The last of the works of the flesh that Paul lists in Galatians 5 is “carousing.” This is more than just joking around. The Greek word that is translated implies being loud and foolish. The carnal nature is prone to being self-centered and likes to be the center of attention. The more we let the carnal nature exert itself, the louder and more boisterous it often becomes. This is contrary to the kingdom of God because the most basic devotion of the Holy Spirit will always be to draw attention to the Son of God, not ourselves.

This does not mean that Christians should not have a personality that is attractive or have a good time. However, there is a certain dignity and respect with which children of the King should conduct themselves. The true Christian nature is also one that serves and edifies others, even using humor to bless others rather than just draw attention to ourselves.

Being boisterous in a way that is intended to draw attention to ourselves may still seem to be a rather mild “work of the flesh,” and hardly something worthy of condemning those who practice it as not being able to inherit the kingdom of God. However, this kind of behavior is but a symptom of a basic character flaw that if practiced, will steer them away from the Lord and His kingdom. True spiritual maturity is growing in the devotion to glorify the Lord, pointing to Him, not ourselves. If this nature of drawing attention to ourselves remains dominant, we will even use the gifts of the Holy Spirit in a way that we promote ourselves instead of the Lord. Possibly the ultimate form of profanity is to use that which is intended to inspire worship of God to draw attention to ourselves. This is what caused the first Fall, the fall of Satan himself.

It is also noteworthy that the English word “carousing” is the root word from which we derive “carousel,” which means “to go in circles.” There is a foolishness of spirit which may have us moving a lot, but in fact we are just going in circles and not making any true progress. Those who are prone to want to play all of the time are usually prone to measure the success of a gathering by how much fun was had or how enjoyable it was for them personally, rarely making any progress toward true spiritual maturity.

For example, there are many Christians who measure the value of a service or meeting by how they were touched. It should be our hope that everyone who attends any worship service be touched by God in some way. However, if that is all we are after then we are still immature, or as Paul told the Corinthians, we are yet “carnal.” The truly mature do not go to services in order to be touched, but rather to touch God, to worship and minister to Him. The temple does not exist for the people, but for the Lord. This does not mean that people are not to be ministered to in His temple, as they are His children and to serve them is one way that we serve Him. But the greatest thing that anyone can do for themselves is to be lost in the worship and service of God, losing our own self-centeredness which is the deadly disease caused by the Fall.

One of my favorite moves of God in recent years is called the “Toronto Blessing.” The Toronto Blessing truly was a significant blessing to the body of Christ that was open to it. After years of being devoted to teaching and hard work, many people did not need more teaching or more ministry as much as they needed a touch from God that let them know simply that they were loved by Him. Through this move, literally millions were personally touched by God in such a special way that they were convinced of this crucial truth. Even the most mature need affection from God, and this movement was like a big hug from God to His people.

There have been many interpretations offered about what the different characteristics of this unique move of God meant, but overall, it was almost like God was tickling and playing with His children. Many just by feeling God’s personal affection for them received healing and deliverance. Many were more profoundly changed by this, and it accomplished more, than ten years worth of teaching could have.

One basic truth that the Scriptures testify to over and over is that just one encounter with even a messenger from God can radically and profoundly change a person. When God Himself touches someone, he or she will be different. That is why our primary pursuit must be God Himself, not just knowledge about Him. If we behold His glory with an unveiled face, we will be changed into His same image. The Toronto Blessing was, and continues to be, a touch from God that changes.

Without question there was also a lot of faking going on by some, whose foolishness brought some disrepute on that movement. This has been common to every move of God, and God allows it just as He allows His enemy to sow tares in the midst of His wheat. Those who could only see the tares, and therefore shied away from the whole thing, missed a remarkable blessing. I will always be thankful for this movement, and am not at all surprised that this movement continues though it may not be getting the same kind of attention that it once did. I expect that it will continue in some form until the end of this age.

However, I also must confess, even after hours of being prayed for by many different people, I was never personally touched to the point of receiving even one Holy giggle, much less “holy laughter.” I did take a couple of “courtesy dives,” falling down with the hope of maybe being touched on the way down or while lying on the floor. I badly wanted to be touched, but it just never happened for me. However, I enjoyed watching others get touched immensely, loved watching it sweep through our church, and greatly appreciated the fruit of that movement. What was the fruit? What does it have to do with “carousing?”

There are some churches that have camped at this blessing, and I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing. It is important that there remains many places throughout the world where Christians can go for this special and powerful ministry. However, this is not the kind of ministry that most churches can build upon because it is not their calling. The ones who have been called to camp there have formed like an of oasis through the wilderness for the sojourners, but most are meant to be sojourners, and not stop moving until they get to the Promised Land.

Just as babies need constant attention from their parents, the more mature we become, the less we need it. Christians who have to be continually reminded of God’s affection for them by being touched in some way in every meeting are staying in a very immature state. Just as it is good, regardless of how old we are, to be encouraged and experience the affection of our parents from time to time, all Christians can likewise use this ministry occasionally. However, those who camp at this one place are like those who get stuck at one oasis and do not finish their journey, going on to maturity.

As stated, the word “carouse” is the root word of “carousel.” A carousel is a ride that goes around and around, that gives you motion, keeps you moving, but not really taking you anywhere. There has been a fringe element that attached itself to the Toronto Blessing which does seem to be on such a spiritual carousel, moving plenty, but not really going anywhere spiritually. Many have judged the whole movement on these immature ones, but they were in fact just a small percentage of those who were ministered to by that great movement. The core of the movement itself has in fact had a very different devotion to moving on that is worthy of emulation.

There are those in probably every movement that are in it simply for their own benefit, and do not go on to maturity by seeking to be a blessing instead of just getting one. This is what we must guard our hearts against. There is a time for being touched and ministered to, which if we miss we will usually become hard and cold Christians.

The Toronto Blessing and others like it brought a badly needed warmth and joy to the church at just the right time, after years of facing major problems and the discipline of the Lord. When my children were small and needed discipline, I tried to always give them much more affection than the discipline they received. As they become older, they do not need as much affirmation, but I still try to keep the ratio weighted in favor of affection over correction. The Lord does the same. That is why He commanded much more feasting than fasting.

Without question, the true Christian life is the most difficult life that you can live on this earth, but it is also the most fun, fulfilling, and exciting. By far the good part outweighs the hard. However, just as there is a time for joy, we will become eccentric if we do not also recognize the time for mourning, repenting, and grieving for our sins and the sins of others. To walk in truth, we must discern the seasons and timing of the Lord. Now those who camp at the place of mourning and repentance, failing to respond to the joy of the Holy Spirit when it comes, are usually the most sour and least attractive of all Christians. As we are told in Ecclesiastes 3, there are seasons for everything. If we do not recognize God’s seasons, we will in fact be missing the major purposes of God in our time.

The Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) remains a great oasis in the church where one can go when they need this and receive a genuine touch from God. This is a well that I pray never becomes stopped up, and I pray they would be used to raise up other similar churches and fellowships in every city. However, as stated, those who are moving on toward their inheritance will not camp long at any oasis. They get what they need and move on toward their purpose. We need to realize when our people need such a break, and even though an oasis can be a wonderful place, we need to keep moving toward our ultimate calling. We need to also have the maturity to leave the comfort of an oasis and strike out across hard desert lands again.

It is impressive and a wonderful example for us all the way that the TACF became probably the main attraction in the body of Christ for a time, and yet were themselves always seeking to grow and add to their own fellowship what God was doing in other places. Probably a main reason why the Arnott’s were chosen to lead in such an extraordinary way was because of their hunger and willingness to crisscross the earth to visit and receive from anyone that they thought had something special from God. That kind of hunger and humility is always rewarded. They received and did not just rejoice in their own blessing, but sought to immediately impart it to others, to the blessing and enrichment of a huge part of the body of Christ.

The Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida was a similar visitation that imparted something very significant to much of the body of Christ. For this we should be thankful, but as we read in Amos 5:5-6 we are told, "But do not resort to Bethel, and do not come to Gilgal, nor cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal will certainly go into captivity, and Bethel will come to trouble. Seek the Lord that you may live...” Gilgal, Bethel, and Beersheba were all places where the Lord had visited Israel in the past. Such places of great visitations do usually go into bondage because people start worshiping the place God visited, or the way God visited, instead of the God who visited. By their very definition, a visit is temporary. Even the great visitations of God in history were all temporary touches, and if you wanted to stay close to God, you needed to be ready to pick up and follow the cloud of His presence when He moved on.

Though we have not experienced anything on the level of the Toronto or Brownsville revivals yet, we have had a number of spectacular visitations in our church or conferences. We have hundreds now in prophetic ministry teams that continue to astonish those who visit us with their gifts. People come from many different nations and denominations almost every week just to be ministered to by these teams. I greatly appreciate their hunger and love the way the Lord touches them, but we will not have done our job if they have to keep coming to us rather than having such raised up in their own cities and congregations. Our main goal is to help the church get to a place where the people do not have to come to us for this. We hope to always be a well where people can receive this ministry. We know for the church to make it through the times ahead, there must be many others.

Many people seem surprised when they come to visit us and find that the prophetic ministry and gifts are not our primary focus. I think it was for about two years out of the last two decades, but we, too, moved on. It will probably and hopefully always be a gift, a ministry focus, and that we will continue growing in them. We are seeking to “... grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). The prophetic is just one aspect of Him, and as great a blessing as the prophetic ministry can be, if we camp there we, too, will just end up going in circles.

Carousing is not just having too much fun, but it is having fun that is self-centered and will result in our being on a carousel that really is not going anywhere. Such will keep us from the kingdom. Let us press on toward maturity, as the great apostle wrote in Philippians 3:10-14: