Pentecostal

Dear Phyllis,

The other day a lady wrote me asking my position on the charismatic message. I answered her saying I was 90% Pentecostal, but I would part company with them on two points - their doctrine that tongues is the infallible sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and their insistence on having a specific experience. I have no problem with tongues. The Bible says “forbid not tongues” (1 Cor. 14:39) and I won't. But the rhetorical question in 1 Cor. 12:30 settles the question as to whether or not tongues must be the sign of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. If we accept a two stage Christian life – the first being the new-birth and the second being the fullness of the Holy Spirit - and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is equated to a salvation experience, then the Pentecostal message of a specific experience has a serious problem. Getting saved isn't that black and white. There are millions of born-again people that have no idea when they were saved, but they know they are saved now. There are as many different testimonies of being saved as there are snow flakes; and no two snow flakes are identical.

Shortly after I first came to Christ I began to read a lot of Christian biographies. I wanted to be a DL Moody or a Charles Finny. I wanted to be a super-Christian. I wanted to be filled with the Holy Spirit and prayed much for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Nothing happened. One night I was staying with my Christian family, the Stadsklevs in Florida, and decided to have it out with the Lord. I went for a walk along a field road asking God to fill me with he Holy Spirit. Nothing happened. I got down on my knees praying. Nothing happened. I started shouting at God. Nothing happened. I started pounding the sand. I begged God to fill me with the Holy Ghost and waited. Then I heard a buzzz. Mosquitoes were all over the place. Then I felt something crawling up my pants. I was lying on a ant hill of fire ants. Something snapped inside. I shouted, “Lord I came out here to have a meeting with You. I want to be filled with the Holy Ghost and all is get is sand, mosquitoes, and fire ants. Is this what You call blessing?” I went back and went to bed. It was pitch black out side and it was pitch black inside.

The next morning the sun came up but it was still pitch black inside. I went out to the barn to help my dear spiritual father, Otto, do the milking, but I couldn't stand to be in his presence. I made an excuse that I thought we were short one cow in the barn and went out to get her. I jumped over the fence and ran across the fields to an apple tree where I often went to have devotions in the afternoon. I watched the sun come up over the horizon, cross the sky all day, and set in the evening. I wrestled with God all day and told Him I was through. I had my next military assignment and knew I was on my way to Japan in two weeks. I begged God to give me one last request. I said, “If I can get in the house, and get my clothes, I will never come back to this place again”.

I knew the folks would be going to church and made my way back to the house hiding behind the barn. I heard the kitchen door close and the car start up. I started to go to the house and then heard the door close a second time. I heard the jeep stat up and my spiritual father going down through the fields with a spot light calling, “Bill. Bill”. My heart broke. All I could think of was Jesus going over the mountains looking for His one last lamb. I was that lost lamb and I was walking out on Him. But my heart was like stone. I got in the house, got my clothes, and left a note on the kitchen table saying, “My sin has made me indescribably ugly and I am going back. Goodbye. Bill”. I got in my car and started driving down the dirt road to the main highway. I was crying so hard I could hardly see to drive.

In the mean time Otto had just got back from the fields looking for me and found the note on the kitchen table. He cried, “Lord, bring him back”. Just at that moment I had reached the main highway and the steering wheel was spinning in my hand as I made a U turn to go back to the house. I pulled up to the house but couldn't move. Otto came out, put his arms around me, and said, “Bill, let's go in the house and get some coffee.”

That wasn't much of a getting filled with the Holy Ghost experience, but God did a work in my heart that night that gave me stability to go to Japan and has lasted 61 years. Since then I have had innumerable experience with the Holy Spirit, none of which would satisfy a charismatic. Is the baptism of the Holy Spirit real? Absolutely. I believe the scriptural pattern for this is Israel's two fold experience; first coming out of Egypt by passing through the Red Sea and secondly entering into the Promised Land by passing through the Jordan River. But in the Christian life, school is out as to how this may work out in a persons life. Some people are saved with a very definite experience. Others have no idea when they passed from death to life but they know they are saved now. John was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mothers womb. Some people are on fire for Christ from the moment Jesus comes into their heart. And some people wander around in the wilderness for years before they settle into a Spirit filled life. Some are very dramatic and for others it is like the dew falling on the grass. Who cares? Hang it! I am not against experiences but I am not going to allow experiences dictate to me whether or not Jesus has the reigns of my heart. I am not even going to allow my assessment of that question tell me what is going on. I believe there are multitudes of people who are anxious to tell you right now how they are filled with the Holy Spirit that haven't a clue what it is to be filled with Jesus. They are deluded living on a trip. And there are some sincere Christians seeking an experience that never happens. Oh Jesus is gracious. Words cannot describe it. If Jesus wasn't God He would have given up on me years ago. The greatest lesson I have learned in the past 62 years is that I don't know nothing. What a blessing this is! I have quit telling Jesus what He should do for me. The only thing I can do is plead that He will over-rule the hardness of my heart – and in spite of me – somehow be honored in my life. If He will do that, I can't ask more.

