Posted on 04/18/2016 3:12:50 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles
There are many lessons we can learn from the death of the Charismatic movement, if we are willing and humble enough to prayerfully consider them. ( I define the death of a Spiritual movement as this; If you are worse off and further from “the only True God”for having participated). I don’t think it helpful to just dismiss everything about it as rubbish and to try to move on, for only Truth can set us free.
I would like to call our attention to the foundational source of the departure, which is the erroneous doctrine which quickly flooded in and was widely accepted in various forms.
It is ironic that one of the features of the Charismatic movement as it developed was an “Anti-doctrine” bias.
If I heard it once, I have heard it a thousand times and in a thousand forms, “We are not into doctrines which Divide…we are just into loving Jesus”. Doesn’t that sound nice? Loving and simple, thats all we want, right? To get back before the “dusty doctrines” or beyond all “the petty fighting about dogma” between “religious leaders”, pastors and Theologians who have “nothing better to do than fight and divide over silly doctrine”.
But that was a deception in itself, and a seduction.
The deception is manifold; First of all, it implies that doctrine is a petty, trivial annoyance, compared to “knowing the LORD and loving him”. Secondly it teaches that christian doctrine isn’t as important as Love, and that theologians who care about doctrine are striving about nothing and in the process dividing the church.
But what is doctrine? Doctrine is the body of truth, the teaching delivered to us by the apostles. Is it important? You be the judge-
Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: ( 2 John 8-10)
It is impossible to be without doctrine. You will either have right or wrong doctrine , but it is impossible to be void of doctrine, and your doctrine determines everything else about you spiritually.The most important thing about anyone is what they think of God.
Secondly, doctrine does indeed divide. True doctrine culls out the faithless and the heretics. False doctrine is extremely divisive.
This anti doctrinal attitude actually opened up the Charismatic movement from the very beginning to strange new doctrines, special revelation, and dampened the sense of discernment of a brand new generation of born again Christians, newly endowed with the Holy Spirit indeed, but also viscerally resisting anything that smacked of “dead religion” that many of them came out of.
I said that this was a seduction as well, because this whole attitude about Doctrine,(The Truth) , implies that those who have the Spirit and the deep “Revelation knowledge” are above the more traditional Christian who is full of “head knowledge”. It is a gnostic seduction, and is hard to see and resist.
In the place of the “Dry dusty doctrines of the past”, as one Charismatic leader described them, flooded in new revelations and teachings, such as Shepherding, the Word of Faith, Dominionism, Church Growth, Spiritual Warfare, Experiencing God, Visualization, the Manifested Sons of God, Restoration of the Apostles and Prophets, the Prophetic movement, Kingdom now, and Deliverance excesses all flooded into the Charismatic church over thirty years or so, under different “Apostles”, “Prophets” and teachers.
It is not my place to expound on each of these separately, rather I would like to point out the similar themes that underlay all of them and served to be the poisonous “Sickness unto death” of the Charismatic movement.
The false teachings which soon engulfed and eventually killed the Charismatic movement have these attributes in common;
*They were all basically Triumphalist- The believer is supposed to be the “head and not the tail”, we are all supposed to reign in this life, (in the name of Jesus of course), We are all destined to do “Greater works” than Jesus did, He was the pattern Son that we are supposed to imitate, and collectively become. Satan is under our feet, we just don’t know it yet, because we haven’t received the “revelation knowledge. They usually featured an “over realized Eschatology”, which confused the glories to come in the next Age, with the present day. False teachers would posit that rather than waiting for Jesus to come back and set the world straight, Jesus is waiting for that portion of the Church which has “revelation knowledge” to come into its own, and to set the world right. Jesus is supposedly “kept in the heavens until…” the time of restoration, which we must accomplish under the guidance of restored Apostles and Prophets. This is based on a distortion of a scripture in Acts 3,
And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.(Acts 3:20-21)
Orthodox Evangelicalism would say, that Jesus is waiting in heaven to come back, that He(Jesus) may restore all things. But the Charismatic teachers insisted that Jesus is waiting in heaven until the time which we are rebuilt by renewed Apostles and Prophets, in order for we the church to restore all things.
