The Charismatic Movement - Its Beginning

wicked from Day 1...

As we have already seen in my last post on the Charismatic Movement, the sign gifts that were exercised by the apostles and the early church pretty much vanished somewhere between 300-400 A.D.; about the same time that the Bible was put together as a whole. For over 1400 years, no mention is made of born-again saints of God speaking in tongues, prophesying, or exercising any other sign gifts which we read of in the book of Acts.

It was in the late 1800s that we find the first mentions of sign gifts being exercised in "evangelical churches" (note the quotation marks). Cases of men or women "speaking in tongues", "prophesying" future events, and "miraculous healings" were being reported, and most of these cases sprang from the "Holiness Movement" (a group which professed that a Christian could attain unto moral perfection in this life). The problem with these rumoured occurrences is that just like to claims of charismatics today, none of the said gifts and miracles were verified or proven to be of the Lord.

If anything, when one studies the men and women who are the recognized pioneers of the charismatic movement, he/she finds that these souls were less than trustworthy in their claims. I submit this list of charismatic pioneers, for your consideration:

Charles Parham: It was at his "church", in Topeka, Kansas, where it was claimed that a woman, Agnes Ozman, spoke Chinese for three days after having hands laid on her. Of course, no Chinese person or anyone outside the "church" could confirm this story. Nonetheless, the story took off, and other "churches" began to dabble with the idea of "speaking in tongues". The whole thing, of course, was a giant lie, which became manifest when Parham sent a "missionary" to India, A.G. Garr, claiming that he didn't need to learn the native language. Garr was to receive the ability to communicate with the Indians through the "power of the Holy Spirit". Want to guess what happened?

Parham was a heretic. He didn't believe in a literal Hell, but like the JWs, he believed in "soul destruction". He believed in anglo-Israelism; a false doctrine that claims that the British were part of the lost tribes of Israel. He professed two separate creations of men (yes... two!): one being Adam and Eve, the other were a race of soulless men created prior to Adam and Eve. He claimed that all Christians had the ability to heal all manner of sickness, yet he lost two of his sons to sickness, and he was responsible for the death of a nine-year old girl who had a medically treatable sickness (the Holy Spirit was to cure her, you see). Parham himself, spent a great deal of time in hospitals, vexed with all manner of sicknesses.

William Seymour and the Azusa Street Mission: Seymour was a member of the Holiness Movement and after being influenced by the teachings of Charles Parham, he claimed that the "second blessing" in which Christians become perfectly holy is evidenced by speaking in tongues. His meetings at the Azusa Street Mission, in Los Angeles, was what you would typically see in many charismatic churches today: mass confusion. People dancing, jumping up and down, falling, trances, "slaying in the Spirit", "tongues," jerking, hysteria, strange noises, and "holy laughter." The sad effect of Seymour and his mission was that many souls visited his wicked house, looking for some supernatural experience. These souls would then leave the Azusa Mission and start their own charismatic cult in other cities. A movement was born.

William Branham: Branham was the original Benny Hinn. He claimed to be a faith healer, but again, nothing but the contrary could be verified by outside sources. Branham also denied the Trinity, taught that Cain was the product of a sexual union between Even and the serpent, and claimed that he was the angel or Revelation 3:14 and 10:7. He was faker than a three dollar bill, yet still today, many charismatics will call this wicked man: a great man of God.

George Went Hensley: The father of snake-handling, my friends. Yes indeed, it wasn't enough to speak in tongues, prophecy and heal by the "power of the Holy Spirit"... no... no. This charismatic preacher thought it was necessary, as a practice of faith for people to fool around with poisonous snakes just to show that the Lord would keep them from harm, as we have it in the last chapter of the Gospel of Mark. Now where in the Bible Hensley got the idea that saints should go looking for snakes... I haven't the foggiest. Again, do you want to guess what the results of this foolish practice was?

Albert Benjamin Simpson: A Canadian heretic (man, I'm ashamed), who like most of the early charismatics, was a proponent of the Holiness Movement, and it's concept of a "second blessing". He founded a "missionary" organization called "Christian and Missionary Alliance", and this organization is credited with the establishing of the "Foursquare Church" and the "Church of Christ - Holiness"; two liberal denominations which teach and spread false doctrines.

