Friday night me and a few friends had a prayer meeting at the training college. We all have a similar heart for mission, we all come from different corps, so we thought we'd get together, pray then go do some outreach.
We started off by praying. Then we realised that sarah and greg werent baptised in the Holy Spirit so we prayed for them. We started off with sarah and I read and prayed Acts 2 over her, she was then slain in the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit knocked her over!
Then we prayed for Greg. I prayed the Corinthians spiritual gifts passage over Him. Sarah who was just baptised in the Holy Spirit started seeing visions of the Holy Spirit swirling around Greg as we prayed for him, then she saw Jesus come and stand with us! Greg was then slain in the Holy Spirit!
Then we started praying for Pete, again I used Scripture! Sarah again had visions as we were praying for him, and again he was slain the Holy Spirit!Then we were talking, I asked Greg, 'were you speaking in tongues?" He said, "I wasnt saying anything" and then Jo said "Yeah, you were praying in tongues!"
Then we prayed for me. I was determined to stand as long as I could, but when Pete prayed a Booth Tucker quote or something about getting as many people saved in the smallest amount of time, I was slain in the Holy Spirit!
Then we prayed for Jo. I had my Bible opend to a passage, but then I asked her what she wanted prayer for, she answered power. And guess what the opening line of the passage I had was? Be strong in the Lord and His mighty power! So we prayed for her and she was slain in the Holy Spirit!
Then we prayed for Simon! We had to pray for breakthrough and of course it came! Again, Sarah and I had visions as we prayed for him!And all of a sudden Sarah put both her hands on Simon and he flew to the ground! Again slain in the Holy Spirit!
Then we went out on the streets. Helped some drunks get home and get looked after. Then we went to the hospital and prayed for some people in the emergency room!I know that as we went there I was feeling very faithless, but I still prayed and am getting more confident now. I look forward to the day when we're all on fire, full of faith and see miracles in the hospital and on the streets! Its going to happen, and it will happen soon!
Anyway, long post again... worth it though! Praise God! And if you havent been baptised in the Holy Spirit get some friends together pray for it and see God do something new in your life!
Sunday, October 29, 2006
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12 comments:
I want in! When do these prayer meetings happen?!?!?!!!!
we've got no set days when theyre gonna be yet... BUT we're hoping to have them at least once a month but we really want them to be weekly, possibly going to different corps for the prayer and then doing stuff in the corps area... Drop me an email or leave your mob number... reelbigjimmy@hotmail.com
Anyone else who wants in let me know! Theres power in unity...
Could you please explain your theory on what being baptised in the spirit means. I take it from this story that you are a proponent of the need to have a second blessing experience, otherwise you are an inadequate Christian (or perhaps not even really a Christian). I disagree with this position and believe that you receive the Holy Spirit at conversion. I read quite a few of these late teen, early twenty aged Salvo blogs and do worry about the superior position many of you seem to take over others in the church.
Dear Anonymous
I think we should be rejoicing that these young people are so on fire and they have discovered "The Second Blessing" Salvation Army Theology clearly supports the need for a second blessing (or baptism in the Holy Spirit) Samuel Logan Brengle wrote much about this.
This second blessing or baptism in the Holy Spirit is what fuelled alot of the early cutting edge ministry within The Salvation Army - Thank God he is once again "Sending the Fire" amongst our young people and some not so young.
I also read alot of these blogs and dont see any of them proporting to be superior but rather rejoicing and endeavouring to be faithful.
God Bless You Guys - Keep Strong and dont let anyone bring you down.
Glenda
yeah i believe in a second blessing theology!
I need to say though, that I dont believe that it is never at conversion. I do believe that it can happen at conversion, or can even happen over a period of time!I do believe that believers recieve the Holy Spirit at conversion,but i also believe that there is more to it.
i wouldnt say all believers without the second blessing are inadequate... I dont want to make sweeping statements but I would challenege any believer who does not live in the supernatural, who is not striving for perfect holiness to be baptised in the Holy Spirit. There are thousands of Christians who seem to lack power, who have no supernatural, i believe that is unBiblical, God gives us power, we are to live in a supernatural way...
