Charismatic Movement

Charismatic Movement. What is your opinion? Is tongues biblical?
What about prophesy? What about salvation….how does it relate? what is the proper use of baptism?

Share your opinions……

Okay, let's see if this sparks any controversy: I believe that both the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy were ended shortly after the apostolic era. I also believe that baptism is the immersion of a believer in water as a sign of his union with Christ.

Anybody disagree? :D

It depends what you mean by "prophecy" I think we're on the same page though. If you mean proclaiming the truth of God, then no there are prophets still left. If you mean foretelling future events then I would agree with you.
As for tongues, have only heard them used once, and it sounded like a lot of chaos. But I'm not an expert on the subject. :)

Prophecy is a mixture of proclaiming God's truth and foretelling future events. But it is also necessarily direct revelation from God, which I believe is not a reality any longer.

I believe that the Bible clearly shows that tongues are known foreign languages, not just random gibberish. So most, if not all, of the churches today that practice "tongues-speaking" are not truly speaking in tongues, at least not by the Bible's standard.

And, Paul did say that those who spoke in tongues in public should have someone interpret, otherwise they should keep it to themselves.

Exactly. He also said that they should go one at a time, and only have two or three tongues-speakers in an entire service. That is a rule that is NEVER followed in Charismatic churches.

He also said that he would rather say 5 words that made sense rather than a thousand words that didn't.

Very sorry about the wrong spelling Nicolas ( hey….I got it right there!!)
I agree that they ended after the apostolic dispensation.I call it that because I am a dispensationalist.

Okay, since everyone on here seems to agree, I'm going to add a Charismatic viewpoint- my own.

My family attends Plymouth Covenant Church, and we have a pretty big Charismatic thing going on there. (Kerestel and Alethea, if you see this, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about anything.) The third (sometimes fourth) Friday night of each month is our Encounter, which is basically an extended worship service. God is definitely present there. We have had a few prophecies (I think) and countless miraculous healings. I really wish you could all come to one sometime!

Oh, and as for the tongues, Nicolas' comment that the rule of only have one or two tongues-speakers in a service is never followed in Charismatic churches doesn't always apply. Our church would probably qualify as Charismatic, and as far as I know, we haven't had ANY tongues. Yet.

I agree, SBG. Personally, I believe that the gift of tongues is not given anymore. Paul himself seemed to lift up the gift of prophesy more than that gift anyway. I believe that speaking in tongues today is not acceptable, as it faded away in the first century. This may or may not be relevant, but scientific studies have determined that tongues, also known by the scientific term Glossolalia, is not an actual language. While some would claim otherwise, the modern speaking in tongues has no characteristics of a language whatsoever. It is simply gibberish.

As for prophesying, I would like to make a quick observation. I believe that prophesy, the foretelling of the future, is not given as a spiritual gift anymore either; it too seems to have faded away during the first century. We do still have prophesying in the form of preaching (oftentimes, the greek word for preaching is translated prophesy), but the foretelling of the future I believe was a gift given only in Biblical times.

What do you all think?

I completely agree. :) I think that prophecy (in the sense of foretelling the future), tongues, etc. were necessary only in the apostolic era, because of the necessity to spread the gospel rapidly around the world. They are not necessary anymore, and I believe that God ceased them when (or at least soon after) the apostles died.

As for miraculous healings, I believe that these are still around today; but let me clarify. They do not exist in nearly the same degree and abundance as they did back in Jesus and the apostles' era, when they were necessary to validate the preaching of the gospel. Back then, they were a fairly common occurrence. Today, however, I believe that such healings are much less necessary, and thus, far more infrequent. I have great suspicions about the validity of meetings that claim to heal large numbers of people at once; for one, many have proved to be frauds, and also, I do not see for what reason God would allow such meetings to take place. There is no longer a need to validate the gospel by such healings; we now have history to validate it! Although I know there are specific circumstances where God chooses to heal an individual for His own reasons, I have a hard time believing that He would heal great numbers of people all at once.

So, that's my opinion on the matter; anybody agree or disagree? :)

Ditto, SavedByGrace.

@Anyone - What about the alter call or "walking an isle?" It was kind of popularized by Finny and Sunday. What do you think about that?

our church has altar calls, and it s a nice way for people to be able to talk to the pastor right then and there. It isn't necessary though, although it is nice when people make their decisions public.

I have a hard time believing that He would heal great numbers of people all at once.

Okay, now I REALLY think you should come to Encounter!

Why would God do that, though? What would be His purpose? I don't see how such vast numbers of healings at once are any longer necessary to further the gospel.

What's the purpose of healing anyone then?

Maybe to prove something to a specific person, or to convince someone of the supernatural power of God, or something similar. But I can't find a reason why God would empower people to do mass healings.

You think????

I'm not talking about hundreds of people, but maybe 15. (If it's only 15, maybe I shouldn't have said "countless" in my original post, huh?) And if God chose to prove His power, or simply bless someone, by healing them, couldn't He do it several people at a time?

That being said, do you have any other reasons why God wouldn't do that?

sigh Okay, maybe fifteen people wouldn't be too much. But does it happen regularly?

Thee usually are a few healing every time, but not always.

SBG, we've been waiting for a response for 15 days now. Have you disappeared? ;-)

Uh… it seems that I have already responded to your question, but that you have not to mine. :P

I thought Bethany (AKA Gibberish Fan) responded. But I guess if you want a reply from me, I can give you one. :-D Usually, we have at least five, but not every time.

You do realize that I started the Charismatic Movement, right?

I'm guessing the moderators saw it and changed it themselves. :)

You do realize that I started the Charismatic Movement, right?

Oh please.

@leah - Yeah. If there's a way for us to change the name of a topic, I haven't figured it out yet. :)

You do realize that I started the Charismatic Movement, right?

double facepalm That's not funny!

to us it is!

Okay………….

Stop. Just stop.

what are you gonna do? join carissa and danielle in suing me?

You say that at least five people are being healed at each meeting. What sort of illnesses are they healed from, generally? How are they being healed?

join carissa and danielle in suing me?

Where did that come from? Whoever said I was going to sue you?

remember? Danielle was gonna sue me for saying bad things about thor, and you were going to sue me for being a troll!

I was never going to sue you for trolling! But anyways I'm leaving this conversation. Because the only reason you say stuff like that is to get people to reply, right?

of course not! just ask Sam

Then why do you say such ridiculous stuff?

the bible says to 'speak the truth in loves'

There is capitalization on here, just to let you know! As for the second thing you told me <blockquote>'speak the truth in loves'</blockquote> Yes we should. But what you said wasn't the truth. All you are doing is posting very unnecessary comments. But I'm leaving this conversation!

that was always her way…gettin' offended over nada

I'm not offended. I'm very sorry that I appeared to be offended.

Just approved a post from Evie above. Welcome to the Memverse forums!

You people are having a weird conversation…

@Evie: Welcome to Memverse!!
@Jarrett: Yeah, we were…

Thanks, I'm glad to be here!

Welcome to Memverse Evie!

Welcome to Memverse Evie!

To answer your questions, we've had pretty much everything, from headaches and the flu to a torn rotary cuff. (No kidding!) Generally, others in the congregation will lay hands on the person and pray for healing.

I don't remember how I changed it………and no @SBG, the moderator did NOT change it , I did :)

Wow, thank y'all! You are so welcoming. Now I hate to write anything controversial! :)
Thanks for answering, Sarah, but right now I don't have time to write. I'll be watching the discussion and hope to join in later.