I've seen a lot of immaturity and relatively little maturity in both sides. The question to me is what do you do with the people who have "gifts", meaning abilities that are not usual, but could be part of God's plan? In a cessationist environment there is no training and no encouragement. People are simply told they are imagining things, superstitious, or some such. The Bible is supposed to provide teaching, correction, and reproof to prepare for every good work. The continuationist folks are at last trying to study what the Bible has to say about those.
"The continuationist folks are at last trying to study what the Bible has to say about those."
did you mean at least or at last?
"In a cessationist environment there is no training and no encouragement. People are simply told they are imagining things, superstitious, or some such."
that's because we don't believe the activity today is the same as what historically took place.
so it makes sense there wouldn't be any training or encouragement for those activities.
what is more encouraging than The Good News?
we try to teach what actually happened in context, and actually discourage most of the other stuff....not because the love isn't there, but because the Biblical Pentecostal gifts ceased.
That thing about weaning people off the Bible is really crazy. I never heard such a thing. Well, I once had a pastor tell me to shut up about the Bible, because he was hearing from God. Then he called me and my wife Ananias and Saphira, and said unless we stayed in his church we would never have a ministry. Well, that was 8 years ago, last I checked. He is still following some evangelist around waiting for his "big break", and living off his wife and his 75 year old father, pastoring the same 5 people, and my wife had a ministry until the day she went to bed to die, and I still work pretty much full time in the Kingdom. He was a perfect example of Christian immaturity.
there's alot of that.
eventually that's where this 'gift of prophecy' or 'office of apostle' goes, IMO.
everytime, as far as i can tell.
and of course it would, since the person is supposedly hearing directly from, and speaking for God.
who wants to go against God?
that's why it is so successful.
But then there was the cessationist Catholic priest I worked for many years ago, who preached it's a sin to read the Bible unless he is there to explain it to you; I later heard he sold black market babies.
"preached it's a sin to read the Bible unless he is there to explain it to you"
"sold black market babies"
no run-of-the-mill cessationist i know would ever say its a sin to read the Bible unless they are there.
quite the opposite. we're trying to read the Bible. individually and together
it's odd how the extremists are actually identical though they appear to be on opposite ends of a non-existent spectrum:
"I once a had pastor tell me to shut up about the Bible, because he was hearing from God. "
"Catholic priest I worked for many years ago, who preached it's a sin to read the Bible unless he is there to explain it to you"
identical.
So I get concerned a lot, too. But, in the long run, it's not about what man you follow who is following Jesus (and thus blocking part of your direct line of sight of Jesus), but about what you do when it's time for you to make your choice.
love you Ken
zone
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