Comments on: Expatriates – Part Eight: A Family Following in Christ’s Footsteps (Conclusion)

By: gijane02

gijane02 — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 23:27:49 +0000

Amen Stephanie, thank you! I need to change my prayers now,lol!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 13:12:45 +0000

gijane02, I was reading your comment and just wanted to say that anger is not something I believe the Lord will "take away" from you. You stated that you have been dealing with it and crying out for Him to do so and as of yet He has not. Scripture says to get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice and be kind and passionate towards one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32)

So I believe that WE are the ones through the power of the Holy Spirit that have to refuse to yield ourselves to anger. It's part of denying the flesh. I speak from experience because I have young children as well and was like you at one time, crying out for deliverance from anger and frustration and that verse is what God gave to me. I now refuse to yield my righteous instruments to anger or frustration with my children or anyone else. Do I fail sometimes? Yes. But I do not give up because I will continue to deny this flesh the gratification of being angry because I want to be obedient and if God says to put away anger then that is what I have willed to do. Whatever God tells us to do He empowers us to accomplish it through His Holy Spirit.

Just wanted to share that with you! Much Love to you!

By: gijane02

gijane02 — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 02:26:22 +0000

I have enjoyed this Expatriates series very much. The last two parts in particular. I felt such conviction about a lot of things that I know are holding me back from walking in His power and yet it is hard to wait on God to move the obstacles away. One of the big obstacles for me has been anger. Yesterday I was crying out loud for God to take it out of me because I hate it so much and I want to be right before Him. I am praying for more understanding as to why I still have to deal with it everyday. It's hard to do that without being interupted by my young ones and keeping our home as best as I can, but I am so encouraged by this family. They have gone through so much more than I have! Thank you again brother for letting the Lord use you to wake us up.

By: Joseph Herrin

Joseph Herrin — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 13:56:16 +0000

Hello Carina,

You posted your comment at the end of a different post from the one you were referring to. For those who find this comment here, it belongs with the following article which is titled "Considering the Baptism of the Holy Spirit."

Your comments are excellent. I would just clarify one thing. You wrote:

Like you, I don't disbelieve in the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in giving tongues.

I do believe in the validity of a gift of tongues, but I do NOT believe it was given for the purpose of validating individuals as having received the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit manifests His presence through the gift of tongues at times, but He is also manifested in many other ways. The clearest evidence is by observing the fruit of the Spirit in an individual's life.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 03:40:13 +0000

Joseph,
Your post seems to be very balanced and I agree with most if not all of your views on this subject.
I attended two Pentecostal congregations in the past (my current one is sort of "Pentebaptist" if such a mix exists!) and I heard a lot of the errors you explain. It always disturbed me a lot. What really drives me up a wall is hearing people repeating what so-and-so (some famous writer of best-sellers) said and someone in their denomination taught them as THE truth, and never stopping to consider, Wait, is this in the Bible? A lot of the baptism in the Holy Spirit "doctrines" are in that category.
Like you, I don't disbelieve in the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in giving tongues. But we have to be VERY careful because many people in non-Christian cults ALSO speak in something like tongues. So if the person imparting the spirit is actually an undercover witch or wizard, and the person is not actually preaching repentance and faith in Christ as our only saviour but talking about some Jesus who is all loving and receives you without a single question or demand, well, what kind of spirit will that pretender impart?
I once was at a meeting of a world famous preacher who was speaking about "the anointing" and rambling on and on and I felt deeply disturbed at the demonic manifestations (which were hailed as from God) I witnessed during the meeting.
I don't want to go to the extreme of throwing the baby with the bath water. There are many positive things in part of the Pentecostal movement. There is a remnant of pastors and believers who have not sold out to the spectacular and are truly seeking God to manifest His presence among us without embracing all the hocus pocus. But I would warn that it's very very dangerous to go after signs and wonders and emotional highs without FIRST truly seeing your sinfulness and turning to Jesus and beginning the process of dying to self. This obsession with visible signs (without a greater concern for holiness and purity) opens you up for counterfeit spirits of divination (instead of prophecy), witchcraft (instead of true faith), and an encounter with a false Jesus who is actually the new age Christ-consciousness rather than the real Jesus of the Bible.