Acts 2: Then and Now

[JoeHardy07]

Yep! It seems like our learning is left up to us individually. Cuz I wasn't taught this stuff at an early age. I was just taught to be a good kid and "yeild to the Spirit" duing church services...and when I hadn't had an emotional moment in a while, publicly that is, it was time for a visit to a good ol' fashioned alter.

I don't mean to downplay emotions in church, but it seems like everyone nowadays comes FOR the emotional times. One lady jirates, screams, and stomps at least once in every service...I'm not kidding! Every service!

See, that may be of God, but I found no record of someone jirating and screaming when the presence of God came over them in Acts. Yeah, David danced, but he's the only one anyone ever refers back too. None of that took place in Acts...at least it's not recorded.

I'm not against dancing...not at all...its an expression of joy...but dont call it "dancing in the Spirit"...or make people believe that this is what happens when the Holy Ghost falls...because it's not recorded as happening even once in any of the Holy Ghost accounts in Acts.

[TrmptPraise]

Originally Posted by JoeHardy07

I don't mean to downplay emotions in church, but it seems like everyone nowadays comes FOR the emotional times. One lady jirates, screams, and stomps at least once in every service...I'm not kidding! Every service!

If this is the reason for coming to church, you leave just the same as you came. There is no progression in faith or milk to meat maturity.

That being said, emotionalism or "feeling" is certainly apart of a response. We can mock it or make light of it, however, a fleshly response to His spirit is not abnormal. We can categorize such as outlandish or "there is nothing spiritual about that!"

You mentioned David and I think its important to point out that the Bible never says that David danced "in the spirit." It says he danced before the Lord. What was this dancing? Again, I say it is a fleshly (emotional) response to a spiritual occurrence. In fact, in Psalms 149 and 150 tells us "praise his name in the dance" and "Praise him with the timbrel and dance."

I am not sure you can correlate the new birth experience, the display of tongues and the absence of the mention of dancing to say that we should not because it is not mention side by side with it. If you really think about it, repentance is a fleshly response to a spiritual dealing with our heart and soul. It takes an active response (either physically coming to an altar or making a choice in our minds) to repent.

Needless to say, I do believe there are actions of the flesh that are used in praise and worship. Do I believe a man can exercise his praise through running the aisles? Sure. Do I believe it is done "in the spirit?" No. "Do I believe it can be done in spirit-mindedness? Absolutely!