Ask a Pentecostal

[Anne in CA]

I just wanted to be included in the other ask about religions topics. I really would answer questions, but mostly I just wanted the title, lol.

[DawnM]

Hmmm.......what kind of Pentecostal?  It matters when it comes to what questions I ask..... :laugh:

[Ipsey]

Ooh, me first!

 

How, precisely, does one "holy roll?" Are there intricate steps? Can you link to a Youtube video?   ;) :D

 

[Anne in CA]

Lol, Holy Rolling is a lot of fun! A Youtube video could never do it justice. :laugh:

[Garga]

You can divide pentecostals into three groups:

 

Less intense: "We are filled with the Holy Spirit."

Medium intense: "We are filled with the Holy Ghost."

Really intense: "We are filled with the HOOOOly Ghost!" (And maybe a whoop as well.)

 

ETA: I'm not making fun. I've been to churches with all three types and enjoyed all of them equally. They're just different in their levels of intensity. It's all fun.

[Anne in CA]

Dawn, I am a very middle of the road Pentecostal, lol. Until I moved I belonged to a Foursqaure church. Which is pretty much the milquetoast of Pentecostal. No snake handling or prosperity teaching.

[DawnM]

Well, I was thinking more in terms of denominations.  There are all kind of Pentecostal denominations.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Pentecostal_denominations

 

The ones I am more familiar with are:

 

Oneness Pentecostals

Pentecostal Holiness

 

and I would put Assemblies of God in there too.

 

And then there is the generic term "Pentecostal" which is really more non denominational Charismatic but includes speaking in tongues as a very integral part of the church.

 

I wasn't really thinking Four Square in there, but I suppose it could be there. 

 

Dawn

 

You can divide pentecostals into three groups:

Less intense: "We are filled with the Holy Spirit."
Medium intense: "We are filled with the Holy Ghost."
Really intense: "We are filled with the HOOOOly Ghost!" (And maybe a whoop as well.)

ETA: I'm not making fun. I've been to churches with all three types and enjoyed all of them equally. They're just different in their levels of intensity. It's all fun.

 

[DawnM]

Ok, so here is a question for you.

 

Does your particular brand of Pentecostal believe that you don't really have the holy spirt in your life if you don't speak in tongues?

[umsami]

I used to attend an Assemblies of God church.  Have to say the music was the best.  I kept on assuming that speaking in tongues would mean that God would finally fix my horrible French pronunciation or grant me the ability to speak Icelandic.  Sadly, I was mistaken.    We did have a few members who would speak in tongues…. but there always had to be somebody who also felt moved to "translate" for it be viewed as authentic.  It was strange to me, but it wasn't a weekly thing…so it didn't bother me.

[milovany]

And then there is the generic term "Pentecostal" which is really more non denominational Charismatic but includes speaking in tongues as a very integral part of the church.

 

We used to be Foursquare and it's more charismatic than pentecostal IME.  I used to use "pentecostal" and "charismatic" interchangeably but realize that this is probably technically wrong as Pentecostal has a pretty definite meaning/theology/history, I think. 

[Liz CA]

Ok, so here is a question for you.

 

Does your particular brand of Pentecostal believe that you don't really have the holy spirt in your life if you don't speak in tongues?

 

Arrrghhh, this still -after 27 years- hits a nerve with me. I have SIL who told me this in no uncertain terms. I'd be interested in other people's responses.

 

[73349]

Do your preachers have to go to a certain seminary or through an ordination process sanctioned by a church authority? Or can someone set up and minister to a new congregation if he feels called to? Or how does it work?

[Bree]

Arrrghhh, this still -after 27 years- hits a nerve with me. I have SIL who told me this in no uncertain terms. I'd be interested in other people's responses.

 

I'll take a stab at this ;). If you've accepted Jesus you have the Holy Spirit, but (from my AG background) tongues is the initial physical evidence of being "filled/baptized" in the Holy Spirit as found in the book of Acts.

[DawnM]

So you have the holy spirit but you aren't really filled with him unless you speak in tongues?

 

Dawn

 

 

I'll take a stab at this ;). If you've accepted Jesus you have the Holy Spirit, but (from my AG background) tongues is the initial physical evidence of being "filled/baptized" in the Holy Spirit as found in the book of Acts.

 

[Anne in CA]

In the Foursquare Church you are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit  even if you do not speak in tongues. I don't know about other churches.  .

