Charismatics-Pentecostals,Prophecies,Tongues and Healings

[Jamanda]

So, I introduced myself back on Yuku saying I got into the whole fundy watching after I met some Charismatic Catholics.

The group I know are called the Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community.

disciplesofjesus.org/

From my understanding they are in communion with the mainstream Catholic Church, but incorporate some elements normally associated with Protestant Pentecostal churches.

 

The group I was most familiar with were the Youth Mission Team.

ymt.com.au/main.html

 

These teams of 3males and 3 females would volunteer to preach Catholicism in High Schools (usually the Catholic ones) trying to teach the kids that it was cool to be a Catholic. They would then invite them to a youth group held at our church.

Once I got to know them better I found out about the Charismatic practices.

They would get up early and pray for 2 hours, speaking in tongues and prophesying over one another.

If course, team members could not date for the duration of their service. They were all virgins who were waiting for marriage, several were not kissing or holding hands till marriage. At Bible Study nights alternate interpretations of scripture were not allowed as they were 'of the devil'.

 

Recently this has all come back to me as my mum has remarried, and her husband's appartment they are renting to a couple from Dayspring Church.

dayspring.com.au/

 

This group are associated with the Bethel Church of Redding CA

ibethel.org/

 

and I recently read THIS

endtimespropheticwords.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/bill-johnsons-bethel-churchs-healing-rooms-ministry-raises-questions/

 

 

So my question is ... snark worthy?

 

Edited because when I type fast I spell bad

Edited April 18, 2016 by OnceUponATime
adding tags

[Alecto]

I have a friend whose mother is involved with a similar group. She always freaked me out a bit, to be honest.

[Shirley MacLaine]

This is how I was raised when I was with my grandmother (was shuffled back and forth a lot during ye olde childhood) although she has no formal denominational allegiance (believing that all mainstream churches are corrupt). Lots of laying on of hands and casting out of demons (usually when I talked back or something) and speaking in tongues. Commanding me to be well when I was sick and stuff (although while doing nice things like feeding me soup). Went to an Assembly of God school for awhile which is Pentacostal and heavy on the tongues.

She's still really into the healing thing; she took her father before he died to some healing conference she goes to every year to have his blindness fixed or something. God didn't give him sight, but apparently he did fix his rotator cuff. So thank god for small favors, I guess.

It's all mondo freaky to me. All the poor man's exorcisms were probably my biggest childhood trauma, although I don't know how into the possession stuff most mainstream Pentacostal groups are.

[MissSeptember]

As far as the healings go...I was raised in a Pentecostal AOG church and we had regular healing services. We had a woman in our church get "healed" from a brain tumor that they couldn't operate on and she was just waiting to die basically. She would get bloody noses and blood running from her ear during church, so I don't doubt that she was ill, but I was just 11 so I didn't know enough to question the validity of her "healing." I just thought it was God (and hey, maybe it was). She is still alive now, almost 20 years later.

Anyway, they would start the services with an opening welcome prayer, a song (to invite/welcome/plead God to our service), then we would be asked to pray forgiveness for our own sins before laying hands on anyone who needs the healing prayer. The pastor kept a small vial full of oil that he would dab on his finger and put on the sick person's forehead as he layed his hands on their head (which also later facilitated pushing the sick person over - if their illness provided - so they could be "slain in the spirit").

The rest of us would gather around the sick person and put a hand on them, and then each person behind them would put a hand on the person in front of them, reaching back to create a web of people. Everyone would pray out loud, some people would pray in tongues (sounds like made up jibberish language). Finally the sick person would be slain in the spirit and we would move on to the next sick person. Once all the sick people were prayed for, we sang until people would gradually leave, family by family. These services could last hours.

[theologygeek]

It's like anything else. There are good and there are bad. I personally have never had a negative experience at a Charismatic Catholic event and have loved every one of them that I have attended. I also don't think there is anything wrong with a person wanting to be a virgin till marriage, refrain from kissing, etc IF it is the individual's choice and not forced on them by anyone else.

[browngrl]

What do people do when they prophesy over someone?

Has anyone on this forum ever spoken in tongues?

:?:

[Guest Anonymous]

My only face-to-face experience with speaking in tongues was a teen when our youth group (United Church of Canada) was invited to the local Pentecostal Church (Assembly of God, I think it was called). The hand raising, a few people writhing around on the floor speaking in tongues etc along with the shouts of praise severely freaked me out. Up to that point I'd always been in churches where you were to be quiet except for hymn singing and here were people basically cheering for Jesus, and I was gobsmacked (or should that be Godsmacked?)

[Kaylee]

My parent's church is Pentecostal Holiness. They had a lot of the weirdness - tongues, being "slain in the spirit", raised hands during worship, laying on hands & anointing with oil, one old woman who would dance & run laps around the sanctuary, etc. I never thought it was odd, until I was in churches that didn't do it.

One of the big things I remember was standing up front for prayer and the pastor and workers going down the line praying for people and laying on hands. Probably 90%+ would then either be slain in the spirit and fall over and/or start speaking in tongues and I remember standing there feeling like something was seriously wrong with me because I wasn't doing either and must not be filled with the spirit.

[Guest Anonymous]

What do people do when they prophesy over someone?

