Posted on 04/17/2018 8:56:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Have you been burned by a false prophecy? Did you lose your faith when a promised healing never came? Have you had it with flaky teaching in the name of "new revelation"? If so, you are not alone. There are more Charismatic casualties than many of us would care to admit.
But let me start here with an honest confession. My own experience in Pentecostal-Charismatic circles has been far more positive than negative. I have worked with the same leadership team for more than 20 years. I have had the privilege of serving with men and women of integrity all around the world – I'm talking about Pentecostal-Charismatic leaders around the globe.
I was saved in a Pentecostal church in 1971 and transformed by an outpouring of the Spirit in 1982. I was on the front lines of the Brownsville Revival from 1996-2000, and grads from our ministry school are bearing amazing fruit around the world. And while I have seen my share of scandals and false prophecies and leadership abuses and weirdness, it has been the exception far more than the rule.
Sadly, for many others, the opposite has proved true. For them, there is little or nothing good in the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement. They have been hurt or confused or abused, causing some to reject the move of the Spirit today and causing others to lose their faith entirely. My heart breaks over all these Charismatic casualties, and it is high time that we set our house in order.
I recently read a book critiquing the movement, and in my opinion, it was totally over the top in its criticisms.
Putting aside the scriptural errors I found in the book, it painted a terribly caricatured picture, one that was so exaggerated it was hardly recognizable to me. Yet as I read reviews to the book posted by readers, I saw that many of them were adding their hearty Amen. The picture it painted was all too familiar to them.
I'm aware, of course, that every church (or ministry or denomination or leader) has its critics. You can find horror stories everywhere, and if a church or ministry is big enough, you can find lots of negative reports from those who were allegedly burned by that church or ministry. But when you hear the same story over and over again from people from varied backgrounds, you know that something, somewhere is wrong.
When it comes to the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, there is no shortage of amazing stories of what the Lord is doing in virtually every nation on the planet. This is truly a stunning, Jesus-exalting, multi-generational work of the Holy Spirit. I see no way to deny that for a split second.
Even more importantly, based on Scripture, I find it indisputable that the gifts and power of the Spirit are to continue in operation until Jesus returns.
But that doesn't minimize the damage that has been done in the name of the Spirit, and there are all too many casualties because of unchecked abuses. Out of love for the Lord and love for His people, we need to step higher.
Although my new book, "Playing with Holy Fire", just came out a few days ago, I'm already seeing a pattern in the reviews being posted by readers.
One reader wrote, "Dr. Michael Brown's very timely and balanced work really addressed where I am right now: disillusioned and heartbroken over the abuses of the contemporary church (this goes beyond the Charismatic/Pentecostal movement, though it is centered there). Furthermore, he encouraged my heart, showing me that I am not alone, and providing a Biblical way forward."
Another commented on Facebook that reading the book was bringing them healing from the negative experiences they had in our circles. Still another wrote, "As a former cessationist who was a cessationist BECAUSE of the abuse I saw happening in exercising the Holy Spirit's gifts, it concerns me too. Both because these abuses keep a very large section of the church away from desiring and pursuing something God wants them to have, but also because it harms our testimonies among unbelievers. This book will definitely be going to the top of my reading list!"
Other pastors and leaders are saying, "At last! These abuses needed to be addressed."
So, while I rejoice in what the Spirit is doing around the world, I grieve over the many who have been hurt and disillusioned because of human error and human sin and human carelessness. Truly, we have been given much by the Lord. And that means that much will be required of us.
May we walk worthy of the Holy Spirit's high calling. And may the name of Jesus be exalted, not tarnished, by our lives and ministries as Pentecostal and Charismatic believers.
The stakes are way too high to play games.
I once knew a snake that was SO poor...
How poor was he??
He was so poor that he didn't have a pit to hiss in.
Oh; I see more clearly now.
Help the author out; since he couldn't accurately convey what the Holy Spirit was wanting him to record.
Got it.
HMMMmmm...
Shaking off the dust now.
Bored with trying to express the immensity and glory of the miracle of tongues that fell that day at Pentecost, in a reversal of what the Lord did at the Tower of Babel.
The Gifts are for today and the glory of Pentecost cannot be squelched because of your nitpicking.
God bless.
.
The truth is in my posts and the adversary’s lies are in yours.
Misusing a short clip of the word is deliberate deception.
The entire book of The Acts is about how to live by the covenant. That includes the Mikvah which is mistranslated baptise in english versions.
The Mikvah is far more than a dip in a tub.
