[George W. Bush]

That is very Christian of you...

Good luck with bringing pagan and demonic practices into your church. Really. We Baptists will be here, ready to scoop up the refugees.

[Eagle Eye]

Post #50 please.

[whispering out loud]

OK here's the thing I am a very conservative Christian, and currently serving in a Baptist church, but I do have some grievances we as a people have become way to legalistic. We are in danger of becoming stale, much like the Sadducee's and Pharisees. I have carried southern baptist teens to youth rallies, and they come back on fire, ready to "save the world". Just as soon as we get back the First Baptist Fire Department is right there to douse the fire these young people bring back. Bare in mind now that these young people weren't speaking in tongues, nor were they swinging from the chandeliers, they were simply worshiping God the best way they could. I think it's appalling that we tell people how to worship, and then expect them to come back next week.

[chronic_loser]

I would say that language like that is just as pagan and demonic as any unscriptural gibberish masquerading as "prophecy."

While I am not charismatic and have never spoken in tongues, it is hard to argue that there is not SOMETHING going on in the charismatic churches. I do not believe it is the "miraculous" stuff, I do believe that the openness, the lack of centralized structure, the focus on the immediacy of the Holy Spirit as an active agent in our lives, and the expectancy that God will, in fact DO SOMETHING, is both pleasing to God and trumps alot of the doctrinal nonsense that goes along with it.

We attended a charismatic church as a family for about a year, and while we eventually left because of some of the excesses and just plain BAD theology, I came away rebuked in many ways by some of the elements above.

I have seen many historically orthodox persons ascribe the growth and conversions to demonic counterfeits. I think this a VERY dangerous path to go down, in light of the warning against blasphemy against the Spirit. Did you know that the number one selling book among Chilean pentecostals is Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology? Can't get much more orthodox than that.

I am happy for the growth of Christ's church, and want to be a part of bringing MYSELF first and then all of the church into a more completed knowledge of the scriptures. Usually the first step in that process is not calling someone who is off the beaten track "demonic," but trying to understand the good that they may have to teach me along with how I might help them in the process.

by the way, I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church.

[AmericaUnited]

Good luck with bringing pagan and demonic practices into your church

Obviously, you've never read the New Testment. And so how do you justify the cocky, know-it-all attitude?