Fair enough. How is it going on the blessed handkerchiefs?
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Slain in the spirit
- Thread starter FollowingHim2
- Start date
Self control is a fruit of the spirit. That kinda makes one wonder about all these spiritual experiences that require a loss of self control.
Every road has two ditches.
In this case, doing nothing in/by the Spirit is one ditch whilst doing everything in/by the Spirit is the other.
We are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. In order to do our Father’s will adequately we have to be able to discern when to be following the Spirit.
And which spirit.
If Spirit is capitalized, it ain’t the fallen one.
There is no doubt that good, sincere people get slain in the spirit, both of my parents have experienced it and crave it. I’m not a dispensationalist by any means either. I believe fervently that all of the miraculous events in scripture could happen today and even more. I grew up in the Assemblies of God as well though and I saw very little impact of what was going on.I grew up in an Assembly of God church in Orlando, the very church where Benny Hinn met his wife. The first time I saw being "slain in the Spirit" was when he came and preached for the first time at that church. There was no clucking like chickens or barking like dogs. I personnally can't imaging anyone thinking that stuff like that would be spirit breathed. My experience was people just falling back like a great wind had pushed them down. I know that many would say that it was all fake and that Benny Hinn is a fraud but I didn't feel anything but peace and awe during those services. I have never experienced it myself. I did have someone pray for me in a service many years ago where it was happening. The pastor's wife who was praying for me said she felt like I didn't have anything to "work out" with the Lord at that time and that he didn't need to "slay" me to work on/reveal something to me. Again, I didn't feel that anyone was acting or that the leadership had prepped people to fake it in this medium sized church. Many who were "slain in the spirit" that day said that God revealed things to them thru visions that were encouraging and challenging.
I may have never experienced this "act" of the Spirit but I have experienced thae healing power of God when I was in 6th grade. I had been born with a disfigured right foot. The Doctors tried to fix it but my foot was never really the way it should be. It bothered me more as I grew up and I ended up having to wear a plastic foot support in my shoe that helped my foot walk correctly. The summer after 6th grade my family went to an Assembly of God summer camp and there they had a healing service for the kids. I thought "what the heck, I can at least ask the Lord to fix my foot. If he decides not to that is okay but it would be great to wear sandels more than a few hours! (Hey, I lived in Florida where people lived in sandels year round and I was a fashion concience teenager!) So, I went forward and asked for prayer. The minister sat me down in a chair and had me hold out both my legs together and he held my ankles and prayed. He prayed and held my ankles for at least 5 mins, I think, it has been along time since then, and then told me to stay there until I felt that God was done. He then let go of my ankles and walked away to minister to someone else. The crazy thing was that I could still feel hands on my ankles holding them up and my legs never got tired as I sat there for at least another few minutes. I was listening to the music being played and praying. Then all of a sudden it was like I woke up and remembered that my Mom would be wondering where I was and that I should go. The feeling of the hands left me and I got up and met up with my Mom. I excitedly told her everything that had happened and then asked her if I should remove my insert? I had heard that people should show an act of faith when they recieved healing. She wisely said it was up to me. I smiled and removed it from my shoe and never wore it again, nor ever needed to wear it again.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Is being slain in the spirit, as performed in modern groups, mentioned in Scripture?
Not that I’m aware of at all. I think someone just posted something about the apocrypha although that’s not good enough for me.
If we are to have Self control and be sober minded, I’m not sure where seeking an ecstatic state where your body does things out of the control of your mind fits with the program. I grew up in a church that considered itself to be on the cutting edge of prophetic praise and worship, prophetic dreams, prophecy, tongue speaking, being slain in the spirit, and all manner of “being lead by the spirit”. I’ve seen and been involved in situations like what @FollowingHim2 described hundreds if not thousands of times, in several different churches. I’ve also seen the veneer of positive fruit, but underneath it was rotten, time and time again.
No. No it isn't. And Jesus didn't go around knocking people over, He went around healing people.
Just to be clear, I didn't feel any euphoria, no happiness, no 'wow' factor. I've felt more spiritually and emotionally when I've been praying tbh. This felt more physical than anything else. I don't crave it, I don't want it again.
Now, talking about self control, normally I have plenty of it. At things like this I am more shy and nervous. I don't want to go up the front of the room, I don't want to fall down in front of people, I don't want to do something 'weird'. I have to fight against anxiety fairly frequently. So I made the decision to not let myself be afraid this time, to really have complete faith that God would do something, and to not hold back. I made myself completely open to God. I used no discernment, because I don't always know when it's God speaking and when it's just anxiety that is working against what God wants. I am in general a pretty nervous person. If I'd allowed myself to use discernment, I wouldn't have got up from my chair and gone up the front, because looking back I can see that that was the moment I had to truly push through, and that was the moment I wanted to leave.
Unfortunately, doctors rarely use scientific objectivity now-a-days. They just repeat what they're told is true. If they questioned anything, they wouldn't be vaccinating anyone for starters.
I'm so glad for Karin though! Prayers answered!
No judgment from me. I’ve fallen down too, and at the time I thought it was of God. In hindsight I know that it wasn’t. Christians can be deceived, which is why Scripture tells us “do not be deceived”. We must be on our guard at all times and weigh all things by the Scriptures.
Thank you for sharing what happened.
Agreed, but how do we know for sure what He endorses?
We can only judge our own experiences, best not touch another’s. I can have my opinions, but judging that Yah is not in something when He actually is can be a big mistake.
Blasphemy of the holy spirit is unpardonable....but what is it?
I'm pretty sure if Abraham lived today and told anyone why he was taking Isaac up on that mountain they would tell him he was listening to a devil...God would never tell you to do that!
Given that Abraham's story is there....withholding judgement might be a good idea. Holy spirit communicates with each of us. Trying to put what we understand back into words is .....complicated.
God wants men to follow Him, listen to His voice. There may be wisdom in a multitude of counselors.....but listening to them over YHWH would not be wise.
We are supposed to judge with right judgment. Wisdom would dictate that one should not judge something too quickly or without evidence. However, if we have withheld judgement until we see that something contradicts Scripture or we have seen that the fruit of something is bad fruit, then we can make a righteous judgement about it. My experience is that most of these supposed movements of the Holy Spirit are false, but I’d be willing to bet that you are going to judge my experience. I’m I right?
Amen.
Twelve men were sent to spy out the land that Yah had promised. When they returned there was wisdom in the group, but it only existed in the mouths of two of them. There’s an entire sermon in that observation.
Actually, no. You have already judged your experience.
I am reminded of the story of a man who died and was ushered into a waiting room when he got to the Pearly Gates. An old couple were showing their vacation movies and nothing else was going on. After what seemed like an interminable period of time he went back to the doorway to inquire of the attendant when his trial would be held. He was told that he had already been judged and sentenced to this room for eternity.
“But this is pure Hell!” he exclaimed.
“Yes” replied the attendant.
Pointing to the couple explaining their vacation movies, the man asked about them.
“Oh, they are in Heaven” was the reply.
I have no doubt that in what you observed there existed a lot of “Wildfire” (as an old pastor called it) that Yah had nothing to do with, but He is more often in the experience of the few than He is of the many.
Yes, there are often more tares than wheat in the field, but He hasn’t yet chosen to burn the field to get rid of them.
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