Charismatic Distinguishing Features

[Timothy]

I thought I'd write up the distinguishing features of Charismatic members, to see if this looks good before I stick it in the Wiki. I will add scriptural support tomorrow. I hope I am humble enough to take correction if any of this is wrong, so please to check it and see.

Church:

They can belong in non-denominational churches or traditional denominations, they are found in all walks of the Christian life. "For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ." [1 Corinthians 12:12, NASB]

Gifts of the Spirit:

All charismatic believers believe in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within believers, and in the continuation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit today, and that the Holy Spirit comes as he wills, working through our prayers as he pleases, rather than he comes at our any man's command.

They do not believe that there is any gift that is 'evidence' of the filling of the Holy Spirit, rather that the Holy Spirit gives gifts as he chooses for the purposes of the Building up of the Body of Christ

"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men." [1 Cor, 12: 4-6 NIV]

"All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines." [1 Cor 12:11 NIV]

Healing:

All Charismatic believers believe in the gift of Healing and that God can and does heal, and believe in praying for healing as a significant part of our ministry. However, following on in the example of the Apostle Paul, we believe that healing does not always occur, God does not come at our bidding, rather he works through us serving him in prayer. Sometimes we have to acknowledge that healing does not occur so that He may be glorified.

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." [2 Cor 12:7-9]

Poverty and Wealth:

Charismatic believers come from all walks of life, from extreme poverty through to extreme wealth. We believe that wealth is a gift from God and carries enormous responsibilities, and that God does not necessarily give us money from Heaven, he provides for our needs--sometimes in quite basic ways--rather than for every little thing we could ever want. Jesus taught us to pray for daily bread--implying that we should rely on God daily for our needs.

"He said to them, "When you pray, say:
" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.' " [Luke 11:2-4 NIV]

God speaks today:

Charismatic believers believe that God speaks today through the ministry of people given the gift of Prophecy, and others who have studied. However we firmly believe that all ministers, teachers and prophets should have their teaching examined closely to the Word of God, and that if it fails to come into line with what God has already revealed, then it must be discarded and labeled as false teaching and prophesy, and we must closely examine all, and any prophet who prophesies contrary to the Word of God or his or her prophecy does not come to pass, we must closely examine whether they really have this gift, or whether they are merely seeking for attention. As a significant gift within the church we must be aware that people are seeking attention through it, and to be wise as 'Bereans', always comparing new teaching with the Scriptures to see if they are from God.

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." [Acts 17:11 NIV]

 

[jeolmstead]

Sounds like home to me.....

 

[JAS4Yeshua]

Thank you for expanding on those so eloquently, Timothy.

 

[Joy]

Timothy

Hello

I say Amen to what you have written and look forward to reading much more from you

 

[talitha]

Very good, Timothy. It does sound like home.

Spelling correction - the noun is "prophecy" - also some grammar corrections below:

Charismatic believers believe that God speaks today through the ministry of people given the gift of Prophecy, and others who have studied. However we firmly believe that all ministers, teachers and prophets should have their teaching examined closely to the Word of God, and that if it fails to come into line with what God has already revealed, then it must be discarded and labeled as false teaching and prophecy, and we must closely examine all, and any prophet who prophesies contrary to the Word of God or his or her prophecy does not come to pass, we must closely examine whether they really have this gift, or whether they are merely seeking for attention. Because prophecy is a significant gift within the church, we must be aware that people are seeking attention through it, and to be wise as 'Bereans', always comparing new teachings with the Scriptures to see if they be from God.

 

[geetrue]

That sounds good Timothy. Here's a scripture for charismatic's:

Acts 2:38-39 and St Peter said,
"Repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ and all of your sins shall be forgiven. You shall recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost. This promise is for you and your chidren and for all of those that are far off and as many as our Lord God will call".

I think I just became a charismatic ... wait a mintue I was already charismatic ... I joined the forum, because the title said, "Spirit filled".

