Crazy Charismatic People

I thought I would write about my many, many interactions with crazy Charismatic people.  Since I was saved at 14, for some reason, God seems to keep throwing them in my path.  I'm sure this is for a reason.  Maybe I'm supposed to have a ministry warning people about the dangers of Charismania someday, kind of like John MacArthur but in a more kind way.  He kind of comes off as a jerk when he talks about Charismatics, which won't really help the situation much and they don't respond well to him. 

I have had many interactions with Charismatic people throughout my life. 

My first interaction with a Charismatic person was in high school.  There was a guy I was playing basketball with a lot.  He invited me to his church.  It was Charismatic.  In the service the pastor kept repeating the same points but in a very fiery way.  People were shouting and saying Amen etc.  Then they all filed up to the front of the church and he "anointed their head with oil" and they all fell back, one by one, and started convulsing like they were having a seizure.  I didn't have to be a theologian or genius to know this wasn't from God.  I stayed back in the chairs, scared, definitely not wanting to go up and get "anointed with oil."  I knew that for sure!  After the service they made me, called me over to etc., a side room in which they pulled in their new recruits I guess.  I tried to reason with them, even though I was only the 16 year old that I was, from Corinthians how Paul says "God is not a God of disorder."  They tried to tell me about the passage where "My spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful."  I didn't see how that justified the people rolling and shaking on the floor.  In my mind, they were all nuts and there was nothing they could do to convince me they were somehow ACTUALLY following the Bible.  Impossible!  I even debated, though, with a leader of their church on the way home using my friend's phone.  We talked about various verses.  This friend of mine then gave me a Benny Hinn video.  I was appalled.  I was thinking, "How can everyone not see this guy is crazy and demon possessed?  Why are the people that he causes to fall down shaking?!  How could that possibly be from God?!" 

So that was my first interaction with a Charismatic person. 

My second one was years after that.  I was 23 and dating a Pentecostal/Charismatic guy whom I had met on Christianmingle.com.  I assumed he was a normal Christian since he was on that website.  haha, but boy was I mistaken.  I went to his church one Sunday morning.  How it played out was the same as the first church.  The pastor repeated many of the same things in a fiery way.  His sermons wasn't very detailed.  It was very, very simple.  But the people shouted and said Amen many times as if it was the best sermon in the world.  People were dancing in the aisles during worship.  Luckily though there was no falling on the floor.  This church was more subdued.  The women all were required to wear ankle length dressed or skirts.  They were not allowed to wear make up and their hair had to be long and pulled back.  For some reason my current boyfriend had me wear an outfit that did not fit in.  I think he didn't want to date any of the women there because he didn't like how modest and plain they had to be. 

So the service was fine for the most part.  I wasn't too bothered by it.  But then one night I was playing board games with he and his family.  For some reason they all decided to gang up on me and start preaching to me that I need to pray in tongues to be saved.  I don't remember them pulling out a Bible or anything, they just kept repeating to me that I absolutely had to pray in tongues.  I was angry, needless to say.  I argued that I knew that I knew that I knew I was ALREADY Christian.  I told them that was ridiculous to say that someone HAD to pray in tongues to be saved.  I don't remember how the conversation ended.  All I know is they didn't wear me down in any way and I was not convinced.  A few weeks later, this guy broke up with me, right before Christmas of all times.  But it was for the best.  Had I stayed with him I probably would have been sucked into their cult and been miserable. 

So that was my second interaction with a Charismatic. 

Then I met who is my husband now, about 6 years after this other guy.  He was Charismatic and he was very heavily involved in their cult, before he met me.  When he was attending their church or "home groups" years ago, he signed several entire checks over to the church.  That is a sure sign of a cult right there, asking for huge amounts of money from you.  There are many other things that he has told me that I see cult stamped all over it clearly.  One thing that is very common with cults is "love bombs."  The people drop so much love on you it's ridiculous, but it's just a con move to pull you into their web.  Then you depend on that love, cut out all your other relationships, even family, so that you stay in the cult. 

