what do you think

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I know this is kinda long but I think you should read this I have never
heared any one say things about our movement like this before I want to
send him a leeter but dont know were to start
Bro. Russ Robertson

Folly: Lunacy in Jesus' Name

I know a number of saved people who are charismatic and that is why I've
held off on writing this
article. I needed to know some more facts. On 4-27-97, the Washington
Post had a huge picture of
a mass of people with upraised hands plastered on the front of the Style
section with the title, "What
in God's Name...?" The subtitle read, 

     June 1995. Pensacola, Florida. A one-day church service turns into
the longest,
     loudest religious revival in nearly a century. It's still going
strong. There's weeping and
     wailing and bodies are thudding to the floor. Is this love, LUNACY,
or the beginning of
     the end of the world?

The article started by describing that fateful Father's Day in 1995 when
the "Revival" started--a
gushing wind, the pastor couldn't walk, the pastor fell to the floor,
etc. The paper then added a
disturbing comment--"like a story straight out of the Bible". They are
attributing weirdness to the
word of God. Maybe at some point, I'll add at least part of the article
to this page. Anyway, after
reading the article, I stored the newspaper article away sorrowful.
Lunacy associated with Jesus
Christ. Another blow. Whew. 

Then a few weeks ago, I received a book about charismatic leaders. I
also received several e-mails
from charismatics. Then today I got two e-mails about the charismatic
movement--from different
people. I felt compelled to write this article tonight because it seems
that the Lord has let me see
folly so many times that I've got to bust out of silence. This is one of
the worst times I've had writing
an article because I know people who are saved and charismatic. 

I even went to church with a charismatic friend once (I believe she's
been to Pensacola. She was the
first person to tell me about it). She and I had talked about the things
of Christ at work but I didn't
know what kind of church she attended. When we got to her church we got
a show. Beautiful music
filled with Bible verses floated through the auditorium, but then the
song leader kept telling people to
worship, worship, hand praise, hand praise. His commands seemed rather
contrived as if to play on
and heighten people's emotions. 

As we sat in the service, a woman in the audience yelled out and I
almost jumped out of my skin--I
thought a maniac had broken into the service (I know, I'm ridiculous).
She started screaming, "Your
cup is not full, your cup is not full, I want to fill it..." like she
was speaking the oracles of God. What
happened to women keeping silent in the churches? Now that I've had some
time to speak to some
folks, and read up on it, I understand that this is called prophesying.
I call it extra-biblical revelation.
As a Bible-believer, I know that everything that pertaineth to life and
godliness is found between the
covers of my authorized King James Bible. The cherry on top of the day
was the guest preacher was
a woman! At the end of the service, a man told people to come up front
while some soothing music
played behind his voice. People were just standing around moaning while
he talked. This lasted quite
a long time. 

Another thing I noticed at the church was a man saying that everybody
that gets saved must speak in
"their own spiritual language" (this refers to speaking in tongues). A
lot of charismatics have written
me telling me that I ain't telling the full gospel if I don't include
Acts 2:38. Even though this verse
doesn't say anything about speaking in tongues, I know that this is what
they are driving at. In my
e-mail archives somewhere I have several responses to this issue but I
don't have the time to dig
them out, rather I will say that speaking in tongues is not a sign that
you've been baptized or filled
with the Holy Ghost. Many charismatics are bound up and tightly chained
by their desire to see signs
and wonders. In the Bible, these signs were not for the elect but for
the unbeliever, yet in charismatic
churches every Sunday, people want to see a show. Back to tongues... 

Some people will say, "Tongues is over with. Nobody can do that
anymore." I won't go that far
because the scriptures won't let me. I will say however, that
charismatics oftentimes disregard the
biblical standards for exercising this spiritual gift. Paul said if it
is done in church, (1) someone must
interpret the tongue and (2) a maximum of 2 to 3 people can speak in
tongues at one service. In
many charismatic services, everybody and their grandma is speaking in
tongues, slaying in the spirit
(not biblical), and laying hands on people they don't know. A lot of the
"speaking in tongues" that is
done is not really tongues at all. It is unintelligible babble. Let me
continue to digress with another
little story... 

