In Psychology there is a well known dynamic of the addict and the co-dependent.
The theory is that the co-dependent is just as much to blame for the addicts behavior as the addict is. Why? Because generally the co-dependent is enabling the addict. They may provide and pay for the alcohol for the alcoholic. They don't confront the person in love when they need to etc. so the addiction continues.
Another reason for why the addict remains in their addiction is usually because they are rejected by someone close to them, who was supposed to love them but didn't. The addict then runs to substances to fill the hole inside of them, the void that was left by not being loved and not having their sociological needs met by this other person or people. They look to a substance to meet their needs then. Some people look to food, others alcohol etc. But of course the substance doesn't meet their needs. So then the devil starts lying to them saying that if they would just increase the intake of the substance that then they will be satisfied.
But the Truth is that the substance will never satisfy them, it only makes them feel worse about themselves. Nor does a person ultimately ever fully satisfy our souls. The only one who can truly fill our empty souls is Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit.
Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee." Amen, yes they are.
Don't run to people or substances to get the hole in your heart filled, run to God. Amen :)
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Being Nice Vs. Being Loving
Paul says in 1 Cor. 4:21, "What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?"
The Corinthians were in trouble for a lot of things from Paul. They were divided. They were in sin. They were proud and puffed up etc.
Sometimes we need to exhibit tough love. Sometimes when people won't listen to reason we need to use tough love. We have to hurt them in order to help them at times.
A proverb says, "One rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a thousand blows to a fool."
For some, all it takes is one rebuke. They are quick learners. They are open to instruction. For others, they need to suffer a thousands blows before they will learn anything.
Christians always seem to have this concept that we need to be nice little Christians. Where does this concept come from? Not the life of Jesus, or Paul, or Peter.
Was Jesus nice?
No.
What did he call the Pharisees? A "brood of vipers."" Children of Satan." He didn't really beat around the bush with them. He didn't pretend that he liked them when he really didn't. He was not fake in any way. If Jesus didn't like someone, he told them, flat out. He was blatantly honest with everyone around him. Yet he never sinned. Interesting isn't it. :)
What did Jesus call his own disciples? Deaf and dumb. He said "How long do I have will I have put up with you" basically. "Are you still so dull?" he said once to them. He was not "nice" per se.
But we think we always need to be nice to other people or we aren't being Christian? Why is this?
Paul said, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ."
As Christians we called to be little Christs. We are called to be like him, to be conformed to his likeness as much as possible. Jesus was not "nice" as we think of the term. He was ruthless, rugged and confrontational. He was in people's faces. He didn't lay down and take things, except when he was being crucified, he submitted to that because he knew it served the greatest purpose of all time. But in his ministry he was not one to mess with.
Jesus said to the disciples that when the Holy Spirit came they would be "clothed with power from on high" and that they would become BOLD. The evidence that one has the Holy Spirit inside is boldness.
One the topic of being nice, the cowardly are among the list of those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God. We are not be cowardly, at all, we are called to be bold. "For you did not receive a spirit of fear but a spirit of sonship."
Being bold means a lot of things. It means confronting others when we need to. It means not turning a blind eye to sin. "Hate what is evil, cling to what is good." It means being firm and honest with others and not being fake.
The Bible says, "Do not let the sun go down on your anger." It is actually more sinful to stuff anger and pretend to be nice and not angry than to express your anger. Granted we need to "speak the truth in love" and express our anger generally respectfully, but we NEED to speak the truth. When we suppress our anger, bitterness results, which only eats away at our soul.
Jesus never stuffed his anger. He expressed it, quite fully it would seem.
If he was feeling something, he said it. And he never apologized for anything he said. Have you noticed that? He was very direct, very confrontational and very bold.
When Peter was speaking to the crowd at Pentecost he was very bold. He told them flat out that they had just crucified the son of God. He didn't beat around the bush. He was completely honest with them. Satan is the father of lies. God calls us to total and complete honesty with ourselves, Him and everyone around us.
So are we called to be nice, or bold? I say bold. Forget about being nice. Being nice has a worship of man intrinsic to it. It shows that we fear men more than we fear God, which is idolatry. Paul said, "If I were still trying to please man I would not be a minister of the gospel." We are not called to please man. We are called to love man. But loving and pleasing man are two very different things.
Pleasing is placating, it does whatever the other person wants. But that is not love. Is it loving to give an alcoholic more alcohol? No of course not. Love looks out for the other person's best interest. Love wants the other person to succeed, even if that means saying something hard in order to help them. Sometimes the truth hurts but it is necessary for our growth. Parents discipline the child they love. God disciplines us because he loves us. And we are called to call out other Christians when needed. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
May God give us more boldness as we seek to follow him more and more. Amen :)
The Corinthians were in trouble for a lot of things from Paul. They were divided. They were in sin. They were proud and puffed up etc.
Sometimes we need to exhibit tough love. Sometimes when people won't listen to reason we need to use tough love. We have to hurt them in order to help them at times.
A proverb says, "One rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a thousand blows to a fool."
For some, all it takes is one rebuke. They are quick learners. They are open to instruction. For others, they need to suffer a thousands blows before they will learn anything.
Christians always seem to have this concept that we need to be nice little Christians. Where does this concept come from? Not the life of Jesus, or Paul, or Peter.
Was Jesus nice?
No.
What did he call the Pharisees? A "brood of vipers."" Children of Satan." He didn't really beat around the bush with them. He didn't pretend that he liked them when he really didn't. He was not fake in any way. If Jesus didn't like someone, he told them, flat out. He was blatantly honest with everyone around him. Yet he never sinned. Interesting isn't it. :)
What did Jesus call his own disciples? Deaf and dumb. He said "How long do I have will I have put up with you" basically. "Are you still so dull?" he said once to them. He was not "nice" per se.
But we think we always need to be nice to other people or we aren't being Christian? Why is this?
Paul said, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ."
As Christians we called to be little Christs. We are called to be like him, to be conformed to his likeness as much as possible. Jesus was not "nice" as we think of the term. He was ruthless, rugged and confrontational. He was in people's faces. He didn't lay down and take things, except when he was being crucified, he submitted to that because he knew it served the greatest purpose of all time. But in his ministry he was not one to mess with.
Jesus said to the disciples that when the Holy Spirit came they would be "clothed with power from on high" and that they would become BOLD. The evidence that one has the Holy Spirit inside is boldness.
One the topic of being nice, the cowardly are among the list of those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God. We are not be cowardly, at all, we are called to be bold. "For you did not receive a spirit of fear but a spirit of sonship."
Being bold means a lot of things. It means confronting others when we need to. It means not turning a blind eye to sin. "Hate what is evil, cling to what is good." It means being firm and honest with others and not being fake.
The Bible says, "Do not let the sun go down on your anger." It is actually more sinful to stuff anger and pretend to be nice and not angry than to express your anger. Granted we need to "speak the truth in love" and express our anger generally respectfully, but we NEED to speak the truth. When we suppress our anger, bitterness results, which only eats away at our soul.
Jesus never stuffed his anger. He expressed it, quite fully it would seem.
If he was feeling something, he said it. And he never apologized for anything he said. Have you noticed that? He was very direct, very confrontational and very bold.
When Peter was speaking to the crowd at Pentecost he was very bold. He told them flat out that they had just crucified the son of God. He didn't beat around the bush. He was completely honest with them. Satan is the father of lies. God calls us to total and complete honesty with ourselves, Him and everyone around us.
So are we called to be nice, or bold? I say bold. Forget about being nice. Being nice has a worship of man intrinsic to it. It shows that we fear men more than we fear God, which is idolatry. Paul said, "If I were still trying to please man I would not be a minister of the gospel." We are not called to please man. We are called to love man. But loving and pleasing man are two very different things.
Pleasing is placating, it does whatever the other person wants. But that is not love. Is it loving to give an alcoholic more alcohol? No of course not. Love looks out for the other person's best interest. Love wants the other person to succeed, even if that means saying something hard in order to help them. Sometimes the truth hurts but it is necessary for our growth. Parents discipline the child they love. God disciplines us because he loves us. And we are called to call out other Christians when needed. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
May God give us more boldness as we seek to follow him more and more. Amen :)
How to See
How do we come to know and understand the Bible?
Paul says, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened" so that you can understand the truths of the Bible.
He talks about a mystery that was not revealed to previous Christians but to him first, that was that Gentiles could also be saved.
Paul also says, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers." That is Satan prevents those who do not know the truth from knowing the truth.
When Peter declared that Jesus was "the Christ, the son of the living God," Jesus said to him, "Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my Father who is in heaven did."
1 Cor. 1 talks a lot about how we gain spiritual eyes to see God:
Also 1 Cor. 2
"And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony[a] of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human[b] wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
9 But as it is written:
Also 1 Cor. 3:
Paul says, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened" so that you can understand the truths of the Bible.
He talks about a mystery that was not revealed to previous Christians but to him first, that was that Gentiles could also be saved.
Paul also says, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers." That is Satan prevents those who do not know the truth from knowing the truth.
When Peter declared that Jesus was "the Christ, the son of the living God," Jesus said to him, "Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my Father who is in heaven did."
1 Cor. 1 talks a lot about how we gain spiritual eyes to see God:
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks[b] foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Glory Only in the Lord
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”[c]Also 1 Cor. 2
"And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony[a] of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human[b] wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Spiritual Wisdom
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”[c]
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”[c]
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy[d] Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?”[e] But we have the mind of Christ.Also 1 Cor. 3:
Avoid Worldly Wisdom
18" Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; [a] 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”[b] 21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s."Christian Mysticism
Some interesting quotes from an article I am reading:
"Only the humble of heart are recognized by God and have been historically trusted with the Wisdom of God."
"In absolute terms there are basically two belief systems/religions on Earth. One, is for God, the other is against God. All of the religions of the world fit within this continuum. At one end is Christianity at the other is Satanism.....It should not come as a surprise that some Christian sects, in spite of their Christian designation are, based on their actions, at the negative end of the continuum."
Jesus said, "You are either for me or against me." Other religions are against Jesus, therefore they are for Satan, without realizing it.
"Those who are born into a Christian culture inherit a blessing and with it a conceptual advantage. It even shows materially in how the Christian world manifests its inner belief outwardly in the lifestyles of its countries and cities. Many in the non-Christian world, given the choice, would prefer the living conditions of the Christian countries. The lifestyle of the Christian world are an externalized manifestation of the inner concepts and beliefs born out of Christian concepts, as the conditions of the Hindu, Taoist, Islamic worlds come from their beliefs."
That was funny and interesting. God truly has blessed America. He always blessed those who love him. This is not he prosperity gospel. Paul said, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." And he does. :)
"Purely intellectual Bible studies are often exercises in personal pride – instead of humility. One wanting to out-think the other for the glory and praise. The meaning of the words are usually not revealed to these."
lol This is so true! I remember reading some commentaries in college. Ten different people seemed to have a completely different take on the same verse. I was appalled by this. I thought, "If they all have the Spirit of God in them, who leads us into all truth, how can they interpret things so differently?!" This may answer my question, God reveals more truth to the humble. In Mt. 11:25 Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." Very true.
"The esoteric meaning of the Bible is not meant to be ripped out of it’s words by force of pride. The mystical meaning within the Bible is freely revealed only to the humble of heart (the meek) and no others because they are the only ones who can be trusted with it for its own sake."
Paul talks about God uses the foolish to shame the wise, so this concept is Biblical. Very interesting. :)
"This mystical meaning is kept hidden from the proud because they do not love the wisdom for its own sake but the notoriety that it may bring. This lack of spiritual immaturity protects the mysteries from being defiled." Yes Jesus said he spoke to the people in parables so that they would not see. God wants his word to be hidden to some and revealed to others. Interesting. :) This concept has always confused me somewhat but I can see why God does this now.
"Don't cast your pearls before swine." And you cannot reason with a fool. That concept is in Proverbs. Some people just cannot be reasoned with. You are wasting your time if you try. Not until God opens their eyes so that they have eyes to see will they see. Things of the Bible are spiritually discerned. If someone does not have spiritual eyes, they will not see, they will not be able to understand the Bible.
"New Age philosophy mixes the truths of many beliefs including Christianity, with falsehood so cleverly that it has made itself somewhat amorphous in order to suit individual instinctual spiritual needs but to make and have no expectation towards achieving those goals. The new Age movement prides itself for being non-judgmental. This is a very well calculated stance that removes the need for an individual to weigh right and wrong – good and evil. This new relativism is said to be more “mature,” than Christianity but it is without direction and leads nowhere. It is for those who are looking for a short-cut (which does not exist) to enlightenment. It considers Christ to be merely another philosopher. The New Age philosophers magnanimously accept Christ’s teachings but without the need to have to live by them, therefore by extension it is not Christian."
Yes watch out for this. It is called by some as "Grace Teaching" and is infiltrating the church. There is a right and wrong. We cannot throw out our minds in our faith. We are to love others but love sometimes means tough love. Love is not always just accepting everything everyone else does.
"Paganism worships the unseen devas, nature spirits and natural forces of Creation. Although these entities and forces exist and maintain the activity in nature, they are very low and subordinate to truly angelic beings and have no supremacy. They are in fact out ranked by even the dumbest human being and therefore subordinate to human beings. Pagans are actually worshiping something that is below them in rank. This literally does harm to their souls by lowering their already naturally high vibration (power) to that of the object of worship whose vibration is much lower. It would be like a human asking to be taught by a worm or to worship a worm." Wow. Watch out for this. I will say there are some characteristics of this is Charismatic circles. The worship of signs and wonders over God himself. Be wary of this.
"Why would anyone in their right mind worship the lowest when they could, with the same effort, worship the Highest and be elevated in the process. In one sense, just like some Christian practices that actually worship objects and things (idols) other than God or Christ themselves, Pagan practices are therefore heathenistic. Furthermore, Paganism refuses to even look at Christianity objectively. They do not want to hear that Christians were brutally persecuted to death at the hands of the Pagans of Rome."
(The end of the article was a bit odd but education nonetheless)
This was a big shocker to me for sure:
"Magic
This is another “biggie.” Although it is understandable that this would be of concern, the term “magic” needs to be put into context and, the terms magician and sorcerer are used interchangeably in the bible probably due to incorrect translation. The ceremonial garments of the Catholic priesthoods are taken out of the old testament and are not Pagan in origin. They are also, not coincidentally, the ceremonial garments of a magician. All of the artifacts used in Catholic churches and in the Catholic ceremonies are also used in magical practices. Why should those who use the same garb, and implements for essentially the same purpose but in a non-Catholic context be considered evil. Are the priests that much better that they can do the same thing but be considered holy and the others called blasphemers."
