Charismatic Christianity

Being open to the Holy Spirit
 is a vital part of being a Christian

I used to identify simply as an Evangelical Christian, but these days I am adding Charismatic to that description.  What does it mean to be Charismatic?

The Charismatic Movement goes back to Easter 1960 when an Episcopal priest related his Pentecostal experience to his congregation.  From there the movement exploded and is now a worldwide phenomenon. 

Charismatics believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for today as well.  This comes from the Bible:

"A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have." (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)

There was a time when I believed that these gifts had ceased - mainly because I never saw them in the Churches I grew up in.  But I realised that this was the common experience of Christians in the first century. When I came back to Church after reconciling my faith and sexuality, I attended a Church which did believe the gifts were active today.  There I was able to meet people who had experienced the Holy Spirit directly.

In time I experienced this as well.

So, how are Charismatics different to Pentecostals?  The main difference is denomination.  Pentecostal Churches trace their history to the early 20th century whereas the Charismatic Renewal saw Charismatics remaining in their own Churches.  So a Charismatic Christian may be a Baptist, a Methodist, Roman Catholic, or an MCCer.  We share similar beliefs on the Holy Spirit, but retain our Christian traditions.  

Now that Easter is passed, we come to Pentecost in a few weeks.  Why not take time out to seek the Holy Spirit in your life?

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Happy Easter!

Christ is risen - he is risen indeed!

Because Jesus rose from the dead we can have new life in Christ.  That means a fresh start with God, hope for the future, and eternal life with God.

If you would like that new start with Jesus, or if you would like to find out more - please click on the link above on becoming a Christian.  

Christianity or Islam?

Many people think that Islam and Christianity are just two ways of worshiping the same God.  Yahweh is Allah and Allah is Yahweh.  Is that true?

It is true that Arabic speaking Christians use the word "Allah" for God.  Simply because Allah just means "God".  If we have a man called John Smith, and I tell you that he is married with children you learn something about him.  If someone else tells you John Smith is single with no children, what would you conclude?

We see the same thing when we compare the Bible with the Qur'an.  

[Jesus asked] "why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’?" (John 10:36)

The Bible says, “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31).

O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His apostles. Say not “Trinity” :desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah. Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. (Surah 4:171)

And behold! Allah will say: “O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, “Worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah”? He will say: “Glory to thee! Never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, though I have not known what is in thine. For thou knowest in full all that is hidden.” (Surah 5:119) 

Jesus clearly says he is the Son of God, the Qur'an denies this.  Both cannot be true.  Notice also, that the claim is that Jesus asked us to worship his mother, which is not Biblical anyway.

So clearly Allah and Jesus are very different - they cannot be the same God.

Furthermore, a cursory reading of the New Testament shows Jesus was crucified, died and was raised from the dead.  The Qur'an denies this:

And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain". (Surah 4:157)

Ancient Jewish and Roman records also record the crucifixion of Jesus, which means the Qur'an stands in opposition to both the Bible and secular history.

Furthermore the Qur'an goes so far as to claim to confirm the Bible.

He sent down to you this scripture, truthfully, confirming all previous scriptures, and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel. (Surah 3:3)

So for the Qur'an to be true, the Bible must be true.  But if the Bible is true, the Qur'an cannot be true. Therefore, whichever way we look at it, Islam is a false religion.  

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What does the Bible say about Hell?

Hell is a topic many are uncomfortable with.  I want to take a quick look at what the Bible says about hell and where many of our ideas come from.

Many of our ideas about hell come from the imagination of writers and artists from the middle ages, and look more like Dante's Inferno than the Bible itself.  Then the King James Bible used the one word, "hell" to translate several different Hebrew and Greek words.  Modern translations have corrected that problem, but the KJV's influence is still strong in the popular mindset.

"Sheol" and "Hades"
The Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek word Hades are roughly equivalent.  They simply mean "the grave", or place of rest following death.  It had two areas, which we see in Jesus parable in Luke 16:22-23 ESV.  Abraham's side and Hades were the same place, but separated.  It is not permanent since we know from Revelation 20:13 that death and Hades give up their dead for judgement.

"Gehenna"
Gehenna is the Greek word that should be translated as hell.  Historically it was a place, in fact it was the rubbish dump outside Jerusalem, and it was always burning.

Is hell a place of literal fire?  I don't think so because lots of images are used for hell - including gloomy pits of darkness (Jude 1:13; 2 Peter 2:4), which would not make sense if it's literal fire.  We see the same thing in Jesus' teachings.  He uses "fire" and "darkness" interchangeably in Matthew 8:12; Matthew 13:42, 50; Matthew 32:15.  The other interesting notion some people have is that people in hell are tortured, however the Bible uses the word "torment" instead (Revelation 14:11).  I think what Jesus and the Bible writers were trying to do was portray an image of a place you do not want to end up.