These teachings promised a coming ultimate”Golden Age” a great last days revival in which the church would so demonstrate the power of Jesus, nations would tremble and shake, running to our leaders to learn what it is that we have.
*These heresies exalted an elite company of men (and women)- The “Shepherding “movement was an attempt to bring order and teaching to those who had received Jesus and the Baptism of the Spirit and in many cases had come out of dead churches. The Shepherds were exalted beyond measure, christians were taught to submit all things to their Shepherds, even deeply personal decisions between married couples. Another example of human exaltation was the theology of the “Manifested Sons of God”, Which promised that an elite company of super Christians would come into “the revelation knowledge” of who they “truly are in Christ”and would begin to demonstrate for all to see that the true Church is full of the power of God. This errant theology is based upon a distortion of a passage in Romans 8 :22- For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Supposedly the true Sons of God shall arise in the last days, and basically demonstrate the reality of God, through signs wonders and miracles. They would establish the Kingdom of God, and shortly afterwards Jesus would come back to receive the Kingdom from them!
This is one of the main themes that runs underneath almost all of the errors which have so seduced and distorted those in the Charismatic movement. It is so intoxicating to those in the movement, that although it has been denounced and exposed as false all along the way, this hope of super Apostles and Prophets bringing the world to its knees for Jesus keeps resurfacing.
The Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination pronounced it as a heresy in the late 1940’s, and again in the days of the “Toronto Blessing”,George Wood of the AOG produced a fine paper denouncing the mystical revival as yet another expression of the Manifested Sons of God heresy. But when the same thing broke out in the Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola Florida in the late 1990’s, the denomination sold out the truth and fell in behind the error.
Manifested Sons of God is the underlying error of the Word of Faith error as well as Dominionist theology, and the heretical New Apostolic Reformation of today.
Part of the above error is the belief which developed which taught that these “manifested Sons” cannot arise until the offices of “Apostles and Prophets” are restored to the churches. Suddenly in the 1980s there were new “Apostles” and “Prophets” which arose, going about giving “Words”, and making predictions in the name of the LORD which often failed to materialize.
A departure from the normal view of the Fall and Redemption entered in. The Fall was a fall from Dominion granted to Adam as “god of this world”. Adam allegedly turned the Dominion over to Satan, making him “god of this world”. God was supposedly on the outside looking in! I have heard Copeland and Hagin teaching that God needed a man on this wealth to work through, in order to do anything! Salvation was a restoration of Dominion, and the church’s work is to “take Dominion once again ” over this planet.
*Finally- there has been a strong strain of anti-rationality in spiritual experience. God “zaps” you and you change for the better, Strange and irrational things are happening because God wants to “offend the mind” that He might get at the heart.
This anti-intellectualism is of course, Paganism and not Christianity. But when you consider the extremes this took many people and churches, particularly in the Toronto and Pensacola movements, it is frightening. How are you ever going to come back when you have gotten “Drunk in the Spirit” or “soaked in prayer “or “swam in the River of life” in front of thousands of people?(Only by humbling yourself and admitting you are wrong).
I could go on and on, but I think I have demonstrated that the main theme of almost all of this bad teaching, was a form of human exaltation, the Sovereignity of the Believer, a power hunger, and craving to see “the greater works” and to bring the unbelievers in to “Awe and amazement”. An anticipation for “Super Apostles and Prophets” to come and demonstrate the power of God.
Also, there developed a spiritual warfare void of reverence and the fear of God, nor of any regard for the person of Satan as a fallen angel of high status, (Jude 8-10) in which we Christians learn the techniques to bring down the principalities and powers, and to take dominion over our own cities and territories.
Even worship and repentance became a means towards this end. Worship itself is “Spiritual warfare”, blasting a hole through the heaven lies, taking the dominion that was ours, making openings for the blessing of God to come down.
I remember standing in a Charismatic worship service and hearing the congregation rousingly singing “We are making war in the heaven lies, we are tearing down principalities…” and then “We rush on the cities and run on the walls, great is the army that carries out his word….”, on into “These are the days of Elijah…”.
