Spiritual group dynamics take place when the dynamic power of the Spirit of God falls unexpectedly on a waiting group of believers! In the New Testament, the Pentecost event (Acts 2:1-18) was a group dynamic of the first order, which set a precedent for further unexpected “outpourings” of the Spirit of God, as when the Spirit of God “fell” on the household of Cornelius, and those who received spoke in unknown languages.
Similar outpourings have taken place throughout church history and have overflowed limiting doctrinal restrictions and denominational attitudes. When a creek floods it overflows the fences, and all ducks swim together.
Group dynamics of the psychological kind can take place as club, or other gathering develops. But when the Spirit of God is “poured out” or “falls” on a group of believers it is often unexpected — and always extraordinary. Those blessed to be present remember it for as long as they live and it becomes the touchstone of every future spiritual experience, in that it tests the genuineness of every move of the Spirit thereafter.
An experiential group dynamic of the Christian kind is needed in our churches today as much as ever – more than ever — because of the deterioration of Christian values in Western society. But I should warn you that when the Spirit of God comes everything changes — the first being our heart attitude toward God. The second is our heart attitude toward others – often toward other Christians.
May the long-expected, global downpour begin and overflow the dry continent of Australia – and more especially our spiritually dry churches! Maybe the unusual widespread floodings across our dry Outback are a pointer from God to our long-awaited downpour — one that will glorify the Name of our Lord Jesus!
My first experience of a spiritual group dynamic was during a National Revival Crusade meeting in 1962 on a Sunday afternoon in Melbourne. I had not long come to faith in Jesus Christ, and while listening to the preacher suddenly felt an urge to fall down on my knees.
Halfway down my mind took over, and I quickly sat back up. But as I did the entire congregation of more than a hundred people fell on their knees at the same time and began speaking in tongues. That it was extraordinary was made clear to me by one of the pastor’s daughters when I asked, “Does this happen often?” She replied, “Not as often as we would like!” she replied.
My next experience of spiritual group dynamic was in the Malaysian state of Sabah, on the island of Borneo, I had finished preaching in an evening meeting when the Spirit of God suddenly swept into the church with the sound much like a cyclonic wind, and the Christians present, numbering about 300, suddenly began wailing as one. The deacons of the church had just publicly repented, and the result was that a revival began there and then which swept throughout Sabah and down into Sarawak. That revival lasted for eight years.
I experienced this spiritual group dynamic again in the Philippines a few years later. One night after preaching on Revival in Quezon City (part of Metro Manila), the entire crowd of about 230 young people began to weep and to cry out to God for forgiveness. There was no speaking in tongues this time, but very deep repentance. They were all down on their knees, crying their eyes out.
On another occasion I had addressed a gathering of 30 or so students at a bible college in Urdaneta, Central Luzon, when they suddenly began falling backwards onto the concrete floor. No one was hurt in the slightest, which to me was an indication that what had happened was spiritual rather than just emotional. Again, the main factor at work in them was deep, heartfelt repentance. One of my own team was also on the floor in repentance.
I witnessed the phenomenon again, in a church on the Channel Island of Jersey, when the Spirit of the Lord fell unexpectedly upon almost everyone in the Sunday morning meeting. A similar move too place also in smaller meetings in the Southwest of the United Kingdom.
In none of the meetings did this take place as a result of emotional preaching, but “came down” in a sovereign move of the Spirit of God. By this I mean that, although the Bible message prepared hearts, every one of the outpourings of the Spirit was unexpected. It usually is when this kind of spiritual phenomenon occurs.
One evening, a Christian brother took me to an end-of-terrace home in a small town in Cornwall. About a dozen believers had gathered to hear me preach. I gave a simple message, the Lord touched their hearts, and they responded when I asked how many needed the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Three mature ladies were filled straightaway!
I prophesied very specifically over their pastor, after the Spirit of the Lord had laid him out on a sofa. He had been a champion rugby player in the British Army but was helpless when “tackled” by the power of God! A small number of believers but a powerful and memorable outpouring!
A similar thing took place in Manila, one Saturday evening, after a pastor from a tribe on the volcanic Mt Pinatubo had cried out to the Lord for more of his power. I preached a short message to less than fifty people, and the Lord filled the man with so much of His power that he shouted long and loudly in an unknown tongue! A good friend from Los Angeles, USA, who was present that night told me he had never felt the power of God so strongly. Glory to God!