Okay, I think with this short list, you will all get the picture. The modern charismatic movement was born out of another false doctrine: the Holiness Movement. The men and women responsible for starting and spreading the charismatic movement were all heretics, and some of them, of the worse sort. The fruits of the ministries of these souls were bad: from the churches and movements they started, to the individual results in the followers' lives. BUT WE ARE TO ACCEPT THAT THESE ARE THE PEOPLE GOD USED TO BRING THE SIGN GIFTS BACK!!!

What nonsense.

The modern charismatic movement, as missionary Paul Washer has once stated, is pure FALSE FIRE. It is an imagined falsehood that has captured the imaginations of foolish souls who desire supernatural experience more than they desire Truth.

Dear readers, if you are still languishing in charismatic circles, do yourselves a favour: GET OUT! You are presently in a pit of false teaching, and you will never spiritually prosper in such a place. Do not let pride ruin you spiritually. Do not let a carnal affinity for these false teachings be the cause of your spiritual demise. You may be tempted to dismiss this post, claiming that the heretics I have cited really didn't have anything to do with your denomination/local assembly, but I assure you, that's a mistake. Study any CREDIBLE historical account of the charismatic movement, and you will find the names I have cited front and center.

The devil himself is behind the charismatic movement; God's people should have nothing to do with it.

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)



Rand

Labels: Charismatic Movement

Charismatic Tongues - Part III

when sign gifts ended...

Before I begin this post, let me make something clear: I refuse to debate historical facts. The exact same way I don't give Holocaust-deniers any time, I will not give any time to anyone who will debate the historical facts cited in this post. If I get a whiff of it in my comment box, the comment will disappear... I promise.


"Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." (1 Corinthians 13:8-10)

In the above passage of Scripture, we have an undeniable assurance that prophetic utterances, tongues and knowledge will come to an end. We are told that both prophecies (in native tongue or foreign) and words of knowledge are incomplete in nature; they are in effect, somewhat lacking. Finally, Paul wraps it up by saying that "something perfect" will come, which will replace the incomplete or lacking prophecies and words of knowledge.

Two questions then come up:

-When did or will the gift of tongues be replaced by this "that which is perfect"?
-What is this perfect thing which has or is to come?

Let's begin by answering the second question, first. Some (mostly charismatics) interpret "that which is perfect" as the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The problem, of course, is that the perfect thing spoken of in v.10 is definitely a "thing", not a person. The Lord Jesus Christ is always referred to in the masculine in the Bible, never the neuter. Now think about it: someTHING perfect to replace incomplete, lacking prophecies...

I submit: it is the Bible, the written Word of God. Some of you may disagree, but just stay with me for a moment. Let's test my answer for question #2 by applying it to question #1. If the Bible is the perfect thing which came in and replaced prophetic tongues, what we need to know is: did this indeed happen?

History tells us that all the books of the Bible were written before the end of the first century (Revelation, the last book of the Bible, was written somewhere between A.D. 94-96). We also learn from historical accounts that the Bible was compiled together somewhere between A.D. 170-350. So between the second century and the forth, the written word of God was not only in the world, it was complete and compiled together.

Now the Scriptures themselves testify that there were prophetic tongues in operation before the second century. That is clear. After that, things get fuzzy. By the second century, Irenaeus and Justin Martyr (early church writers), both confirmed that prophetic tongues were still in operation. For example:

"For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to the present time… Now it is possible to see amongst us women and men who possess gifts of the Spirit of God." (Justin Martyr)

"For this reason does the apostle declare, 'We speak wisdom among them that are perfect,' terming those persons 'perfect' who have received the Spirit of God, and who through the Spirit of God do speak in all languages, as he used himself also to speak. In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages… whom also the apostle terms 'spiritual,' they being spiritual because they partake of the Spirit." (Irenaeus)

Whether the word of these men can be counted on (their word isn't infallible), I just don't know, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. What is interesting though, is that by the forth century, the fuzziness disappears; all mentions of prophetic utterances (in an unknown or native tongue) have completely ceased. Theologian John Chrysostom, who lived around 349 to 407 said:

"This whole place is very obscure [commenting on the references to tongues in 1 Corinthians] but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation, being such as then used to occur, but now no longer take place."

