xdisciplex said:
It's not so much about these things. I'm not keen on gold dust and oily hands.
The real problem is that I don't know what to think about these things. On the one hand it cannot be that God is not moving among charismatics at all. I think that they are also christians. They also believe in God. You cannot simply say they are all misled phonies. This is ridiculous. But if they are also christians then why would God allow such things to happen to them if they are not from him? This simply makes no sense to me, it's totally confusing.
It's so strange. On the one hand I think that those charismatics which I know also know something about God and have some wisdom but at the same time they also have a lot of strange stuff which seems really weird to me and the problem is getting these 2 things in line. My impression is that some conservative christians are making this way too easy by simply judging those charismatics are deceived or whatever. I don't think this is helpful. I think they simply do this in order to separate themselves from them, maybe also because they don't have such experiences. Maybe some of them are even jealous of experiences, I don't know.
I want to experience God but at the same time I don't want this strange stuff which goes on at some churches. But today it's like you have the choice between a conservative church where
nothing is going on at all or you can go to a charismatic church where a lot of stuff is going on but also weird stuff. Where are the churches where God is really doing something but which at the same time don't have weird stuff? Does such a church even exist? I'm not sure.
Well, I've been to the "exciting" churches and, from what I have seen, it's a lot of flash-bang and very little productive activity. Lots of emphasis on what God can do for "me," not much about service to God through service to others.
That isn't particularly healthy.
God is doing things in a wide variety of churches, and very little of what God does is flash-bang stuff. I tend to favor mainline churches, of course, but I can tell you that experiencing God happens in the context of (a) a faith community, and (b) a willing heart.
Looking for "the next big thrill" makes worship all about you, not about God.
You want to be excited,
you want to "see God move,"
you want to be entertained.
Worship isn't about you, my friend. Worship is toward, about, and to be focused intently upon, God. That means maybe
you don't get entertained. Tough. Maybe
you don't "see God moving." Tough.
Because worship is focused on God, and not on what God can do for
me, I can learn how God moves - comparatively quiety, and far more profoundly - in the lives of those around me, and in the lives of people I do not know; healing, protecting, restoring, and loving.
Life is much more fulfilling in service rather than in being served.