Two prominent Christian leaders and authors with a history of very public and very heated conflict over the validity of the Brownsville Revival made history Wednesday and Thursday in Pensacola, Florida.
According to Dr. Michael L. Brown, president of the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry, Hank Hanegraaff, the author of Counterfeit Revival, visited the Brownsville Revival along with Pastor Tom Stipe of Crossroads Calvary Chapel of Denver, Colorado (Pastor Stipe wrote the foreword to Mr. Hanegraaff's book).
The visit was historic because Mr. Hanegraaff has been the most visible and prominent critic of the renewal/revival movement in North America. For more than three years, he has blasted the "Toronto Blessing" on his daily syndicated radio program, "The Bible Answer Man," and in publications produced by his organization, Christian Research Institute (CRI). He targeted the Brownsville Revival at Brownsville Assembly of God Church in Pensacola, Florida, almost from its beginning in mid-1995, quickly labeling it a "counterfeit revival."
When Word Publishers released Hanegraaff's book, Counterfeit Revival, this year, it unleashed a whirlwind of controversy that was noticed even by the secular media. Major networks and media organizations did features on the Brownsville Revival, many of them taking a positive stance. Hank Hanegraaff wrote in his book, "With sadness I have had to point out to [newscaster Peter] Jennings and others that what they are being told is 'great awakening' is, in reality, a great apostasy."1
Dr. Brown talked with Hanegraaff by telephone repeatedly in 1997, and in his words, "There was a lot of mutual mistrust between us. This was reflected in my faxes to him that were very challenging, and in his public tone toward me when he was questioned about me on the air. Things certainly didn't get any better through the rest of the year. Both of us thought that there was 'too much water under the bridge' between us, and we really didn't trust each other."
Some leaders from Salem Communications, the largest Christian broadcasting network in the world (and the primary carrier of Hank Hanegraaff's syndicated radio program), suggested that the men meet one another on November 1st for a closed debate before 40 or 50 of their national media leaders in Dallas, Texas.
The debate was arranged with the goal of presenting both sides of the issues of revival in an impartial forum. "It was a strong debate, and it was confrontational at times," Dr. Brown said. "But as a result of it, Hank and I reached out to each other. I apologized to him for anything I had done to sin against him by misrepresenting or hurting him in any way. He in turn apologized to me, and we agreed to talk."
Both men must have meant what they said that day. Dr. Brown said, "We both had a free night in the hotel, and we spent almost three hours talking. We really became totally convinced of one another's sincerity and desire for certain common ground. We recognized one another as brothers and agreed to get together more."
Something else was agreed upon that night as well. "I asked Hank that if it was at all possible, I would like for him to visit the revival [at Brownsville]," Dr. Brown said, "and he said he was eager to do so."
The two men continued to talk together by telephone after the debate, and on Wednesday, December 3rd, Hank Hanegraaff and Pastor Tom Stipe arrived at Brownsville Assembly of God Church in Pensacola, Florida. The men attended the revival service that night and met with some students from the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry directed by Dr. Michael Brown the following morning.
Hanegraaff and Pastor Stipe had lunch with Pastor John Kilpatrick (the pastor of Brownsville Assembly of God Church), Evangelist Stephen Hill (the evangelist who has been with the revival since it began in 1995), and Dr. Michael Brown that afternoon. Hanegraaff addressed 500 of Dr. Brown's students afterward and received a standing ovation before beginning his message. He commented later that he was overwhelmed by the love he felt throughout the visit to Brownsville.
"We made it clear that Hank Hanegraaff is not now saying that he 'endorses the revival'," Dr. Brown said. "What he is saying is, 'We are going to spend eternity together as brothers. We are both passionate for the fundamentals of the faith. We are both passionate to seek disciples and not just converts. We have much ground in common. Let us see if we can flow our dialogue as an example to the Body of Christ to show how two leaders can have strong disagreements and yet dialogue in a way that is gracious and Christlike, and learn from each other in doing so.' "
"We recognize Hank as a sincere brother, and are really looking forward to dialoguing. And Steve [Hill] affirmed to him the need for CRI [Christian Research Institute] and Hank's ministry in the Body of Christ. Hank was warm and embraced us on every level. We shall see what comes of it, but it was absolutely awesome!"
Commenting on their conversations during the visit, Dr. Brown said, "Hank and I talked honestly. 'Listen, we've got material out that's very critical of each other. As we dialogue, let's see what the Lord wants us to say and do.' " In explanation, Dr. Brown said, "I've been careful in my public stance toward Hank Hanegraaff, but I never would have reviewed Counterfeit Revival [in Dr. Brown's own book, Let No One Deceive You: Confronting the Critics of Revival2] unless it was tied in with Brownsville [Revival] on the air. His attack on us was very clear and I knew I had to deal with it for the sake of clarity in the Body. But if we were in the midst of dialogue--and he was leaving us [the Brownsville Revival] out of it--I would have left it out of my book as something unrelated."
Dr. Brown said that one thing he feels Hank Hanegraaff really sees is that the Brownsville Revival is not a "clone" of other renewal movements. "Most of the things that he has had elsewhere are things that we very strongly address," Brown said. "Hank also told me that he has been listening to some of my tapes, and he said, 'It's scary. You would think we've been using the same notes, Mike.' We are both amazed to see how many things we are both passionate for. And when we both explain where we've come from, you understand why we've taken the stands we've taken. And he has already apologized on the air for things he has said about me [evidently Hank Hanegraaff did a live broadcast for his daily program directly from the Brownsville Assembly building via telephone lines]. He even said he'd made some mistakes in front of the students. But he is very eager to continue in dialogue, and he wants it known that we are in dialogue."
Are there any precedents for this? "I don't know that people of this public prominence and this pronounced difference have gotten together on this level--I'm sure it must have happened, but I'm not aware of it. I don't want to exaggerate this, but it seems historic," Dr. Brown said.
When John Kilpatrick referred to a statement he'd made about Hanegraaff for which he later issued a public apology, calling it "ugly, a sin, and something I wish wasn't even there," Hank Hanegraaff responded, "Look, you're not the only one who has some apologizing to do."
"We were thrilled with the dialogue," Dr. Brown concluded. "We recognize Hank as a sincere brother. We share many of the same passions for truth and for real disciples, and he was a blessing to our student body. He was warmly received, and we really believe that he is going to be demonstrating a Christlike spirit to the Body in his dialogue to us."
Copyright 1997, Reapernet
1 Hank Hanegraaff, Counterfeit Revival
(Waco, Texas: Word Publishers, 1997), pp.10-11.
2 Dr. Michael L. Brown, Let No One
Deceive You: Confronting the Critics of Revival (Shippensburg, PA: Revival
Press, 1997).