How strange that Catholic symbols are also used by magicians. :(
"As far as spiritual practices are concerned: a magician learns the laws of nature of the physical world, the world of the soul and of the spirit and works with them with the sanction of God to do good for his fellow human beings. A sorcerer uses the same principles to do evil for his own gain. His abilities are limited for the protection of mankind and his abilities were not earned through honest effort but by the help of a demon."
Yep. Well that was very enlightening. Read it if you like.
I did not realize how much mysticism there was in our church history. Even Augustine was a mystic. Very interesting. I wonder how or why.
God give us more and more wisdom every day as we seek you. And keep us humble so that we can always understand as much as we can about you. Thank you and we love you. Amen :)
God bless!
http://amaluxherbal.com/bmysticism/christian_mysticism_and_the_occult.htm
"Only the humble of heart are recognized by God and have been historically trusted with the Wisdom of God."
"In absolute terms there are basically two belief systems/religions on Earth. One, is for God, the other is against God. All of the religions of the world fit within this continuum. At one end is Christianity at the other is Satanism.....It should not come as a surprise that some Christian sects, in spite of their Christian designation are, based on their actions, at the negative end of the continuum."
Jesus said, "You are either for me or against me." Other religions are against Jesus, therefore they are for Satan, without realizing it.
"Those who are born into a Christian culture inherit a blessing and with it a conceptual advantage. It even shows materially in how the Christian world manifests its inner belief outwardly in the lifestyles of its countries and cities. Many in the non-Christian world, given the choice, would prefer the living conditions of the Christian countries. The lifestyle of the Christian world are an externalized manifestation of the inner concepts and beliefs born out of Christian concepts, as the conditions of the Hindu, Taoist, Islamic worlds come from their beliefs."
That was funny and interesting. God truly has blessed America. He always blessed those who love him. This is not he prosperity gospel. Paul said, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." And he does. :)
"Purely intellectual Bible studies are often exercises in personal pride – instead of humility. One wanting to out-think the other for the glory and praise. The meaning of the words are usually not revealed to these."
lol This is so true! I remember reading some commentaries in college. Ten different people seemed to have a completely different take on the same verse. I was appalled by this. I thought, "If they all have the Spirit of God in them, who leads us into all truth, how can they interpret things so differently?!" This may answer my question, God reveals more truth to the humble. In Mt. 11:25 Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." Very true.
"The esoteric meaning of the Bible is not meant to be ripped out of it’s words by force of pride. The mystical meaning within the Bible is freely revealed only to the humble of heart (the meek) and no others because they are the only ones who can be trusted with it for its own sake."
Paul talks about God uses the foolish to shame the wise, so this concept is Biblical. Very interesting. :)
"This mystical meaning is kept hidden from the proud because they do not love the wisdom for its own sake but the notoriety that it may bring. This lack of spiritual immaturity protects the mysteries from being defiled." Yes Jesus said he spoke to the people in parables so that they would not see. God wants his word to be hidden to some and revealed to others. Interesting. :) This concept has always confused me somewhat but I can see why God does this now.
"Don't cast your pearls before swine." And you cannot reason with a fool. That concept is in Proverbs. Some people just cannot be reasoned with. You are wasting your time if you try. Not until God opens their eyes so that they have eyes to see will they see. Things of the Bible are spiritually discerned. If someone does not have spiritual eyes, they will not see, they will not be able to understand the Bible.
"New Age philosophy mixes the truths of many beliefs including Christianity, with falsehood so cleverly that it has made itself somewhat amorphous in order to suit individual instinctual spiritual needs but to make and have no expectation towards achieving those goals. The new Age movement prides itself for being non-judgmental. This is a very well calculated stance that removes the need for an individual to weigh right and wrong – good and evil. This new relativism is said to be more “mature,” than Christianity but it is without direction and leads nowhere. It is for those who are looking for a short-cut (which does not exist) to enlightenment. It considers Christ to be merely another philosopher. The New Age philosophers magnanimously accept Christ’s teachings but without the need to have to live by them, therefore by extension it is not Christian."
Yes watch out for this. It is called by some as "Grace Teaching" and is infiltrating the church. There is a right and wrong. We cannot throw out our minds in our faith. We are to love others but love sometimes means tough love. Love is not always just accepting everything everyone else does.
"Paganism worships the unseen devas, nature spirits and natural forces of Creation. Although these entities and forces exist and maintain the activity in nature, they are very low and subordinate to truly angelic beings and have no supremacy. They are in fact out ranked by even the dumbest human being and therefore subordinate to human beings. Pagans are actually worshiping something that is below them in rank. This literally does harm to their souls by lowering their already naturally high vibration (power) to that of the object of worship whose vibration is much lower. It would be like a human asking to be taught by a worm or to worship a worm." Wow. Watch out for this. I will say there are some characteristics of this is Charismatic circles. The worship of signs and wonders over God himself. Be wary of this.
"Why would anyone in their right mind worship the lowest when they could, with the same effort, worship the Highest and be elevated in the process. In one sense, just like some Christian practices that actually worship objects and things (idols) other than God or Christ themselves, Pagan practices are therefore heathenistic. Furthermore, Paganism refuses to even look at Christianity objectively. They do not want to hear that Christians were brutally persecuted to death at the hands of the Pagans of Rome."
(The end of the article was a bit odd but education nonetheless)
This was a big shocker to me for sure:
"Magic
This is another “biggie.” Although it is understandable that this would be of concern, the term “magic” needs to be put into context and, the terms magician and sorcerer are used interchangeably in the bible probably due to incorrect translation. The ceremonial garments of the Catholic priesthoods are taken out of the old testament and are not Pagan in origin. They are also, not coincidentally, the ceremonial garments of a magician. All of the artifacts used in Catholic churches and in the Catholic ceremonies are also used in magical practices. Why should those who use the same garb, and implements for essentially the same purpose but in a non-Catholic context be considered evil. Are the priests that much better that they can do the same thing but be considered holy and the others called blasphemers."
How strange that Catholic symbols are also used by magicians. :(
"As far as spiritual practices are concerned: a magician learns the laws of nature of the physical world, the world of the soul and of the spirit and works with them with the sanction of God to do good for his fellow human beings. A sorcerer uses the same principles to do evil for his own gain. His abilities are limited for the protection of mankind and his abilities were not earned through honest effort but by the help of a demon."
Yep. Well that was very enlightening. Read it if you like.
I did not realize how much mysticism there was in our church history. Even Augustine was a mystic. Very interesting. I wonder how or why.
God give us more and more wisdom every day as we seek you. And keep us humble so that we can always understand as much as we can about you. Thank you and we love you. Amen :)
God bless!
http://amaluxherbal.com/bmysticism/christian_mysticism_and_the_occult.htm
Maturity
Jesus says we are to have "faith like a child," but he didn't tell us to BE a child.
God calls us to reason, to use our minds in regards to our faith.
In Acts several times it notes that Paul tried to reason with the Pharisees in the temple that Jesus was the promised Messiah. God used miracles, signs and wonder through Paul, but Paul also preached the Word to as many as he could. "Faith comes by hearing the word" primarily. Miracles can get people to follow after anything. But the Word, the Gospel, is what makes people put their faith in Christianity specifically. To have miracles without the word does nothing in regards to winning people to Christ.
We do not need to forget out mind and listen to our heart as a Christian. That is what the secular world tells people to do. No, we very much need to use our minds and reason as a Christian.
We are called to "test the spirits." We cannot believe every miraculous thing to have come from God etc. We need to be aware of Satan's schemes, that he "prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." We have to be cautious and rational in all things.
Jesus calls us to be "as wise as serpents but as innocent as doves."
Paul says:
1 Cor. 13:11
"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways."
Here he is referring to spiritual gifts and the gift of tongues specifically. We are to embrace spiritual gifts, but we are also to be mature about them. For some reason the gift of tongues can get the most out of hand and is more commonly used in an immature manner.
Paul set out certain rules and guidelines to govern this spiritual gift. We are called to do everything in order in our Christian faith. If a tongue is spoken in a church, there must be an interpreter.
Children do not know how to have order. Children are naturally chaotic. They need to be reigned in and disciplined in order to learn to have order.
We are called to be adults in our faith, to have self-control, and to be rational and orderly.
Children are emotional. They are unable to reason when they are emotional. Adults have developed the ability to set emotions aside when needed and be rational.
How do we become not like children? By knowing God's word like the back of our hand. By memorizing God's word. "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." We fight against Satan's lies with God's Word. That is our only offensive weapon against Satan. The more we know God's word, and stick to it, the more we can have discernment about if things are from God or not. The more we know basic doctrines, the more we will not be deceived by false doctrine.
We need to be on the alert for "human cunning" and "craftiness" and "deceitful schemes." Why would people want to scheme us? Because there are many con artists out there. Con artists that are after your heart or your money etc. The natural man's drive to have power over others and to get rich is very strong. This will cause them to do almost anything to get power or riches; manipulate people, lie, wear a mask and pretend they are something they are not etc.
How do we combat against getting fooled in this way? We are to "speak the truth in love" to each other. Often times people will be loving, but will neglect to speak the truth to others when they need to. And other people tend to speak the truth quickly but have a hard time doing it in a loving way. That is more my struggle. :) We need both love and truth to keep us on the narrow path. The more truth we know and are sure of, the less likely we are to be fooled by schemes. And often times we need to reminded of what the truth is. Amen.
What does it mean to have "the fullness of Christ?" This phrase has always struck me as being interesting. I believe it is to have wisdom. In Proverbs wisdom says that she was there when God made the world. Jesus was there when God made the world. Therefore Jesus is the embodiment of wisdom perhaps.
"In the beginning was the word and the word was with God." Jesus is the Word. He is the truth. He is all wisdom.
As we grow in wisdom, we become more and more mature. And then we become more like Christ.
It is as we increase our knowledge that we filled up to all the fullness of God.
May we all increase our knowledge and pray for God's gift of wisdom every day. Amen.
May God bless you! :)
God calls us to reason, to use our minds in regards to our faith.
In Acts several times it notes that Paul tried to reason with the Pharisees in the temple that Jesus was the promised Messiah. God used miracles, signs and wonder through Paul, but Paul also preached the Word to as many as he could. "Faith comes by hearing the word" primarily. Miracles can get people to follow after anything. But the Word, the Gospel, is what makes people put their faith in Christianity specifically. To have miracles without the word does nothing in regards to winning people to Christ.
We do not need to forget out mind and listen to our heart as a Christian. That is what the secular world tells people to do. No, we very much need to use our minds and reason as a Christian.
We are called to "test the spirits." We cannot believe every miraculous thing to have come from God etc. We need to be aware of Satan's schemes, that he "prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." We have to be cautious and rational in all things.
Jesus calls us to be "as wise as serpents but as innocent as doves."
Paul says:
1 Cor. 13:11
"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways."
Here he is referring to spiritual gifts and the gift of tongues specifically. We are to embrace spiritual gifts, but we are also to be mature about them. For some reason the gift of tongues can get the most out of hand and is more commonly used in an immature manner.
Paul set out certain rules and guidelines to govern this spiritual gift. We are called to do everything in order in our Christian faith. If a tongue is spoken in a church, there must be an interpreter.
Children do not know how to have order. Children are naturally chaotic. They need to be reigned in and disciplined in order to learn to have order.
We are called to be adults in our faith, to have self-control, and to be rational and orderly.
Children are emotional. They are unable to reason when they are emotional. Adults have developed the ability to set emotions aside when needed and be rational.
Ephesians 4:14-15
"So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ."How do we become not like children? By knowing God's word like the back of our hand. By memorizing God's word. "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." We fight against Satan's lies with God's Word. That is our only offensive weapon against Satan. The more we know God's word, and stick to it, the more we can have discernment about if things are from God or not. The more we know basic doctrines, the more we will not be deceived by false doctrine.
We need to be on the alert for "human cunning" and "craftiness" and "deceitful schemes." Why would people want to scheme us? Because there are many con artists out there. Con artists that are after your heart or your money etc. The natural man's drive to have power over others and to get rich is very strong. This will cause them to do almost anything to get power or riches; manipulate people, lie, wear a mask and pretend they are something they are not etc.
How do we combat against getting fooled in this way? We are to "speak the truth in love" to each other. Often times people will be loving, but will neglect to speak the truth to others when they need to. And other people tend to speak the truth quickly but have a hard time doing it in a loving way. That is more my struggle. :) We need both love and truth to keep us on the narrow path. The more truth we know and are sure of, the less likely we are to be fooled by schemes. And often times we need to reminded of what the truth is. Amen.
Ephesians 4:13
"Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."What does it mean to have "the fullness of Christ?" This phrase has always struck me as being interesting. I believe it is to have wisdom. In Proverbs wisdom says that she was there when God made the world. Jesus was there when God made the world. Therefore Jesus is the embodiment of wisdom perhaps.
"In the beginning was the word and the word was with God." Jesus is the Word. He is the truth. He is all wisdom.
As we grow in wisdom, we become more and more mature. And then we become more like Christ.
It is as we increase our knowledge that we filled up to all the fullness of God.
May we all increase our knowledge and pray for God's gift of wisdom every day. Amen.
May God bless you! :)
What is Faith?
1 Corinthians 14:20
"Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature."
Jesus did tell us to have "faith like a child" but he didn't say "BE a child." There is a difference.
We need to take the whole Bible in context and look at the whole picture, not just one verse.
Faith is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." It is not thinking that everything you see and hear comes from God. It is not forgetting your mind and just following what you feel. It is not being naïve to how the devil may be working in the world and not being on your guard.
Faith is to believe in God even when you haven't seen anything all that miraculous. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe."
That is what faith is.
Verses on faith:
This is a key element that many Christians forget about. Faith is not all that God requires of us. He wants us to have good fruit as well, works. If we do not, how can we really say that our "faith" is genuine? Jesus said, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." You can't expect faith alone to get you into heaven. We need to "walk in a manner worthy of our calling" and "show ourselves approved" and worthy of being a child of God.
Does this verse mean that we are meant to command God to give us what we want? Is that what faith is?
No. It is believing that God is capable of giving us anything and everything, but we should not presume that he will. He is God. He can do whatever he wants.
