Charismatics Anonymous: A Poll

[Puritan Sailor]

I noticed we seem to have a lot of former charasmatics on the Board. So I thought I would throw out this poll to share our experiences on our exodus from that movement. So, just check what denomination you came from, and if you feel led by the Spirit ( ) please give a little testimony about how and/or why you left. :bigsmile:

P.S.- this is not a thread for debate but for sharing experiences. If you want to debate, then start another thread.

[Edited on 4-22-2005 by puritansailor]

 

[Scott Bushey]

Calvary Chapel

 

[Bladestunner316]

I was in aog most of my life-renton assembly of god(now new life center-maple valley) and cedar park assembly of god. Mostly for school. We my family were more non-denom but spent alot of time in aog. I for the life of me never liked aog they weree always asking for money. When I was at cedar the female choir director spoke in tongues and spooked me(I was in my Christian Lawless period. My family watchs Robert Schueller.

Blade

 

[WrittenFromUtopia]

You forgot to put Southern Baptist up there. Kind of hard to distinguish these days.

 

[Irishcat922]

AOG then Non-denom. I spent roughly seven years as a full blown Charismatic, then God graciously began to lead me into the Reformed Faith, wow talk about a second blessing. That was eighteen years ago, where does time go.

 

[Augusta]

I grew up in a Foursquare church found by Aimee Semple McPherson. I learned next to nothing there. They were not dispensational except in eschatology. They were heavy into the "gifts" and I went to many a "worship" service that were basically, now that I look at it objectively, "mesmerizing" services more accurately. They had working the crowd into an emotional experience down pat at my church. I think that my pastor for many years was a sincere follower of Christ but very much in error. It makes me sad now.

We were introduced to the DOG about 1996-97 but it was such a shock to my system that I had everything so wrong and had been so sure I had it right, that I grieved for a while. I knew it was the truth right away but I had to fight against teaching that actually told me that orthodox and Calvinist churches were bad, not spirit-filled, believed "once saved, always saved", these were "dead" churches. I had a lot to undo. We studied at home and kept going to our church until we just couldn't stand it anymore. We couldn't sit under the teaching, and we couldn't stand that kind of worship any longer.

Now we are supremely happy under good teaching, and reverent worship at an OPC. The End (of the story, the learning goes on)

[Edited on 4-22-2005 by Augusta]

 

[Bladestunner316]

Was it the four square church in bothell-kirkland?

 

[Me Died Blue]

I was raised A/G, and remained in the same A/G church my whole life up until the beginning of this school-year back in the fall. For the first ten or so years of my life, I didn't even know what tongues or prophecy were - actually, I still laugh when I remember my first direct encounter with them, which was my hearing my mom in our house one summer afternoon speaking in tongues with her eyes closed, and I walked up to her and said, "What language are you speaking???" I startled her then, but now we look back and laugh.

For a couple years after that, I got into the whole "slain in the Spirit" phenomenon in church, read a couple books on it and went to several evening services. Of course, I never really "felt" the words naturally come to me, but sort of just blurted them out in hopes that the right thing was happening to me - same with falling backwards at the alter where people catch you and all. For a period I was satisfied with that, but eventually began to get really disturbed that I was either not doing something right or else was spiritually deficient, since I kept examining my heart, trying to just "let God speak," and listening for the "still, small voice." But in spite of all my genuine seeking, diligent prayer and petition, and study of God's Word, I just had to keep asking God why He was witholding His true power from just coming "naturally" to me without my interference, like what I kept reading in the Bible.

One annual youth convention when I was 13 or 14, people kept speaking in tongues and prophecying as usual, and I was once again attempting to receive the same, but for some reason something new just made sense to me after awhile, which was that all I could do was continue to study God's Word and always examine my heart and pray for His will in my life, and that it was up to Him beyond that. So I prayed at that youth convention, and simply told God that I'll ask Him one more time to give me the true "Spirit baptism," but that I would leave it in His hands from that point on, and not continue to let it hinder my spiritual growth and trust. Needless to say, He never gave it to me! :bigsmile:

It wasn't until I had been convined of the Calvinistic doctrines of salvation and providence and studied some Covenant Theology, however, that I actually came to theologically study the doctrines of revelation, prophecy and tongues. The good exegesis in Robertson's The Final Word was what finally clarified the biblical concept of those things, and confirmed what I had unknowingly and partially discovered at that youth convention a few years back.