"But now no longer take place." This was the reality in this time period and indeed, it would remain that way for over 1500 years. Oh! there were some references of prophetic tongues, here and there throughout history, but all of it's occurrences between the forth and twentieth century were from heretical groups like the Gnostics, the followers of Montanus, and the Cevennol prophets. Never were these occurrences associated in anyway with the Church of God (more on this in part IV of this series).

So, wrapping all this together: we have a passage of Scripture which states that when SOMETHING that is PERFECT comes, the gifts of prophetic tongues will cease. Before the year 400, a PERFECT BOOK was put together: the Bible. During the same time period, all evidence of the practice of prophetic tongues in the Church of God vanished. Friends, there really is no need to over-think this. 1 Corinthinans 13:8 says that the spiritual gift of tongues would cease and 1600 years ago, IT TOTALLY DID!!! And it just happens to coincide with the compilation of the Bible.

Quite a coincidence, wouldn't you say?


to be continued...


Rand

Labels: Charismatic Movement

Charismatic Tongues - Part II

theological inconsistencies are terrible things...

After realizing that everything a saint has in this life (or in the next life for that matter), anything that is of any spiritual value at all, was a GRACIOUS gift from God, I knew that my belief in charismatic tongues was in jeopardy. I was instructed by my charismatic Sunday school teacher that some Christians didn't speak in tongues or have any other kinds of charismatic gifts "because they didn't really really want it." The problem then, is that there was now an element of the faith that is in Christ Jesus that wasn't purely of grace. Actually, it smelled of Romanism: "you do this, and you'll earn that."

I remember thinking to myself: "Wait a minute... Romans 3:11 tells me that in and of myself (that is, without God's working), I never would have sought God, much less desire any spiritual gift. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells me that my very faith in God is a gift FROM GOD. I am told in Philippians 2:12-13 that it is God that gives me, not only the ability, but the desire to work out my salvation. But now, if I want a sign gift, I have to strive. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!"

As I am writing this post, millions of born-again saints have just finished worshiping God on the Lord's Day. Well over half of them have never and will never experience charismatic gifts. Many of them will be holy, upright and faithful, but get this now, because they aren't actively seeking to, or desiring these supposed gifts of the Holy Spirit, they aren't getting them. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.

Most charismatic preachers I have known have been carnal and biblically ignorant. They had poor conversations before both man and God; their homes were total messes; their chief affections in their lives were on cars, organized sports, and other forms of entertainment. But praise God, the Holy Spirit blessed them with supernatural sign gifts. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.

I have said, and repeat that the pastor I am under right now is one of the most holy men I have ever known. His son was visiting over the Christmas holidays and he described how he would come downstairs every morning as a boy and the first thing he saw, every day, was his father kneeling in prayer. For decades now, in the two cities he has lived in since his conversion, he has never shunned to declare the whole counsel of God with his community. The time he puts into studying the Word puts me, and almost all other Christians I know, to absolute shame. But poor him, the Holy Spirit isn't "building him up" with sign gifts, "because he doesn't really want it." IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.

So without a doubt, we take notice of a serious problem with charismatic tongues just by observing who is practicing them, and who isn't. Every explanation/excuse I have heard from charismatics to answer this problem always amounts to strange conjectures that have ZERO basis in Scripture; and every one of them were unquestionably opposed to biblical grace.

to be continued...


Rand

Labels: Charismatic Movement

Charismatic Tongues - part I

finally got to it...

I was first introduced to charismatic "speaking in tongues" at the very first Pentecostal Bible study my mother took me to. I remember thinking: "Okay, this is weird." My mother was also suspicious of the practice, but both of our doubts were eventually supressed by a very convincing study in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. I even remember trying to "speak in tongues" in an evening meeting once... I prayed fervently for the Lord to bless me with this spiritual gift and I started to randomly make quiet sounds with my voice, hoping that the Holy Spirit would eventually take over.

He didn't.

What a downer I was on. I began to question my salvation, and I feverishly sought some secret sins that were in my life that could possibly prevent the Holy Spirit from blessing me. This lasted a short season, and then, my senses came back to me. My analytical mind took over again.