It takes greater faith to not see signs and wonders and still believe. The problem with signs and wonders is that people may become dependent on them so much so that when they are gone, they have a hard time sustaining faith without them. We need to be cautious of this.
What are we called to believe? Here is an example of a creed: a basic statement of faith for the Christian. If we believe all of this, we can know that we are saved. :)
"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, who came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us. He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I have faith and hope regarding a life in heaven when I die." Amen! :)
The Christian walk is not about how we begin, but about how we end. Paul says that he "kept the faith," meaning he was never swayed from believing the truth about God, about Jesus etc. Often times people will seem to have faith for a time, they will seem to be Christian, and then when hard times come and their faith is tested, they walk away from the faith. :( This is very sad but it happens all the time. This is the seed that fell on the thorny soil. Our faith means nothing if we do not keep it our whole lives.
I have written some on the perseverance of the saints. If we do not persevere in our faith, we are not really saved. If someone walks away from God, they cannot expect to still be saved. We have to "keep the faith" until the day we die in order to really say that we are saved.
What does this mean? Does this mean someone can loose their salvation? It seems to say that. How can this be prevented? By waging good warfare, as in resisting the devil so he will flee from us. Many fall to temptations from Satan but we need to resist him firmly. Tell him to shut up when he tries to talk to you and tempt you in your mind in any way. Don't give him any place in your mind or life. Be firm and vigorous in how you resist him. He is your enemy. Treat him as such. Amen!
Also we need to hold onto the faith. We need to not be tricked into believing false things, like that all roads lead to God etc. We need to not believe anything that contradicts the Bible. We need to always stick with what the Bible says, not with what other people say. "Fear God," not people. Listen to God, before you listen to other people.
And we need to keep a good conscience. Sin will not make us loose our salvation, but un-confessed can become a problem for us. "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us." It says "if." God forgiving us is conditionally on us confessing to him. He does not have to forgive us. He is not obligated to. But what if we don't confess our sins? The Bible says, "God opposes the proud." At the very least he will oppose us. Pride keeps us from confessing sin to God. But it is so vital to constantly confess sins to God in order to maintain a good relationship with Him.
The Bible says also that if we don't forgive others God will not forgive us. That is pretty serious.
So is our salvation guaranteed beyond a shadow of a doubt? Do we pray the prayer and then automatically know we have a golden ticket into heaven? No. It is conditional on how we live out our Christian lives. Jesus said, "To him who overcomes to the end I will give the crown of life." Not all will overcome to the end. Look at the parable of the ten virgins, some ran out of oil, being the Holy Spirit, and some did not. Only those who persevere to the end will be saved.
Amen. May God bless you! :)
"Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature."
Maturity is very important in the Christian faith.
For some reason many think that in order to have faith, you need to not be mature.Jesus did tell us to have "faith like a child" but he didn't say "BE a child." There is a difference.
We need to take the whole Bible in context and look at the whole picture, not just one verse.
Faith is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." It is not thinking that everything you see and hear comes from God. It is not forgetting your mind and just following what you feel. It is not being naïve to how the devil may be working in the world and not being on your guard.
Faith is to believe in God even when you haven't seen anything all that miraculous. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe."
That is what faith is.
Verses on faith:
Romans 10:17
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."
This verse describes faith as logical. We gain faith mentally in God by hearing the Word, the Bible. Our primary means of gaining faith is God's word, not
James 2:24
"You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone."This is a key element that many Christians forget about. Faith is not all that God requires of us. He wants us to have good fruit as well, works. If we do not, how can we really say that our "faith" is genuine? Jesus said, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." You can't expect faith alone to get you into heaven. We need to "walk in a manner worthy of our calling" and "show ourselves approved" and worthy of being a child of God.
James 1:5-8
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."Does this verse mean that we are meant to command God to give us what we want? Is that what faith is?
No. It is believing that God is capable of giving us anything and everything, but we should not presume that he will. He is God. He can do whatever he wants.
2 Corinthians 5:7
"For we walk by faith, not by sight."It takes greater faith to not see signs and wonders and still believe. The problem with signs and wonders is that people may become dependent on them so much so that when they are gone, they have a hard time sustaining faith without them. We need to be cautious of this.
Mark 16:16
"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."What are we called to believe? Here is an example of a creed: a basic statement of faith for the Christian. If we believe all of this, we can know that we are saved. :)
"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, who came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us. He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I have faith and hope regarding a life in heaven when I die." Amen! :)
Romans 10:9
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
This means more than what it looks like at face value. What does it mean to confess that "Jesus is Lord?" It means that you give Jesus the steering wheel of your life. It means you let him take over, you let him call all the shots. It mean...s you are no longer in charge of your own life. Paul said, "I no longer live but Christ lives in me." It means we die to ourselves and live through Christ. It means we give up our agenda and tell God that he can have his way in our lives, he can do with us whatever he wishes. It is to surrender everything to God, not just some things, but everything. That is what it means to say to Jesus, "You are now Lord of my life." It has a Lot more implication than we realize. We step off of our own throne and put Jesus on it, where he belongs.
And what does it mean to believe "in your heart that God raised him from the dead?" Many believe this in their heads. They have a good head knowledge and head faith of the life of Jesus. But has it become real to them personally? You can't just say you are Christian because your parents were and so you automatically are. No, it doesn't work that way. You have to believe it for yourself, "in your heart." A good quote I heard is, "Many people miss God by 12 inches, the distance from their head to their hearts." Jesus said, "These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me." I noticed that a lot in the Christian college that I went to. Many people knew everything there was to know about God, but their heart was not turned toward God, or it did not seem to be. Their heart seemed to still be hard. The Bible says that God will replace our heart of stone with a heart of flesh. You can kind of have a sense about someone if their heart is still stone of if God has made it flesh. Is your heart stone? Or flesh? Do you have a tender heart? Then you can know that you are saved. Is Jesus absolutely your Lord and you believe everything about him in your Heart? Then you can know you are saved. We are saved with our heart, not our mind.
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
This means more than what it looks like at face value. What does it mean to confess that "Jesus is Lord?" It means that you give Jesus the steering wheel of your life. It means you let him take over, you let him call all the shots. It mean...s you are no longer in charge of your own life. Paul said, "I no longer live but Christ lives in me." It means we die to ourselves and live through Christ. It means we give up our agenda and tell God that he can have his way in our lives, he can do with us whatever he wishes. It is to surrender everything to God, not just some things, but everything. That is what it means to say to Jesus, "You are now Lord of my life." It has a Lot more implication than we realize. We step off of our own throne and put Jesus on it, where he belongs.
And what does it mean to believe "in your heart that God raised him from the dead?" Many believe this in their heads. They have a good head knowledge and head faith of the life of Jesus. But has it become real to them personally? You can't just say you are Christian because your parents were and so you automatically are. No, it doesn't work that way. You have to believe it for yourself, "in your heart." A good quote I heard is, "Many people miss God by 12 inches, the distance from their head to their hearts." Jesus said, "These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me." I noticed that a lot in the Christian college that I went to. Many people knew everything there was to know about God, but their heart was not turned toward God, or it did not seem to be. Their heart seemed to still be hard. The Bible says that God will replace our heart of stone with a heart of flesh. You can kind of have a sense about someone if their heart is still stone of if God has made it flesh. Is your heart stone? Or flesh? Do you have a tender heart? Then you can know that you are saved. Is Jesus absolutely your Lord and you believe everything about him in your Heart? Then you can know you are saved. We are saved with our heart, not our mind.
James 2:18
"But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."2 Timothy 4:7
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."The Christian walk is not about how we begin, but about how we end. Paul says that he "kept the faith," meaning he was never swayed from believing the truth about God, about Jesus etc. Often times people will seem to have faith for a time, they will seem to be Christian, and then when hard times come and their faith is tested, they walk away from the faith. :( This is very sad but it happens all the time. This is the seed that fell on the thorny soil. Our faith means nothing if we do not keep it our whole lives.
I have written some on the perseverance of the saints. If we do not persevere in our faith, we are not really saved. If someone walks away from God, they cannot expect to still be saved. We have to "keep the faith" until the day we die in order to really say that we are saved.
1 Timothy 1:19
"Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith."What does this mean? Does this mean someone can loose their salvation? It seems to say that. How can this be prevented? By waging good warfare, as in resisting the devil so he will flee from us. Many fall to temptations from Satan but we need to resist him firmly. Tell him to shut up when he tries to talk to you and tempt you in your mind in any way. Don't give him any place in your mind or life. Be firm and vigorous in how you resist him. He is your enemy. Treat him as such. Amen!
Also we need to hold onto the faith. We need to not be tricked into believing false things, like that all roads lead to God etc. We need to not believe anything that contradicts the Bible. We need to always stick with what the Bible says, not with what other people say. "Fear God," not people. Listen to God, before you listen to other people.
And we need to keep a good conscience. Sin will not make us loose our salvation, but un-confessed can become a problem for us. "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us." It says "if." God forgiving us is conditionally on us confessing to him. He does not have to forgive us. He is not obligated to. But what if we don't confess our sins? The Bible says, "God opposes the proud." At the very least he will oppose us. Pride keeps us from confessing sin to God. But it is so vital to constantly confess sins to God in order to maintain a good relationship with Him.
The Bible says also that if we don't forgive others God will not forgive us. That is pretty serious.
So is our salvation guaranteed beyond a shadow of a doubt? Do we pray the prayer and then automatically know we have a golden ticket into heaven? No. It is conditional on how we live out our Christian lives. Jesus said, "To him who overcomes to the end I will give the crown of life." Not all will overcome to the end. Look at the parable of the ten virgins, some ran out of oil, being the Holy Spirit, and some did not. Only those who persevere to the end will be saved.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Charismatic Thinking: Breaking Free
"PREFACE
You must learn to follow God and not man. Don't fall into the trap of idolizing your leader. You must be free from man so that you can do what God wants in your life.
WITCHCRAFT
Unknown witchcraft is commonly practiced in the Christian world by laymen and leaders. This is called charismatic witchcraft. A pastor or leader who tries to control his flock or group is practicing witchcraft. He or she may feel that they know what is best for their people and they try to force it to happen. They may or may not know what is best for others but they have no right to force their will on others. The best example is God, He will not force His Will on us.
We have worked with people who have been controlled by a dictatorial pastor. The pastor has formed soul ties with those who have yielded to his control rather than the direction of God in their lives. It is necessary to forgive the pastor, break soul ties and cast out demons.
If you have left a church that truly does not follow Jesus Christ, then you need to renounce that church or organization, forgive them, break soul ties, and cast out demons. The Catholic Church is a good example of an organization that tries to control their people completely. Many charismatic leaders fall into this trap of trying to control people and their money in order to build their kingdoms whether small or large.
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We went to a church where the pastor seemed to let the Holy Spirit have His way in the services. There was a tremendous freedom there and you could hardly wait to get to church to see what God was going to do. Then the pastor decided that it was his church and would be run the way he wanted it to be run for his selfish reasons. After that, the freedom left and it was like any other charismatic church.
THE CURSE OF CHARISMATIC WITCHCRAFT
Another aspect of Ahab and Jezebel is Charismatic Witchcraft. Witchcraft is the practice of trying to control others for personal gain. Charismatic witchcraft is exercising control over other Christians by leaders or by anyone within the congregation. A lot can be written about this subject. There are many demons associated with control of others. This practice is basically mind control.
Soul ties are formed with those to whom we submit our wills. Soul ties can be formed with leaders of the church as well as with anyone in the occult that we go to for help. A dictatorial pastor will form soul ties with his congregation.
The church leaders are cursed by trying to take the place of God in our lives. The congregation is cursed for following man rather than God.
We have no right to control others! God gave us a free will and even He will not try to control us! Therefore, we enter into agreement with Satan and his demons when we attempt to control others, and we are practicing witchcraft!
GENERAL
Witchcraft is the practice of trying to control others for personal gain. Charismatic witchcraft is exercising control over other Christians by leaders or anyone within the church. Charismatic witches use personal prophecy to control others.
Soul ties are formed with those to whom we submit our wills. Soul ties can be formed with leaders of the church as well as with anyone in the occult that we go to for help. A dictatorial pastor will form soul ties with his congregation.
The church leaders are cursed by trying to take the place of God in our lives. The congregation is cursed for following man rather than God.
Queen Jezebel was a prime example of controlling others. A Jezebelic woman is actually practicing witchcraft as she tries to control her family. Charismatic witches are Jezebels.
A lot can be written about this subject. There are many demons associated with control of others. This practice is basically mind control.
PASSIVE JUDGEMENT
There are those who can't make clear judgements on issues and misuse the verse to judge not. Many do not realize they are to judge every prophecy, the fruit in our lives and in the lives of others, and on and on. You need to judge everything you see, hear or read. If not, you will be submitted to every wind of evil doctrine and fall into many hurtful traps. I once heard a pastor tell his people they should not criticize him even when he is wrong, neither should they talk about him. I have seen strange things in that church: an unusually large number of divorces, illegitimate children, crimes of theft and forced entry, idolatry, etc. People should be taught to properly make scriptural judgement.
WHAT IS WITCHCRAFT PRACTICED BY CHRISTIANS?
Witchcraft is defined as the power or practices of witches; sorcery; black magic; enchantment; irresistible influence; fascination; bewitching attraction or charm. Enchantment is defined as the act of casting a spell over; the use of magic to charm; the state of being under the influence of a magic spell or charm; a magic spell or charm; something that charms or delights greatly; great delight or pleasure. Also consider the words fascination, charm, captivation, allurement. Witchcraft is simply trying to control others for your own benefit no matter how worthy the cause may be.
God anoints and provides for his ministers to do his work here on earth. The people look to the ministers to help them live according to the Bible. This gives them a power over the people that can be used for good or evil. Silly women look up to the pastors as someone on a pedestal and frequently end up having sex with the weak pastors. Silly men want the admiration of the pastors and try to please the prideful pastors to gain favor. In the positions of the fivefold ministry, it is easy to fleece the flock.
PLAYING GOD IN PEOPLE'S LIVES
When we got into deliverance, people would come to us for help of many different types. They wanted us to go to God and find out what they were supposed to do. They wanted us to be their parents, show them parental love and tell them how to conduct their lives. They wanted to pay us for our help, give us gifts of love, and give us tithes and offerings.
