Falling down:
These Scriptures do not justify the standing-in-line-to-be-bowled-over-by-God that we see in many charismatic churches, but they do show that when Christ confronts you, you might not stand.
In John 18:4-6 those who came to arrest Jesus drew back and fell to the ground at Jesus' proclamation, "I AM He".
Saul fell to the ground in Acts 9/ Acts 26 when he was confronted by Jesus.
I grew up in a charismatic church. My church didn't form lines specifically for the purpose of Spirit-trust-falls, but there were instances that we waited for the Spirit to move, and someone would fall... In those instances, no matter what someone fell into, no one ever got hurt.
I had attended revivals that looked very much like that video, and I was always uncomfortable. There were 2 different occasions that the whole congregation was required by the speaker to come forward for a blessing-of-the-Spirit, and both times, I refused to fall when the speaker tried to snap my neck. I was told by one to "...just fall...", and the other claimed I had a spirit of rebellion and proceeded to gather elders to cast it out. Needless to say, I walked out of both of those services. Those services resulted in bruises, scrapes, and goose-eggs by those who participated.
I did fall one time, waiting for the Spirit. A small group of us had started a prayer and meditation group for which the pastor opened the sanctuary for us on Friday nights. There was no speaking, except for the time that we gathered into a circle at the end and each took a turn praying for what God laid on our hearts that night. My experience, I believe, lined up with the NT. I came to, and didn't realize I was out, or that I had fallen. I was given a definite experience of Jesus proclaiming to me, and a transformation of my understanding. There was healing within me, and I went forth from that experience a very different person.
I know that on the rare occasions that someone 'fell out' in the church I grew up in, it always happened when we were waiting on God. We would take time to be quite, pray, and meditate. There would always be a change in the atmosphere, and an expectancy that arose, and it was not the most common manifestation of the Spirit. Usually, the person that fell, would fall into stuff, like chairs, the pew, or the altar, because no one was expecting THAT to happen, but the person was always just fine, although the same can't be said for some of the things that were in their way.
Laughter and Drunkenness: In Acts 2, the onlookers, seeing the believers after the Holy Spirit had descended upon them, made fun of the believers because they looked drunk to them... In my experience, if a drunk person isn't sad and violent, they are happy. Drunk looks like allot of different things, so I can't really say there is a definite look to 'drunk in the Spirit'.
In my spiritual experience growing up, there were times when people would become so joyful, that laughter was inevitable. If it was to happen, it always happened when the congregation was waiting on the Spirit. I know I had 2 experiences where I was battling spiritually, and I felt I was losing. Sometimes when you go from a low extreme one minute, to the sudden saturation of God's comfort around you, you cannot help but laugh at the joy of it.
Laughter was not the most common manifestation of the Spirit in our church, but it was the most infecting. It is so hard to see someone laughing and joyful and not be so yourself. I can't say that every person in those services were laughing because the Spirit touched them personally, but I can say that every person that left after those times went away feeling better for the day.
I have never observed the convulsions to the magnitude that is shown in the video, and I can say the only time I saw anything like it were at the revivals and rallies that pedaled the Holy Spirit like snake oil. I can't really say that all of it is fake, but I think when you see the same thing happening to each person as a minister goes down the line, you really should stop and evaluate if you feel the Spirit or if there is a major case of crowd manipulation. Are people walking away truly different, or are they just falling for the hype? It seems to me that we are dealt with as individuals, and part of being an individual is that each person responds differently when confronted with similar situations.
When it comes to charismatic churches, I think this is a real and present danger and a definite deception that the Church faces. When I was younger, there were people in our church who would get 'addicted' to the 'manifestation'. They would seek out certain speakers and hit any revival by those speakers that they could. There was a major split in my teenage years, because these people didn't feel that the Spirit manifested enough in our church, and it must be the fault of our pastor at the time, because people didn't just fall down when he touched them. I think that a majority of Christians who seek out these experiences are putting more importance on 'having an experience' instead of 'having a relationship'.
I cannot rightly say how the Spirit should choose to manifest, but I do know that it does manifest in ways that we do not expect. I don't think that the Holy Spirit manifest in ways that are disruptive to the betterment of a congregation, so I would be skeptical of people speaking out, jumping up, or suddenly laughing during a message.