When I was young adult (about 21) I went to a church with a friend and
the lady preacher had me
on tv trying to make me speak in tongues. I felt embarrassed and almost
wished I could (I think a lot
of people get pressured into it). She practically put the microphone
down my throat while she said
something like, "Hubba da dubba--do it. Hubba da dubba dubba." I felt
that it was too ridiculous to
do. I wanted to laugh but at the same time I was nervous with the lights
glaring in my face in the front
of a church full of people. After a few moments of me standing there
looking crazy she pushed me
over to a man who started talking to me. I guess I was slowing up the
program. 

Should Christians be barking like dogs and oinking like pigs? Should a
woman be laughing so hard
she's rolling around on the floor with her skirt above her head? Should
a man be so "drunk" in
church that he's laying on the lap of a woman who is not his wife? Is
the term "Holy Ghost glue" in
the Bible? How about "Holy Ghost bartender"? Should we listen to a
preacher who makes a
prophecy and it comes out wrong? Read Deuteronomy 18:22 for the answer.
Should kids have to
be sent home from school because they can't stop "jerking"? God is not
the author of confusion and
these things are certainly confusion. 

I can't stop people from sending their nasty comments to me about this
issue, but there is no need to
write defending this devilish stuff. I've seen so much that I'm filled
up to the gills. I've held off and
held off, but the actions are not lining up with the good book. 

People have written burned out with the speaking in tongues and antics
that they were expected to
perform week after week. Forget about a man-made "Holy Ghost party" as
it is termed by some
charismatic leaders. The night is far spent and the works of darkness
are working at full force. We
ain't got no time to be drunk--twitchin and a shakin' drivin' off the
road and such nonsense. The
Bible says that we've got to be SOBER! 

I'm afraid that at many of the "Holy Ghost parties" in Pensacola and
worldwide devils are having a
field day while the work of God is left undone. A non-believer can go to
Pensacola and come out
not knowing any more about eternal salvation than when they went. One
gentleman who's gone
several times described he and his family's last trip. It seemed they
had a good time, but his entire
description focused on the jerking business. Near the end he added "and
Steve Hill gave a short
message". Nothing about the message. I don't recall the name "Jesus"
being mentioned one time. 

Our faith is a mind faith. At its core is Jesus Christ, not our
emotions. Yes, I get emotional meditating
on the goodness of God and hearing His word, but for many charismatics
that emotion comes from
jumping up and down on Sunday to some heart throbbing music. Is this
what disciples are supposed
to do? What doth the Bible say? What was Jesus doing while here?
Preaching and teaching the
kingdom of God, and doing good works. What was Paul doing? Preaching and
teaching and
encouraging from prison. What was Timothy, Silas, Barnabas doing? Going
on missionary trips
preaching the gospel to a lost world. What about many charismatic
preachers? Falling down in the
pulpit, laughing their heads off, slaying in the spirit (knocking people
out with a touch), prophesying
about church buildings, and speaking in tongues while nobody knows what
they are saying. 

If you are interested in documented cases of charismatic leaders lying
and thieving, one book to
check out is "Counterfeit Revival" by Hank Hanegraff. Also go to David
Cloud's page for sundry
articles on this movement. 

A sad quote and I'll leave this subject alone. This passage is taken
from "Counterfeit Revival" by
Hank Hanegraff on page 87: 

     "One night I was preaching on hell," boasts Counterfeit Revival
leader Rodney
     Howard-Browne, when suddenly laughter "just hit the whole place.
The more I told
     people what hell was like, the more they laughed."

I'm sorry but hell is no laughing matter. If anything it should drive
men to repentance and those of us
who are saved should be thinking "Thank you Jesus I'm not going there."
We certainly shouldn't be
laughing because it is a real place and people we know are going there.
The Spirit of Christ would
not make us laugh. 


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