THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY EXCHANGE

BBS: 303-935-6323

THE TRUE POWER TEAM

By

Phil Scovell

I suppose in today's mechanized, televised, and electronically publicized

church that everybody has seen the power team with their super human feats of

strength. Recently they performed in Denver and I went with my children. As

I sat and witnessed the smashing of huge ice blocks set a fire, the bending

of one inch steal bars between teeth, the snapping of police hand cuffs, the

bursting of hot water bottles as though they were toy balloons, and the

pulverizing of concrete walls, my heart ached...something was wrong. I began

to examine my thoughts and the Scriptures to determine the cause for my

feeling of spiritual uneasiness.

POSITIVE THINGS

There were a number of things I appreciated about the Power Team: They

did not water down or in any way tamper with the Gospel itself. John Jacobs

clearly preached a message of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and that sin

condemned one to eternal Hell. He without apology made it clear that one had

to confess his sin before the Lord and then confess Jesus as Lord of His life

in order to be born again. He furthermore stated that Christians are required

to live clean and holy lives before the world. His message was clear and

concise and there was absolutely no guess work in interpreting what he was

trying to say concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the doctrine of

salvation.

Besides the preaching of the Gospel, there were a number of other things

which I appreciated about the Power Team and their ministry. The fact that

they normally rent city auditoriums rather than performing in local churches

is refreshing. Such performances should be conducted outside the Church if

such is to be performed at all. The Church should never be a place of

entertainment. They also have performed in over four thousand schools. Not

many pastors or evangelists have been allowed to witness in that many public

schools. The Power Team likewise reaches the youth and especially street kids

in major cities across the country. One must admit they certainly have an

attraction to the youth of America. Their personal testimonies seem solid and

clear before the youth to whom they minister. They emphasize a personal

relationship with Christ to be more important than anything including physical

strength and they likewise emphasize one's self worth and personal integrity.

They preach against drugs, immorality, violence, and sin of all kinds. They

have altar calls; people are born again, sometimes some are healed, and

Christians are challenged to go all out for God. They attempt to follow up

with literature and correspondence with those who have come forward during the

altar call. In short, and on the surface, there are a number of good things

which can be said of the Power Team and their ministry. Then why did I sit in

my seat and wish I had STAYED HOME?

NEGATIVE THINGS

Perhaps the things I'm about to mention should be called the

"UNSCRIPTURAL THINGS" rather than the "negative." If one chooses not to

consider these things negative or Scripturally wrong, at the very least I

would think we might label them inappropriate. For example, the music was

ungodly. As soon as the team ran out on the stage blowing up hot water

bottles till they burst, the music was turned up so loud, it would have been

impossible to communicate with the person seated next to you without cupping

your hands about their ear and yelling. It frankly wasn't the volume that

disturbed me but the type of music. I honestly could not tell the difference

between the music played by the Power Team and that I used to sit and listen

to in the late 1960's when performed by Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hindrix, Steppen

Wolf, The Who, or any number of modern day rock bands such as Kiss, Mega

Death, or Metalica. Occasionally I heard the words Jesus or Christ and

prayed the music being played was Christian and not secular rock bands

throwing in our Lord's name for effect. Later John Jacobs confirmed this was

special music they had put together for their performances and it could be

purchased at their tables following the show. In fact, he said, they got so

many requests for good Christian music for the kids who were converted to

Christ in their performances and by Christian parents that want to wean their

teenagers away from secular rock music, that this was the music they were

recommending and selling. I know something sounds wrong with that philosophy

but I leave it up to the reader to figure it out. I simply refuse to accept

any rock music as Godly no matter who sings it...you may think otherwise.

This philosophy, however, sounds like the methadone program the government

began in the late 1960's in order to wean heroin addicts.