I was struck by the contrast to the early days, when we would sing simple songs like, “Jesus,name above all names, beautiful Saviour, glorious LORD…”, as we lifted hands and wept, and adored God the Father and Jesus the Savior and LORD. I thought, “There is something so wrong here, all we are singing about is ourselves…We are sick…”.
Can I sum these articles up?
The problem with the Charismatic movement were/are mostly doctrinal.
1. The prosperity gospel - This should be repeated several times
2. Lack of church discipline
3. General misunderstanding the Bible and historic Protestant theology
4. Many Churches were personality cults
5. The primacy of emotion over doctrine
6. The transmutation of Jesus into a Holy vending machine
7. An emphasis upon non-intellectualism
8. They were in many case PROUDLY teaching a different gospel and claiming it to be rediscovered Christianity
9. A failure to apply the whole Bible and cherry picking verses and text
10. A lack of ministerial education.
What did I miss?
No this doesn’t sum it up. The root of the problem is doctrinal, doctrinal error is what really set it up for ruin. It led to the acceptance of false prophets, experienced based Christianity, incompetent shepherds, in many cases the reception of a false Holy Spirit, false conversion, etc etc etc
BTW I am open to any feedback. I am impressed by your infoprmagtion on your wall
I am not anti-intellectual, nor anti-doctrinal. I went to a charismatic church once and was very uncomfortable with the service. I am an attorney 5 days a week (Duke Univ. B.A. Economics ‘75, J.D. LSU ‘79). On the weekends I meet with fellow believers, and with my wonderfully spiritually gifted assistants, cast out demons and heal the sick. I started doing this when my home church and awesome pastor proved utterly and admittedly incapable of dealing with my child’s frightening and thoroughly debilitating demonic oppression. So I took it on out of desperation, with “weakness, fear, and much trembling.” 1 Cor. 2:2 (That child is now, 10 years later, a college missionary.)
I go to a Bible church but they even seem alarmed or frightened by what I do and I am not allowed to teach. Essentially, I have no church, although the early church would be perfectly at home with what I do.
The fact is the Western church has lost its way. It is much more interested in appearing intellectual to the World, fearing man’s ridicule should it be obedient to what Jesus did when He was on earth - as such it has no faith, no intimacy, and no power, manifesting only a form of godliness - a shell of what it should be.
I have seen any number of articles lately where the establishment church leaders implicitly glory in the demise of “signs and wonder” Christianity (adjudged 100% guilty by association with certain repulsive TV frauds, when signs and wonders were integral to the ministry of Jesus, Paul, the disciples and the early church), and congratulate themselves for their adherence to a powerless and bankrupt theology that offers zero help to those oppressed by the Enemy. (I have never ministered in 10 years to a believer who did not have a degree of demonic oppression, not in his spirit where he is joined to Christ (1 Cor. 6:17), but “in his members” where “evil dwells” as Paul noted in Romans 7.) Apparently, according to modern theology, we don;t need power or to confront the enemy because the demons have retired and no longer afflict any one, especially believers.
It is a very effective Satanic strategy. Get the respectable theologians to condemn non-cessationists for the excesses of the for the white suits and hair doos and other TBN wolves, and in doing so discredit the fullness of the Gospel and the magnificent benefits of the life and authority of Christ living in us. Luke 10:17; Mat. 9:1.
The truth, of course, is that people go to today’s church oppressed, and walk out of church in the same awful condition, The modern church and its leaders, in response, offer empty platitudes and tell us to “wait for heaven” and to avoid anything associated with the power of God to get free, since everyone who engages in that kind of stuff is by definition a nutcase.
Little comfort for the hurting and the hopeless who then are left alone to lose their faith and spiral down ward into despondency and worse.
...Come, Lord Jesus
Kudu, that is a nice post.
We have so many cessationist teachers who are very nervous about pentecostalism. Cessationists believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially speaking in tongues, ended when the Bible reached its full dimensions. There is not a single verse of scripture to support that, but cessationists are adamant about it.
