On the page "Baptism in the Spirit” states what is the wrong/unbiblical foundation of Pentecostal doctrine and practice. So as an 'underlying problem' it has everything to do with the things listed below.
The manifestations 'of the Spirit'
When we talk about the path of the charismata, we think in particular of that broad movement in the evangelical Netherlands (and beyond of course), which strives for manifestations that are said to come from 'the Spirit'. One wants to experience things that 'the Spirit' does. Somewhere in one of the cities in the Netherlands is a community where they practice just about everything the charismatic market has to offer. Their website sums it up:
“In the meetings there are various expressions with which we want to celebrate and exalt Jesus. There is also a diversity of opportunities that we want to offer Him to touch us and work in us. In the meetings we therefore practice, for example: worship, praise, giving thanks, various forms of prayer, short preaching, holy supper, spiritual gifts, witnessing, blessing, oil anointing, soaking (a time of rest to allow yourself to be infused with the Holy Spirit), prophesy, Bible word meditate and be still. There is also room to support this with symbols.
In the one-on-one contact there is the possibility for confession, deliverance prayer and personal blessing.”
A colorful collection of practices, in which you can also see the influence of 'the contemplative way'. Now this is just an example, but in many evangelical churches they do things like this.
'Operations' – the general story
If you compare the stories in the Charismatic-Evangelical corner and check a little bit what they try to attract people with, it always comes down to the same thing.
The starting point of the story is that people have problems in their lives and experience (too) little of God in their lives. Those problems can be anything, most of the time they have something to do with the soul of the human being. God probably couldn't have intended it that way for you to experience this.
Then there is a 'ministry' that can provide for this need and has the solution. Phrases that you will encounter again and again include: 'finding your identity', 'becoming who you are' or 'becoming who God made you'. This means that apparently there is already something in you that is still hidden and that you just need to find it. This is nothing but "the divine spark" in Gnosticism or "god" in contemplation. Only in other words. But the concepts are completely unbiblical.
This is also always accompanied by experiences that are referred to as 'close to God', 'God's presence', 'intimacy with God' or the like. Wonderful wonderful experiences believed to have to do with God.
Liberation and Healing
Much has been written about liberation and healing. Read for example this article of this one.
Elsewhere, we have stated that the Bible teaches that one who approaches God in an unauthorized manner will have "communion with the demons." How misleading it is then that those who claim to cast out or deliver evil spirits are themselves inspired by this demon world.
How bizarre is it that, for example, a Wilkin van de Kamp a booklet writes about liberation and in an appendix writes something about 'the secret world behind occultism'. In it he mentions, among other things, the biblical texts about idolatry ('What the Bible says about idolatry'), but this is only a limited selection and he omits most of it. He goes on to write, for example: “(…) Satan who gives his power to people who call on him and/or want to associate with him. It does not matter to him whether they do this out of ignorance or whether they are fully aware of it. (…) He gives people his power to eventually pull it away from God and destroy it.” How tragic that he himself does not see that he is a victim of this and that he takes many others with him.
Many 'ministry' are about deliverance and/or healing and 'the ministers' all have at least one thing in common and that is that they all testify that they can 'hear God's voice'. You will always hear that from them somewhere. Also Jan Zijlstra, for example, who in a video on CIP tells that it is actually quite normal for a Christian to hear the voice of God.
Pastoral Care and Prophecy
Deliverance prayers, prayer chaplaincy and what you already have. Praying with people so that 'something really happens' is apparently very important. But when you do it the charismatic way, you also open up to the invisible world. You can therefore encounter the following things as an example in the stories about this.
“(…) a silence (…) not infrequently one of them (the praying) seen something, that is, by the gift of prophecy see something appear in his mind's eye (…) a word of knowledge (…) an inner wound, then a team member goes through faith imagination praying back (in time) to that place or that incident, of which the confidant has such bad memories (…) It is possible that several bonds have come to light, such as a bond to a negative image of God (…) or a bond to a negative statement 'it will never work out with you!' (…) people pray for a positive image of God. (…) then it is allowed Which be bound in Jesus' name. Then 'it' is summoned in that same Name to disappear to the place He will show it, and to return no more. (…) whether God wills the freed space fill with his Spirit.(…) Then he receives under laying on of hands a blessing.
Undoubtedly, this sort of thing is done with good intentions. But what are the intercessors doing; how do they open up to the invisible world? With words, images, impressions and so on. Which spirit comes to fill the vacated space? Undoubtedly, the confidant will benefit psychologically from this, if only for a while. Possibly the most important question: what place does the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ have in this?
Soaking
According to the website of the Soaking Prayer Centre:
“Soaking is a time of rest under soft worship music. The emphasis is on rest. So it is not a time of struggle and prayer. Soft and intimate worship music will help calm your soul and bring you closer to God. In every person there is a desire to be close to God. (…) It often takes 15 minutes or so before you have calmed down a bit. The more often you soak, the faster you can experience God's presence. The Holy Spirit can also come in waves. Let the Holy Spirit bring you deeper into the Christ (in the anointing).”
Worship and Praise
'Praise and worship' are terms that indicate that the singing of songs and especially the accompaniment of the music can bring us into a state of 'worship'. An encounter with God. In evangelical Netherlands it is more and more customary to have a solid block of worship in a meeting.
There are two serious misunderstandings here:
- a misconception that worship is a wonderful feeling, in which you forget yourself and 'meet God'
- the view that rhythmic music aids worship. As someone once told me, 'without that kind of musical accompaniment in the ministry, I cannot come to worship'.
Elsewhere we go into this in more detail, but for now briefly the following:
- worship in the biblical sense is that we see how great is the Lord Jesus Christ, and how great is God the Father; that we thank and honor them for the cross of Calvary, on the basis of which God can carry out His plan of salvation. And that at the same time we become so very small ourselves, because we were poor, puny, sinful people. John the Baptist has already said, “He must increase, but I less” (John 3:30). In itself, worship has nothing to do with singing songs or music, but with great admiration for God our Savior in our hearts. That is to Him 'a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving'.
- music evokes feelings, moves us, and that certainly applies when it is rhythmic music. What that entails in physical feeling is not worship. Not even if we mix that with 'Christian songs'. The feelings of our hearts that we bring to God should only be "lit" by thinking of the cross of Calvary. Nadab and Abihu brought their incense into the tabernacle without the fire of the burnt offering being used (Leviticus 10:1ff). The result was the direct judgment of God. Also today we can only appear before God with incense, if it is kindled by the fire of Calvary's cross, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
With what is nowadays served as 'praise and worship' we do not come into God's presence. People will feel great about it, no doubt. But what world are you opening up to? Then an EO Youth Day quickly becomes the same as a world pop or rock concert. It is not the way God wants to be served.
For now, we'll stop with the examples here. If in due course there is reason to add a certain phenomenon, we will do so.
A short 2-page review of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement can be found here: “The Charismatic Movement”.
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