Many people are afraid of those people that call themselves Pentecostal and/or Charismatic because of the way they have presented themselves as just plain weird. You too may want to distance yourself from these people because of some of the crazy things you've heard they do and believe. I cannot blame anyone for thinking as the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches have alienated themselves from the other denominational churches because of the way some have behaved, and some have come across as believing that they are the only denominations that are truly saved and going to heaven.
The Spiritual Revival of the late 1940s and 1950s was a dramatic outpouring of the Holy Spirit and many people were saved and healed in tent revivals during those days. Great ministries flourished during those times such as Oral Roberts and Billy Graham. Jesus said that He came to give life and to give it more abundantly in John 10:10, but notice just before that He said that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The greatest tool that the enemy has against the church is confusion. The enemy uses every trick in his arsenal to stop the movement of the Holy Spirit by planting thoughts into the minds of people that are contrary to the Spirit. He loves to create division within denomination churches.
The enemy came against Eve in the garden by planting twisted words of what God said and Adam fell for it as well. And, even today the enemy uses the same tricks to deceive believers with twisted ideas that are contrary to God's Word. I believe this is why we have so many different denominations and so many doctrines of man-made ideas today. The Bible mentions the doctrines of demons and I believe that some of these man-made doctrines came from demons.
There is one lady who stands out in my mind because she was so mentally messed up. She admitted that her mind was all twisted and confused because of her church's teachings. She stated her denominational church did not teach much about the scriptures but instead every week the pastor taught the members that all other denominations were going to hell and why. This poor lady was so messed up mentally because she knew her church was wrong but she could not let it go because her pastor taught her she would go to hell if she changed her denominational way of thinking. The poor woman was being mentally tortured because of her church's doctrine.
There are other people that I've talked to from other denominations that are in a terrible bondage of fear, doubt, and unbelief. One person said, "I hope I'm good enough to go to heaven." I was rather shocked that her church did not teach that Jesus died for our sins of the past, present, and future. I thought all believers knew that we do not have to work to earn a ticket to heaven. I thought every believer know we were under grace and not under the law.
There have been occasions in Sunday School classes that I have visited where mature adults have stated their thoughts about a particular subject that was so full of doubt and unbelief I could not believe what I was hearing. These people had been in church all of their lives and were still babes in Christ. Their pastors had not weened them off the milk of the word into the meat of the word.
While working a part-time job in different churches I had the opportunity to meet with different members of several different denominational churches. Most were very friendly and fun to work with. Then some were very arrogant and rude. These arrogant and rude people bothered me and I could not figure out why they behaved this way. I felt the Holy Spirit must have wanted me to see this for a reason. I believe He wanted me to see that what I was seeing was these people act one way as a safeguard to hide what they are feeling on the inside. He said to me that what they are feeling on the inside are feelings of insecurity and inferiority and they do not want anyone to know what they are hiding.
The Holy Spirit said in my heart that He wanted me to experience some of the same feelings of hurt and disappointment that Jesus experienced as a man on earth. My experiences are so minor in comparison to what Jesus experienced making my experiences almost not worth mentioning. But, I feel The Lord wanted me to share them with you.
The Lord seems to want me to share with you, even though there are some things wrong with our churches today, my job is to encourage my readers to grow in the Word through the study and mediation of the scriptures. To feed on His Words and eat the meat of His Words for a deeper understanding and a deeper relationship with Jesus and our Heavenly Father. Pastors should feed the sheep on the deeper meanings of the scriptures and not personal feel-good stories. Denominal Church should forget their differences and be open to worship freely one another. They should make all believers and non-believers feel welcome to come in for worship. Whenever the pastor is preaching he should be teaching what The Holy Spirit is speaking through him. Every member of the congregation should be listening and taking notes as the pastor reveals the truth of the Word and how to apply the Word to be a success in every area of life in this world and the world to come.
All scripture from the Old Testament throughout the New Testament is all about Jesus. In today's society, we are trained to focus on the self which is selfishness and self-centeredness. This is a tool the enemy uses on church members to keep them from prospering. If your pastor teaches you Jesus-consciousness instead of self-consciousness then you are prosperous in all your ways. If you're not prospering then you have been tricked by the enemy. If your pastor or priest is not teaching you how to win the spiritual warfare going on around you then you will always be defeated in life.
In conclusion, I leave you with this scripture found in 3 John 1:2 -
"Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. NKJV
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