Shouts

[houston]

Originally Posted by Ron

I have heard someone say that serving God shouldn't have any emotion.
God saved my bacon from an eternal fire & I ain't gonna be emotional?
God gave me my physical life & eternal life & preserves me day in & day out & there isn't going to be an emotional response to that?
DB, the Bible is rife with emotional displays demonstrated by a pyscical response.
As for how we respond at home, many times I or my family will be singing, clapping our hands, weeping, & just generally worsipping God.
Do we have to show some restraint?
Yes, we live in a duplex with neighbours who moved in this past summer who are quiet as a Church mouse & have already indicated that our teanagers are a little on the noisey side, so yes, we need to be cognizance of that in are actions.
In regards to Church, the Bible declares to sing, clap, shout in our praise & worship--if that bothers you well....

Sing, clap, shout, great! But, that's not what the discussion is about.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by navygoat1998

My wife had a lady she was witnessing to and finally she agreed to come to church with her. Well the Holy Ghost moved and people started rolling on the ground. This lady never stepped one foot back into that church again.

I heard Bro. Grisham (sp) talk about bringing his nephew to church. He was worried about this old man that would do something, really loud, like "oooooooohhhhh!"

After the service he asked his nephew, rather hesitantly, because the old man did his part, how he liked the service.

The nephew's response: "I liked it!!!"

Grisham: "Really? What part did you like?"

Nephew: "I liked the part the old man did!"

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by houston

Sing, clap, shout, great! But, that's not what the discussion is about.

Really? Isn't this the thread title?

[houston]

Originally Posted by navygoat1998

My wife had a lady she was witnessing to and finally she agreed to come to church with her. Well the Holy Ghost moved and people started rolling on the ground. This lady never stepped one foot back into that church again.

Rolling on the ground?

[Ron]

Originally Posted by deacon blues

I think it's perfectly Biblical to care about worship that has order, thats modest, befitting and appropriate. Paul spends three chapters in I Corinthians addressing the inappropriate way the Corinthian Christians were worshiping. It was important to him as a leader of the church to communicate to the Corinthians that frightening unbelievers and causing them to believe they were nuts was not appropriate. God is not the author of confusion.

A good question would be to ask "Are we doing anything at our church that fosters confusion in the minds of unbelievers visiting our church?" I had to spend 1 1/2 hours doing damage control several weeks ago after some unwise members of our church decided to overwhelm a new believer, a former Catholic, with "super spirituality" getting in her face and declaring that there were demons in her house. If I hadn't defused her confusion back at her friends house alongside her yet to convert husband, would've stopped coming to our assembly.

So as a pastor I am very sensitive to these assumptions we make as lifelong Pentecostals that we should do whatever, whenever, however under the guise of "freedom in the Spirit". Spirit-filled, Spirit-led people have liberty, yes, but they're supposed to possess wisdom too.

It's not the first time I have had to help undo the damage done to people because people feel it's okay to get a little crazy at church. Worship doesn't have to be outlandish and a turn off to outsiders to be pleasing to God. If a fruit of the Spirit is self control, why can't some people seem to exercise that when they worship. I don't believe God possesses you and makes you do things you cannot control.

DB, the Corinthian Church had the Spirit but was altogether carnal insomuch as going so far as to partake of the Lord's Supper (communion) in an unworthily manner.
This was not unexpected as they were heathens with no background in Jewish history, laws, or tradition.
Paul taught them the order on how to give a message in tongues, how to interpet, how to make the service flow.
People in your Church getting in someon's face & screaming (I only have what you said to go on) is yes, entirely inappropriate.
What does that have to do with demostrative worship?

[houston]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

Really? Isn't this the thread title?

No. It's not.

[Cindy]

Originally Posted by deacon blues

But as a pastor I can't just leave it up to "God knows if this is right or not". I have to err on the side of protecting the more vulnerable among us. We do have the abilitiy to test the spirits whether they be of God. It isnperfectly within my sphere of authority to draw lines and to say what can or cannot happen while we are together. My vision and focus is for the outsider, the non churched, the unbeliever. I am not interested in a country club church that exists to cater to the mature believer or life long church goer. It's been an uphill climb but the culture of church is changing as we have preached and taught for 12 years that we must become Gospel focused----spreading the Good News to the community and world. We are focused on leading people to Jesus.

