The God Chasers
By
Tommy Tenney, Destiny Image, 1998, 150 pages
Reviewed by Cara Baker
June 19, 2000
During worship service two weeks ago Sunday, my
church congregation was singing "Holy Ground" as a sweet spirit of
worship swept into the building. After a few minutes, as in every service, the
pastor was about to change the order of the service to take up the offering and
introduce the choir.
However, one young man on the front row continued to
worship. He fell on his knees, then his face, broken and weeping¾desperate to go deeper in the Spirit. Some,
following his lead, continued to worship. What could have been an ordinary
service turned into a deeper move of God through the hunger of one person
willing to "die out to his flesh" to enter the presence of God. I
prayed for God to give me the hunger and brokenness of that young man.
Something has been stirring in that young man for
quite some time. He had just read The God
Chasers. He said it confirmed many things he's been feeling and had
challenged him even further in his spirit.
Many members of our churches nationwide are hungry
for something more. The God Chasers articulates
that desire. Many of us hear of massive revivals in other countries and wonder
why we can't even win our co-workers to the Lord. This book is for those
dissatisfied with normal church, those who hunger for revival and a higher realm
of worship.
But wait. Maybe this book is for those who are
satisfied with church as usual, those who are content in their daily walk with
God. This book is for you, because you should be neither satisfied nor content.
This book comes from the passion of a preacher's
heart that has experienced the concentrated power of God's presence. He opens God
Chasers with an account of revival in Houston that forever changed him
through supernatural events he experienced there.
Tenney says God wants to take his people to a higher
place in His presence, but for years we have been satisfied with a quick touch
and have become comfortable with the anointing.
Last year, a revival broke out like I had never
experienced in my home church. It was incredible. People I hadn't seen worship
in years were dancing and praying at the altars. We were so excited about
revival finally breaking out that many didn't work on maintaining it. We began
to enjoy the blessings without continuing to be humble and broken and trying to
go even deeper in the Spirit. Wonderful services have continued since last
summer, but as great and as far as we've come, there is a higher place we should
be desperately seeking to go. We should not be satisfied.
"There is much more of God available than we
have even known or imagine,” but we have become satisfied with where we are
and what we have and we don't “press in
for God's best," Tenney writes.
Tenney says one of the main reasons we should
“press in” for more of God's presence in our services is evangelism. We're
often soul-winning minded when we should be examining ourselves to see if our
church is ready to handle that responsibility. When I bring someone to church, I
want him or her to feel the overwhelming presence of God. In fact, I want them
to sense that presence in me and not just see from the outside that I'm
different.
Later, he writes, "The true purpose of God's
presence manifesting in our lives is evangelism.
If we can carry a residue of God's glory back into our homes and businesses, if
we can carry even a faint glow of His lingering presence into lukewarm churches,
then we won't have to beg people to come to the Lord in repentance."
The reason we have to "beg" people to
accept God in their lives is that the church isn't prepared to offer the sinner
what he/she needs. I've often struggled with this. Having a great revelation of
truth from being raised Apostolic, I wonder why it's so difficult to witness and
win others to the Lord. Tenney says it's because the presence of God may not be
strong enough in our churches.
"People have come to the House of Bread time and
again only to find there was simply too
much of man and too little of God
there," he writes. "The Almighty One is out to restore the sense of
His awesome manifest presence in our lives and places of worship. Over and over
we talk about the glory of God covering the earth, but how is it going to flow
through the streets of our cities if it can't even flow down the aisles of our
churches? It's got to start somewhere, and it's not going to start out 'there.'
It must start in 'here'! It must start at 'the temple'..."
With just 10 chapters and 150 pages, the book is a
quick read. Tenney’s writing style is unimpressive; this man is definitely a
speaker and not a writer. Moreover, he often repeats himself and dwells too long
on some subjects, such as in chapter nine when he explores the story of Mary
anointing Jesus' feet. However, the intent of this book is not concerned with
providing the highest literary value to its reader.
The premise, that we need to adopt a broken spirit,
seek the face of God instead of seeking just His blessings, and die to the flesh
in order to have a greater move of the Spirit, is contained in just about every
chapter. To try to sum it up in one sentence does not do the book justice,
though. Even though his points are repeated, something will stir in your soul.
You will realize your own need to hunger for more of God's spirit and start to
understand why the Church has often settled for less than what it can have.
Near the end, Tenney writes, "The bottom line is
this: If you are really hungry to see [God] come on the scene, then you have to
understand that you must stop seeking His benefits and quit asking for Him to do
this and that. We have managed to turn what we erroneously call 'church' into a
big 'bless me club' where we sign up for this blessing and that blessing. I'm
not so sure that we need to seek blessings anymore... We need to seek brokenness
and repentance, and say by our actions as well as our words, 'God, we want You...'"
Post Script: Just
reading the book won't change your life. You have to pray about what you've
read. Before I read this book I didn't realize how much of my prayer life was
spent asking God for things and praying about situations. I thought that was
what prayer was about: bringing needs before the Lord. Now I see it as my time
to minister and get to know Him
instead of getting close to Him so I can enjoy His blessings. The same applies
to worship services.
I was visiting a church this weekend when I heard two
teenage girls talking. One distraught girl was asking, "Why did I even come
today? God still hasn't done anything for me. Nothing happened today. I still
have my problems."
My heart broke to hear how twisted her perception was
of God's role in her young life. The purpose of being saved or seeking God is
not to enjoy his blessings. He is God. We are to seek to know Him because he is
our Creator. We were made to worship Him. How dare we expect anything from Him!
I guess the problem is He does bless us so far above and beyond what we ask or
think that we take it for granted and demand more. God Chasers helps correct that selfish image.
ninetyandnine.com
©
2000, Cara Baker
--------
Cara
Baker graduated
Cum Laude from Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., this May. A native of
Nashville, she is currently working on freelance projects and taking every
opportunity to travel this summer before settling down to a real job.
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