Let's consider, for a moment, and for argument's sake, that the music

isn't any big deal. Let's suggest that the music has no effect on those

seated in the audience and that the Power Team really doesn't believe that

music is important to their performance. Let me ask the question... "What is

the Power Team?" It isn't the Church. In fact, John Jacobs began the program

by saying he wasn't interested in what church anyone went to; he was just glad

everyone came to the performance that night and he hoped they enjoyed

themselves and had a good time. Then what is the Power Team? John Jacobs

said they were evangelists. Biblical evangelists were men who traveled about

the countryside preaching God's Word, healing the sick, and preparing the way

for apostles to come and establish local New Testament churches. Is this what

the Power Team does? Let's be honest! The Power Team are Christian

entertainers. Good ones, I might add, but entertainers nonetheless. Thank

God they preach the Gospel and win people to Christ rather than just

entertain. Is it wrong for Christians to be entertained? [WARNING...THIN

ICE!]

Now everyone knows an evangelistic team such as the Power Team, or any

missionary, pastor, full time Christian worker etc., needs money. I was very

interested in how the Power Team would approach the subject of money during

the performance. The program, by the way, was absolutely free. They of

course sold T shirts, tapes, books, baseball bats - replicas of those they

snap in two during the performance - and other related paraphernalia. In this

case, they were brought into Denver by a local Christian business which was

plugged repeatedly during the performance. All this was certainly acceptable

and I personally believe that if there is a place for such performances, they

indeed should be supported by Christian businesses rather than by local

churches.

When John Jacobs announced they would receive an offering and began

discussing the financial needs of the Power Team, I checked my watch. He

spoke for thirty minutes before the ushers actually moved down the rows to

pass the offering plates. This did not include the amount of time he spent

selling tickets to a banquet which the Power Team was sponsoring the following

day for Christian business men and women. What do you suppose was eventually

talked about at that banquet? Money maybe? The financial support of the

Power Team? I don't honestly know since I failed to attend. This form of

gathering the collections, to which Paul referred in the epistles, is so

unscriptural, it shouldn't even need to be addressed.

I was, however, mostly concerned about the hype generated. Every

performance of super human strength was preceded by several minutes of

explanation. For example, how many times the performer had accomplished this

feat, how many times he had been injured, that he had passed out once from the

exertion, or that bones had been broken. When the feat was then attempted,

the "Christian rock" music was pumped out to and almost unbearable DB level

while the performer struggled to attempt the impossible. In was all done, of

course, in the name of Jesus...I guess, or so we were told.

John Jacobs stood on the stage during the remaining minutes of the

performance and announced that he and his Power Team members were going to

break police hand cuffs. He had a police woman on the stage who hand cuffed a

couple of the Team members and as the music pounded, John encouraged the Team

members on over the loud speaker system. The emotional excitement continually

grew throughout the evening until it seemed as though something just had to

give.

Finally, after nearly two hours of showmanship, John said he was going to

attempt to snap two sets of hand cuffs. After they were placed on his hands,

he spoke until his hands turned blue from the lack of circulation. When he

finally announced he was going to break the cuffs, he compared this to

snapping the chains of darkness which held the lost in bonds which he said was

what Jesus did on the cross. He furthermore requested that no music be

played as he did so in order that the audience could hear the snap of the

chains when they finally broke. He informed the audience he might faint from

hyper ventilation which, he confessed, had happened to him once before. By

the way, this entire part of the show took perhaps twenty minutes by itself.

His labored breathing, as he built up physically, emotionally,

psychologically, and perhaps spiritually - he said this would be done in the

name of Jesus for those chained by the Devil - filled the auditorium as it was

amplified by the public address system. It was captivating! You could feel

the tension in the fourteen thousand attendees; you could sense the secret

desire in everyone that indeed John would snap those chains; you could almost

tangibly feel the power build up. Seconds passed as the huge auditorium

speakers bulged with the heavy breathing - inhaling and exhaling - of the

performer. Suddenly a man near me leaped to his feet and cried, "Jesus!" The

chains snapped and the crowd exploded! He had done it! He had done the

impossible! The lost were set free!

Immediately following the bursting of the chains, John Jacobs began his

altar call. He asked each Power Team member to step from the platform and to

stand in the aisles to meet with those who came. He made it very clear the

altar call was for those who wanted to be born again and for those Christians

not right with God who wanted to now make things right. In seconds the aisles

were filled. People crawled over the seats to get closer. Children crawled

on the floor between legs. Everybody wanted to get to Jesus, or was it the

Power Team?