I stayed in my A/G church until coming to college, though, to honor my parents and also since, well, I didn't have a car. I'll be attending a local PCA church when I go back to Cincinnati for the summer, though.

 

[Joseph Ringling]

I started attending a Pentecostal church when I was 12, around the same time I was converted. I remember the Pastor and people their were really big into Kenneth Hagin and all the stuff associated with his "ministry". Every thing was all about healings, demons, recieving revelation from God, tounges and other stuff like that. They weren't big into the financial craziness that most word of faithers get involved with.

Soon after I had been attending, my Dad was converted and my Mother started attending as well. My Dad was on a kidney dialysis machine and I always remember the Pastor's wife (co-pastor) saying that God told her that my Dad would would be healed and recieve a brand new set of kidneys. That turned out to be the biggest reason why I left that church and charismatic churches in general.

My Dad went to be with the Lord in 2000 and one of the things God used to open my eyes was the "Prophecy" that the Pastors wife had given my dad. I remember running into a freind of mine that went to the same church I did and had not seen for years and he told me why he left the church and that he was no longer a charismatic. I was shocked but I listened to what he had to say because I really respected this guy. He read to me from the book of Deut: chapter 18 20But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.' 21And if you say in your heart, "How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'-- 22when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. I realized right then that she was a false prophet. At the time I was really into watching people like Benny Hinn and other popular charismatic "teachers" on television but that verse was very influential for me in examining the claims of those that claimed to get extra biblical revelation from God.

I also attended an AOG church for a short time after leaving the Pentecostal church that I grew up in. I was slain in the spirit. Had hands laid on me to "recieve" the gift of tounges. [Nothing ever happened] They were big into the whole deliverence thing. I noticed people one week come up for prayer and have a really big emotional experience and claim to get delievered from something and then a week or two later they would be at the alter again having another experience like they did a week or two earlier. Go figure.

It's been about 5 years now since I left that church and God has really brought me such a long way. After leaving all that charismania, my wife and I started attending a seeker sensitive mega church. For the last year and a half I have been a member at the church I'm at currently. I stumbled upon the Doctrines of Grace about a year ago after reading "Don't waste your life" by John Piper. After reading that I went to his Church website and read an article entitled "What we believe about the five points of Calvinism" by the Elders of Bethleham Baptist Church. After that I longed to know more about this thing called Calvinism and T.U.L.I.P. Without knowing anyone personally who claimed to be a Calvinist or even who knew what Calvinism was I began to study on my own. After reading R.C. Sproul's Grace Unknown I became convinced that the five points were truth and have been trying to undue all of the non sense that I belived to be truth for so many years, and God willing he will mold this clay into what he desires.

[Edited on 4-22-2005 by Joseph Ringling]

 

[Puritan Sailor]

I can identify with some of you already. I suppose I should add my experience to. I was raised in an Assembly of God church and remained in it til I was about 20. I didn't really start getting involved on seeking the "gifts" until I was a teenager. It think part of that was because our church was much more conservative about those things. But then we got a whole new regime of pastors who really pushed the revivalistic extreme charismatic stuff. My youth pastor at the time, Benny Perez, was a very charismatic speaker and really pushed the stuff in the youth group. That was when I started getting involved with the praise band, playing my guitar and singing and eventually leading. I guess one thing unique about my experience there was that I never received the second "baptism." I sought it diligently. I went up for altar calls all the time for it, but nothing. The same with tongues and being "slain in the Spirit." I never wanted to fake it which I had seen so many do. So whenever I prayed for those things, and had others praying over me, I would wait. As I prayed out loud (like they instructed me) the tongues never came. As I waited for the "slaying" (not letting them push me) nothing ever happened. Deep in the back of my mind I had this thought, that if God's gonna do it, I don't need to help Him at all (i.e. muttering unintelligble syllables to get things started for the Spirit, etc.). Nothing ever happened. But I do regret claiming prophecies over people and uttering those silly "words of knowledge."