We led 121 people in 2012 from March-December, to the glory of God. We have led 13 people thus far this year. We aren't trying to create moves of God, we are trying to get people to move to God. He's already here waiting and willing to accept them into the family. We are moving any obstacle and hinderance to any unborn person to become born again. The pathway to the cross must be clear of all obstructions at any cost! Even if that means offending veteran church goers who believe church should be about them and not the Great Commission.

DB, I will not debate with you about what you believe is best for your congregation, or how you want people to worship in the church you pastor. If your goal is to have people drawn to Jesus, how does the Word of God say men shall be drawn to Him? If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. The Holy Spirit draws them to Him. How we lift him up, might be different.
I pray that God continues to bless and y'all have many souls born into the Kingdom of God. No matter how you worship.
Do you think churches that have a different kind of worship and praise not have any impact? Or don't lead them to Jesus?

[deacon blues]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

You don't think the Upper Room was a little spooky? lol I've heard and seen some get frightened by a move of God and then I've seen many cry, because they actually felt God for the first time in their lives.

My problem and, yes, I may have approached it too hard, is when we post here, as though sitting on a pew together, pointing and critiquing someone's moment of intimacy with God. If you want to tick me off, that will do it.

I came out of a boring, liturgical surrounding. Shortly after visiting a Pentecostal church, the preacher's wife began to dance. I stood watching and thinking to myself, "I knew He was real!"

You see when I was very young, we used to watch The Ten Commandments when it aired around Easter time. When Moses would come to the burning bush and God spoke to him, I would get tears in my eyes. I always knew God was that real, but until I walked into a Pentecostal Church, I never experienced it.

So, to even talk and laugh a little about someone "shuffling" on the platform from a video, that is just appalling to me.

I don't think the Upper Room was spooky. The language of that chapter doesn't indicate as much. The outsiders said "What is this?" because people were speaking in languages they understood. Some said they were full of wine, but there is no evidence outside of the spekaing in tongues that made those people say that. We have to take a theological leap that folks were staggering, passing out, falling over, etc. If that's the case why don't people vomit in the Spirit, get in fights in the Spirit, wreck their cars in the Spirit "drunk" on the Spirit? If Spirit filled people act like drunk men, why don't they do everything drunk men do? I'm not trying to be blasphemous, I'm trying to be honest. We can't add to the Scriptures things that aren't there and declare they are Biblical. What happened on the Day of Pentecost drew unbelievers, not frightened them away.

I appreciate your testimony. Your experience is your experience and no one can take that away from you. However not everyone gets saved the same way. I was raised in Pentecostal circles and although I observed many things and joined in I can say I never felt out of control, possessed with something I couldn't prevent, I never passed out, I never somehow went into some otherworldly state of mind. I have worshiped vigorously for two hours at a time, run the aisles, laid on my face weeping and crying out to God, spoken in tongues, rocked back and forth on my knees. Some of the moments I cherish, some I look back on and pity myself because I was trying so hard to please God with my worship and how long and hard I committed myself to it and how willing I was to exhaust myself doing it. What I didn't know was that my Father was already pleased with me and didn't require all of thatbfor me to worship Him and draw close to Him.

My childhood and teen years were tortured oftentimes because I believed the only way to be really close to Jesus was speak in tongues. And I didn't speak in tongues throughout my childhood and teen years. Begged God for it, went to the altar over and over and over pleading with God, believing that if I would just tarry there for hours I would speak in tongues, but it would never happen. So something was wrong with me, right? Thats what I was led to believe. So I vacillated between the notion that I was loved and forgiven of my sins and the idea that I had "lost" salvation because I didn't speak in tongues.

So you see, my perspective affects my sensitivity on the opposite of the debate.

[houston]

Originally Posted by Cindy

DB, I will not debate with you about what you believe is best for your congregation, or how you want people to worship in the church you pastor. If your goal is to have people drawn to Jesus, how does the Word of God say men shall be drawn to Him? If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. The Holy Spirit draws them to Him. How we lift him up, might be different.

Context, ma'am. "If I be lifted up" is a reference to the crucifixion.

[rgcraig]

Houston, the question was "how many of these have you seen?"

The videos were posted somewhere else and we were enjoying remembering some of these moves from our past. No mockery, just pure memories like this thread started out with.

I made the mistake of thinking it would be a fun thing and didn't take in to account that it would offend some.