In the five years I spent in charismatic circles, I noticed that "speaking in tongues" had nothing to do with holiness, or even genuine conversion since some of the most worldly souls in our meetings spoke in tongues. And there were even cases of people who once spoke in tongues, leaving, not only the local assembly, but the Faith in total.

Then my mind wandered back to the Baptist church where my mother and I first started attending church. I thought to myself: "There were several holy and godly souls in that fellowship... why is it that they don't speak in tongues?" This question bothered me so much, that I brought it to the attention of my Sunday School teacher.

"The reason they don't speak in tongues," she said, "is because they don't really want it. If they wanted it, then the Holy Spirit would bless them. But because they don't want it, they grieve the Holy Spirit. They're still Christians, they just don't do as well."

This answer did it for me for about 3-4 years. I began to think that speaking in tongues was probably done hypocritically by many, and that's why I was all by my little lonesome in the assembly, who didn't speak in tongues. I remember my mother and several people in the assembly comforting me with this very concept. And that's how things remained... until I learned the definition of grace.

I was in a College and Career meeting (a Bible study meeting for this particular age group) at an AGC church in my city when a tall Romanian (though he liked the term Transylvanian better), my good friend Rob gave me a teaching that has changed my life. He threw his watch at me and said:

"Here you go, Rand. I'm giving you my new watch."

"Okay..." I said, kind of taken aback.

"One question though, Rand..." he continued, "did you ask for my watch?"

"No," I answered.

"Okay... one more question, if you don't mind," he said.

"Shoot," I replied.

"Did you come here tonight hoping to leave with a new watch?" he inquired.

"No," I answered.

"Okay, one final question: do you deserve my watch?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"Uh... what do you mean?" I asked.

"Did you pay me, or do anything for me to earn this favour from me?" he asked slowly.

"Uh, no..." I replied.

"Now you know what the grace of God is like, Rand," he concluded.

It took me a solid year to grasp all the ramifications of this fantastic concept but two things became clear: if all we have, that is of any spiritual worth, comes by the grace of God, then both salvation and sanctification are not of men or the will of men. They both have to come from God.
So if it is by God's grace that we are both saved and sanctified... I began to wonder: "what's this business of 'really wanting to speak in tongues' to get it?"

to be continued...


Rand

Labels: Charismatic Movement

Charismatic Prophecies

revelations from God???

For the first two years, there were no prophecies being uttered at the Pentecostal church my family and I were attending. The practice was a complete mystery to me until a so-called prophet moved to our town. He joined our assembly and became a regular at "speaking for the Lord". Right in the height of the emotionalistic tempest that was our worship service, he would speak on everything from advice on nutrition to admonishments to faithfulness; all of it, of course, was from the Lord Himself.

"Thus saith the Lord..."

At first, I thought this gift was quite amazing. It was far more tangible and constructive as far as I was concerned. I really had a hard time, from day one, in seeing the profitability and blessing of "speaking-in-tongues" and "falling-in-the-spirit", but prophecies, that was something! I mean, think about it: God... speaking... specifically to us! Wow!

My wonder at this gift though, didn't last too long. After a few months, I was just as suspicious of this gift as "the tongues" and "the spirit-drops". The reasons? There are a few:

1- Just like the other charismatic gifts, prophecies only came amidst "worship" euphoria:

While this didn't seem to be an issue with anyone in my assembly, I saw this pattern as bit suspicious. "Is God a fair-weather friend," I thought, "He only speaks when the worship is really 'hot'?" It became pretty obvious that just like the "falling-in-the-spirit" nonsense, the emotional state of the audience directly impacted the utterance, the tone and even the volume of prophecy.

2- Prophecy, or Word of Knowledge, or Word of Wisdom?

These terms, which can all be found in 1 Corinthians 12, are used in a most confused fashion in charismatic circles. The "words of knowledge" and "words of wisdom" were used interchangeably and were basically prophecies without the "thus saith the Lord" at the beginning. These "words" were usually directed at a specific person about a specific issues: it's kind of like Christians playing psychics.

The problem is that ultimately, with or without the "thus saith the Lord", the messages are all pretty much the same.