[ThisIsTheDay]

We (as in my family) refer to similar churches as "get up and dance" chuches, lol. 

 

Are speaking in tongues done regularly during the service? Loudly, up front? Quietly, off to the side, in one's seat?  How distracting is it to others around? Do you have to have interpreters?  If I were to go to a Foursquare Church, how likely would it be that I would notice it?

[Liz CA]

So you have the holy spirit but you aren't really filled with him unless you speak in tongues?

 

Dawn

 

So I suppose I am not "truly" filled with the holy spirit...this and other spiritual oddities (in my humble opinion! No offense to anyone who believes differently) has caused quite a rift between this SIL and me. She was quite adamant and smug about this point. As in "you will know when you have arrived and are a real Christian." And it is a shame because of this I am certain: Jesus is not pleased - tongues or no tongues - if his sheep bleat at each other.

[foxbridgeacademy]

So you have the holy spirit but you aren't really filled with him unless you speak in tongues?

 

Dawn

I grew up in an Apostolic Pentecostal church and they were pretty adamant that you had to "speak in tongues"  and be filled with "the holy spirit" to go to heaven.   

 

FYI: It's been 20+ years since I attended but I still have a VERY clear memory of the "speaking in tongues" and all the rest of it.  I do miss the music, and the food at the functions that I didn't have to cook or clean up after (I was a kid so I got to go play).

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

So I suppose I am not "truly" filled with the holy spirit...this and other spiritual oddities (in my humble opinion! No offense to anyone who believes differently) has caused quite a rift between this SIL and me. She was quite adamant and smug about this point. As in "you will know when you have arrived and are a real Christian." And it is a shame because of this I am certain: Jesus is not pleased - tongues or no tongues - if his sheep bleat at each other.

 

I love this line!

[Mom in High Heels]

My grandmother was as Apostolic Pentecostal and I was always scared to death to go with her when I was little.  All those people babbling and shouting and fainting (it wasn't a real service if some woman did have a fit of the vapors and collapse) were just too much for me.

 

What exactly is "tongues?"  I mean, is it some secret language or are people just babbling?  

[swellmomma]

The pentecostal church I was baptized (full immersion in water to be baptized) in and my current one did/do have those that spoke in tongues but no not everyone does or is expected to. The way it was viewed in both churches is that is 1 gift of the holy spirit that one can receive but not all do. I have to say the music at my old one is what got me to stay long enough to listen to the sermon.  The music does make you want to dance, it is the same worship music they play on Christian radio stations and that I often have blasting at my house with us all singing and dancing to here.  We seldom do hymns, but we always have good worship music complete with electric guitar and drums :p  Both my previous church in the city and my one here in the small town are "come as you are" churches.  The belief is one should meet Christ exactly as they are right now, no need to dress up and put on airs or pretension.
 

Both are affiliated with Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.  This explains further what is believed by those affiliated with PAOC

 

The wiki page about PAOC which as I just learned is affiliated with  Assemblies of God in the US

[Garga]

Tongues in church:

 

The churches I've attended think it's perfectly fine to speak in tongues all day long without ever once "translating it" UNLESS you speak it out loudly in front of other people.

 

If you stop the church service to speak loudly in tongues, (usually done between songs---sometimes during the closing prayer--almost never during the preaching--there is usually an order to speaking out the tongue) then you need to be ready to translate it yourself, or someone else should be able to translate it. Here's the scripture that comes from. This scripture is not talking about when you''re by yourself or speaking quietly to yourself. This is in reference to when you're with a group and you speak loudly so all can hear:

 

13 So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said. 14 For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.1

 

5 Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit,[e] and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand. 16 For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t understand you praise God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t understand what you are saying? 17 You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you 1 Corinthians 14

 

Here's the whole chapter for context. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+14&version=NLT

 

In the churches I've been to, the Holy Spirit may reside within you at salvation, but you are not baptized with the Holy Spirit unless you speak in tongues. It is NOT a prerequisite to going to heaven. However, the Holy Spirit is what helps you to know what God wants for you in specific situations. For instance, if you pray, "God, should I take this job and move my family 8 states away? Is this something you want us to do?" You can't find the answer to that in the bible. The Holy Spirit is what gives you the ability to listen to God when he answers prayers.

 

The Holy Spirit is what gives you the confidence and boldness to do what God wants you to do. Like this:

 

After Jesus died, rose again, and then ascended into heaven, the apostles were all gathered in a room with a locked door terrified that they would be next to be rounded up and crucified. They were all hiding.