My husband has/had a friend who is highly Charismatic.  This person I guess specialized in getting people "slain in the spirit." My husband was very pushy with me one night, this was about a year ago, about going to see this guy.  He thought that once I had experienced it I wouldn't be so against it.  I refused and will always refuse to do something so crazy as be "slain in the spirit."  I know that I know that I know it is NOT from God, but rather Satan. 

This friend claims to have performed many, many miracles, like making legs grow out etc.  That is a very common trick/miracle of theirs, to say that they made someone's uneven legs grow out so now they are even.  It's an easy one to say because how can you really prove that?  No one measures their legs so how can you really know if one leg is now a couple inches longer?  It's pretty much impossible to say scientifically one way or the other.  So that is a common trick of theirs.  But it's all a show as if to say, "Look what I can do!  I have the true teachings of the Bible and God is clearly with me because I can make legs grow out!  Wow!" lol  But it's all just a bunch of hype and it's quite ridiculous really. 

My Current Charismatic Problem:

Then now, as in this week, I am on wikiHow and am being harassed by yet another Charismatic. He has left message after message on my talk page, for no real reason, just to leave a lot of messages I guess.  He is an older retired man.  He is married and lives in Texas, hopefully nowhere near me though.  He is a featured author on wikiHow.  I'm not sure how he got such recognition because I think his writing is really not very good.  He butchers one article after another that I write to makes it sound the way he thinks it should sound.  The odd thing about this website is that you can't block crazy and annoying people, which is quite unfortunate.  He tried to come off as my friend at first but now he seems to try to sabotage everything I do.  Granted my article on Charismania got him pretty angry, so he seems set on making my online writing life hell now.  I might need to just give up on wikiHow, but then again this could be Satan trying to stop me from potentially touching millions of people all over the world through wikiHow?  It's hard to say really.

 I really don't know why crazy Charismatic people keep crossing my path but it's getting very strange.  I don't necessarily mean my husband.  He has toned down a lot on trying to pull me into that cult praise God.  The solution there was just that we can't really go to church together or do anything religious because it always spawns way too many annoying debates.  I love God and I love the Bible, but I DON'T love the charismatic twists and spins on the Bible.  It drives me crazy really. 

Charismatic people seem to come out of no where and be drawn to me.  I think Satan has some plot to get me deceived in order to stop me or something.  Satan wants me to become dumb, as they tend to make people, and stop using my brain and stop writing.  But I won't let him! 

If you would like to see the very strange and plentiful messages from this old man who seems to be online harassing me you can see them here. His online name is Garshepp.   http://www.wikihow.com/User_talk:Angel22oc

Here is by far the strangest email from this strange wikiHow person. This is supposed to be a joke about sexual abuse, oddly enough. He posted, "There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away... apropos to your kind of story, No?" That obviously is no way funny. Such a strange, strange guy.

And this guy prays in tongues, ironically.  Of course he does right?  One of his article is about "How to Appreciate the Gift of Tongues."  Needless to say, every single person I run into that prays in tongues only confirms to me that it just makes people completely crazy.  Which makes me wonder if tongues generally are from Satan these days and not God.  It's hard to say really.  I suppose some maybe are and some aren't. 

And THIS is all why most people don't want to go to church.  I don't blame them AT ALL.  There are lots of crazy people in churches that we all need to watch out for.  Child molesters seem to be in a lot of churches, so I wouldn't recommend your taking your kids to anything, or not many things, without you being there. Don't be paranoid, but don't be too trusting and stupid either.  Just because something is a church DOES NOT make it safe. 

AND DEFINTELY WATCH THESE VIDEOS:

This video is phenomenal! It explains how these pastors make people get "slain in the spirit." Check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCohlCPSLlo

This is also an amazing and eye opening video about "faith healers" and how it's really just a magic show to fool people.  It's great!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFtLuZPWnWg