Theology Unplugged: Why I Am/Not a Charismatic, Part 7

Looks like the White Horse Inn has been stirred up over this too…here’s their recent post: http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/2011/08/22/reformed-and-charismatic/

I think it’s important to note that while there do seem do be differences between prophesy in the old and new testaments, we _do_ see people who are noted as prophets whose words are not recorded as Scripture. For instance, the group of prophets whom Saul prophesies amongst in 1 Samuel 10:10-13. Or Miriam, Moses’ sister, who is described as a prophetess in Exodus 15:20, but of whose words we have little.

Yeay! A new Theology Unplugged! One of my Highlights of the week! Love the conversation!

please let sam,, go to above white horse, link ,its bang on and it answers lots of questions,sam your,church brings life to the body,,but with many fakes, claims,, we love you all ,,but in many cases your splitting the church,, into many camps,,we are to test all things sam,,how do you undo the weak sloppy lies told by b,, hind, p popoff, and friends, most christians staying in this type are never really grow,, only in dancing , or seeking power and more power,,acts 2:8 , the tongues are a set of natural languages,, not or nothing like they type we hear on tv,, one can be saying anything,,[ the devil a great guy ] we must never leave our reason thinking caps off,,or disconnect our brain,,,,, one must say things in church,, that gives edification to the whole body,, and not to oneself,, maybe in ones house, yes, but in fellowship with each other its for building up,, in love never getting out of control,, as we see daily on tv,,on prophecy sam,, your church should be ashamed,, we know what the bible says on this,, even when the false teachers get it so wrong the people still turn up,, why is that sam,, are like copland says we are like a little GODS,, OR maybe were not gods,, maybe were just lost sinners, saved by christ,, with lots of grace, sam,, how does christ get any GLORY,, FROM ALL THIS MESS,,we have the brothers in this camp, feeling so so sorry for the simple[ little christian],, who leaves his house, and goes along to a simple service,why to hear the gospel+,, and mabe a simple, baptism, or some lost soul found salvation,, we to the Charismatics are “nearly”christians who missed the boat,, why because we have not had the EXPERIENCE,, THE FILLING,,so we cant be christians,,if we like 1 thes 5:1-21+1 cor 12:29,, test sam whats seen on most tongues churches,,, paul states outsiders will think us mad,, we like stated give a platform to many greedy false teachers,, may god bless all true bible believing brothers/sisters ,,,,

George,

We have set the rules here. Your comments, while representative of many people’s thoughts, are not showing honor to the spirit of the blog or this series. Please keep from associations with people that Sam and those like him have disassociated from time and time again. That is one of our main goal here.

Thanks much.

i agree so sorry, george,

I understand this debate and feel it is a healthy one for personal growth for the individual beliver to grapple with but since this issue is a non essential (not important to ones salvation) i don’t understand why i see so much controversy can you help me understand why

@ Nathan (comment #7)

I think you raise an interesting question. Could the answer be that what we believe about this topic significantly determines how we perceive our status as Christians? For example, if it is true that the gift of tongues is available for all who seek it earnestly, and if this gift enables those who possess it to (1) pray to God more deeply than if they prayed in ordinary human language, and (2) intercede more specifically & relevantly about situations than if they merely relied on their conscious knowledge of the facts, then it follows that those Christians who do not have this gift are missing out on rich, intimate communion with God and lack a vital weapon in their spiritual armoury. As someone myself who does not have the gift of tongues, I would naturally have to conclude I am only a 2nd class Christian, a barren servant, and a disappointment to God.

Similarly, if it is true that spectacular spiritual gifts should be part of the normal Christian’s daily experience, then Christians with the gifts of prophecy or healings or words of knowledge can be pleased with their importance in the church and their usefulness to God. In contrast, someone like me, who has never displayed any spectacular evidence that God is working through me powerfully, has to just trust and hope that God does notice me and that He is working out His purposes for me and that my attempts to serve Him are not in vain.

For this reason the spiritual gifts of leadership, administrating, compassionating, practical helping, etc. do not cause much controversy.