Okay - I'll bite!
Where in the N.T. do we get the worship-style (touchyfeely-emotional) doctrine that we practice in our modern-day apostolic/pentecostal services? And, how do our 'worship' services then differ from the Charismatics?
Now - I am not slamming any joyous worship of our Lord - just looking for the bases for the often time 'required' "you're not running (jumping, shouting, etc.) fast enough to be truly worshiping God", kind of 'congregational encouragement'.
Me? I am one of those who is often made fun of (even ridiculed) by the preacher because I do not frequently engage in these kinds of activities: Performance on demand, i.e., applied crowd control techniques and emotional manipulation). But then again, I did not get too hyped up over a high school football game either, even when paying in the marching band. I did not go to school dances, not out of a religious conviction, but because I didn't know how to dance and really didn't care to learn. I never enjoyed crowds much larger than four or five people, even after addressing groups of several hundred.
So, please show me the biblical 'dancing in the spirit', which I have done on occasion, or running over pews, the aisles, bouncing off the walls, etc., like Jesus and the disciples (including Peter and Paul) and the other church leaders did in the Temple and synagogues.
Now, please don't give me the David example. That was one man dancing wild in the streets on a special occasion, not an acceptable practice in the Temple or even a synagogue. To follow this one event as a worship pattern, we would all have too strip down to our underwear and perform a daylight 'holy streak' of our neighborhoods. Oops, there goes our modesty standards!
When is the presence of God noted? By an emotional high? Sometimes! Also by walking in the continued realization that the Holy God of creation dwells within you at all times. He doesn't come and go depending on how one feels at any particular time (good or bad) or even if you have sinned or not. While we play games with the word of God, He yet remains faithful. Goose bumps are delightful - but I don't judge my relationship with Jesus on how many goosebumps I get, how long they stay around, or how much of a sweat I can work up.
Sorry kids, guess I just don't measure up to the good old Pentecostal jive that is necessary to 'bring down the Spirit' (
1 Kings 18). Even so, the presence of the Lord is sometimes stronger than at other times, but of that is mostly dependent on how perceptive I choose to be.
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