This is no small matter! They hated Jesus 'without a reason' (Jn 15:25), is it any wonder others will hate the gift of His fire too?
This one thing I could say over all these manifestations is this; they are good, but they are not well. My feeling is that when you take everyone who loves God, enough to maintain tradition to the best of their ability, that best then becomes strictness. So what do we have today, everyone strictly tied to their persuasion including the Pentecostal. A little leavening.
In regards to conduct in the Church, what do the scriptures say on acceptable conduct? For there is the day-to-day, and there are those times when we come together. For the day-to-day conduct yes, as we recall the Apostles complement for the Church in coming away from and keeping itself unspotted,
“,,,what earnestness,
what eagerness
to clear yourselves,
what indignation,
what alarm,
what longing,
what concern,
what readiness”
(2 Corinthians 7:11)
But as for worship, a hard one to apply v-11 to, for keep in mind, God wasn’t interested in bringing the atmosphere back to an agreeable level for those whom uttered
“What meaneth this?” on that day. Is there scripture to confirm this? Well, yes I believe so and frankly why such moving services are so much in rare occurrence.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship.”
(Romans 12:1)
“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.”
(Hebrews 13:15)
“For there is no respect of persons with God.”
(Romans 2:11)
This is the offering which the apostle entreats the Romans to make: to devote themselves to God, as if they had no longer any claim on themselves; to be disposed of by him; to suffer and bear all that he might appoint; and to promote his honor in any way which he might command. This is the nature of true religion. - Barnes
Have you ever been there in a meeting of this level of intensity? Many of us have, I'm sure. One thing I can tell you there, the pew-napper is rare and the air intense. These meetings become more frequent when the body comes together under calls for fasting for the Church and yet the heightened times interestingly follow the text,
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
(Psalm 100:4)
Results:
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
(Psalm 22:3)
The Power that Liberates
All Churches praise, do all Churches mix this Psalm with Romans 12?
Now that I have seen a limited, yet fairly well-rounded existence of forms of worship in our land several things have become evident to me. Firstly, the one thing that has worked its way into Pentecostalism is resistance to these forms of worship is because of an unwillingness to disturb our “traditional” routines of ease.
Am I dancing here? May seem that way, in short I am saying for each to sow some of the opposition’s tradition. Then, in the case of that brother in the video who got spike-blessed heavily, jumped up, ran to the podium, stood on it and ran all the way back to the baptismal tank, come-on, let’s do a little trimming here. Yeah that may have cured his sanctuary-distress, but fully trashed the Corinthian model as with a lot of these expressions taking leave of that fruit of the Spirit’s, “self-control”,
“Let all things be done decently and in order.”
(1 Corinthians 14:40)
I can understand why all the apprehension, even to evince my way to a better outcome of control. The best way I can express what happens to the candidate after the congregation cools weeks forward yet not for him is the intensity remounts and battles away at the blessing within which follows John 12,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
(John 12:24)
