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Thread: So Many Charismatic Casualties - Michael Brown

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    So Many Charismatic Casualties - Michael Brown

    Have you been burned by a false prophecy? Did you lose your faith when a promised healing never came? Have you had it with flaky teaching in the name of "new revelation"? If so, you are not alone. There are more Charismatic casualties than many of us would care to admit.

    But let me start here with an honest confession. My own experience in Pentecostal-Charismatic circles has been far more positive than negative. I have worked with the same leadership team for more than 20 years. I have had the privilege of serving with men and women of integrity all around the world — I'm talking about Pentecostal-Charismatic leaders around the globe.

    I was saved in a Pentecostal church in 1971 and transformed by an outpouring of the Spirit in 1982. I was on the front lines of the Brownsville Revival from 1996-2000, and grads from our ministry school are bearing amazing fruit around the world. And while I have seen my share of scandals and false prophecies and leadership abuses and weirdness, it has been the exception far more than the rule.

    Charismatic Casualties
    Sadly, for many others, the opposite has proved true. For them, there is little or nothing good in the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement. They have been hurt or confused or abused, causing some to reject the move of the Spirit today and causing others to lose their faith entirely. My heart breaks over all these Charismatic casualties, and it is high time that we set our house in order.

    I recently read a book critiquing our movement that was totally over the top.

    Putting aside the scriptural errors I found in the book, it painted a terribly caricatured picture, one that was so exaggerated it was hardly recognizable to me. Yet as I read reviews to the book posted by readers, I saw that many of them were adding their hearty Amen. The picture it painted was all too familiar to them.

    I'm aware, of course, that every church (or ministry or denomination or leader) has its critics. You can find horror stories everywhere, and if a church or ministry is big enough, you can find lots of negative reports from those who were allegedly burned by that church or ministry. But when you hear the same story over and over again from people from varied backgrounds, you know that something, somewhere is wrong.

    In the Name of the Spirit
    When it comes to the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, there is no shortage of amazing stories of what the Lord is doing in virtually every nation on the planet. This is truly a stunning, Jesus-exalting, multi-generational work of the Holy Spirit. I see no way to deny that for a split second.

    Even more importantly, based on Scripture, I find it indisputable that the gifts and power of the Spirit still operate until Jesus returns.

    But that doesn't minimize the damage that has been done in the name of the Spirit, and there are all too many casualties because of unchecked abuses. Out of love for the Lord and love for His people, we need to step higher.

    Playing With Holy Fire
    Although my new book, Playing with Holy Fire, just came out a few days ago, I'm already seeing a pattern in the reviews being posted by readers.

    One reader wrote, "Dr. Michael Brown's very timely and balanced work really addressed where I am right now: disillusioned and heartbroken over the abuses of the contemporary church (this goes beyond the Charismatic/Pentecostal movement, though it is centered there). Furthermore, he encouraged my heart, showing me that I am not alone, and providing a Biblical way forward."

    Another commented on Facebook that reading the book was bringing them healing from the negative experiences they had in our circles. Still another wrote, "As a former cessationist who was a cessationist BECAUSE of the abuse I saw happening in exercising the Holy Spirit's gifts, it concerns me too. Both because these abuses keep a very large section of the church away from desiring and pursuing something God wants them to have, but also because it harms our testimonies among unbelievers. This book will definitely be going to the top of my reading list!"

    Other pastors and leaders are saying, "At last! These abuses needed to be addressed."

    Human Error and Carelessness
    So, while I rejoice in what the Spirit is doing around the world, I grieve over the many who have been hurt and disillusioned because of human error and human sin and human carelessness. Truly, we have been given much by the Lord. And that means that much will be required of us.

    May we walk worthy of the Holy Spirit's high calling. And may the name of Jesus be exalted, not tarnished, by our lives and ministries as Pentecostal and Charismatic believers.

    The stakes are way too high to play games.

    https://stream.org/many-charismatic-casualties/

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  3. #2
    I imagine a lot of the sympathizers are older folks, like me. I feel like I've seen it all. Baptized in the Spirit as I was reading Dr. Robert Frost's "Aglow with the Spirit." Joined a Christian commune (HIGHLY charismatic) and found spiritual abuse there. The next church was the same as they got into the shepherding movement of the 1970s. Somewhere along the way came the charismatic church's obsession with deliverance. Then came the popularization of the "Word of Faith" movement and some of the abuses there.

    Now before you jump on me, let me say that ALL of these things have a legitimate place in the church. We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we need a sense of community that communal living taught me (but not to the point of living together), we need the accountability that "shepherding" turned into abuse. We need real deliverance of demonic activity. We even need some of the Word of Faith teaching. The abuse comes from overemphasizing ANY of these (or other "fads") in the church. I don't know if Dr. Brown's book makes this point, but I think it's important. We all need to stop riding the latest hobby horse and absorb the good teaching God brings by assimilating it with other truth and not grasping it like it's the ONLY truth. Or like it's God's final revelation to the church. A healthy Christian understands the importance of true balance. Not lukewarm balance, but balance that insists on placing any doctrinal truth into the WHOLE Christian life remembering that all things must be done in love. If there's gifts, but no love, it's not from God. "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love" (1 John 4:8).

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    Senior Member Cardinal TT's Avatar
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    Jesus and me have perfect church

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cardinal TT View Post
    Jesus and me have perfect church
    Wherever you go.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FireBrand View Post
    Wherever you go.
    Amen to that

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    So in my pastoring a non-denominational community church I labor to be a witness for the skeptics and mild “anti-gifts” types to see the validity and demonstration of God’s power. These crooked shyster crooks like McClendon, Hilton, Popoff and those that push extravagances and extra-biblical nonsense are not making my job any easier. All I’m trying to do is restore the power of God to a nearly destroyed church by those that were not pastors that were pretending to be. This is my challenge.

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    Senior Member Colonel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FireBrand View Post
    So in my pastoring a non-denominational community church I labor to be a witness for the skeptics and mild “anti-gifts” types to see the validity and demonstration of God’s power. These crooked shyster crooks like McClendon, Hilton, Popoff and those that push extravagances and extra-biblical nonsense are not making my job any easier. All I’m trying to do is restore the power of God to a nearly destroyed church by those that were not pastors that were pretending to be. This is my challenge.
    I guess integrity is going to be what matters the most.

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