As mainstream denominational lines become more blurred and the church itself slips deeper into a state of luke warmness, I've been doing some soul searching about what I am and what I believe.
I was saved in a traditional Pentecostal church and have remained so for over 35 years. That does not mean however that I agree with everything that happens in the Pentecostal church. For example; I believe in the gift of tongues but I do NOT believe that most of the tongues I hear are from God. When I hear a "word" that someone brings forth under the premise that it is directly from the Lord Himself and it does not line up with scripture I reject it completely.
I am now and have always been about as anti-charismatic as a person could be. What passes for the Spirit of God in the charismatic church is in my opinion an offence to a Holy God. The practice of people giving themselves over to uncontrollable laughter and the making of animal noises is altogether unscriptural and should be utterly condemned.
I believe with all that’s in me that God still heals today. For me to say otherwise would be for me to make God out to be a liar because I know that He has touched my body on several occasions. That being said, I do not believe anyone on this earth has been given a “healing” ministry. There are many people claiming this and they are fleecing the flock out of untold millions of dollars under the guise of being able to “pray the prayer of faith” but that is not how the Bible says it works. Acts 14:8,9 states that…
Act 14:8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:
Act 14:9 The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
Notice Paul perceived that this impotent man “had faith to be healed” (emphasis mine). That’s the way it works; when the gospel is preached it causes faith to arise in our hearts and sometimes to the point that we can actually believe God for our healing.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that the longer I walk with the Lord the more I wonder if it isn’t enough to simply know Christ, and Him crucified.
