A visit to Dudley

A friend's report of a Dudley visit:

"Thought I'd add a bit to your Dudley mention. I'm about 10 miles away
from Dudley. I went to the first night three weeks or so back, and it
was all quite dramatic, "disorderly" even. I'm not one who falls over
in the Spirit - never happened to me in fact - until that night, when
it happened three times. I turned up half way through just as a group
of a dozen or so were giving their lives to Jesus. Next came some
general impartation from Trevor Baker - first for leaders, which was
where I took my first fall. I then joined the team of catchers too -
it was great fun, I have to say, as we ran around (literally) after
Trevor as two very full halls were cleared with about 80% taking a
tumble. Tumble two for me came as Trevor finished by praying for the
catchers. And tumble three came as some St Aldates student buddies
laid hands and prayed again on our way out. A good Holy Spiritual zinging boost -
felt very powerful but not (yet?) a specific life changer.

I'm interested in all this because in my short ministry here, I've
buried several people I would rather have seen healed. I want to see
the Kingdom break out among us for real. So I perused your collection
of linked comments, and reflected on how the crowds reacted to Jesus
in his day. They said he had a demon, and "they" say it about Bentley too,
not always convincingly. It seems to me like people are being healed,
but no doubt there are those who thought they were but aren't,and those
who'll be hurt if they're not following a path of Christian
discipleship. It'll be hard to quantify either way.I wish Bentley didn't go
on so much about his angelic visions (as perCol 2:18); on the other hand,
if people are being healed and saved then Luke 11:20.

I hope all heed your advice to look for Jesus - without a focus on
him, we either become cynical and distrustful, eventually even of
Jesus himself, or caught up in idols, either of individuals or signs
and wonders or just about any other good thing God gives us. And
Bentley is as human and faillible like the rest of us. Again, Luke 11
is illuminating about how we react to Kingdom stuff going off.
Ultimately, despite what we might prefer, quick fix signs and wonders
don't replace discipleship; they invite us into it."