3- Prophecies from God, or Fortune Cookie Proverbs?

In every charismatic assembly I have attended, 80-90% of all prophecies are pure platitudes like:

"Oh my son... remain close to Me, and I will bless you..."

Or,

"Oh my child... I know you are suffering... and I want you to know that I love you..."

Cute. Comforting. Completely unverifiable. And that's the point. I can count on my fingers the number of times I have heard of specific, verifiable prophecy; and let me tell you, the accuracy rate is even below the "blind guess" probability.

So, fearing being found out as liars, the charismatic prophets keep their prophecies nice and vague. Now read carefully: I have seen and heard of assemblies, assemblies with prophets, where there have been cases of pedophilia, theft, adultery and all manner of abominable sin. How many times did the "Lord" use "His prophets" to warn "His children" about these grave sins?

ZERO.

4- The Makings of a Prophet:

This really disturbed me. The man who joined our charismatic assembly... the so-called prophet... well... he and my father had become friends, so we got to know him pretty well. You would think that a man who the Lord uses to speak for Him would be a holy, upright man. Well, so much for that. The man frequently told dirty jokes, he wasn't well rooted in the Word of God, and get this, when we asked him about how he knew his prophecies were from the Lord, his response was:

"Well, I hope they are from Him."

5- Why Isn't Anyone Writing These Prophecies Down?

Revelation 22 makes clear that the Bible is God's Book of Prophecy. It doesn't say that it is the Book "Special" Prophecy, or even the "Book of Written Prophecy". Yet, that's how my charismatic friends viewed the Bible. They made a clear distinction between prophecies uttered in their worship services, and the written prophecies of Scripture; the worship ones being somehow "sub-prophecy". They did this because none of them felt comfortable with the idea of adding pages to their Bibles, literally or figuratively.

The problem is, of course, there is no biblical standard for this. Prophecy, in the Bible, is not divided into class of importance. "If the Bible is a revelation from God," I thought, "and these prophecies are also, then they are equal both in value and importance." This made me cringe, as it made most of my charismatic friends cringe (the saved ones anyway), but ultimately, it is the only logical and Scriptural end of their position.

They argued (and this is but one example): "What about Philip's daughters in Acts 21? They prophesied and we have no account of their words!" The answer to this foolish argument is that Philip's daughters, like countless others in NT times prophesied the instructions of God (see 1 Corinthians 14), which can now be found in our New Testaments. The prophesies of Philip's daughters weren't of less value... they were God's revelation to His people prior to the Book of Prophecy's completion.

6- The Bible, Ultimately, Just Wasn't Enough:

This realization, which came to me only after I had left the charismatic movement, was the one that really shook me. I had spent 7-8 years in an assembly which proclaimed itself as being Bible-only, except everyone in the house were poor stewards of the Word, including me! Oh! Everyone were experts at defending, with Scripture, why the "sign gifts" were still in operation today, but theologically... whoa! what a mess!

I remember, clearly, singing hymns that had a very "covenant theology" theme to them, only to sing about God's promises to Israel soon after! One Sunday, we would have a sermon that was 110% Arminian, and the following Sunday, God was sovereign in the affairs of men. How could this happen? I-G-N-O-R-A-N-C-E! They simply don't devote themselves to the Word enough to come to any solid conclusion on any given doctrine. The Bible speaks of such in Ephesians 4:14.

How much light... how much wisdom did the charismatic "prophecies" bring? None. You see, instead of studying hard and devoting themselves to Word and its teachings, charismatics seek emotionalistic experiences; that's the focus. And you don't get too emotional sitting at a desk and spending a couple of hours in God's Word, looking up the Hebrew of Greek lexicons and various commentaries from godly, learned men. Reading God's prophecies and studying them just doesn't feel good to them; they need the music, the sounds of "spiritual babbling", and they need for God to speak to them directly. The Scriptures, in the end, simply isn't enough. I even remember a charismatic telling me that spending a lot of time in Scripture isn't necessarily good, because "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." I-G-N-O-R-A-N-C-E!

In the space of two years in a Baptist church, I had surpassed 1000-fold the knowledge I had accumulated at the Pentecostal assembly; and not only that, I was forced to cough out all the man-centered theology that I had been fed for so long. God was no longer a genie that would make me happy and bless me with all sorts of gifts that would make me "feel good". God was, and will forever be the great I AM! One that is to be feared, served and worshipped.


These six observations (there may have been more, but I have since forgotten) were enough for me to seriously question the veracity of these prophecies which were being uttered at the various charismatic assemblies I attended. You'll notice that I didn't require a huge theological analysis of 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 to come to this conclusion. All I needed was Matthew 7:17-18:

"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."

The fruits of my Pentecostal assembly (the prophecies) were corrupt. The assembly, therefore, was corrupt. That being said, I did work at understanding the two chapters of 1 Corinthians, in order to have an answer for my charismatic friends, and also, to be well grounded in the Truth. I plan to share this research with you all, dear readers, soon.


Rand

Labels: Charismatic Movement

Charismatic Emotionalism

charismatic nonsense...

(Before reading this post, be sure to read "My Charismatic Experience - Part I" and "My Charismatic Experience - Part II)


As I mentioned in my last post on this subject, my analytical and scientific mind went to work on these "spiritual gifts" that were practiced in my Pentecostal church. I HAD TO KNOW! Was God really working these miracles and great sign gifts and somehow, my family wasn't being fully blessed because of sin, or was the whole thing a complete fabrication. It took about two years. That's how long in took me to observe enough events at our Pentecostal church (as well as other charismatic churches we visited), to start getting a clear picture of what was going on.

Emotionalism.

That was my number one observation. If the level of emotionalism wasn't high, the manifestation of charismatic gifts were barely visible. The "worship team's" music had to be spot on! The Holy Spirit didn't seem to like our church piano or organ, because every time we had worship using only the piano or organ with the old hymnal, there were rarely any charismatic gifts. But when the guitars, bass, and synthesizers came out with the modern choruses... watch out! You'd have "speaking-in-tongues", "prophecies", people "falling-in-the-spirit"... etc... etc.

"Falling-in-the-spirit" was the epitome of the charismatic experience, which, of course, required the highest level of emotionalism. From the very beginning I had strong doubts about this practice because unlike "speaking-in-tongues" and "prophecies", "falling-in-the-spirit" had absolutely no biblical foundation. Nowhere in Scripture are we told of a saint falling flat in some sort of blissful state. There are examples of saints falling flat in fear, but not blissfully "in-the-spirit" (see Daniel 10; Acts 9 for examples).

It wasn't long before I made the association between "falling-in-the-spirit" at one of our "church's" worship services and the sight of teenage girls passing out at boy-band concerts. It's all about emotionalism and crowd manipulation. I still remember seeing my father's song sheets: they would ALWAYS start with children's songs and more traditional songs to start with (which, consequently, were the most biblically based songs), and then they would progressively work towards more contemporary ballads which would have everyone either tapping their feet or "moving-to-the-beat". The musicians would always play these songs with such fervor, their singing so heartfelt, you could feel the emotional pressure building. The longer they played these songs (which were always repeated multiple times), the more intense the "sign gifts".

Not being a particularly emotional guy, I saw right through this practice. I knew, without any question, that the "falling-in-the-spirit" sign was an emotionalistic invention and that the Holy Spirit had nothing to do with it. But questions remained. There was mention of "speaking-in-tongues" and "speaking prophecies" in the Bible, so I couldn't so easily dismiss the manifestation of these gifts at our Pentecostal church.

It would take me another two years to conclude that these two other gifts were also complete fabrications, and another three on top of that to understand, from the Scriptures why all these gifts were no longer in operation today.

To be continued...


Rand

Labels: Charismatic Movement

My Charismatic Experience - Part 2

I actually do know what I'm talking about...

(Make sure you read part 1 before reading this post)

My mother went through weeks, perhaps even months, neglecting to take any medication for her terrible ailment, since it had been made clear to her that she had been healed by the Holy Spirit. All she had to do, was believe. The prophecies were uttered, the prayers were made, the hands of healers had come and gone. The deal was done.

One problem: my mother was as sick as ever.