They are happy to take all the foul balls who have been associated with pentecostalism and by their bad examples project those foul balls onto pentecostalism itself.
They need to tread carefully here because they know better. The scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out devils by the power of the devil. That is when Jesus said He would pardon just about anything — but not that (and I think it was precisely because they should have known better).
I am pentecostal, and I resent being broad-brushed by a cessationist based on the foul balls hit by some of the more prominent heretics who also happened to call themselves pentecostal.
I'm on the worship team of a Charismatic church and here are our songs for Sunday:
Days Of Elijah
Not To Us
The Solid Rock
Sovereign
You Are God Alone (Not A God)
Here are the words to Days Of Elijah:
Days Of Elijah by Robin Mark
Chorus 1
Behold He comes
Riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun
At the trumpet call
So lift your voice
It's the year of Jubilee
And out of Zion's hill
Salvation comes
Verse 1
These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the Word of the Lord
And these are the days Of Your servant Moses
Righteousness being restored
And though these are days Of great trials
Of famine and darkness and sword
Still we are the voice In the desert crying
Prepare ye the way of the Lord
Verse 2
And these are the days of Ezekiel
The dry bones becoming as flesh
And these are the days Of Your servant David
Rebuilding a temple of praise
And these are the days of the harvest
The fields are as white in the world
And we are the laborers In Your vineyard
Declaring the Word of the Lord
Misc 1 (Bridge)
There is no god like Jehovah
There is no god like Jehovah
There is no god like Jehovah
There is no god like Jehovah
Two "we's" in there do not make the song about us.
Blessings.
Thanks Manic, I am not saying everyone is out of whack in the Pentecostal movement. I myself am a Pentecostal and believe in the gifts of the Holy Sirit. I am no cessationist by any means, but the “movement which started int he early 1960’s and morphed into the Deliverance movement, the Toronto Blessing and Prophetic movement and lately into the Bethel movement, is toxic because of the wide acceptance of false doctrine and experienced based theology. Having said that, the movement which started in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost has never abated.
Kudu, I am also a Pentecostal believer and a pastor, I believe in the gifts of the Spirit and in the reality of deliverance. By no means am I a cessationist. I am only stating the obvious, tat the charismatic movement of the early 1960’s was hijacked early on by false apostles and prophets and widely accepted false teaching and this is where we get abominations such as the Toronto Blessing, Pensacola and Todd Bentley. It is not an “either/or” choice between dry orthodoxy or wildfire fanaticism, responsible orthodox Christians should pray for one another and for outsiders for healing, deliverance and the endowment of the Holy Spirit as a matter of normal christianity.thanks for sharing-
I agree. Lets put it this way the movement that started at the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem has never abated, but the movements that began at Azusa street and in the early 1960’s have morphed into something other than what was imtemded. So also the “community church” evangelical , church growth , seeker sensitive movement, which has largely succumbed to the culture and denied Christ. But God will always have his remnant.
I would add the gullibility of some who seek after signs - a need to have tangible and visible proofs - instead of walking by faith. Many get caught up in what they believe are miracles and then believe whatever else the miracle worker preaches.
We see it happened way back in the past, too, with so-called apparitions of Mary or testimonies of “saints” who claim to have had visions or spoken to angels and deceased saints. The human mind has an affinity for such things but ALL things should be measured against the more sure word of prophecy - Sacred Scripture, the divinely inspired word of God. Satan can deceive with signs and wonders, too.
I was just thinking that if Satan wanted to keep us from seeking the Holy Spirit’s influence upon our lives, from understanding the Word, and from knowing God, the easiest way would be to infiltrate the church and teach false doctrine. The true power of the Holy Spirit through the gifts must be very, very strong and victorious over Satan or this battle would not be taking place.
You have done a fascinating series here.
Could you post links to the previous threads addressing this issue?
And of course, the new Apostles and Prophets are the guys claiming they are.
Derek Prince is a Pentecostal minister who was involved in the Shepherding Movement as one time but he escaped that. He renounced his involvement in it, and confronted some of the other leaders about what they were doing and they rejected his position.
He cut ties with them.
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