I wanted to talk about Abraham today but don't have the space. All I can say is that in Genesis 15 Abraham had an experience that was the pivotal moment of his life. He had just got back rescuing his nephew Lot and gave all the loot back to the king of Sodom. Apparently he had trouble falling asleep that night and some time in the middle of the night the Lord woke him up saying, “Fear not Abraham. I am your shield and your exceeding great reward”. Then He took him outside to show him the stars, and promised that his seed would be like that. Then the Lord told Abraham to make a sacrifice for Him. Man howdy it can't get better than this. This isn't some idea that Abraham cooked up. Abraham is following the specific instructions of the Lord. He got the alter built and laid out the sacrifices. Then he sat down to wait for the fire of God to fall on his offering. But instead of the fire of God falling on his sacrifices the buzzards came down on the carcasses. The Bible uses the word carcasses rather than sacrifice. A sacrifice is something holy but a carcass is dead meat. What a bummer of a day! Abraham expected to spend the day with the Lord but all he got was an afternoon with the buzzards. But then, when it got dark, the Lord did come down and ratified His covenant with Abraham. I'm sorry, I don't have time to talk about that today but just want to throw that in as an example that God's ways of blessing us may not be what we expect.

I don't know if you got anything from this letter, but it sure was a blessing to me to write this lady sharing with her what I thought about Pentecostals, and reviewing the wonderful things Jesus has done for me.

Have a good one and hang tough for Jesus,

                                                          bill

Deleted. Ctrl + Z to Undo.

19 May 2019

Dear Phyllis,

The other day a lady wrote me asking my position on the charismatic message. I answered her saying I was 90% Pentecostal, but I would part company with them on two points - their doctrine that tongues is the infallible sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and their insistence on having a specific experience. I have no problem with tongues. The Bible says “forbid not tongues” (1 Cor. 14:39) and I won't. But the rhetorical question in 1 Cor. 12:30 settles the question as to whether or not tongues must be the sign of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. If we accept a two stage Christian life – the first being the new-birth and the second being the fullness of the Holy Spirit - and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is equated to a salvation experience, then the Pentecostal message of a specific experience has a serious problem. Getting saved isn't that black and white. There are millions of born-again people that have no idea when they were saved, but they know they are saved now. There are as many different testimonies of being saved as there are snow flakes; and no two snow flakes are identical.

Shortly after I first came to Christ I began to read a lot of Christian biographies. I wanted to be a DL Moody or a Charles Finny. I wanted to be a super-Christian. I wanted to be filled with the Holy Spirit and prayed much for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Nothing happened. One night I was staying with my Christian family, the Stadsklevs in Florida, and decided to have it out with the Lord. I went for a walk along a field road asking God to fill me with he Holy Spirit. Nothing happened. I got down on my knees praying. Nothing happened. I started shouting at God. Nothing happened. I started pounding the sand. I begged God to fill me with the Holy Ghost and waited. Then I heard a buzzz. Mosquitoes were all over the place. Then I felt something crawling up my pants. I was lying on a ant hill of fire ants. Something snapped inside. I shouted, “Lord I came out here to have a meeting with You. I want to be filled with the Holy Ghost and all is get is sand, mosquitoes, and fire ants. Is this what You call blessing?” I went back and went to bed. It was pitch black out side and it was pitch black inside.

The next morning the sun came up but it was still pitch black inside. I went out to the barn to help my dear spiritual father, Otto, do the milking, but I couldn't stand to be in his presence. I made an excuse that I thought we were short one cow in the barn and went out to get her. I jumped over the fence and ran across the fields to an apple tree where I often went to have devotions in the afternoon. I watched the sun come up over the horizon, cross the sky all day, and set in the evening. I wrestled with God all day and told Him I was through. I had my next military assignment and knew I was on my way to Japan in two weeks. I begged God to give me one last request. I said, “If I can get in the house, and get my clothes, I will never come back to this place again”.