I thought I had to be Pentecostal, because I believe in the days of pentecost as depicted in the book of Acts chapter one.

Plus I went to a AOG church for about four years and I love Steven Hill who started the Brownsville Revival at a AOG church in Pensacola, Florida.

I worked for Charisma magazine selling subscriptions over the phone for a year.

Does that qualify me for charismatic fellowship?

 

[robbymac]

Excellent! Hat Tip to you, Sir Timothy!

 

[Redheadedstepchild]

I like this.

 

[RadixLecti]

Very good, Timothy. It does sound like home.

Spelling correction - the noun is "prophecy" - also some grammar corrections below:

He's from the UK originally, they spell "prophecy" differently than we do in the US.

 

[RadixLecti]

I thought I'd write up the distinguishing features of Charismatic members, to see if this looks good before I stick it in the Wiki. I will add scriptural support tomorrow. I hope I am humble enough to take correction if any of this is wrong, so please to check it and see.

Church:

They can belong in non-denominational churches or traditional denominations, they are found in all walks of the Christian life.

Gifts of the Spirit:

All charismatic believers believe in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within believers, and in the continuation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit today, and that the Holy Spirit comes as he wills, working through our prayers as he pleases, rather than he comes at our any man's command.

They do not believe that there is any gift that is 'evidence' of the filling of the Holy Spirit, rather that the Holy Spirit gives gifts as he chooses for the purposes of the Building up of the Body of Christ

Healing:

All Charismatic believers believe in the gift of Healing and that God can and does heal, and believe in praying for healing as a significant part of our ministry. However, following on in the example of the Apostle Paul, we believe that healing does not always occur, God does not come at our bidding, rather he works through us serving him in prayer. Sometimes we have to acknowledge that healing does not occur so that He may be glorified.

Poverty and Wealth:

Charismatic believers come from all walks of life, from extreme poverty through to extreme wealth. We believe that wealth is a gift from God and carries enormous responsibilities, and that God does not necessarily give us money from Heaven, he provides for our needs--sometimes in quite basic ways--rather than for every little thing we could ever want.

God speaks today:

Charismatic believers believe that God speaks today through the ministry of people given the gift of Prophecy, and others who have studied. However we firmly believe that all ministers, teachers and prophets should have their teaching examined closely to the Word of God, and that if it fails to come into line with what God has already revealed, then it must be discarded and labeled as false teaching and prophesy, and we must closely examine all, and any prophet who prophesies contrary to the Word of God or his or her prophesy does not come to pass, we must closely examine whether they really have this gift, or whether they are merely seeking for attention. As a significant gift within the church we must be aware that people are seeking attention through it, and to be wise as 'Bereans', always comparing new teaching with the Scriptures to see if they are from God.

Really great job Timothy!

 

[talitha]

He's from the UK originally, they spell "prophecy" differently than we do in the US.

That's odd, because he spelled it correctly in the first sentence of that paragraph. Timothy?

 

[Timothy]

That's odd, because he spelled it correctly in the first sentence of that paragraph. Timothy?

I grew up in both English and American Charismatic churches and I spell things both ways and get confused. I should probably standardise one way or the other...

 

[Tenebrae]

Good job

 

[cyberlizard]

fantastic - my only concern is in the 'prophecy' section. if someone's prophecy does not happen then were exactly do we stand, if multiple prophecies do not happen. I have seen on other groups that if you point these things out you are labelled as legalistic and a heresy hunter. should we actually say they ar false prophets or false teachers?

so i propose another rule - that rule being that the name of Benny Hinn is not to be uttered in these sheltered digital domains as it just causes to much argument.... but then again maybe people should be mentioned, but calmly, deliberately, and with relevant information which is both accurate and succinct.

Steve

 

[Timothy]

I remembered the difference in spelling. When it's talking about the gift, dormant, it's 'prophecy'. When someone uses it, they 'prophesy'.

Good question, Steve. Frankly, I think we must consider carefully if someone has a valid gift of prophecy when what they prophesy does not come to pass.