 

Then...they got filled with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had told them they would.

 

Immediately, they flung open their locked door and took to the streets telling thousands of people all about Jesus.

 

What happened to their terror at being caught? The Holy Spirit of God gave them supernatural courage.

 

The Holy Spirit gives you power/strength beyond your normal abilities to do the things God may ask you to do. Speaking in tongues is just one of many things being "filled with the spirit" means. People can know you're filled if you speak in tongues, but it's not just about this odd speaking in tongues thing. The point of having the Holy Spirit is that it also gives you greater wisdom and greater faith and many other useful things.

 

The point to praying in tongues alone? I've been told it's when you just don't have the earthy words and yet you want to pray. God's spirit will guide you in what to say and gets your own thoughts out of the way so your prayer can be pure.

[poppy]

Dawn, I am a very middle of the road Pentecostal, lol. Until I moved I belonged to a Foursqaure church. Which is pretty much the milquetoast of Pentecostal. No snake handling or prosperity teaching.

What is prosperity teaching?

[DawnM]

Those who believe that if you name it (demand God do X or Y) and claim it to be so (part of the demand) then God will have to do it.

 

Prosperity "doctrine" teaches that God want you wealthy and healthy and if you aren't, you need to demand God heal you or give you the money.

 

There are MANY Prosperity teachers as tele-evangelists on TV regularly.

 

 

What is prosperity teaching?

 

[DawnM]

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

It seems that different Pentecostals view this differently.

 

Tongues in church:

The churches I've attended think it's perfectly fine to speak in tongues all day long without ever once "translating it" UNLESS you speak it out loudly in front of other people.

If you stop the church service to speak loudly in tongues, (usually done between songs---sometimes during the closing prayer--almost never during the preaching--there is usually an order to speaking out the tongue) then you need to be ready to translate it yourself, or someone else should be able to translate it. Here's the scripture that comes from. This scripture is not talking about when you''re by yourself or speaking quietly to yourself. This is in reference to when you're with a group and you speak loudly so all can hear:

13 So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said. 14 For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.1

5 Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit,[e] and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand. 16 For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t understand you praise God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t understand what you are saying? 17 You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you 1 Corinthians 14

Here's the whole chapter for context. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+14&version=NLT

In the churches I've been to, the Holy Spirit may reside within you at salvation, but you are not baptized with the Holy Spirit unless you speak in tongues. It is NOT a prerequisite to going to heaven. However, the Holy Spirit is what helps you to know what God wants for you in specific situations. For instance, if you pray, "God, should I take this job and move my family 8 states away? Is this something you want us to do?" You can't find the answer to that in the bible. The Holy Spirit is what gives you the ability to listen to God when he answers prayers.

The Holy Spirit is what gives you the confidence and boldness to do what God wants you to do. Like this:

After Jesus died, rose again, and then ascended into heaven, the apostles were all gathered in a room with a locked door terrified that they would be next to be rounded up and crucified. They were all hiding.

Then...they got filled with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had told them they would.

Immediately, they flung open their locked door and took to the streets telling thousands of people all about Jesus.

What happened to their terror at being caught? The Holy Spirit of God gave them supernatural courage.

The Holy Spirit gives you power/strength beyond your normal abilities to do the things God may ask you to do. Speaking in tongues is just one of many things being "filled with the spirit" means. People can know you're filled if you speak in tongues, but it's not just about this odd speaking in tongues thing. The point of having the Holy Spirit is that it also gives you greater wisdom and greater faith and many other useful things.

The point to praying in tongues alone? I've been told it's when you just don't have the earthy words and yet you want to pray. God's spirit will guide you in what to say and gets your own thoughts out of the way so your prayer can be pure.

 

[Anne in CA]

Poppy, Prosperity Teaching is from "Seed Faith" originally taught by Oral Roberts but extended upon by his proteges and followers.The idea is that when you give money to any good cause, not just your church, you have planted a "seed" that will grow and multiply and by doing this enough you will become a prosperous person. Prosperity Teaching has gone off the rails over the years and become downright scary when taught by manipulative people. 

 

Personally I do believe it is hard to prosper unless you are generous with your time and money for good causes, and I have had good results in my life while giving to United Way, or the church, so I am not bashing all Prosperity Teaching, but some of that teaching that goes around is not okay.

[Garga]

Do your preachers have to go to a certain seminary or through an ordination process sanctioned by a church authority? Or can someone set up and minister to a new congregation if he feels called to? Or how does it work?