What broke me away was when I joined the Navy at 17, and was pulled away from that stuff, and began to study the Bible on my own. I also befreinded some non-charasmatic freinds and chaplains who did much to better ground me in understanding Scripture. Probably most influential though was R.C. Sprouls, the Holiness of God, and Foxes Book of Martyrs, and then a year ofter those, R.C. Sprouls Chosen by God. These books totally ripped apart my shallow view of God and sin, and exalted Christ. At age 20 I became reformed and left the AoG, at the time mostly because of their arminianism. But I didn't join a reformed church until about 2 years later.

What finally convinced me about the errant views of charasmania was first, simply comparing the practice to Scripture, and seeing the modern practice looks nothing at all like Pauls directions in 1 Corinthians. Second, realizing the complete sufficiency of Scripture for life and godliness. Finally, understanding Christ was the final word and revelation, and seeing the nature of the apostolic office and it's associated gifts in the context of redemptive history.

 

[tfelice]

My dirty little secret is that I first heard the gospel from Pat Robertson. When I get to Heaven, I'm going to have to ask God why it couldnt have been Sproul or someone else

 

[matthew11v25]

Originally posted by Me Died Blue
Of course, I never really "felt" the words naturally come to me, but sort of just blurted them out in hopes that the right thing was happening to me - same with falling backwards at the alter where people catch you and all.

I can totally relate.

I wish I see alll of you back in those days.

 

[Myshkin]

Word of Faith Church for me. Excuse me, Word of Faith Cult I mean. Very, very charismatic, and very, very heretical. I was converted to Christ somewhere around my freshman year in college/senior year in highschool. This coincided with being exposed to the Reformation in my college World History class (at a liberal PCUSA affiliated school), my introduction to RC Sproul through the radio, and Hank Hanegraaf's two books, "Christianity in Crisis", and "Counterfeit Revival". I came to the WOF group, just to go somewhere, without any investigation. I grew up in several denominations nominally, with a little bit of the metaphysical cult Christian Science thrown in the mix. The WOF group had so much in common with christian science that I began to realize I'm not in a church. Most attendees I have found are completely unaware of what the leaders actually teach (a common cult practice), and as I listened to Hanegraaf expose these guys the more I realized I'm in the wrong place. It didn't help also that over time I noticed blatant and bold contradictions with the leaders sermons and scripture. He once used a verse in Proverbs to say that bribing God was a legitimate practice that God Himself has sanctioned as "evident" by that particular verse. I figured if he is going to lie about something small like that, then it makes sense as to why he was so full of lies with essential christian doctrines. Lastly, I had a similar experience to puritansailor with the tongues inducement ceremony. It wasn't so much the theology that made me question it, but mostly the fact that it was so offensive to be manipulated by others. Theology aside, it is amazing how basic reasoning skills go out the window in cults. My degree major in psychology also helped when I began noticing all the auto-suggestive behaviors that hypnotists use to control their patients. I could go into more, but I won't. I learned alot from it and God prepared me through it to minister to those who are caught up in it. Finding the reformed faith's theology has been wonderful, but finding the reformed worship "style" has been refreshing from that charismatic worldliness that is no different from the secular concerts I attended before I was a believer.

 

[BlackCalvinist]

Originally posted by tfelice
My dirty little secret is that I first heard the gospel from Pat Robertson. When I get to Heaven, I'm going to have to ask God why it couldnt have been Sproul or someone else

Probably because even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Truthfully, aside from some of the loopy folks Robertson has on, he's one of the most visible voices for evangelicalism and has done much good for the body of Christ, despite bad theology in some areas. And unlike some folks on The Blasphemy Network, he does good with much of the money that comes in (i.e - the flying hospital).

[Edited on 4-22-2005 by OS_X]