Has anyone on this forum ever spoken in tongues?

:?:

1. It depends on who you are talking to. I took Fran Lance classes, she is well known in Charismatic circles and she would ask the Lord for a picture and describe it to the person also giving them verses and encouraging words. Many times people were brought to tears, I still have a CD of the prophesy she gave me.

2. Although I am not gifted in tongues I have spoken in them twice by the will of the Lord once during worship and once when speaking to an elderly Chinese Lady who lost her family in downtown Cancun when she was on vacation. The Lord gave me the words to communicate to her in her native tongue and be able to understand her, we eventually did find her family.

[deelaem]

Charismatic practices are done to create hysteria in vulnerable people. It's been proven to work even outside a religious setting. Perhaps the most chilling of all the examples of charismatically-induced group hysteria is Nazi Germany.

Please, no one give me crap for bring up Hitler stuff. Just because some internet wise-ass claimed it's not a good argument doesn't make it so.

[Shirley MacLaine]

One time I was in an AoG service where there was a thunderstorm and the power went off mid-frenzy. Really brought the house down, the place went nuts.

[Deleted12]

I purpose to take one for the team and go to Bethel sometime in the next few weeks.

Anyone from Northern California want to join me?

They have an 11:00 service on Sunday. :)

[Guest Anonymous]

I purpose to take one for the team and go to Bethel sometime in the next few weeks.

Anyone from Northern California want to join me?

They have an 11:00 service on Sunday. :)

I have been there.. I was not that impressed. I have been to many a Charismatic Churches but something about them was just... weird...

[Jamanda]

Is in Awe of AthenaC!

I once moshed at Hillsong...and I feel dirty for it, too scared to go to Dayspring alone and I don't know anyone who would go with me :(

[theologygeek]

Charismatic practices are done to create hysteria in vulnerable people. It's been proven to work even outside a religious setting. Perhaps the most chilling of all the examples of charismatically-induced group hysteria is Nazi Germany.

Please, no one give me crap for bring up Hitler stuff. Just because some internet wise-ass claimed it's not a good argument doesn't make it so.

Some, not all. I've been to Charismatic Catholic masses where clapping, arm waving, and shouting "Amen" were as far as they would go. It was quite enjoyable. Charismatic practices run the gamut from some Amen yelling to people on the floor looking like they are having seizures. It's not cut and dry.

[browngrl]

thanks for the answers :)

Off topic - but speaking in tongues always reminds me of one of my favourite books (which deals with linguistics like speaking in tongues) - Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash

[Shirley MacLaine]

thanks for the answers :)

Off topic - but speaking in tongues always reminds me of one of my favourite books (which deals with linguistics like speaking in tongues) - Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash

OMG I love Neal Stephenson and now I love you too

[slh12280]

Yeah i've been to a pentecostal church once and I though it was strange, growing up being trained to be quiet in church and all. I just remember people laying on the ground shaking and me asking my mother if those people were okay.

[jjmennonite]

I have spoken in tongues - well, believed it at the time. When I was a child and Pentecostal, there was enormous pressure to speak in tongues, and it took me many hours of praying and 'travailing' and eventually I was able to fool myself. Picture an 8 year old at summer camp - almost no activities at this camp except church services and meals. The last service was technically over at 9 or so, but you would not get into trouble for breaking curfew if you appeared in your dorm with your eyes swollen from crying and you had been last seen at the front of the chapel with hands laying on you. (SQUICK ELEVENTY!!!111!!! - I would NEVER allow my child to go to such a camp). After several evenings of this, leaving feeling like a loser because I was unable to fool myself, eventually I was 'baptized in the Holy Spirit'. As Pentecostals, we were 'Spirit Filled' Christians, and were a notch above people who were merely 'saved'.

[jjmennonite]

Might add, ideal context for abuse, and grooming. 

[Pecansforeveryone]

I agree @jjmennonite, there was tremendous pressure to pray in tongues as a child raised Pentecostal. I could never fake it either. It was a loud, painful, frightening world. I am glad to be out of it. 

[myusername]

I was raised charismatic. Went to a small private school in our church even, from 4th grade to 8th grade.

I still deal with emotional trauma - and that was in the 1980's

[Pecansforeveryone]

Really so much of the saving grace was that I went to public school. We also only irregularly attended church because my fundie mother also tended to get her feelings hurt and more moderate father felt Pentecostals got to loud in volume and legalistic over things like tongues. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

I feel like this should be part of the Quiverfull of Snark. 

To me, Fundie doesn't necessarily mean Fundie Evangelical, it includes fundies of all kinds of religion including Charismatic Christianity.

As for knowing Charismatics in real life, I've known a few. The ones I knew either were either Charismatic Catholic or Assemblies of God or both. One family started out Catholic, went Charismatic Catholic, went Assemblies of God, then went to other Charismatic churches. Another family went back to Catholicism (non-Charismatic), but incorporated some beliefs from other forms of Christianity. These people are mostly fundie. 

I created a thread about Rachel Hollis, who was a motivational speaker. She comes from a Pentacostal (Charismatic) background. Joel Osteen is a televangelist who has his own thread, but he is officially nondenominational Charismatic Christian.