It appears that there are a few pentecostal denominations (as mentioned above--Assembly of God, Foursquare) that do have ordination processes with a church authority.

 

But you will also find hundreds of churches where someone simply feels called by God to be a pastor and sets up a church. Those people have no oversight, except from God alone.

 

Some of those independent churches are awesome. And some turn out wackadoodle. "Buyer" beware when you attend an independent church.

[milovany]

Those who believe that if you name it (demand God do X or Y) and claim it to be so (part of the demand) then God will have to do it.

 

Prosperity "doctrine" teaches that God want you wealthy and healthy and if you aren't, you need to demand God heal you or give you the money.

 

There are MANY Prosperity teachers as tele-evangelists on TV regularly.

 

Welllll, "demand" isn't quite the right word (I was Word of Faith for some time).  "Believe for" is a better way to describe it.  Those with this theology don't think they're demanding anything, and they aren't. They believe that God has taught in the Bible that we can ask for things and believe for them (as long as they're good, godly things that are according to His will -- which prosperity and health are; again, to them these are Biblical things; there ARE Scriptures they can use to back up their beliefs).  So they don't demand financial increase, they ask for it and believe for it.  They may even call it forth (which may seem like a demand), but it's more like they believe it's God's will so if anything is hindering it, it needs to be have a stand of faith set against it.  Hope that makes sense. 

 

ETA - I do admit that if one read transcripts from the teachings of some of the modern WOF teachers, they might include the word "demand" as in "Don't let the devil win!  You rightfully demand what's yours in the name of Jesus!"  But the idea is that what you're asking for is also God's will, so you're not really demanding anything from Him, but instead you're demanding the devil to let go of what's yours. 

[poppy]

Welllll, "demand" isn't quite the right word (I was Word of Faith for some time).  "Believe for" is a better way to describe it.  Those with this theology don't think they're demanding anything, and they aren't. They believe that God has taught in the Bible that we can ask for things and believe for them (as long as they're good, godly things that are according to His will -- which prosperity and health are; again, to them these are Biblical things; there ARE Scriptures they can use to back up their beliefs).  So they don't demand financial increase, they ask for it and believe for it.  They may even call it forth (which may seem like a demand), but it's more like they believe it's God's will so if anything is hindering it, it needs to be have a stand of faith set against it.  Hope that makes sense. 

 

ETA - I do admit that if one read transcripts from the teachings of some of the modern WOF teachers, they might include the word "demand" as in "Don't let the devil win!  You rightfully demand what's yours in the name of Jesus!"  But the idea is that what you're asking for is also God's will, so you're not really demanding anything from Him, but instead you're demanding the devil to let go of what's yours. 

 

I have to confess, I am having a hard time wrapping my head around a Christian faith that encourages people to pray for wealth.

[Juniper]

It appears that there are a few pentecostal denominations (as mentioned above--Assembly of God, Foursquare) that do have ordination processes with a church authority.

 

But you will also find hundreds of churches where someone simply feels called by God to be a pastor and sets up a church. Those people have no oversight, except from God alone.

 

Some of those independent churches are awesome. And some turn out wackadoodle. "Buyer" beware when you attend an independent church.

....and some, even with Universities and Ordination processes turn out extreme wackadoodles with the full backing of the denomination behind them. ;) 

 

 

The Foursquare church was founded by Amy Semple Mcpherson  who was ordained with the Assemblies of God, but due to a few different issues: Her divorce, owning the church she built in her own name (as a single woman), and some would speculate the treatment of women in general, she left the AG. The Foursquare church and Assemblies of God are very similar. 

 

In the AG, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and to be baptized by the Holy Spirit are two separate things. One occurs at salvation the other is a special gift that is evidenced by the INITIAL......PHYSICAL evidence of speaking in tongues. This speaking in tongues in required of leadership. If there is any doubt about the AG's detailed fact finding on how many speak in tongues I would suggest reading this recent article. http://www.christianpost.com/news/assemblies-of-god-leader-denies-that-speaking-in-tongues-is-in-decline-in-pentecostal-churches-103613/

 

The AG broke ties with all of the Holiness movement churches over the Oneness issue. The Apostolic churches were too extreme for me so I know less about them. 