If anything, my poor mother was in the worst shape ever since she had stopped taking her medications which had brought her some relief. She soldiered on for some time thinking (perhaps hoping) that the Lord was just testing her faith, but it didn't take too long for us to conclude the very obvious: my mother was never healed of anything.

It wasn't long after this realization that my mother went back on her medications which brought her some physical relief, but ushered in some serious aggravation from some of her "Christian brothers and sisters". You see, in everyone's eyes, my mother's decision could only mean one of three things:

1- The prophecies/healings were 100% bogus.

2- My mother had some terrible sin in her life which kept the Holy Spirit from doing His work.

3- My mother lacked the long-term faith necessary to attain unto the said healing.

For months, my mother investigated all three of the above possibilities, causing her much heartache. I wasn't so thorough. At this point, possibility # 1, as far as I was concerned, was the most likely explanation, but I was no slouch, the young scientist in me took over. Every prophecy, every tongue babbling, every miracle claim was observed, analyzed and even scrutinized.

The results of my "charismatic experiment" was a real disappointment, and the conclusion was unquestionable: charismatic "churches" are NOT faithful, New Testament churches. Are there true, born-again saints in charismatic churches? Certainly. Are they faithful churches? Absolutely not.

What has brought me to such a conclusion? What, exactly, is it that I have observed which has brought me to such a cut and dry conclusion? Click here!


Rand

Labels: Charismatic Movement

My Charismatic Experience - Part 1

before anyone claims I don't know what I'm talking about...

When the Lord had saved my mother and I, we started attending a small Baptist church in our home town. The teachings there were pretty good and before long, both my mother and I were prospering spiritually.

A year or two later, the Lord saved my father. For a short period of time he too attended the local Baptist church, but we eventually moved to a Pentecostal church in a neighboring town. This move wasn't caused by any disagreement with the positions of the Baptist church, but rather, my father had trouble understanding the sermons. You see, we're French Canadians, and while I have been well immersed in English culture since I was a young boy, my dad wasn't. So in an attempt to get more out of church services, we moved on to a French church, the Pentecostal church.

From the very beginning, I must admit, I had serious doubts about these "spiritual gifts" that were being exercised at church meetings. People were babbling in what seemed to be foreign tongues, there were "prophecies" where people would claim to have a message directly from God, and finally, there was the "Spirit falls" (in French "Tomber dans l'Esprit) where people got so overwhelmed by the "filling of the Holy Spirit", they fall flat on the ground.

For a year or two, my parents were as skeptical as I about these occurrences, but after that period of time, they too practiced these "gifts". At that time, I got kind of worried. I thought to myself: "why is the Holy Spirit not working these gifts in me?" I read my Bible every morning, sought the Lord in prayer everyday, my affection and love for the Lord was unwavering, and yet, no "speaking in tongues, prophecies or Spirit falls" for Rand. I asked my Sunday School teacher about the matter and I was told that I had to "earnestly desire" these gifts; I had to put meditate on these gifts until I received "the blessing".

So I did. I clearly remember on particular meeting where, with all my effort, I begged God that he would bless me with these "great gifts", that I too may worship Him "in the Spirit". During this time of feverish meditation and supplication, I put together some babble sounds and started uttering them repeatedly. I totally made the sounds up, but I thought I'd try to get things started to see if the Holy Spirit would then get involved.

He didn't.

In a matter of weeks, I had not only forgotten the babblings I had made up, but I had pretty much given up on the whole thing. I figured I probably wasn't "spiritual" enough, or perhaps I had some sin in my life that grieved the Holy Spirit so much, He wouldn't bless me. This was a common way of dealing with a lack of these "spiritual gifts" in the Pentecostal church. I bought these explanations for a couple of months.

Then my mother got grievously ill.

This changed everything. You see, when my mom got ill, the "spiritual gifts" that were professed at the Pentecostal church were put to the test. Prophecies were uttered showing my mother the way to healing. Prayers of healing were uttered. Healers actually laid hands on my mom and claimed she had been made whole. All she had to do now, was believe.

And let me tell you, she believed.

She stopped taking the medication that the doctors had prescribed for her condition and put her faith in the claims uttered by the "faith healers" and the "prophets".

to be continued...


Rand

Labels: Charismatic Movement