The Pentecostal/Charismatic movement has come under fire of late at John MacArthurs Strange Fire Conference has brought what he considers to be false and dangerous teaching into condemnation before the American public. I recall being at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola many times during the revival in the late 1990s and hearing Michael Browns assessment of the charismatic church. Brown was a Messianic Jew, converted to Christ in a powerful way. He was a friend of Leonard Ravenhill and a man who, when revival fires grew hot, would move in to study the situation and see if the work was actually of God. One night he quoted a book he had written and said that the Pentecostal church had gotten to a place where the services were like little children playing in the back yard. They stand in a circle and sing, Ring around the rosies, a pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down. For the record, I was a Baptist until 1997 when an experience came unexpected into my life that altered me forever (a man with an experience that is real will never be shouted down by a man with a concrete theology, by the way). I believe first that Jesus had the best take on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:8 He explains it fully. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and YE SHALL BE WITNESSES UNTO ME both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Emphasis is mine.) But second, and perhaps most important to me, the act of daily asking God to refill me with the Spirit that inhabited Jesus and belongs to Him is a move that has caused me to run with a power I never had before. When I preach, I preach the Word of God. I am very Baptist like in my love and understanding of the Word. But I am helpless without the empowering of the Spirit. As long as I continue to be fed through the Vine that is Christ, then I can do anything. Without that power flowing into my life, I can do nothing. I respect John MacArthur. I understand there is a fringe on the garment of Pentecost that is based on prosperity that is not a true part of the deal. I know that many of the healings we see on television are scripted and designed to make money on books and coming conferences. But I know my heart and I know the work that God has done. If you are negative toward the Pentecostal movement, I need to offer you a warning. If you begin to inspect the Holy Spirit, He will begin to deeply inspect you. Dance around the pool of Pentecost for too long and you will end up saturated in the waters of Life.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:32:36 +0000
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