Spiritual Cannibalism

[rockytopva]

To share... In part... My testimony....

The summer after high school I would put up hay with a QC analyst who kept the joy of the Lord alive in his heart all his years. He would shout in church, shout at home, and shout out in the hay field. I have never seen such joy in all my life. Not only was there a joy, but there was a richness in love as well. The people would really let you know that they loved you. In the old TV show the Waltons the family would talk to one another before going to bed. I have since learned that this was because the houses were so small. But despite the houses being small the people lived decently and in great love, joy, and peace.

So I fell in with them. I would go to the revivals and prayer meetings and live among the people. The services at the Pentecostal Holiness church were at this time very lively. People would shout, run the aisles, fall out in the Spirit, speak in tongues, and then wait for an interpretation. They would have prolonged alter services and would crowd the petitioners and encourage them to tarry and wait upon the Lord. There were times that the old guys would sit back in the pews weeping, and if they made eye contact with you they would declare, as souls around the alter fell out in the Spirit… “The Holy Ghost! The Holy Ghost!” There were souls who would fall out in the Spirit and would have to be carried out of church.

At the end of that summer we had a good revival in which the Lord seemed there in a mighty way. On reading the book, “Run Baby Run,” by Nikki Cruise, I felt a voice telling me to put the book down. I paused, and then continued again to read. The voice said again… “Put the book down.” I slept in my Grandmothers living room on an old fold away cot by the open living room door. The Katydids seemed to be singing very loud that night. There in my Grandmothers clean linens I heard the Spirit speak again, “Where is all the stress, worry and hatred?” In which, upon examining my heart, there was nothing there but pure beauty. I thought to myself. “Oh my! I got exactly what those people got!” I would spend the rest of the summer rejoicing with the people and in revival until I went back to Michigan later that September.

On returning to Michigan the people would want to sit next to me so “a little of that would rub off on them.” I am afraid, with no revivals or revived churches to attend that precious light and energy abated big time. Not knowing any better, I picked a church to attend that spent too much time quarrelling around about doctrinal issues. Having enough of that I moved back to Virginia hoping to pick up spiritually where I left off.

It seemed, as time went on, that the fires of revival in the Pentecostal Holiness church began to abate. It also seemed that with the emphasis on education that the ministry of the evangelist began to wane as the older generation died away. The blue laws were abolished and the old ways began to vanish away as the hearts of the people seemed to turn away from that which was handed down. Complicating matters was the fall of Jimmy Swaggert. It seems like the southern gospel moved in the fill the void with ‘valley music’ which seemed to increase the spirit of darkness that was invading the church. This ‘falling away’ seemed to accelerate ‘the great falling away’ that was befalling the generation.

About this time I got a library card from the Virginia Tech Library and began to study the history of the church. My gosh! What times! Kind of like studying the histories of the Kings of Israel in which so few followed the first covenant as intended by God the Father. I was more than relieved to get into John Wycliff, The Anabaptists, John Bunyan, The Nonconformists, and finally to John Wesley. I learned that the Wesleyan ways were the foundation to the revival that I had just experienced. I have also come to believe that the churches were to unravel into seven unique brands…

1. Ephesus – Apostolic – Leaving the first love… “All they which are in Asia be turned away from me…” – II Timothy 1:15
2. Smyrna – Martyrs – Persecutions ten days… Foxes Book of Martyrs describes ten Roman persecutions.
3. Pergamos – Orthodox – A pyrgos is a fortified structure – Needed for the dark ages.
4. Thyatira – Catholic – The Spirit of Jezebel is to persecute, control, and to dominate. This spirit can invade any church!
5. Sardis – Protestant – A sardius is a gem, elegant yet hard and rigid. Doctrine in the head, little in the heart.
6. Philadelphia – Methodist – To obtain sanctification was to do so with love.
7. Laodicea – Charismatic – Rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing?

So, to read into the testimony, I did not keep the Pentecostal fires alive in my own life. And in reading up on the old Pentecostal bird, I am in good company. And... To read into the history of the churches... They all have their issues...

1. Ephesus – Left the first love… “All they which are in Asia be turned away from me…” – II Timothy 1:15
2. Smyrna – Few faults in the Martyred church.
3. Pergamos – Orthodox – *Doctrine of the Nicolaitans - Fornications OK
4. Thyatira – Catholic – The Spirit of Jezebel is to persecute, control, and to dominate.
5. Sardis – Protestant – A sardius is a gem, elegant yet hard and rigid. Doctrine in the head, little in the heart.
6. Philadelphia – Methodist – Can't keep the revival hot.
7. Laodicea – Charismatic – Rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing?

*The doctrine of the Nicolaitans. As a youth Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle for a time, associating with young men who boasted of their sexual exploits with women and urged the inexperienced boys, like Augustine, to seek out experiences or to make up stories about experiences in order to gain acceptance and avoid ridicule. I would think this the reason of the destruction of the Roman Empire.

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So... We all have our issues. One of the reasons that true Pentecostals do not make pokes at other Chrsitian sects is because we know how hard it is to keep our own revival hot and growing. When people realize that facets of their faith have issues, they should look on the other Christian faiths with more kindness and mercy.

The Catholic and the Orthodox church is an inseparable part of the Christian faith. Sure they have their issues, but so does the other parts as well. As far as so called ministries such as CARM all I can say is that it is Sardisean doctrine... Doctrine in the head... Little in the heart, except for the spiritual variance.

If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. - Galatians 5:15

Spiritual Cannibalism - When Christians bite and devour fellow Christians

I am a member of a Pentecostal Holiness Church. Of all the time I have been there I have not heard the first sermon against any other Christian sects. Most of my friends go to the Christian Growth Center (http://cgcchurch.com/) in Christiansburg, VA. Of all the time I known them I have never heard the first piece of gossip or negativity out of their mouth. No hint of Spiritual Cannibalism here!

Finally, let us put an end to cannibalizing one other. Others have issues and so do we.