Why would the people come to us for help? The Christian body is hurting and can not find the needed help in the church. The churches refuse to practice deliverance, healing, etc. and teach the whole truth of the Bible. If the people have problems, the church sends them to the world for help. They are sent to the medical profession to be physically healed in the body, to the psychiatric profession to be mentally healed in the soul, to the social profession to be financially healed in the material realm, and in certain ways to the world in general to be spiritually healed such as receiving peace.
The people did not feel that they could hear from God or had a good relationship with Him. They thought that we did since we could help them and that God would speak to us for them. They may have been lazy, ignorant or have some other reason why they wanted to place us as intermediaries between them and God. They may have have had a Catholic or other religious background which caused them to look to man rather than directly to God for guidance.
Their parents did not provide the proper role models pointing them towards God, The Father. It is so important how the parents raise their children. Parents actually are in a position of being like God in the lives of the children. The way a child relates to their parents, especially to the father, is the way the child will relate to God in later life.
Many times when the children do not have good parents, they go through life seeking someone to fill that void in their lives. The parents may not have shown love for them. So, they seek love from others to fulfill that need. The parents may have been absentee parents and not given them guidance. So, they will seek others to guide them. They are still acting like a child even though they are adults.
People are so grateful for what you have done to help them that they are willing to pay you for your services or give you their tithe money. If God told them to give us money, then we would have to accept so that they could be blessed.
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give (Mat. 10:7-8). This is our motto; we love to sing and read it to the forces of evil. It could also be thought of as a great commission to us as well as other Christians. Notice that it said to freely give because that God has freely given to us.
In our early ministry, God told us not to play God in the lives of his people. He was God and God would direct His church. We have tried to do that ever since. We do our best to help people, they do not owe us anything, and they are free to go and never return. This has worked out very well; God has rewarded us for obeying His Instructions.
It is easy to take advantage of the Christian body. God places the five-fold ministry and other spiritual leaders in a position where the people trust them and respect them. The leaders then take advantage of God's people for their own selfish reasons: build a building, an empire, a ministry, an individual, etc. to satisfy and glorify the individuals in charge of the work. You especially see the leaders taking advantage of the money supplied for the use of themselves, their families and their friends. They take advantage of the women in the church, and sometimes sexually, especially in the black churches.
Summary
Parents are like God in the lives of their children. They should raise the children to have the proper relationship with Father God. The ministry should not act like God in the lives of their congregation. The leaders should train the people to go directly to God for their guidance.
EXAMPLES OF MINISTERS PLAYING GOD
We have seen this pattern through the years as we have ministered to people who have come out of churches and religious organizations, or came out from under the control of a pastor or other leader of that organization. It is amazing to watch the leader work witchcraft on his flock either ignorantly or deliberately to control them.
We have also seen this pattern as we sat in the congregation and had the leaders try to exercise witchcraft over us. We recognized the practice and did not receive it. Most people do not recognize the practice and receive demons. The people open themselves up to demonic attack by their blind allegiance to the leaders and organization, and by accepting, not resisting, the damnable doctrine that was preached. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch (Mat. 15:14).
What happens is that the leader opens the flock up to demonic attack through his actions. The evil spirits assigned over the organization will be there because of the actions of the leader. Soul ties will be formed between the leader and the congregation. The leader will place curses on the followers. The leader will loose certain demons on the congregation due to what he says.
Let's talk in generalities. If the leader is sexually immoral, then the ruler will be a sexual demon; controls the congregation - witchcraft; steals money from the treasury - covetousness; drinks alcoholic beverages - addictions; glorifies himself - spiritual pride; and on and on. Then the ruler demons will try to cause the congregation to be like the leaders. If the leader is sexually loose, then the people will tend to be sexually loose. The religious organization will go the way of its leaders. A church we went to had three leaders fall into sexual sin; there were many illegitimate children in the church.
What is amazing is to watch these practices in Christians who move in deliverance. A Christian who walks in deliverance should be among the best educated of all Christians and have a better balance about what the Bible says. This is especially true of the deliverance ministers or lay workers. For instance, a pastor will cast out demons of witchcraft that came into the people in his congregation from practices outside of the church on the one hand, and then put demons of witchcraft into people in his congregation through his practices on the other hand.
In one example, the following happened. The pastor instilled fear in his people. He warned them about outside organizations, leaving the church, not submitting to his authority, criticizing him, etc. In the church, they had to obey and not question his authority. Outside the church, they couldn't leave his church and go to another church. They were paralyzed and were slaves to him. They were fearful of criticizing him and having him attack them from the pulpit. They were afraid to leave the church and lose their salvation. They were afraid of other organizations and people. If the people left, the people that remained could not associate with their dear friends that had left.
The church cursed and prayed against the people that left the church, and against any other group of people that the pastor may have had trouble with. Their actions sent demons to attack these people and organizations.
What were the results of the actions of the leaders? The leaders loosed demons on the people in the congregation and sent demons after the people that had left or had problems with the church. They cursed the people and spoke failure in their lives. The people had soul ties with the leaders.
When the people left the church, they felt that God did not love them, they may be loosing their salvation, they were fearful of many things, they could not function normally in life, they were hurt and rejected by the way they were treated, had pains and illnesses associated with fears, had spiritual pride about being in the only church, had problems forgiving the pastor and congregation about the way they were treated, were deceived about things of God, blamed the Lord for what had happened, and were confused and weakened by the experiences.
When an outside church renounced the practices of this church, the church was attacked by demons sent from the other church. The pastor and congregation had many problems in the church. You had one church praying against the other church. Actually, you had one church cursing the other church and loosing demons to attack the people in the church.
How can these curses fall on leaders, followers and other churches? As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come (Pr. 26:2). The curses fall on the leaders because they ignorantly or deliberately practice witchcraft which is clearly contrary to the Bible. The curses fall on the followers because they ignorantly follow the leaders who are sinning. The curses fall on other churches because they ignorantly practice the Word of God and leave themselves open to curses. The main reason is ignorance or lack of knowledge of the Bible. There are many other reasons such as the leader's selfishness, follower's weaknesses and a church's partial following of the Bible. We all probably have cracks in our armor which allow demons to attack us under certain circumstances.
You must completely break free spiritually and physically from the organization and its leaders. You must renounce the organization and its practices spiritually to God. You must ask God to help you in all of these things, and to have faith and trust in God. To do this requires forgiveness for the leaders and followers, asking God to forgive you for your sins of bitterness, etc., asking God to forgive and bless them, breaking soul ties and curses on your family, casting out demons that came in through soul ties, curses and association with the organization, praying for physical healing, and disciplining your mind not to yield to the programmed thinking of the leaders and demons.
Summary
No person should try to act like God in the lives of others and violate their freewill. Let God direct the actions of His Children. No person should submit their freewill to the leaders and become passive. A passive person is easily demonized because they yield. Both the leaders and the congregation will become demonized.
SEQUENCE OF DEMONIZATION
When people are subjected to these control practices, they become hurt and are influenced by the families of Rejection, Bitterness and Rebellion respectively in that order. They are attacked by the Charismatic Witchcraft demons sent from the leaders to the congregation. They personally submit to the Passive Mind demons by their actions. If people outside of the church have controlled them, then they are attacked by the Witchcraft demons of occult and demonic associations. If they personally have submitted to substances of abuse, then they are attacked by the Witchcraft demons of sorcery, drugs, alcohol, etc. which control the mind.
PRAYER
Our Dear Heavenly And Gracious Father, please forgive us for practicing charismatic witchcraft. We forgive those who have practiced charismatic witchcraft against us. We break the power of the ruler demons over family and organization. We break demonic ties, bonds and caps. We break soul ties to pastors, religious leaders or any Christian who has been trying to control us. We break curses placed on us by submitting our wills to others. We break curses brought by charismatic witchcraft and control. We break the curse of Jezebel and Ahab. We renounce false gifts given by Satan. We drive out demonic works and associated spirits of witchcraft and mind control in The Name Of Jesus Christ as follows."
"Witchcraft is the control of others, imposing one’s will upon them, usually for a negative result. It is bondage to the victim.
Four areas of human resources used to produce a spiritual result:
domination, intimidation, manipulation, and emotional blackmail.
I Domination
Pharisees are an easy example to use, as those who desire to build their little kingdoms, rather than the kingdom of God- and they did indeed use domination of the people in the time of Jesus. The Pharisees do not approach the Lord from a pure, selfish heart. Some people don’t have a concern for what the Lord wants, but are far more interested in what they want. This self-centered attitude has destroyed many churches, and taken down many men of God. People will use charismatic witchcraft to get their way in the local body, many of them are troublemakers who travel from one church to another if they can’t get what they want, and they leave in their wake a large number of innocent victims who are confused and hurting. Most are Jezebel spirits who wish to control and manipulate others. The idea is to destroy the work of God, and establish Satan’s (or man’s ) plan.
examples :
the message that only the pastor, or designated minister, is “anointed.” You are nothing, and need to depend on them to make decisions for you.
people who inappropriately complain, or challenge, the ways of the church and wish others to conform to their ways. critical of others, unless there is agreement with them.
A pastor requires “dancing before the lord” a to be considered spiritual. You are really dancing before the pastor, to please him, and get his approval.
any list of harsh demands by leadership to make people submissive, and dependent
somehow you get the feeling that the church owns you, and you need to sacrifice everything for it, including putting your family second to the needs of the church
II Intimidation
They make people feel small or insignificant, and to cause those onlookers to feel they must join in or else they are ignorant, and somehow siding with the other side.
The Holy Spirit guides people into all truth. The Holy Spirit reveals truth to people, and when we usurp His authority, we step into charismatic witchcraft and will use intimidation. People get into witch hunts in an attempt to intimidate their prey, replacing God with themselves, in the guise of defending the truth through this intimidation.
Intimidation comes from a position of authority, and the usage of that authority to accept what is said or done, or condone what is said or done.
example: The Pharisees try to show up the Lord by using their authority, as if their authority was “better” than the authority that Jesus walked in.
use of guilt, or threat of rejection, to make people submit
exposure to the congregation as hell bound, if you do not pay your tithes.
III Manipulation
Manipulation: the use of a position or a power to dictate how the outcome will end, removing the Holy Spirit from being the convictor and Judge, and manipulating to build one’s own fame or kingdom.
More witch hunts come from someone’s interpretation rather than the whole context of Scripture, and when pride and the human factor is added, there is certainly much manipulation used. It is done with the smile on one’s face, as they misquote Scripture, and misuse Scripture, to justify their hunt.
They exegete the Scriptures correctly, and then turn around and misapply them, the results are still the same, and the witch hunts continue.
examples:
many modern preachers on TV twist scripture to manipulate people out of their money, and promise miracles that never happen.
forced artificial worship- to get approval of pastor or others.
using supposed spiritual gifts to manipulate others.
lying…..:the holy spirit is telling me that you must do this
the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. this was meant to trick them into sin, so they would be punished
appealing to the flesh of the congregation to promote carnal behavior (example: appeal to desire for money, sex, etc)
misuse of scripture to manipulate people into giving more, or behaving a certain way.
IV Emotional Blackmail
A man is asked, “Do you still beat your wife?” Any answer given without a context or a genuine knowledge of the person will APPEAR to be evasive or allow unjust conclusions which all are meant to be based upon an appeal to one’s emotions.
Emotional blackmail always has an appeal to the emotion with the implied intent that the one using the emotion is “right” simply because they make the accusation, after all who could possibly doubt their integrity.
example: “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” Judas Iscariot wanted to have some extra money in his pocket, and to be able to justify himself and his desires he appealed to emotions in order to hopefully accomplish his desire. Therefore Judas appeals to emotions with a seemingly idealistic and correct approach to the poor. Judas implies wrong doing for what Mary has done for Jesus in hopes that he may get the money into the treasury bag which he controlled so that he could rob it. Judas is just one example of using the emotion to manipulate and intimidate and dominate to get one’s desire.
Recently people have claimed to be hurt by others and their language is sad and their writing styles evoke much emotion for the reader, the poor unsuspecting reader. The appeals are to the heart to feel sorry for that poor hurt person. Howbeit, those very same people who desire you to feel their pain are also the very same ones who were using charismatic witchcraft to intimidate and to dominate, hurting others. And they are now using it in the form of emotional blackmail.
These same people claim to be born again some 25-30 years, and in the next breath claim they are “weaker” brothers and sisters in the Lord, and offended at another’s godly actions, and expressions straight from the Scriptures. This is what Judas tried, and what has torn apart many churches.
more examples
witch hunts – the seekers are the witches, the designated witches are the victims
forcing someone to undergo deliverance.
Christian curses put on others in order to “heal” them of something they do not have
using a word of knowledge to falsely identify someone as having demons to embarrass them anyone who disagrees with church practices has “demons,” and should be shunned as unsaved
Note:
Knowledge is power. Be alert to the behavior of others. Just because someone is important does not mean they are honest or someone you should trust. You first submit to God, ask for his guidance, then look around and evaluate who else deserves your allegiance. Do not submit to illegitimate authority. Not every person in authority is a godly person. This includes the church atmosphere. Satan has invaded the church, so beware of false teachers and prophets. Check what everyone tells you with the Bible, and see if they are twisting the scriptures. If they are, reject them."
http://heavenawaits.wordpress.com/charismatic-witchcraft/
And this book looks good :)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Jung-Cult-Charismatic-Movement/dp/0684834235
More good books on this topic:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/2JMTNYLB1YI7E/002-2371974-5049657
and this is truly amazing :)
"Helping Believers who have left Charismatic Circles
The title of this article is obviously not meant in a charismatic sense. We offer no advice on how to cast out demons, rather on how to help true believers who have been heavily influenced by charismatic ideas, and who have come to see them as wrong. They have come away from the world of tongues, visions, prophecies, ecstasies, dancing, falling down slain, and all associated activities, and have sought fellowship among ‘traditional’ Bible-believing Christians.
These friends often have many problems, and pastors and church officers must be ready to help. Some former charismatics have made the transition so well and so speedily that one can scarcely believe they once thought and acted very differently. We readily acknowledge that some need little or no help in adapting to conservative, biblical Christianity.
Many, however, find that their time in the charismatic movement has left them troubled, unsure, and perhaps even scarred spiritually. They have wrested themselves away from a host of emotional props, and severed connections with numerous dear friends, and this has cost them much pain.
Doctrine, worship, fellowship and service now take a vastly different form. Their new environment has a way of thinking and looking at matters utterly unlike that of charismatic circles. Furthermore, in the back of the mind lies the nagging fear that these ‘traditionalists’ are indeed the cold, lifeless formalists they have been long warned about – people who have never tasted the Spirit, and who wilfully oppose his liberating power.
Broadly speaking, there are three causes for people leaving the charismatic move-ment. The first one mentioned here is the best, and most often leads to them adjusting wholly to orthodox evangelical teaching. The last two give rise to the least stable ‘converts’.
A first cause of leaving occurs when people experience some serious disappointment or disillusionment with the charismatic movement, and begin to evaluate its claims more carefully. Perhaps a relative or close friend has died and they have seen at close quarters the false promises and the failure of -healing prophecies. It may be that they have seen through some of the dishonesty and pride which stalks the citadels of charismatic activity, and have recoiled with shock.
Some years ago, for example, charismatics all over the world were shaken by the wild phenomena of the Toronto Blessing, and they turned to God’s Word in a new spirit of enquiry. Objective Bible study then caused the entire edifice of charismatic practice to crumble and fall before them.
A second cause of departure from charismatic activity is personal disaffection. While this may lead to people’s eyes being opened, it often does not. In charismatic house groups and cells an artificially high degree of emotional interdependence is fostered, and in such a climate offences can occur which drive people out. These may come over to the derided traditionalists almost as an act of protest. The real issue is one of personal disaffection, not doctrinal unease, and while these émigrés may criticise everything they have left, it may only be the outworking of hurt feelings.
Sometimes people leave because their ‘gifts’ have not been sufficiently recognised, or their own leadership hopes have been thwarted. Such leavers will probably return, if not to the same group, to another section of the charismatic camp. We may almost say that the more heated the invective, the sooner a person will go back. We certainly have an opportunity to help such disgruntled people see the real issues, and we pray that the Lord will open their eyes, but our efforts may well be in vain.
A third cause of departure which usually leads to people returning is that of a generally unstable temperament. This is not a comment on the mental stability of people, but on their inability to think clearly and to recognise foundational principles of biblical conduct. Because charismatic teaching is so subjective, experience-based, emotional and speculative, it produces this instability in certain people.
They take on a great mass of ideas and anecdotes, but possess no reliable way of verifying them. The mind trades so much in disconnected fragments, that it loses its capacity to get things in order of importance, and to judge clearly.
Helping friends in this state is almost impossible. As fast as you try to explain one matter, another dozen ideas leap into their minds. For such people, whether something is right or wrong is determined by the quantity of supporting claims which can be thrown into the discussion, not by the biblical validity of the claims. Unstable thinkers are likely to re-settle in the comfortable confusion of a charismatic group.
It is necessary to mention these last two categories because we must be ready for disappointment. However, the Lord is at work. Many of God’s children are being led out for wholesome and biblical reasons, and we trust that many more will be. We would like to rescue as many people as possible from the mass of mistakes that make up the charismatic movement, and from their exploitation by insincere and dishonest ‘top’ leaders.
Another caution is necessary. We should not assume that all who leave the charismatic fold are truly converted. We say this with care, for many are, but we remember that numerous people have been lured in by promises of healing, and even prosperity, rather than by the challenge to repent and yield to Christ. Once there, they have been sustained, not by doctrine, but by a diet of emotional thrills. In many charismatic meetings life is all about the feel-good-factor of entertainment and personal happiness, and the real issues of the Faith are obscured. When the Gospel is presented, it is often no more than a shallow form of ‘easy-believism’. Friendship and phenomena take the place of a real spiritual life. There will, therefore, be many who are not truly saved, and if they should leave and find their way to sound evangelical churches, their greatest need will be to hear the Gospel.
This caution must be balanced by a plea for respect for ex-charismatic people who most certainly are earnest believers. Some of these may even have been driven into the charismatic movement years ago by the lifelessness of a traditional evangelical church. There are numerous Bible-believing churches where so little is done for the Lord that one sympathises with members who defect to charismatic fellowships. They may be mistaken, but what an ordeal they have endured to keep their faith and love alive in an unenthusiastic ‘sound’ church! They have felt forced to leave that sound, but sound asleep, church. It has often been a hunger and thirst to please God which has led people (however mistakenly) into more lively charismatic churches. Their new teachers persuaded them that God wanted them to seek tongues and other phenomena, and their desire to obey God caused them to open their minds to these new experiences.
They were misled, but they were earnest, and this we must respect. They may have been more earnest than the sound fellowship they left behind.
We say this to inspire a due measure of respect for those who come back to us from charismatic groups. We, as traditional evangelicals, may have wronged them in the past through spiritual lethargy and coldness.
What are the problems or scars which continue to affect believers who have left the charismatic movement? The following pages review some of the difficulties encountered and highlight the areas of biblical teaching to be stressed by way of remedy.
TEN LINGERING PROBLEMS
1 Lordship of imagination
The first problem which may continue to trouble charismatic leavers arises from the lordship of imagination. For so many, imagination has worked overtime to create an artificial spiritual life in which God has spoken hour by hour through direct guidance and impressions. People have felt led to do this and that, and been ‘given’ knowledge of this and that. In many cases they have attributed every feeling to the direct impulse of the Spirit. They have been taught a religion very different from that of biblical Christianity, but they do not realise this.
They have been taught a system of thinking in which basic Christian beliefs are grafted on to a form of mysticism in which one may ‘know’ the touch of God, and receive in a direct, paranormal way knowledge unknowable by others. If someone is interpreting a tongue, whatever pops into the mind must be the correct meaning. For many, ordinary ideas and impressions must be elevated to ‘words of knowledge’. The list of imagined inspirations is long.
It comes as a shock to many ex-charismatic friends to learn the true biblical teaching about union with God, and the way this works. Without grasping this, they will be confused, dependent upon their feelings, and dependent upon imagined impressions sent from God.
We will need to explain, both by way of preaching and personal ministry, the ‘by faith’ passages of the New Testament, not only to explain the way of salvation, but to explain the ‘mechanics’ of our continuing union with God. We will need to explain that we do not know the Lord by any physical kind of sense or feeling, or by any other direct or ‘clairvoyant’ type of link. Human feelings are a response to what we understand. We know God by what is revealed in his Word. We believe all that it teaches of him, and we trust, and enjoy him. All our precious views of Christ and of his ways, come from the Word into our understanding, and there they are met and embraced by faith. God primarily links himself to us via our understanding and trusting response. Of course, we have much evidence, such as answered prayer, and we have assurance also, but the key link is by receiving the Word.
What about feelings? We will need to explain that in genuine spiritual experience they are stirred by way of response to what is seen by the mind. God hardly ever goes directly to our feelings. Whether the feeling is one of love, gratitude, assurance or shame and conviction, it wells up within us as the result of what is grasped by the mind.
Everything in the Christian life comes ‘by faith’, and this, of necessity, means by the understanding. If we do not think about something, we cannot believe it.
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in this? We will need to teach and explain that the Holy Spirit illuminates the mind, enabling the understanding to grasp the truths of God’s Word. He never imparts to the minds of believers spiritual truths which are not disclosed in the Bible. Rather, he sharpens our minds to see the things that are scripturally revealed.
Then, when we grasp these things and receive them by faith, the Spirit frequently touches our minds in such a way that we see them with even greater clarity, and then we are lifted up in great joy and love. An old Puritan phrase calls this ‘the embrace of the Spirit’. How kind the Spirit of God is!
The key point is that all true spiritual experience must be routed through the conscious mind, and received by faith. As soon as we are able to convey this fundamental fact of the Christian faith to former charismatics, the scales fall from their eyes and they see how they have been misled by a distorted form of Christianity. They are then no longer at the mercy of imagination.
Of course we will need to assure these friends that there is much tangible evidence of God’s work in our lives. We see it in the new nature we receive at conversion, and in the countless answers to prayer which follow. We have so often been strengthened for our duties, enabled to witness, and delivered from trials in answer to prayer. We have repeatedly seen our circumstances changed by the clear intervention of the Lord. In these things we see the Lord’s hand, but only in the Word do we hear, as it were, his authoritative voice, revealing doctrine and commands.
In summary, we know the Lord by what he has said (in the Word), and this is supplemented by what he does in answer to prayer. We do not have direct com-munication from God on authoritative matters.
How different this historic, biblical teaching is from the mystical and occultist ideas which have swept into modern charismatic teaching! ‘Switch off the mind,’ they say, ‘it is an obstruction and a nuisance. Raise your hands, close your eyes, sway to and fro, launch out into the deep, let your emotions go free, let your spirit take over, repeat the name of the Saviour, speak in a tongue, and as you do so, your direct, mystical link with God will be effected, and you will feel and see according to the movement of the Spirit.’
We repeat, God speaks from the Word to the mind, which is the organ of under-standing and the palace of faith. Here are some of the great passages we will refer to as we stress the pre-eminence of faith (which naturally presupposes understanding).
‘So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God’ (Romans 10.17).
‘That their hearts might be comforted . . . unto all riches of the full assurance of UNDERSTANDING’ (Colossians 2.2). ‘BY FAITH ye stand’ (2 Corinthians 1.24).
‘For we walk BY FAITH, not by sight’ (2 Corinthians 5.7).
‘Above all, taking the SHIELD OF FAITH, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked’ (Ephesians 6.16).
‘BY FAITH he [Moses] forsook Egypt . . . for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible’ (Hebrews 11.27). ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts BY FAITH; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God’ (Ephesians 3.17-19).
2 Anecdotes & revelations
A second problem which afflicts many friends who leave charismatic circles is their past trust in non-biblical sources of doctrine and comfort, such as anecdotal experiences and new revelations. Most charismatics theoretically believe that anecdotes, visions and words of knowledge should be submitted to Scripture for verification, but in most circles this hardly ever happens. (When charismatic leaders do attempt to justify their visions by Scripture, these attempts range from the superficial to the absurd.)
The problem is that former charismatics often feel a great void once they leave behind the flow of anecdotal teaching and prophetic words. Some continue to be vulnerable and ready to believe anything and everything that they read in lightweight, anecdotal items of Christian literature.
We often refer to how the charismatic movement lowers the credulity threshold of people, and so it does. The welter of anecdotes of healings, extraordinary expe-riences and revelations must, in general, be believed, or the Christian life would be a nightmare of suspicion. Some solve the problem by believing everything (however unbiblical), and others by believing everything ‘slightly’. (See problem number 10 for further comment on this.)
It is not enough, however, only to direct to Scripture, because charismatic friends have had Scripture quoted to them to justify the most bizarre things. By their indifference to any rules of interpretation, charismatic teachers have robbed Scripture of its clarity, consistency and authority. We will need to encourage a new respect and a deeper reverence and love for Scripture, introducing friends to the Bible’s own interpretative rules. They must come to take the context seriously, and to compare scripture with scripture. They must learn about the ‘analogy of faith’ concept of the Reformers, which calls us to equip ourselves with a clear mental picture of all the major doctrines so prominent in the Bible, and then to test all our ideas about the meaning of any particular passage against these.
This article is not the place to rehearse the basic rules of interpretation, but ex-charismatics need the liberating experience of serious, logical Bible study. They need to see what they have been deprived of. Then they will rejoice in a Bible that really guides – not a chaotic mystery-book which depends upon the whims of personal revelation before one may know what it really says. We must therefore give time in our teaching programme for the subject of ‘Bible interpretation for all’.
We need to point friends to books such as Thomas Watson’s Body of Divinity, where they will rejoice to find the wonderful system of doctrinal Truth which has been kept from them. This will help them to have the anchor of sound doctrine, without which they will remain at the mercy of unbiblical, human ideas.
3 Reverent worship
A third problem troubling many former charismatics is that of adjusting to a reverent form of worship. In most charismatic communities worship is primarily designed to be subjective and arousing only at a human level. To achieve this, instrumental music and rhythm are used as major ingredients. Also, worship is usually informal in character, thus sacrificing awe and reverence. It has more to do with the feelings and the body than with the mind and the soul.
Those who leave charismatic groups will find themselves either in a Bible-believing church which holds to conservative wor-ship, or one that compromises by using charismatic songs. This second kind of church will obviously not be able to teach former charismatics the glories of true worship, for it has violated them.
Hopefully, former charismatics will find themselves in sounder places where the biblical objectives of worship can be explained. We will need to point out the most fundamental of all principles, that worship is to be ‘in spirit and in truth’. This includes the idea that it is to be intelligent, and in accordance with God’s revealed Truth.
It is crucial for believers to realise that worship must be capable of being put into words (whether thought, said or sung). Nothing else is true worship.
Worship is to be objective as well as subjective; and to be rich with praise and adoration of God and his attributes and works. It is to be humble and reverent. It is to include repentance (so often absent from charismatic songs). It is not to be subjected to the competition of elaborate music and instrumentalism, so that this is enjoyed more than the spiritual worship, and people show off their skills.
Worship must never borrow the rhythms and chord-forms associated with the secular entertainment industry, and its anti-God, anti-moral campaigns. The Word of God demands an unbridgeable gulf between sacred and profane.
These are the kind of principles we must present from such Bible passages as John 4 and Revelation 4-5. Former charismatics need to see that they have had foisted upon them a fleshly, worldly, self-centred form of worship, grievous to the Spirit. Human pleasure, derived from debased worldly styles, has eclipsed true spiritual activity, and all this must now be rejected as illegitimate and harmful. Only then will they be free to enter wholeheartedly and feelingfully into genuine, respectful, thoughtful worship, with true spiritual rejoicing.
4 Visible phenomena
A fourth problem troubling many former charismatics is a continuing thirst for phenomena such as healings and prophecies. If denied these things they often feel unstirred and unassured. Such supposed proofs of the Holy Spirit’s presence have long served as a substitute for faith, and now that they have been left behind, leavers may find it difficult to live by faith.
As Christians, however, we are not bereft of evidences of God’s work within us, and it is good to help troubled friends look at these evidences. Conversion, sanctification and preservation are the greatest evidences of all.
It is even more important to train friends to put their faith in what God says in his Word. Faith grows most of all when it is exercised, first by receiving and believing the teaching of the Word, and secondly by coming to the Lord in prayer in response to all the problems and needs of life.
Former charismatics need to be encouraged to exercise sober discernment, trusting only the Word, and assigning no significance to charismatic explanations of strange experiences. It may be helpful for them to learn that the very phenomena and ‘wonders’ they once relied on occur equally outside Christian circles. They are common even among pagan cults, and are not evidences or proofs of the work of the Spirit. Even within the charismatic movement many godless (even immoral and criminal) leaders have been able to produce all these so-called signs of God’s approval and power.