Revelation 20:14 describes death and Hades being thrown into the second death.  Remember that in the Bible death just means "separation".  The first death is physical, when your soul and body are separated.  The second death is separation from God.

So what is hell?  It's being separated from God for eternity.  It is not a good place to end up, which is why Jesus and the Apostles warned us against it.  Is is also why Jesus died to take our punishment, so that we could spend eternity with God instead.

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Jehovah's Witnesses and 1914

Studying the Bible, not the Watchtower
or any other manual, will help us avoid error

It's been 100 years since the Watchtower said the world would originally end, and we are still here.  Yet the Watchtower tries to hide this from modern Jehovah's Witnesses.  The January 15, 2014 Watchtower Study edition says on p.28: "anointed Christians had keenly been anticipating 1914... They were not completely sure what would happen"  Really?  I have a copy of Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 2 - The Time is at Hand, published by the Watchtower in 1889.

On p98-99 it says: "within the coming twenty-six years all present governments will be overthrown and destroyed...we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will be accomplished at the end of A.D. 1914."

How then can the Watchtower today claim "they were not completely sure what would happen"?  Seems to me that they were sure!  Obviously that didn't happen, and that should have been the end of the Watchtower, but they got creative and started teaching that 1914 was when Jesus began to rule in Heaven.  The generation alive on earth would not pass away before the world ended.

The book You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, published in 1989 says (p154), "[Jesus] meant the generation of people who were living in 1914.  Those persons yet remaining of that generation are now very old.  However some of them will still be alive to see the end of this wicked system."

On p.31 of the January 2014 Watchtower it now argues that the generation is now 2 groups of Christians!  The second who were anointed during the lifetimes of the first group will not pass away until they see the tribulation.

The Watchtower is so tied to 1914 (based on the wrong 607BC date anyway) that they are getting very inventive with their theology.  

What about what the Bible plainly teaches in Deuteronomy 18: "“But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared."

As the Watchtower's predictions have not come true, how can anyone doubt that they are false prophets?

UPDATE - May 2014
In the May 1st Watchtower they ran an article on "Predicting the Future" in which they said, "RELIGIOUS LEADERS sometimes predict tragic worldwide events to warn mankind and gather followers. Doomsday prophet Harold Camping and his disciples widely advertised that the earth would be destroyed in 2011. Needless to say, the world is still here." 

In light of their own failed predictions, is this a case of the pot calling the kettle black?

Happy New Year

I'd like to take this chance to wish you all a very happy new year.  May you know God's peace and blessing in 2014.

The Holy Spirit

For years as a Christian I wondered if "this was it".  Surely there must be "more".  For the last year, God has taken me on a journey, discovering who he is, and who the Holy Spirit is.  This is my summary of what God has been teaching me, and doing with me.

Who is the Holy Spirit?
Simply, the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4) living within believers today.  We receive the Holy Spirit when we become Christians (Galatians 3:2).

What does the Holy Spirit do?
In the world, the Spirit convicts us of our sin, and God's righteousness (John 16:8).  In believers He is God's presence within us (John 14:16-17).  He gives us spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1 and 1 Corinthians 12:7).  These gifts range from tongues to healing and prophecy.

For a long time I was suspicious of the charismatic movement, and still have issues with some of it, namely the "Prosperity Gospel".  But as I studied Scripture I realised that there is a massive difference between the experience of the first Christians, and many of us today.  As I researched my own Church (the Metropolitan Community Church) I found that there is a large charismatic movement within my own denomination as well - this is true of many Churches.  In fact the first Church to recognise the charismatic movement was the Roman Catholic Church.

The more I studied the Bible, the more I realised that there is more!  So I asked God to fill me with the Spirit (some people call it being baptised in the Spirit - don't get hung up on the terminology!).  Nothing happened at first until I was challenged to ask for, and use the gift of tongues.  Well, I wasn't doing that in public!

At home, I prayed again, and I opened my mouth to worship Jesus, and asked the Holy Spirit to speak through me, and sure enough, I did not understand the words coming out of my mouth!

I recently went to see a Christian who has the gift of prophecy.  I do not know her at all, I went on a friend's recommendation.  This is not all about the future, prophecy is being able to hear what God says, and speak it.  She knew about my life, what I prayed as a child, the kind of work I do, as well as what I would not accept as true!  And it wasn't vague, it was specific things only God would have known.

What about you?
Maybe you are wondering if "this is all there is" to the Christian life.  I'm learning that there is more!  I'm stepping out in faith into a new adventure with Jesus, and it's proving to be very exciting.

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