The salvos arent the only ones that believe this. I believe a bunch of Pentecostals also believe this... and theyre growing like crazy!
The reason why i believe this is 1) Scriptual and 2) historical and 3) experiential
as said above, read samuel logan brengles theology which you can find on the internet if you want to know more....
But from a historical point look at wesley, finney etc
and experientially,I have senn it happen time and time again that once people have prayed to recieve the baptism in the Holy Spirit they have recieved a renewal in their heart, they want to be more righteous, the fruit of the spirit becomes more apparent in the way they live their lives, they recieve supernatural gifts of the holy spirit which they didnt have before baptism in the Holy Spirit...
can i ask who this annonymous person is? have i answered your question?
James on one hand you are railing against incorrect doctrine and theology, then on the other you are praising the growth of the pentecostal churches, many of whom have beliefs and practices that are outside established biblical truths - obvious example being the need to speak in tongues as a sign of conversion. I have seen plenty of people 'slain in the spirit' over the years, and based upon their lives in the week, months and years after I could easily conclude that what occurred was a temporary euphoric experience (in most cases). This need for an experience is what draws people to pentecostal churches - the music, the show, the feeling. But then they come down from that cloud and back into the realities of their lives, where there is little foundation to their faith. Glenda perhaps I am trying to bring some of these guys down, in the sense that I want them to see beyond their own limited experience and stop being so quick to criticise others.
firstly, criticising others?how is this blog criticising others?it simply spoke of what God did and how that encouraged us, showed us Gods presence and empowered us for the ministry we did that night.
in the other blog i am criticising the salvation army for being weak on not enforcing their thology and for compromising by letting people with different views in.
YES I criticise people who say they believe in Jesus and want to live a life like Jesus yet still find it ok to sign a covenant which they dont agree with! if you do that you are a LIEING HYPOCRITE!
I see the importance of unity within a movement like the salvation army, and our lack of unity in regard to our theology is bringing the movement down and that annoys me, i get anrgy about that. I see the potential the salvation army has and want to see revival!
As for pentecostal churches,all i was saying was that one of the biggest churches in the world, and the fastest growing church in the world believed similar; in response to you saying 'we believe something that other churches dont believe in.' Im not saying you need to speak in tongues!
I think we can see what you believe about Spiritual expereinces in the way you link them to music and a show!We had NO music, NO show and people got slain so that we were encouraged and so we could 1)testify 2)spread Gods love by a)preaching it and b)loving drunks...
you seem to think that people are converting because of music,but if u actualy did look inside of a pentecostal church instead of taking a few exceptions you would see that pentecostals DO live it out empowered by the Holy Spirit and that is why they grow.
They have an infectious joy that they want to spread with others and i am all for that!the early salvationists were exactly the same.
You can try and bring us 'down' but ur not going to because our 'up' is from God and if you think you know better than God well, look out coz judgment wont be a nice day for you. we see these 'ups' as an encouragment of Gods presence and power,which enables us to live our lifes in step with the Holy Spirit...
I pray that every encounter we as Christians have with God will encourage us to worship God and show the love of God with others. Im praying for you (anonymous)too, that the negative experiences you have had in regard to this wont blind you to the good that God is doing.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. Not compromising the gospel and live our life in worship to the one and only living God. Amen
once again who are you?
Perhaps I have not been clear enough in my writings. To answer a few of your points -
- "how is this blog criticising other?" - this particular post to your blog is not critical of others, but the one immediately above is highly critical.
- I did not say that you believed that speaking in tongues was necessary, I used it as an example of a commonly held belief in the pentecostal movement.
- "you seem to think that people are converting because of music" - I did not imply that at all, I used the music, show, experience line as that it a very common way in which pentecostal (and some Salvo contemporary) services are conducted.
- "You can try and bring us 'down' but ur not going to because our 'up' is from God" - In talking about bringing people down I am trying to get across that too many Christians get so caught up in the need for spiritual highs and experiences above all else, and look down on those that don't share their 'experience'. I've seen it and heard it plenty of times before.