Former charismatics also need to appreciate that unrecognised hypnosis and psychological influences play a great part in producing surprising experiences. In summary, we must help these friends to embrace ‘Scripture alone’ as the rule of their Christian walk, and to get great pleasure out of the wonders of the Word. As for encouragement, are not the unmistakable evidences of God’s power in sustaining and blessing our witness enough?
For the strengthening of faith, it is vital that we show ex-charismatics how to lay hold on the promises rather than to look for earthly wonders which, in the event, are a mixture of theatrical tricks and psychological effects. An excellent book to ‘prescribe’ is Thomas Watson’s little volume A Divine Cordial, also published under the title All Things for Good. Equally superb is A W Pink’s Comfort for Christians. Such works show believers how to view trials of all kinds. The Christian life is a life of faith, not a life of sight, and to walk this road must be the new aim of former charismatic believers.
5 Lack of service
A fifth problem troubling some former charismatics arises from a lack of applica-tion and commitment to genuine service for the Lord. We are saved to serve the Lord and to be at his disposal. We are intended to pull together as congregations in the work of evangelism. The charismatic scene, however, is predominantly self-serving. Certainly there are exceptions, and some charismatics engage in strenuous activity for the Lord, including compassionate ministries. But generally the situation is quite different.
You do not often find charismatic fellowships toiling in evangelistic Sunday Schools and similar activities operated for the spiritual good of the community. You find considerable activity going on, but most of it is for the benefit of believers and for their excitement and fulfilment.
Charismatic church activities are labour-intensive in terms of instrumentalism, singing and all the practice involved. Giftedness, body-ministry, personal empowerment and so on are the all-important matters. ‘My walk…my health…my experience’ is the chief focus of life. House groups frequently constitute ‘love-ins’ where mutual coddling and sympathy are the order of the day. The ethos is that we are to be cared for. We are so important. All our energy is for us.
A believer who forsakes the atmosphere of charismatic Christianity is likely to feel painfully abandoned in a traditional fellowship. It is important that the real cause of this vacuum is understood, and we must show how life should be filled with a new kind of activity – unselfish, overflowing spiritual service for Christ.
We are forced to admit that some traditional Bible-believing churches now-adays are as bad as charismatic churches for self-serving, self-interested church programmes. Hopefully, however, ex-charismatics will find churches where the fun and pleasure of believers is not the primary objective, but rather the work of taking the Gospel to lost souls.
In these days so many labourers are needed. A new perspective and a new commitment will be the greatest help to the ex-charismatic, who will find true spiritual blessedness in this context. (The author’s booklet on the working church – Your Reasonable Service in the Lord’s Work – may help in this matter.)
6 Cessation of sign-gifts
A sixth problem troubling former charismatics is whether the gifts of the Spirit have or have not ceased. How could they possibly have ceased as the Scripture does not specifically say so? Lingering and recurring anxiety about the gifts can only be relieved when former charismatics gain a clear view of the reasons why cessationism was the view of the overwhelming majority of Christians until as recently as the 1960s. In this connection, beware of literature which warns against charismatic practices while at the same time refusing to teach the cessation of the sign and revelatory gifts.
Some writers have adopted the view that cessationism is not valid, and that instead we should judge the validity of every charismatic claim on its merits. The idea is a nightmare. From a practical point of view alone, it would take a thousand tribunals of seasoned judges sitting in permanent session to merely scratch the surface of the present scene. Claims to gifts and phenomena are to be numbered in their millions.
The truth is that the Bible is clear on this matter, and most former charismatics are very ready to examine the texts. Of course, we must help friends to see that only two kinds of gift are at issue: the revelatory gifts and the sign-gifts. All others, such as gifts of ministry and government, remain.
The writer has set out the texts teaching the cessation of the revelatory and sign-gifts in The Healing Epidemic, chapter 7 – ‘Proving the Gifts Have Ceased’. Without repeating all these texts and arguments here, it should be obvious that the sign-gifts were not intended to be permanent. They were specifically described as signs or pointers. The apostolic miracles pointed to the apostles, saying to the world, ‘these are the true witnesses and apostles of Christ, and the inspired channels of Holy Scripture.’ But now that their witness has been incorporated into the Bible, we possess the substance. The signs fell away once the substance to which they pointed was given to the Church.
It was the same with tongues-speaking. The miraculous tongues were a sign or pointer. God had said through Isaiah that the age of the Messiah would be validated by the phenomenon of gentiles preaching the Word of God to Jews. However, at the time of Pentecost, and for a short while afterward, there were no converted gentiles, and so God at first employed gentile tongues miraculously spoken by Jews. This was one of the signs that the new age, the Gospel Age, had dawned, when the Gospel would be preached in every language throughout the world. But soon the reality took over and real gentile converts were preaching the Gospel to both Jews and gentiles. Once this occurred the sign had fulfilled its duty. The reality to which the sign pointed had itself arrived, and the ‘shadow’ had given way to the substance.
This writer has found that most charismatics have been given the impression that in New Testament times healings were accomplished constantly by all believers. They are usually very surprised to hear that this is utterly contrary to the record, which shows only one case of a healing by someone not in the apostolic band – and that was the singular case of Paul healed by Ananias (at the Lord’s command).
We constantly need to make clear to ex-charismatic friends that we believe in miracles today, including healing. God can do anything, and he has promised to heal. What we reject is the notion that he channels his power through gifted miracle workers and healers. Apostles, with ‘signs of apostles’, have long since ceased, but the Lord continues to heal directly in answer to prayer (and according to his sovereign will). These are some of the issues which we need to make clear to former charismatics.
7 Prevailing worldliness
A seventh problem which frequently troubles those who leave charismatic circles stems from the degree of worldliness so often encouraged, and sometimes the level of lawlessness. Throughout the world the majority of charismatics have an approach to holiness that is quite different from anything previously seen in the history of the Christian Church. Separation from the world has little or no part in their holiness scenario. Nor (in most circles) does resistance to earthly wealth and comforts.
Affluence and pleasure are legitimate objectives. Fashion, self-expression, and close familiarity with the current pop and movie scenes are acceptable interests. Charismatic song performers look and sound just like worldly performers. The likeness is even deliberately cultivated.
Believers who leave the charismatic world will have to adapt to entirely different standards. They will have to appreciate that the Lord commands different attitudes in his people, and that the ethos of the world is offensive to him. For some, the doctrine of sanctification will sometimes need to be explained almost from scratch. A new commitment of life and stewardship will need to be embraced.
We referred to lawlessness in the introduction to this seventh point, because it is an undeniable truth that among professing Christians, charismatics are known to have by far the most cases of unacceptable behaviour. They experience the most occurrences of immorality, divorce, criminal fraud, and other serious misdemeanours.
This observation is not intended to taint thousands of more serious-minded charismatics who mortify the deeds of the body, and strive to lead lives pleasing to God. But the charismatic environment as a whole is not conducive to conscientious holiness, and that is painfully apparent.
Lawlessness may well be encouraged by the lack of repentance in the style of worship found in many charismatic churches. Services characterised by dancing, swaying, clapping, the singing of repetitive phrases to deafening rhythmic music, and working up the emotions are not occasions for genuine repentance and dedication to holiness.
There is no quietness before God; no sense of – ‘The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.’ In some charismatic circles the spiritual warfare is defined entirely in terms of challenging demons, rather than in fighting against personal sin and temptation. It is no great wonder that we have read of so many leading charismatic evan-gelists falling into immorality, and being brought before the courts for a variety of criminal offences.
It is important that we communicate to believers who come to us from charismatic fellowships that we act in all matters out of obedience to the Word, and not just from personal choice. We must show chapter and verse for every facet of our personal and church lifestyles. Christians are those who willingly conform to all the rules of the New Testament, including separation from worldliness. Only as the Spirit shows these friends the true nature of the Christian walk, will they be at peace. Many have been deprived by their former teach-ers of vast areas of Truth. These must now be embraced.
8 A Superior experience
An eighth problem likely to trouble former charismatics is a sensitive and dif-ficult one, but it must be mentioned. This will not necessarily apply to all such friends, but it will afflict some. It is the problem of pride. Charismatic teachers have probably convinced them that they have superior light and experience, while traditional Bible believers are spiritually ignorant, cold and unblessed. Many charismatic teachers adopt a boastful, triumphalistic style, encouraging a sense of spiritual superiority.
The lack of truly objective worship (which is humbling in its effect) may also contribute to pride. So also may the sense of specialness derived from the sup-posed possession of spiritual gifts. Even after leaving charismatic circles, some of this pride may stick.
All this puts one in mind of the many Exclusive Brethren who left their movement in the 1960s. They had seen that much was wrong, but unfortunately many of those who left took with them an unshakable belief that they were infinitely better taught than those in the traditional evangelical churches. Clothed with such confidence, what could they really learn? Some (but certainly not all) became misfits and serious thorns in the flesh to the churches they joined.
We shall need great grace as we try to help ex-charismatics realise that they do not tower above traditional Bible believers in spiritual understanding. We will need the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon, and the gentleness of Barnabas as we show them that their former camp represents a radical departure from Scripture and its doctrine in many ways, and that they have much to re-learn.
It will be no use correcting just a few wrong notions. Charismatic pride rests on a dozen foundations. It is only as we knock all these away (but carefully) that the delusion of grandeur will fall, and the mind will open fully to the Word. The kindest way to do this is often by prescribing books, so that friends can think through the issues in privacy, checking the texts as they go, and calling upon the Lord for help.
9 Emphasis on fellowship
A ninth problem sometimes troubling the peace of former charismatics has to do with relationships. We have already referred to the artificially close fellowship fostered in house groups or cells. Charismatics usually excel at organising friendship-promoting activities, and this will inevitably lead to pain and loneliness when people leave.
Most traditional Bible-believing churches do not have this forced, hot-house approach to promoting friendship. They depend more on the natural process of ties forming as members worship and serve the Lord together.
Hopefully, former charismatics will find their way to churches where people are outgoing and welcoming. But it will be over time, and usually while working in some aspect of Christian service, that deeper ties will form. Real friendship is not usually manipulated into being.
We will need to extend a degree of special understanding and fellowship to those who come out of a system excessively dependent on friendship, remembering that they have probably left behind something that cannot be quickly replaced in their lives.
Another relationship difficulty may arise from the dominating, authoritarian leadership practised in many charismatic churches. If people have experienced a high degree of directive interference in their lives, some may feel lost without it. However much they may have resented it, they may still miss it. For some, this may reach ‘dependence’ proportions.
Pastors must be careful never to tell these friends what to do in personal decisions, however much they may ask for definitive direction. Always we must limit ourselves to counselling the biblical principles, and honour the individual’s responsibility to apply those principles carefully and prayerfully to the decision in hand.
10 Uncertain belief
A final problem sometimes encountered by former charismatics is that of weak and doubting belief, leading either to shallowness or cynicism. This is a product of their former intense loyalty to healings and other phenomena. The trouble arises from the simple fact that they never saw these wonderful things really happening in a certain, verifiable way. Even the miraculous signs have had to be taken on faith!
If we ask charismatic friends why the weekly run of healings never includes clear-cut, medically verifiable miracles, involving the cure of serious physical illnesses, they immediately talk about cases they know of from other churches, and which probably took place months or years ago. They seldom make any attempt to defend the regular healings of their own fellowship. This shows that within themselves they realise that these healings are more to do with charismatic culture than with reality.
A charismatic author (a doctor) once set out to validate charismatic healing in a book, and his book revealed the same tendency. To prove his case he wrote about healings that occurred years before, and in other countries. Inadvertently, he was admitting that he placed no credence on the regular healings that surrounded him week after week in his own charismatic assembly. He believed in them in a way, but not enough to use them as examples, preferring to draw his ‘proof’ from afar.
This writer has asked charismatic believers in five continents why their own local healings were either unsuccessful, or short-term, or minor, and why they could not perform healing of verifiable, major illnesses. Always their response has been to draw their confidence from healings reported from somewhere else.
The point is that charismatic friends must adopt either a stoical, unquestioning form of belief in these phenomena, or a vague, general belief. Either attitude is harmful to real Christian faith. In the case of the first, the mind closes to any new biblical and doctrinal challenge. The person says, ‘I know what I think, and am not open to further consideration.’ Such a friend must be helped to see that all our opinions must be verifiable from the Word of God. We must always be open to correction.
In the case of vague belief, the whole of our Christian walk may be damaged if we allow ourselves to believe vaguely and lightly in things we do not really see happen, and cannot be certain of. This kind of belief will infect our whole outlook. We may well develop a shallow view of many other aspects of the faith.
This undoubtedly happens to many Christians. They believe they should go to worship regularly and serve the Lord. But at the same time, like the healing miracles, the standards of God need not be taken too seriously. They are real, but they are not real. They are important, but not important.
Vague belief or light belief produces uncommitted and semi-sincere Christians, and even lawless Christians. The antidote and corrective is to help people to see that in God’s true plan for the Christian life everything is true and reliable; everythingworks just as it should.
The charismatic culture of working up miracles and signs which cannot be validated is harmful to true faith, producing either gullibility on the one hand, or submerged cynicism on the other.
God and his Word are to be taken very seriously, and believed with the whole heart. All his commands are to be obeyed; all his standards are to be diligently honoured.
These are the issues which trouble or handicap those who leave charismatic circles, and which pastors and spiritual shepherds will need to address, with gentleness, patience and understanding. They are all critical, key matters which, if ignored, will surface later, possibly with unhappy results.
http://www.metropolitantabernacle.org/Sword-And-Trowel/Evangelical-Magazine-Sword-and-Trowel-Articles/False-Doctrines-True-Deliverance-Ministry
And this book looks good :)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Jung-Cult-Charismatic-Movement/dp/0684834235
More good books on this topic:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/2JMTNYLB1YI7E/002-2371974-5049657
and this is truly amazing :)
"Helping Believers who have left Charismatic Circles
The title of this article is obviously not meant in a charismatic sense. We offer no advice on how to cast out demons, rather on how to help true believers who have been heavily influenced by charismatic ideas, and who have come to see them as wrong. They have come away from the world of tongues, visions, prophecies, ecstasies, dancing, falling down slain, and all associated activities, and have sought fellowship among ‘traditional’ Bible-believing Christians.
These friends often have many problems, and pastors and church officers must be ready to help. Some former charismatics have made the transition so well and so speedily that one can scarcely believe they once thought and acted very differently. We readily acknowledge that some need little or no help in adapting to conservative, biblical Christianity.
Many, however, find that their time in the charismatic movement has left them troubled, unsure, and perhaps even scarred spiritually. They have wrested themselves away from a host of emotional props, and severed connections with numerous dear friends, and this has cost them much pain.
Doctrine, worship, fellowship and service now take a vastly different form. Their new environment has a way of thinking and looking at matters utterly unlike that of charismatic circles. Furthermore, in the back of the mind lies the nagging fear that these ‘traditionalists’ are indeed the cold, lifeless formalists they have been long warned about – people who have never tasted the Spirit, and who wilfully oppose his liberating power.
Broadly speaking, there are three causes for people leaving the charismatic move-ment. The first one mentioned here is the best, and most often leads to them adjusting wholly to orthodox evangelical teaching. The last two give rise to the least stable ‘converts’.
A first cause of leaving occurs when people experience some serious disappointment or disillusionment with the charismatic movement, and begin to evaluate its claims more carefully. Perhaps a relative or close friend has died and they have seen at close quarters the false promises and the failure of -healing prophecies. It may be that they have seen through some of the dishonesty and pride which stalks the citadels of charismatic activity, and have recoiled with shock.
Some years ago, for example, charismatics all over the world were shaken by the wild phenomena of the Toronto Blessing, and they turned to God’s Word in a new spirit of enquiry. Objective Bible study then caused the entire edifice of charismatic practice to crumble and fall before them.
A second cause of departure from charismatic activity is personal disaffection. While this may lead to people’s eyes being opened, it often does not. In charismatic house groups and cells an artificially high degree of emotional interdependence is fostered, and in such a climate offences can occur which drive people out. These may come over to the derided traditionalists almost as an act of protest. The real issue is one of personal disaffection, not doctrinal unease, and while these émigrés may criticise everything they have left, it may only be the outworking of hurt feelings.
Sometimes people leave because their ‘gifts’ have not been sufficiently recognised, or their own leadership hopes have been thwarted. Such leavers will probably return, if not to the same group, to another section of the charismatic camp. We may almost say that the more heated the invective, the sooner a person will go back. We certainly have an opportunity to help such disgruntled people see the real issues, and we pray that the Lord will open their eyes, but our efforts may well be in vain.
A third cause of departure which usually leads to people returning is that of a generally unstable temperament. This is not a comment on the mental stability of people, but on their inability to think clearly and to recognise foundational principles of biblical conduct. Because charismatic teaching is so subjective, experience-based, emotional and speculative, it produces this instability in certain people.
They take on a great mass of ideas and anecdotes, but possess no reliable way of verifying them. The mind trades so much in disconnected fragments, that it loses its capacity to get things in order of importance, and to judge clearly.
Helping friends in this state is almost impossible. As fast as you try to explain one matter, another dozen ideas leap into their minds. For such people, whether something is right or wrong is determined by the quantity of supporting claims which can be thrown into the discussion, not by the biblical validity of the claims. Unstable thinkers are likely to re-settle in the comfortable confusion of a charismatic group.
It is necessary to mention these last two categories because we must be ready for disappointment. However, the Lord is at work. Many of God’s children are being led out for wholesome and biblical reasons, and we trust that many more will be. We would like to rescue as many people as possible from the mass of mistakes that make up the charismatic movement, and from their exploitation by insincere and dishonest ‘top’ leaders.
Another caution is necessary. We should not assume that all who leave the charismatic fold are truly converted. We say this with care, for many are, but we remember that numerous people have been lured in by promises of healing, and even prosperity, rather than by the challenge to repent and yield to Christ. Once there, they have been sustained, not by doctrine, but by a diet of emotional thrills. In many charismatic meetings life is all about the feel-good-factor of entertainment and personal happiness, and the real issues of the Faith are obscured. When the Gospel is presented, it is often no more than a shallow form of ‘easy-believism’. Friendship and phenomena take the place of a real spiritual life. There will, therefore, be many who are not truly saved, and if they should leave and find their way to sound evangelical churches, their greatest need will be to hear the Gospel.
This caution must be balanced by a plea for respect for ex-charismatic people who most certainly are earnest believers. Some of these may even have been driven into the charismatic movement years ago by the lifelessness of a traditional evangelical church. There are numerous Bible-believing churches where so little is done for the Lord that one sympathises with members who defect to charismatic fellowships. They may be mistaken, but what an ordeal they have endured to keep their faith and love alive in an unenthusiastic ‘sound’ church! They have felt forced to leave that sound, but sound asleep, church. It has often been a hunger and thirst to please God which has led people (however mistakenly) into more lively charismatic churches. Their new teachers persuaded them that God wanted them to seek tongues and other phenomena, and their desire to obey God caused them to open their minds to these new experiences.
They were misled, but they were earnest, and this we must respect. They may have been more earnest than the sound fellowship they left behind.
We say this to inspire a due measure of respect for those who come back to us from charismatic groups. We, as traditional evangelicals, may have wronged them in the past through spiritual lethargy and coldness.
What are the problems or scars which continue to affect believers who have left the charismatic movement? The following pages review some of the difficulties encountered and highlight the areas of biblical teaching to be stressed by way of remedy.
TEN LINGERING PROBLEMS
1 Lordship of imagination
The first problem which may continue to trouble charismatic leavers arises from the lordship of imagination. For so many, imagination has worked overtime to create an artificial spiritual life in which God has spoken hour by hour through direct guidance and impressions. People have felt led to do this and that, and been ‘given’ knowledge of this and that. In many cases they have attributed every feeling to the direct impulse of the Spirit. They have been taught a religion very different from that of biblical Christianity, but they do not realise this.
They have been taught a system of thinking in which basic Christian beliefs are grafted on to a form of mysticism in which one may ‘know’ the touch of God, and receive in a direct, paranormal way knowledge unknowable by others. If someone is interpreting a tongue, whatever pops into the mind must be the correct meaning. For many, ordinary ideas and impressions must be elevated to ‘words of knowledge’. The list of imagined inspirations is long.
It comes as a shock to many ex-charismatic friends to learn the true biblical teaching about union with God, and the way this works. Without grasping this, they will be confused, dependent upon their feelings, and dependent upon imagined impressions sent from God.
We will need to explain, both by way of preaching and personal ministry, the ‘by faith’ passages of the New Testament, not only to explain the way of salvation, but to explain the ‘mechanics’ of our continuing union with God. We will need to explain that we do not know the Lord by any physical kind of sense or feeling, or by any other direct or ‘clairvoyant’ type of link. Human feelings are a response to what we understand. We know God by what is revealed in his Word. We believe all that it teaches of him, and we trust, and enjoy him. All our precious views of Christ and of his ways, come from the Word into our understanding, and there they are met and embraced by faith. God primarily links himself to us via our understanding and trusting response. Of course, we have much evidence, such as answered prayer, and we have assurance also, but the key link is by receiving the Word.
What about feelings? We will need to explain that in genuine spiritual experience they are stirred by way of response to what is seen by the mind. God hardly ever goes directly to our feelings. Whether the feeling is one of love, gratitude, assurance or shame and conviction, it wells up within us as the result of what is grasped by the mind.
Everything in the Christian life comes ‘by faith’, and this, of necessity, means by the understanding. If we do not think about something, we cannot believe it.
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in this? We will need to teach and explain that the Holy Spirit illuminates the mind, enabling the understanding to grasp the truths of God’s Word. He never imparts to the minds of believers spiritual truths which are not disclosed in the Bible. Rather, he sharpens our minds to see the things that are scripturally revealed.
Then, when we grasp these things and receive them by faith, the Spirit frequently touches our minds in such a way that we see them with even greater clarity, and then we are lifted up in great joy and love. An old Puritan phrase calls this ‘the embrace of the Spirit’. How kind the Spirit of God is!
The key point is that all true spiritual experience must be routed through the conscious mind, and received by faith. As soon as we are able to convey this fundamental fact of the Christian faith to former charismatics, the scales fall from their eyes and they see how they have been misled by a distorted form of Christianity. They are then no longer at the mercy of imagination.
Of course we will need to assure these friends that there is much tangible evidence of God’s work in our lives. We see it in the new nature we receive at conversion, and in the countless answers to prayer which follow. We have so often been strengthened for our duties, enabled to witness, and delivered from trials in answer to prayer. We have repeatedly seen our circumstances changed by the clear intervention of the Lord. In these things we see the Lord’s hand, but only in the Word do we hear, as it were, his authoritative voice, revealing doctrine and commands.
In summary, we know the Lord by what he has said (in the Word), and this is supplemented by what he does in answer to prayer. We do not have direct com-munication from God on authoritative matters.
How different this historic, biblical teaching is from the mystical and occultist ideas which have swept into modern charismatic teaching! ‘Switch off the mind,’ they say, ‘it is an obstruction and a nuisance. Raise your hands, close your eyes, sway to and fro, launch out into the deep, let your emotions go free, let your spirit take over, repeat the name of the Saviour, speak in a tongue, and as you do so, your direct, mystical link with God will be effected, and you will feel and see according to the movement of the Spirit.’
We repeat, God speaks from the Word to the mind, which is the organ of under-standing and the palace of faith. Here are some of the great passages we will refer to as we stress the pre-eminence of faith (which naturally presupposes understanding).
‘So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God’ (Romans 10.17).
‘That their hearts might be comforted . . . unto all riches of the full assurance of UNDERSTANDING’ (Colossians 2.2). ‘BY FAITH ye stand’ (2 Corinthians 1.24).
‘For we walk BY FAITH, not by sight’ (2 Corinthians 5.7).
‘Above all, taking the SHIELD OF FAITH, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked’ (Ephesians 6.16).
‘BY FAITH he [Moses] forsook Egypt . . . for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible’ (Hebrews 11.27). ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts BY FAITH; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God’ (Ephesians 3.17-19).
2 Anecdotes & revelations
A second problem which afflicts many friends who leave charismatic circles is their past trust in non-biblical sources of doctrine and comfort, such as anecdotal experiences and new revelations. Most charismatics theoretically believe that anecdotes, visions and words of knowledge should be submitted to Scripture for verification, but in most circles this hardly ever happens. (When charismatic leaders do attempt to justify their visions by Scripture, these attempts range from the superficial to the absurd.)
The problem is that former charismatics often feel a great void once they leave behind the flow of anecdotal teaching and prophetic words. Some continue to be vulnerable and ready to believe anything and everything that they read in lightweight, anecdotal items of Christian literature.
We often refer to how the charismatic movement lowers the credulity threshold of people, and so it does. The welter of anecdotes of healings, extraordinary expe-riences and revelations must, in general, be believed, or the Christian life would be a nightmare of suspicion. Some solve the problem by believing everything (however unbiblical), and others by believing everything ‘slightly’. (See problem number 10 for further comment on this.)
It is not enough, however, only to direct to Scripture, because charismatic friends have had Scripture quoted to them to justify the most bizarre things. By their indifference to any rules of interpretation, charismatic teachers have robbed Scripture of its clarity, consistency and authority. We will need to encourage a new respect and a deeper reverence and love for Scripture, introducing friends to the Bible’s own interpretative rules. They must come to take the context seriously, and to compare scripture with scripture. They must learn about the ‘analogy of faith’ concept of the Reformers, which calls us to equip ourselves with a clear mental picture of all the major doctrines so prominent in the Bible, and then to test all our ideas about the meaning of any particular passage against these.
This article is not the place to rehearse the basic rules of interpretation, but ex-charismatics need the liberating experience of serious, logical Bible study. They need to see what they have been deprived of. Then they will rejoice in a Bible that really guides – not a chaotic mystery-book which depends upon the whims of personal revelation before one may know what it really says. We must therefore give time in our teaching programme for the subject of ‘Bible interpretation for all’.
We need to point friends to books such as Thomas Watson’s Body of Divinity, where they will rejoice to find the wonderful system of doctrinal Truth which has been kept from them. This will help them to have the anchor of sound doctrine, without which they will remain at the mercy of unbiblical, human ideas.
3 Reverent worship
A third problem troubling many former charismatics is that of adjusting to a reverent form of worship. In most charismatic communities worship is primarily designed to be subjective and arousing only at a human level. To achieve this, instrumental music and rhythm are used as major ingredients. Also, worship is usually informal in character, thus sacrificing awe and reverence. It has more to do with the feelings and the body than with the mind and the soul.
Those who leave charismatic groups will find themselves either in a Bible-believing church which holds to conservative wor-ship, or one that compromises by using charismatic songs. This second kind of church will obviously not be able to teach former charismatics the glories of true worship, for it has violated them.
Hopefully, former charismatics will find themselves in sounder places where the biblical objectives of worship can be explained. We will need to point out the most fundamental of all principles, that worship is to be ‘in spirit and in truth’. This includes the idea that it is to be intelligent, and in accordance with God’s revealed Truth.
It is crucial for believers to realise that worship must be capable of being put into words (whether thought, said or sung). Nothing else is true worship.
Worship is to be objective as well as subjective; and to be rich with praise and adoration of God and his attributes and works. It is to be humble and reverent. It is to include repentance (so often absent from charismatic songs). It is not to be subjected to the competition of elaborate music and instrumentalism, so that this is enjoyed more than the spiritual worship, and people show off their skills.
Worship must never borrow the rhythms and chord-forms associated with the secular entertainment industry, and its anti-God, anti-moral campaigns. The Word of God demands an unbridgeable gulf between sacred and profane.
These are the kind of principles we must present from such Bible passages as John 4 and Revelation 4-5. Former charismatics need to see that they have had foisted upon them a fleshly, worldly, self-centred form of worship, grievous to the Spirit. Human pleasure, derived from debased worldly styles, has eclipsed true spiritual activity, and all this must now be rejected as illegitimate and harmful. Only then will they be free to enter wholeheartedly and feelingfully into genuine, respectful, thoughtful worship, with true spiritual rejoicing.
4 Visible phenomena
A fourth problem troubling many former charismatics is a continuing thirst for phenomena such as healings and prophecies. If denied these things they often feel unstirred and unassured. Such supposed proofs of the Holy Spirit’s presence have long served as a substitute for faith, and now that they have been left behind, leavers may find it difficult to live by faith.
As Christians, however, we are not bereft of evidences of God’s work within us, and it is good to help troubled friends look at these evidences. Conversion, sanctification and preservation are the greatest evidences of all.
It is even more important to train friends to put their faith in what God says in his Word. Faith grows most of all when it is exercised, first by receiving and believing the teaching of the Word, and secondly by coming to the Lord in prayer in response to all the problems and needs of life.
Former charismatics need to be encouraged to exercise sober discernment, trusting only the Word, and assigning no significance to charismatic explanations of strange experiences. It may be helpful for them to learn that the very phenomena and ‘wonders’ they once relied on occur equally outside Christian circles. They are common even among pagan cults, and are not evidences or proofs of the work of the Spirit. Even within the charismatic movement many godless (even immoral and criminal) leaders have been able to produce all these so-called signs of God’s approval and power.
Former charismatics also need to appreciate that unrecognised hypnosis and psychological influences play a great part in producing surprising experiences. In summary, we must help these friends to embrace ‘Scripture alone’ as the rule of their Christian walk, and to get great pleasure out of the wonders of the Word. As for encouragement, are not the unmistakable evidences of God’s power in sustaining and blessing our witness enough?
For the strengthening of faith, it is vital that we show ex-charismatics how to lay hold on the promises rather than to look for earthly wonders which, in the event, are a mixture of theatrical tricks and psychological effects. An excellent book to ‘prescribe’ is Thomas Watson’s little volume A Divine Cordial, also published under the title All Things for Good. Equally superb is A W Pink’s Comfort for Christians. Such works show believers how to view trials of all kinds. The Christian life is a life of faith, not a life of sight, and to walk this road must be the new aim of former charismatic believers.
5 Lack of service
A fifth problem troubling some former charismatics arises from a lack of applica-tion and commitment to genuine service for the Lord. We are saved to serve the Lord and to be at his disposal. We are intended to pull together as congregations in the work of evangelism. The charismatic scene, however, is predominantly self-serving. Certainly there are exceptions, and some charismatics engage in strenuous activity for the Lord, including compassionate ministries. But generally the situation is quite different.
You do not often find charismatic fellowships toiling in evangelistic Sunday Schools and similar activities operated for the spiritual good of the community. You find considerable activity going on, but most of it is for the benefit of believers and for their excitement and fulfilment.
Charismatic church activities are labour-intensive in terms of instrumentalism, singing and all the practice involved. Giftedness, body-ministry, personal empowerment and so on are the all-important matters. ‘My walk…my health…my experience’ is the chief focus of life. House groups frequently constitute ‘love-ins’ where mutual coddling and sympathy are the order of the day. The ethos is that we are to be cared for. We are so important. All our energy is for us.
A believer who forsakes the atmosphere of charismatic Christianity is likely to feel painfully abandoned in a traditional fellowship. It is important that the real cause of this vacuum is understood, and we must show how life should be filled with a new kind of activity – unselfish, overflowing spiritual service for Christ.
We are forced to admit that some traditional Bible-believing churches now-adays are as bad as charismatic churches for self-serving, self-interested church programmes. Hopefully, however, ex-charismatics will find churches where the fun and pleasure of believers is not the primary objective, but rather the work of taking the Gospel to lost souls.
In these days so many labourers are needed. A new perspective and a new commitment will be the greatest help to the ex-charismatic, who will find true spiritual blessedness in this context. (The author’s booklet on the working church – Your Reasonable Service in the Lord’s Work – may help in this matter.)
6 Cessation of sign-gifts
A sixth problem troubling former charismatics is whether the gifts of the Spirit have or have not ceased. How could they possibly have ceased as the Scripture does not specifically say so? Lingering and recurring anxiety about the gifts can only be relieved when former charismatics gain a clear view of the reasons why cessationism was the view of the overwhelming majority of Christians until as recently as the 1960s. In this connection, beware of literature which warns against charismatic practices while at the same time refusing to teach the cessation of the sign and revelatory gifts.
Some writers have adopted the view that cessationism is not valid, and that instead we should judge the validity of every charismatic claim on its merits. The idea is a nightmare. From a practical point of view alone, it would take a thousand tribunals of seasoned judges sitting in permanent session to merely scratch the surface of the present scene. Claims to gifts and phenomena are to be numbered in their millions.
The truth is that the Bible is clear on this matter, and most former charismatics are very ready to examine the texts. Of course, we must help friends to see that only two kinds of gift are at issue: the revelatory gifts and the sign-gifts. All others, such as gifts of ministry and government, remain.
The writer has set out the texts teaching the cessation of the revelatory and sign-gifts in The Healing Epidemic, chapter 7 – ‘Proving the Gifts Have Ceased’. Without repeating all these texts and arguments here, it should be obvious that the sign-gifts were not intended to be permanent. They were specifically described as signs or pointers. The apostolic miracles pointed to the apostles, saying to the world, ‘these are the true witnesses and apostles of Christ, and the inspired channels of Holy Scripture.’ But now that their witness has been incorporated into the Bible, we possess the substance. The signs fell away once the substance to which they pointed was given to the Church.
It was the same with tongues-speaking. The miraculous tongues were a sign or pointer. God had said through Isaiah that the age of the Messiah would be validated by the phenomenon of gentiles preaching the Word of God to Jews. However, at the time of Pentecost, and for a short while afterward, there were no converted gentiles, and so God at first employed gentile tongues miraculously spoken by Jews. This was one of the signs that the new age, the Gospel Age, had dawned, when the Gospel would be preached in every language throughout the world. But soon the reality took over and real gentile converts were preaching the Gospel to both Jews and gentiles. Once this occurred the sign had fulfilled its duty. The reality to which the sign pointed had itself arrived, and the ‘shadow’ had given way to the substance.
This writer has found that most charismatics have been given the impression that in New Testament times healings were accomplished constantly by all believers. They are usually very surprised to hear that this is utterly contrary to the record, which shows only one case of a healing by someone not in the apostolic band – and that was the singular case of Paul healed by Ananias (at the Lord’s command).
We constantly need to make clear to ex-charismatic friends that we believe in miracles today, including healing. God can do anything, and he has promised to heal. What we reject is the notion that he channels his power through gifted miracle workers and healers. Apostles, with ‘signs of apostles’, have long since ceased, but the Lord continues to heal directly in answer to prayer (and according to his sovereign will). These are some of the issues which we need to make clear to former charismatics.
7 Prevailing worldliness
A seventh problem which frequently troubles those who leave charismatic circles stems from the degree of worldliness so often encouraged, and sometimes the level of lawlessness. Throughout the world the majority of charismatics have an approach to holiness that is quite different from anything previously seen in the history of the Christian Church. Separation from the world has little or no part in their holiness scenario. Nor (in most circles) does resistance to earthly wealth and comforts.
Affluence and pleasure are legitimate objectives. Fashion, self-expression, and close familiarity with the current pop and movie scenes are acceptable interests. Charismatic song performers look and sound just like worldly performers. The likeness is even deliberately cultivated.
Believers who leave the charismatic world will have to adapt to entirely different standards. They will have to appreciate that the Lord commands different attitudes in his people, and that the ethos of the world is offensive to him. For some, the doctrine of sanctification will sometimes need to be explained almost from scratch. A new commitment of life and stewardship will need to be embraced.
We referred to lawlessness in the introduction to this seventh point, because it is an undeniable truth that among professing Christians, charismatics are known to have by far the most cases of unacceptable behaviour. They experience the most occurrences of immorality, divorce, criminal fraud, and other serious misdemeanours.
This observation is not intended to taint thousands of more serious-minded charismatics who mortify the deeds of the body, and strive to lead lives pleasing to God. But the charismatic environment as a whole is not conducive to conscientious holiness, and that is painfully apparent.
Lawlessness may well be encouraged by the lack of repentance in the style of worship found in many charismatic churches. Services characterised by dancing, swaying, clapping, the singing of repetitive phrases to deafening rhythmic music, and working up the emotions are not occasions for genuine repentance and dedication to holiness.
There is no quietness before God; no sense of – ‘The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.’ In some charismatic circles the spiritual warfare is defined entirely in terms of challenging demons, rather than in fighting against personal sin and temptation. It is no great wonder that we have read of so many leading charismatic evan-gelists falling into immorality, and being brought before the courts for a variety of criminal offences.
It is important that we communicate to believers who come to us from charismatic fellowships that we act in all matters out of obedience to the Word, and not just from personal choice. We must show chapter and verse for every facet of our personal and church lifestyles. Christians are those who willingly conform to all the rules of the New Testament, including separation from worldliness. Only as the Spirit shows these friends the true nature of the Christian walk, will they be at peace. Many have been deprived by their former teach-ers of vast areas of Truth. These must now be embraced.
8 A Superior experience
An eighth problem likely to trouble former charismatics is a sensitive and dif-ficult one, but it must be mentioned. This will not necessarily apply to all such friends, but it will afflict some. It is the problem of pride. Charismatic teachers have probably convinced them that they have superior light and experience, while traditional Bible believers are spiritually ignorant, cold and unblessed. Many charismatic teachers adopt a boastful, triumphalistic style, encouraging a sense of spiritual superiority.
The lack of truly objective worship (which is humbling in its effect) may also contribute to pride. So also may the sense of specialness derived from the sup-posed possession of spiritual gifts. Even after leaving charismatic circles, some of this pride may stick.
All this puts one in mind of the many Exclusive Brethren who left their movement in the 1960s. They had seen that much was wrong, but unfortunately many of those who left took with them an unshakable belief that they were infinitely better taught than those in the traditional evangelical churches. Clothed with such confidence, what could they really learn? Some (but certainly not all) became misfits and serious thorns in the flesh to the churches they joined.
We shall need great grace as we try to help ex-charismatics realise that they do not tower above traditional Bible believers in spiritual understanding. We will need the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon, and the gentleness of Barnabas as we show them that their former camp represents a radical departure from Scripture and its doctrine in many ways, and that they have much to re-learn.
It will be no use correcting just a few wrong notions. Charismatic pride rests on a dozen foundations. It is only as we knock all these away (but carefully) that the delusion of grandeur will fall, and the mind will open fully to the Word. The kindest way to do this is often by prescribing books, so that friends can think through the issues in privacy, checking the texts as they go, and calling upon the Lord for help.
9 Emphasis on fellowship
A ninth problem sometimes troubling the peace of former charismatics has to do with relationships. We have already referred to the artificially close fellowship fostered in house groups or cells. Charismatics usually excel at organising friendship-promoting activities, and this will inevitably lead to pain and loneliness when people leave.
Most traditional Bible-believing churches do not have this forced, hot-house approach to promoting friendship. They depend more on the natural process of ties forming as members worship and serve the Lord together.
Hopefully, former charismatics will find their way to churches where people are outgoing and welcoming. But it will be over time, and usually while working in some aspect of Christian service, that deeper ties will form. Real friendship is not usually manipulated into being.
We will need to extend a degree of special understanding and fellowship to those who come out of a system excessively dependent on friendship, remembering that they have probably left behind something that cannot be quickly replaced in their lives.
Another relationship difficulty may arise from the dominating, authoritarian leadership practised in many charismatic churches. If people have experienced a high degree of directive interference in their lives, some may feel lost without it. However much they may have resented it, they may still miss it. For some, this may reach ‘dependence’ proportions.
Pastors must be careful never to tell these friends what to do in personal decisions, however much they may ask for definitive direction. Always we must limit ourselves to counselling the biblical principles, and honour the individual’s responsibility to apply those principles carefully and prayerfully to the decision in hand.
10 Uncertain belief
A final problem sometimes encountered by former charismatics is that of weak and doubting belief, leading either to shallowness or cynicism. This is a product of their former intense loyalty to healings and other phenomena. The trouble arises from the simple fact that they never saw these wonderful things really happening in a certain, verifiable way. Even the miraculous signs have had to be taken on faith!
If we ask charismatic friends why the weekly run of healings never includes clear-cut, medically verifiable miracles, involving the cure of serious physical illnesses, they immediately talk about cases they know of from other churches, and which probably took place months or years ago. They seldom make any attempt to defend the regular healings of their own fellowship. This shows that within themselves they realise that these healings are more to do with charismatic culture than with reality.
A charismatic author (a doctor) once set out to validate charismatic healing in a book, and his book revealed the same tendency. To prove his case he wrote about healings that occurred years before, and in other countries. Inadvertently, he was admitting that he placed no credence on the regular healings that surrounded him week after week in his own charismatic assembly. He believed in them in a way, but not enough to use them as examples, preferring to draw his ‘proof’ from afar.
This writer has asked charismatic believers in five continents why their own local healings were either unsuccessful, or short-term, or minor, and why they could not perform healing of verifiable, major illnesses. Always their response has been to draw their confidence from healings reported from somewhere else.
The point is that charismatic friends must adopt either a stoical, unquestioning form of belief in these phenomena, or a vague, general belief. Either attitude is harmful to real Christian faith. In the case of the first, the mind closes to any new biblical and doctrinal challenge. The person says, ‘I know what I think, and am not open to further consideration.’ Such a friend must be helped to see that all our opinions must be verifiable from the Word of God. We must always be open to correction.
In the case of vague belief, the whole of our Christian walk may be damaged if we allow ourselves to believe vaguely and lightly in things we do not really see happen, and cannot be certain of. This kind of belief will infect our whole outlook. We may well develop a shallow view of many other aspects of the faith.
This undoubtedly happens to many Christians. They believe they should go to worship regularly and serve the Lord. But at the same time, like the healing miracles, the standards of God need not be taken too seriously. They are real, but they are not real. They are important, but not important.
Vague belief or light belief produces uncommitted and semi-sincere Christians, and even lawless Christians. The antidote and corrective is to help people to see that in God’s true plan for the Christian life everything is true and reliable; everythingworks just as it should.
The charismatic culture of working up miracles and signs which cannot be validated is harmful to true faith, producing either gullibility on the one hand, or submerged cynicism on the other.
God and his Word are to be taken very seriously, and believed with the whole heart. All his commands are to be obeyed; all his standards are to be diligently honoured.
These are the issues which trouble or handicap those who leave charismatic circles, and which pastors and spiritual shepherds will need to address, with gentleness, patience and understanding. They are all critical, key matters which, if ignored, will surface later, possibly with unhappy results.
http://www.metropolitantabernacle.org/Sword-And-Trowel/Evangelical-Magazine-Sword-and-Trowel-Articles/False-Doctrines-True-Deliverance-Ministry
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