I knew the folks would be going to church and made my way back to the house hiding behind the barn. I heard the kitchen door close and the car start up. I started to go to the house and then heard the door close a second time. I heard the jeep stat up and my spiritual father going down through the fields with a spot light calling, “Bill. Bill”. My heart broke. All I could think of was Jesus going over the mountains looking for His one last lamb. I was that lost lamb and I was walking out on Him. But my heart was like stone. I got in the house, got my clothes, and left a note on the kitchen table saying, “My sin has made me indescribably ugly and I am going back. Goodbye. Bill”. I got in my car and started driving down the dirt road to the main highway. I was crying so hard I could hardly see to drive.

In the mean time Otto had just got back from the fields looking for me and found the note on the kitchen table. He cried, “Lord, bring him back”. Just at that moment I had reached the main highway and the steering wheel was spinning in my hand as I made a U turn to go back to the house. I pulled up to the house but couldn't move. Otto came out, put his arms around me, and said, “Bill, let's go in the house and get some coffee.”

That wasn't much of a getting filled with the Holy Ghost experience, but God did a work in my heart that night that gave me stability to go to Japan and has lasted 61 years. Since then I have had innumerable experience with the Holy Spirit, none of which would satisfy a charismatic. Is the baptism of the Holy Spirit real? Absolutely. I believe the scriptural pattern for this is Israel's two fold experience; first coming out of Egypt by passing through the Red Sea and secondly entering into the Promised Land by passing through the Jordan River. But in the Christian life, school is out as to how this may work out in a persons life. Some people are saved with a very definite experience. Others have no idea when they passed from death to life but they know they are saved now. John was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mothers womb. Some people are on fire for Christ from the moment Jesus comes into their heart. And some people wander around in the wilderness for years before they settle into a Spirit filled life. Some are very dramatic and for others it is like the dew falling on the grass. Who cares? Hang it! I am not against experiences but I am not going to allow experiences dictate to me whether or not Jesus has the reigns of my heart. I am not even going to allow my assessment of that question tell me what is going on. I believe there are multitudes of people who are anxious to tell you right now how they are filled with the Holy Spirit that haven't a clue what it is to be filled with Jesus. They are deluded living on a trip. And there are some sincere Christians seeking an experience that never happens. Oh Jesus is gracious. Words cannot describe it. If Jesus wasn't God He would have given up on me years ago. The greatest lesson I have learnd in the past 62 years is that I don't know nothing. What a blessing this is! I have quit telling Jesus what He should do for me. The only thing I can do is plead that He will over-rule the hardness of my heart – and in spite of me – somehow be honored in my life. If He will do that, I can't ask more.

I wanted to talk about Abraham today but don't have the space. All I can say is that in Genesis 15 Abraham had an experience that was the pivotal moment of his life. He had just got back rescuing his nephew Lot and gave all the loot back to the king of Sodom. Apparently he had trouble falling asleep that night and some time in the middle of the night the Lord woke him up saying, “Fear not Abraham. I am your shield and your exceeding great reward”. Then He took him outside to show him the stars, and promised that his seed would be like that. Then the Lord told Abraham to make a sacrifice for Him. Man howdy it can't get better than this. This isn't some idea that Abraham cooked up. Abraham is following the specific instructions of the Lord. He got the alter built and laid out the sacrifices. Then he sat down to wait for the fire of God to fall on his offering. But instead of the fire of God falling on his sacrifices the buzzards came down on the carcasses. The Bible uses the word carcasses rather than sacrifice. A sacrifice is something holy but a carcass is dead meat. What a bummer of a day! Abraham expected to spend the day with the Lord but all he got was an afternoon with the buzzards. But then, when it got dark, the Lord did come down and ratified His covenant with Abraham. I'm sorry, I don't have time to talk about that today but just want to throw that in as an example that God's ways of blessing us may not be what we expect.

I don't know if you got anything from this letter, but it sure was a blessing to me to write this lady sharing with her what I thought about Pentecostals, and reviewing the wonderful things Jesus has done for me.

Have a good one and hang tough for Jesus,

                                                          bill