Its a total change in your life path due to the change in your heart when the covenant in written on it by Yehova.
.
.
Magic dust?
He coveyed it hust fine in the Greek. He was not very good with the English, so needed a translator for those blue-nosed Britons. Didn’t speak in the tongue of the Engs.
Anyway, getting back to the raison d’être for this thread...
When I attended a NAR charismatic church over a decade ago, a friend of mine stayed behind to get prayer by some of the women who (I’d just begun to realize) were Revelation’s Jezebels (those who call themselves prophetesses, etc., but will not repent of teaching the so called deep things of Satan etc.)
He called me up later that day.
He said he was suddenly having problems speaking and hearing, like he couldn’t talk.
It confused me because he was clearly talking to me on his phone, and he could hear me, but he said it was like he couldn’t hear well and his speech was slightly impaired.
In those days, on Sundays after church, if I didn’t go out I would invariably have to lie down and take a nap. But these were not normal naps. (It would happen after the mid week meeting too, where some of us would get supernaturally sleepy.) So my friend calls and tells me this weird thing about not being able to hear or speak. And I was supernaturally drowsy after that church service. I prayed with him for a moment on the phone and told him I’d call him when he got home. Then I fell into one of those drop dead naps.
In the nap I had a dream. In the dream the Spirit spoke to me and said “****** has received a “deaf and dumb” spirit after being prayed for by the women”
I woke up and called him and told him what I heard. We prayed together against this thing, and it left. But the Lord showed us the evil counterfeits at work that day.
One thing I have learned about these NAR infected churches, the pull of their (false) personal prophecy over people is so strong, that even though a person knows the prophecies are lies, it is difficult to sever ties with people you’ve known forever. The only way to really get out is to understand that these are supernatural counterfeits and familiar spirits at work. If you don’t understand this and you don’t have a discernment of spirits about what is going on, it is almost impossible to be set free.
Another thing I’ve noted is that this “Jezebelic spirit” is sent to destroy faith. It is a mocking, subtle spitting demon, hiding within these NAR churches. You cannot let it prophesy over you, or submit to it, it takes evil pleasure in watching you grovel and submit to its counterfeit authority.
And the manner in which it twists the Word to convince you it is of God! It is only by grace and favor of the Lord that I was able to see it and try to “snatch some from the fire” of the NAR along with me. GBU MM
P.S. Just remembered another friend from that same church had a similar “hearing” problem that nearly cost her her job. Later.
I suppose that is a rhetorical question?
.
>> “Bored with trying to express the immensity and glory of the miracle of tongues that fell that day at Pentecost, in a reversal of what the Lord did at the Tower of Babel.” <<
That reversal is coming soon, but it has not yet happened.
The Shavuot with the disciples and the assembled pilgrims on the temple mount was a spirit driven special event, not the return of universal Hebrew to the world.
.
From a little distance, such a conglomeration of various dialects being uttered passionately and simultaneously, with hands raised to the heavens (??) it must have sounded like a couple of dozen of hysterical drunks. Eh?
.
AMEN!
Spiritual warfare is real, and it works both ways for sure.
I had that same drowsy effect once at a Henry Wright seminar once, and recognized immediately what it was and prayed and got immediate relief.
The adversary’s agents are always there when true men of God are teaching too.
.
.
Tongues are for the giving of the word of God, not for personal agrandisement.
If the word is not being given, then it is demonic or theater.
.
Discernment of these evil spirits in NAR churches is crucial.
The most astounding thing is to understand the supernatural cunning and reality of how Satan is at work in the NAR, and how much power we have against him if we will but use the Sword of the Spirit, just as Jesus modeled “Spiritual Warfare” for us in the forty days in the desert
.
Ever notice how “un reliable” something you don’t want to hear can be?
Eusebius took lots of old unreliable MS and made them reliable for Constantine.
.
Hey, M, looking back all through the OT and the NT, did you ever hear of an angel speak to a human in a tongue not understood by both? Well, if that's so, any "tongue" sound that is not a language but just as someone speaking without any agape love in his/her heart, wouldn't you say?
But then, I have no degree in babbelology, so what can I say?
Ha, not a chance. 😁 I have heard of holy rollers before, but never Holy rattlers. I know Paul survived the snake bite, but I wonder who drank the poison? 🤣 I have seen those people on TV, dancing around the room with a bunch of snakes, making fools out of themselves. To me, it almost looks like the kundalini spirit.
I wonder if anyone heard in Tagalog, or Cebuano? 😁
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.