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

I have expressed my concern about the improper music played. I am also

bothered by the commercialism; the buying and selling; the advertising; the

commercialization of Christ. I am concerned about John Jacobs opening

statement: "We don't care what church you go to, we just hope you have a good

time tonight." I am concerned about the plea for money and the fund raising

techniques employed to support the Team's activities. I am greatly disturbed

about the hype employed. Are all these things necessary in order to get

people to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Has the plane preaching of the

Gospel of Jesus Christ lost its power? Is not Christ our example? Did He

employe any such techniques in order that people might listen to His

preaching? If you say He in fact healed the sick which drew crowds, that

would be correct but He did not do so in order to attract the crowds; He did

so because He was the Messiah and He had the power to do so. In another

words, He preached the Gospel first; the healings were a natural consequence

of His Messiahship. What I am suggesting is we do not need the Power Team nor

any other para-church ministry to do the work the Church - the Body of Christ

- should be doing. Every radio or television show, every traveling

evangelistic team of any kind, every special entertainment group not supported

fully by local church ministries should disband and go back to the local

church ministry where they belong. Christians do not need to be entertained,

they need the preaching of God's eternal Word which changes lives for

eternity.

A friend of mine pastoring in western Colorado had moved into a small town

of about fifteen hundred people to start a church. The church now runs about

one hundred fifty. He heard of an old dying pastor in the small town and went

to pay his respects. They visited for some time as the old man lay in his bed

waiting for his home going. My friend asked the old preacher if he had any

advice for him concerning the church he had just started. "Son," he said,

"whatever it takes to bring them in is what it'll take to keep them." I have

never forgotten those words. How can the man of God who stands before his

thirty or forty people in a small rented store front building; the man who has

prayed and cried all week and studied the Scriptures and prepared the message

God has laid upon his heart for his little flock; how can this man possibly

top the performances of super human strength of the Power Team the night

before? It is my opinion that the Power Team and all such Christian

entertainment groups are robbing God's house and short changing the Christians

of God's true blessings for His people. Stop it and stop it now! Go back to

Church and spend your time walking the streets with your pastor and knocking

on doors and winning the lost to Jesus Christ. That's the true "POWER TEAM!"


Index of Articles of Interest    Home

  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | 167 | 168 | 169 | 170 | 171 | 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 | 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 181 | 182 | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 | 196 | 197 | 198 | 199 | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 |216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | 220 | 221 | 222 | 223 | 224 | 225 | 226 | 227 | 228 | 229 | 230 | 231 | 232 | 233 | 234 | 235 | 236 | 237 | 238 | 239 | 240 | 241 | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 247 | 248 | 249 | 250 | 251 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 | 256 | 257 | 258 | 259 | 260 | 261 | 262 | 263 | 264 | 265 | 266 | 267 | 268 | 269 | 270 | 271 | 272 | 273 | 274 | 275 | 276 | 277 | 278 | 279 | 280 | 281 | 282 | 283 | 284 | 285 | 286 | 287 | 288 | 289 | 290 | 291 | 292 | 293 | 294 | 295 | 296 | 297 | 298 | 299 | 300 | 301 | 302 | 303 | 304 | 305 | 306 | 307 | 308 | 309 | 310 | 311 | 312 | 313 | 314 | 315 |316 | 317 | 318 | 319 | 320 | 321 | 322 | 323 | 324 | 325 | 326 | 327 | 328 | 329 | 330 | 331 | 332 | 333

These articles are free from BelieversCafe.com, the complete christian resource site with more than 5000 webpages.  Redistribute freely with this link intact. NB:follow the respective authors copyright instructions!

Home | Bible versions | Bible Dictionary | Christian Classics | Christian Articles | Daily Devotions

Sister Projects: Wikichristian | WikiMD

BelieversCafe is a large collection of christian articles with over 40,000 pages


Our sponsors:   W8MD sleep and weight loss center