hanegraaff's whole argument topples if Counterfeit Revival readers find out that Wimber, Hunter, Arnott, Clark, Howard-Browne, and company all believe, despite their errors and excesses, in the authority of Scripture and in the essentials of the gospel. That Hanegraaff has chosen to ignore every bit of evidence that these men have been used by God to bring sinners to Calvary and weary believers to refreshment is very distressing.

How to NOT Get the Holy Spirit! But Too Much In-fighting
This book is a real page turner. It reads like a juicy expose' story that shows how certain small, infamous religious organizations are teaching and preaching a phoney doctrine of getting the Holy Spirit via thrilling sensations and unprovable "miracles" or hypnotic suggestion. This book cannot cover every phoney ministry in the country, but it gets the point across by going very in-depth with a few of the worst cases, both recently and since the inception of the New World, America.

I learned a lot about what SEEMS to be very impressive events occurring at fake worship sessions, and how it is mostly, or entirely, a show biz type trick, with techniques that have been in use for at least over 200 years. I was also surprised that I got a good overview and fresh exposure to many classic Christian writers and thinkers, such as Jonathan Edwards.

To me, the main proof that "Counterfeit Revival"'s described events are NOT the work of the Holy Spirit is that there is no evidence of these "newly converted" becoming Christians with hearts for Christian Service and doing good works. Instead, this book shows that the counterfeit converts seem to only become junkies for more and more thrills and chills at endless counterfeit worship services. It becomes a self-serving religiousity. Real Christians get the Holy Spirit and go out and do good works. These counterfeit Christians keep going back for more fun and entertainment for themselves.

The only down-side to this book is that the author seems to be in long-running relationships and arguments with many of the contemporary characters discussed in the book, while the Bible says we should avoid getting in endless arguments because it can cause confusion among people that don't understand Scripture very well, (2 Timothy 2:23-24, perhaps applies well here).

This book shows what to NOT get involved with, in your personal search for better understanding of the Holy Spirit, and in your Christian walk. But this book doesn't really tell you HOW TO get in touch with the Holy Spirit, though it does use tons of Biblical chapter:verse to discredit the counterfeit techniques.

If you're looking for good direction about HOW TO get a better understanding and relationship with the REAL Holy Spirit, then I would heartily recommend a book titled, "The Fire That Ignites" by Tony Evans.