If you ask a few people who know me, they will tell you I am usually patient and respectful of others when talking about religion. However, I have got to say that it is no wonder that you are "not willing to carry this forward much further" as you certainly must be running out of Bible to use either out of context or in a totally ridiculous way. It is not an accident that Pentecostals are not known for their biblical soundness. Taking the example of Christ appearing to Paul on the road to Damascus as an example of receiving the Spirit through other than laying on of hands is frankly LUDICROUS.
There's plenty of other Scriptural evidence of such. I used Paul as the most vivid.
It's LUDICROUS to think that THE GOD WHO NEVER CHANGES
would silence and hobble and handcuff Holy Spirit IN THE END TIMES, while allowsing satan to run rampant and roughshod with all manner of demonstrations.
It's ludicrous to twist Scriptures into any cessationist nonsense.
It's ludicrous to discourage people from taking Scripture at face value and trusting God to be God in power and might as He declared in Acts 2 etc. it was routinely fitting to expect of Him as a matter of course in Christian life.
And Christians all across China and South America and now even Russia are finding it so in abundance. Blindness to the facts doesn't change them.
Pentecostals and Charismatics have some of the most solid Biblical scholars available.
Enough of this on this thread. You may continue it at:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1157571/posts?q=1&&page=251
Am not at all even beginning to think of running out of Solid Scripture to use. And the contexts is all on our side of the issue.
Your sloppiness about context is evident in your quote:
I have got to say that it is no wonder that you are "not willing to carry this forward much further"
where you conveniently left out that I was willing to continue on another thread.
No wonder you are so blind to the Scriptural contexts about Holy Spirit continuing his New Testament operative style and means in our still 'church era' Christian lives--that is for those willing and with the faith to cooperate--and not blind and hostile to Holy Spirit's current operations.
In any case, any further such on this thread and I'll ask the moderator to remove the post. You can continue the pseudo dialogue, if you wish, on the thread linked to above.
Taking the example of Christ appearing to Paul on the road to Damascus as an example of receiving the Spirit through other than laying on of hands is frankly LUDICROUS.
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Could you please share some insite on your ideas as pretaining to receiving the Spirit through other than laying on of hands is frankly LUDICROUS To the book of Acts with the following verses
Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Well, I belong to a pentecostal church and our pastors are very biblically sound men. You need to quit generalizing about other people's churches and faith experiences.