- "if you think you know better than God well, look out coz judgment wont be a nice day for you." - I have not said anything about knowing better than God, of course I don't. As for your judgment day comment,you dish out criticism very quickly but resort to threatening "wrath of God" comments when someone questions your beliefs. This is the sort of thing that annoys me about some people - I really don't seek to discourage but rather want you to able to understand other perspectives.
im glad ive had the day at home studying so i can keep replying to you! thanks for the chat...
what have you found so bad about my other blog? why are you so worried about it? what exactly have i said that is so wrong?
I understand some churches conduct meetings as you have said. and i believe as im sure you would that once we have experienced God we should change... But i worry about a line of thinking which implies that the 'show' or the 'experience' is the same as Gods presence... i think Gods presence is alot more than the emotional hype you are speking about.
i have not heard the arguement that those with spiritual highs are better than others...if that is the case i agree with you, they are not better. However if people are reguarly having experiences with God hallelujah! and if people are having intimate fellowship with God spiritually then Im sure they would be continually transformed by the Holy Spirit...
I dont see anything wrong with meeting God and having a touch from God above all else, as I believe all else is derived from our experience with the living God.
i was implying that by you saying you wanted to bring people down out of these 'spiritual' times to 'reality' you were saying that times when this suprenatural is happening is not as important as living our lives. I see this line of thought would come out of a love for loving people, yet once again these spiritual times empower us to do that. why should we not search for these times if God promises to give them?even if the times stop, i will always search for those times with intimacy with God. I believe God is relational, and therefore contact with Him is to be expected.
as for the judgment day comment, the bible is clear that we need to live in light of the fact that we will all be judged!when i say judgment i dont mean punishment, but that we will all need to account for our actions on that day.
im not using this as a threat but as a reminder to "stay true to God..." the sad thing is most people dont talk about this and go on doing the same thing all the time instead of living an accountable life...
and of course im going to defend what i believe...it is a blog!but its not as though i threaten judgment every time someone questions my beliefs!look at the topics that i have been questioned on... 1)jesus is necessary to salvation-that is Biblical, i have every right to tell people judgment awaits if they reject Christ 2)u were saying that these spiritual times were times in the clouds and that you wanted to bring people down from them. why would u want to bring someone down from an experience with God?judgment? yes, of course, who are u to say come down when God is saying stay with me?
the places others are questioning my beliefs from are all from reason and not from the bible!if someone questions me on my beliefs from the bible i always take those seriously.alot of my beliefs have changed,some deepend since being challenged at bible college...
i understand other peoples beliefs,i study theology at a college that is impossible to pass unless you know a varity of different beliefs on each topic.I disagree with some though.i honestly believe alot of what i believe is true...
if ur problem is simply people saying theyre better than someone else because of their experiences thats fine.but at the same time we all can hve those experiences and those experiences transform the way we live our life...
one of the problems with blogs is that people cant see the 'way' in which people say things...im not being all huffy and puffy,but i am passionate about these things and love a good debate...
im now interested why you dont say who you are... im also interested in what you think about the other blog...
I am very disturbed at what is being said here. Anonymous do you have any idea what so ever what this post was all about? If at all.
I think it is great what james is doing for the people in his community.
All he is doing is sharing his passion for god and his experiences with others and thanking god for what he's done for him in his life. But all you seem to do is put your fellow christian down. Why can't you be supportive rather then critical? Maybe you have lost sight of christs love for his people, his mission and purpose.
I know the people that were mentioned in the post and i can tell you 100% there devoted to Christ and all they want to do is share with others there passion. It isn't just some fad as you claim it to be in short.
I think it is great that these young people are searching for god and having these amazing experiences 'GOD BLESS' i say keep up the good work James.
Romans 2
14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
16"For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?"[a] But we have the mind of Christ.
Praise Jesus! We may well receive the Holy Spirit when we receive Jesus. But I remember in Acts when some had received Jesus, but the early apostles challenged them, that they had yet to be baptised into the Holy Spirit...
Bless you James for your passion and enthusiasm to seek after more of God and his presence in your life. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart..."
I look forward to the next time we can pray for each other, and just like Joel 2:28, we will see visions, will prophesy, and those that call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Hallelujah!
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