The True Power Team
By
Phil Scovell
Copyright (C) 1997/2003
By Phil Scovell
All Rights Reserved
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it was given. It may not be reproduced and sold for financial
gain without written permission of the copyright holder: Phil
Scovell. Electronic formats may be distributed freely but this
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Phil Scovell
840 South Sheridan Boulevard
Denver, Colorado 80226-8017
Toll Free: 888-936-0001
Voice: 303-936-2188
Fax: 303-936-1841
Email: Phil@RedWhiteAndBlue.ORG
Web: WWW.RedWhiteAndBlue.ORG
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. 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
secular schools. Not many pastors or evangelists have been
allowed to witness in that many public institutions. 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 America's youth. Their personal
testimonies seem solid and clear. 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
If one chooses not to consider the following 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 but the type of music
which disturbed me. 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, Judas Preist, 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 from secular rock, that this was the music they
were recommending and selling. I know something sounds wrong
with that philosophy but I leave it 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, and full time Christian worker
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...but then Paul wasn't
writing to the Power Team; he was writing to the church.
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...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 had to give.
Finally, after nearly two hours of excellent showmanship,
John said he was going to attempt to snap, not one, but two sets
of hand cuffs. After they were placed on his rists, 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 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.
Seconds ticked as the huge auditorium speakers bulged with the
heavy breathing - inhaling and exhaling - of the performer.
Suddenly a man, overcome with emotion, 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. 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." 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 plain
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 heal. In other
words, He preached the Gospel first; the healings were a natural
consequence of His Messiahship. I am suggesting 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 tiny
congragation 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 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!"
End Of Document
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