 

[talitha]

Steve and all,

Many people make the mistake when they read scripture of believing that if a prophecy does not come to pass, that means the person speaking is a false prophet. I have addressed this subject many times on CF. The Bible simply does not back this up.

Jonah's prophecy over the city of Ninevah, that it would be destroyed in so many days, did not come to pass, but that did not make Jonah a false prophet.

The diviner who followed the apostles around telling people to listen to them because they were messengers of God was speaking the truth, but that did not make her a true prophet.

The distinction is whether or not the person is speaking as prompted by the Spirit of the Lord or by another spirit. Under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit was not available to people at large, by which to discern as the apostles did in the case above, so the Lord made the provisional test that is so often quoted today - if it does not come to pass, do not fear the prophet, etc.

Under the new covenant we not only have the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us discern the spirit that is speaking, but we also have the counsel of the recorded words of God in the Bible. By the Spirit and the Word we judge prophecies.

I once asked the Lord why a certain prominent prophet's words seemed to so often not come to pass, even though I discerned by the Spirit that he was speaking from Him, and His response to me was that the prophecies were not met with faith in the hearers - faith that would provoke a hearer to be willing to respond with prayer and action to what was spoken. When we hear (auditory receptors functioning) without doing (acting upon what we hear in some way), we are in delusion (James 1:22).

How should we respond? First, in love. Second, by examining all things according to the Word, the character of God, and the inner voice of the Holy Spirit.

blessings
tal

 

[cyberlizard]

jonah is all well and good, but it was a conditional prophecy. if they repented god would not destroy them.

when people start giving categorical promises, such as this will happen such and such a day, or god is going to do xxxx for you giving specifics, and these kind of things do not categorically happen then we need to start asking questions.

if we do not do this, the church will be blown around by every wind and doctrine, by every spiritual fad and fashion. We will have never clear benchmark as to what is and is not acceptable, we will become subjective.

the believers in the new testament only had one bible (the old testament), so when paul sends his letter about all being able to prophesy they would have fully understood what a false prophet was by understanding what it meant in the old testament.

if we go down the path of, it's just prophecy, and they need to learn and they will make mistakes, but everything is ok, then we deserve to go off the rails. sooner or later we turn into a cult without knowing it. After all god spoke to the joseph smith (didn't he) and charles russel definately heard from god. Just two easy examples.

Test all things, hold fast to what is good.

yes. we should examine all things according to the word, because that has to be a final authority.


p.s. or are you just disgruntled cause I mentioned someone you happen to like

 

[talitha]

Steve, I am not disgruntled over any person you have mentioned. He's actually not my favorite person, and he has never claimed to be a prophet at any rate.

I think we need to realize here that there is room in this forum for more than one point of view on prophecy. I think the way Sir Timothy wrote the above does leave room for both me and you.

Concerning Jonah - this is the prophecy he gave: "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." That is not conditional. God did not say through Jonah that "if they repented god would not destroy them."

Asking questions is okay, but we must be willing to hear something like what I just told you that I heard - that the problem is not with the speaker, but with the hearer.

We are not under the Law of sin and death, Steve; we are under the Law of the Spirit of Life. We do not rely upon written-down "benchmarks" but upon the Holy Spirit, who writes His will on our hearts. This may seem subjective to you, but His will is constant and true and not dependent upon our whims or limits that we may want to set.

I stand by my position at least as strongly as you do yours, Steve, and I ask that room be made on this forum for mine.

After all god spoke to the joseph smith (didn't he) and charles russel definately heard from god. Just two easy examples.

No, God did not speak to Joseph Smith. I do not know who Charles Russel is/was.

Test all things, hold fast to what is good.

Agreed.

blessings
tal

 

[cyberlizard]

some of us disagree about some stuff but that's ok - lets disagree pleasantly otherwise we'll become like the other forums.

 

[talitha]

Praise God! Yes, Steve! and Amen!