 

 

For my children's sake I do occasionally miss the music, but every time I try to go back to some of the artists we listened to I cannot get past the theology. :(

 

 

Edited: I do agree with Milovany in that I think it would be accurate to describe churches like the assemblies of God, Foursquare, and similar as Charismatic....while saving Pentecostal for the more extreme Apostolic Holiness ones. The only problem would be with AG which still contains both ends of the spectrum. 

[milovany]

I have to confess, I am having a hard time wrapping my head around a Christian faith that encourages people to pray for wealth.

 

It's so that  they can bless others (for the most part).  Yes, there can be nice homes and cars, but they also can be very generous with their funds.  I was on both the giving and receiving end of that generosity many times when I was of this persuasion (but it can also be said that I have been both generous and received generosity outside of it as well. Our financial situation actually improved after we left Word of Faith). 

 

Take a look at the Scriptures on this page to see some of where the prosperity proponents are coming from. It's not totally off the wall -- the Scriptures are there.  It all depends on interpretation and if you trust who's doing the interpreting. 

[Anne in CA]

Actually, I don't think too many prosperity teachers encourage you to pray for wealth, they encourage you to GIVE for wealth, lol. You are generally encouraged to pray for the state of the world, for your leaders both religious and political, for revival, and for your friends and neighbors and coworkers with problems that need prayer. Even the most hard core prosperity teachers that I have heard do not encourage prayer for prosperity, they focus on prayer for other things and giving to get. There are many shades of that, and some are more palatable than others.

 

My family has enjoyed a lot of prosperity that we have accrued as we have given generously and received blessings. I do not view giving as an actual equation where if Anne gives X Anne will receive X squared. I don't believe the Bible is full of formulas like that that can be exploited.

[TranquilMind]

We (as in my family) refer to similar churches as "get up and dance" chuches, lol. 

 

Are speaking in tongues done regularly during the service? Loudly, up front? Quietly, off to the side, in one's seat?  How distracting is it to others around? Do you have to have interpreters?  If I were to go to a Foursquare Church, how likely would it be that I would notice it?

I love that.    We actually attended a large predominantly African-American church one time (we are white).  They actually invited us to sit up front, which clearly seemed to be a thing they did for visitors.  The choir and EVERYONE seemed to know the choreography.  It was way cooler than just "dance".  They had steps and they all knew them!  We didn't know them and muddled through as best we could.  It was still fun though.   I like how interactive it is.  The preacher says a phrase or two and people respond, "Preach it, Brother!"  and "Amen!". 

 

I grew up in a church where the Pastor spoke for 20-40 minutes and the room was dead silent.  The old men fell asleep.  That didn't seem like how it was supposed to be to me, even as a young child.

[TranquilMind]

In the Foursquare Church you are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit  even if you do not speak in tongues. I don't know about other churches.  .

Every church I have ever been to taught this.  Speaking in tongues is just one of the 9 gifts of the spirit.  A gift is given to you; you have to accept it to have it, so to speak.

So it was more along the line that you "get" to speak in tongues (and/or operate in other gifts, as the Spirit wills) not that you "have" to speak in tongues to accomplish salvation. 

[TracyP]

Ok, so here is a question for you.

 

Does your particular brand of Pentecostal believe that you don't really have the holy spirt in your life if you don't speak in tongues?

 

I was raised AoG. I am using the term raised loosely - I rarely attended church, but received a lot of religious instruction from my grandparents, who were AoG. So I don't claim to speak for all AoG. I was taught that you did not have the holy spirit and you were not saved if you did not speak in tongues at the time when you were born again.

 

My grandmother was as Apostolic Pentecostal and I was always scared to death to go with her when I was little.  All those people babbling and shouting and fainting (it wasn't a real service if some woman did have a fit of the vapors and collapse) were just too much for me.

 

What exactly is "tongues?"  I mean, is it some secret language or are people just babbling?  

 

My grandparents say it is a special language that can be translated, although it doesn't have to be and isn't always translated. God always understands it.

 

I have spoken in tongues and I feel like it was just babbling. It seemed very spiritual at the time - I was praying the "born again" prayer with a large group at a Christian teens conference. Everybody around me was praying in tongues and next thing you know I was too. I was able to do it again later, but it felt like an imitation of what I did the first time.

 

I know others who say that speaking in tongues is actually the ability to speak in a foreign language without knowing it. Like a missionary in Mexico might have people coming up to her saying they were incredibly moved by her words. She doesn't understand how they understood, but her friend says, "Why not? You have been speaking in Spanish." The missionary says, "I don't speak Spanish." She was speaking in tongues.

[Anne in CA]

We (as in my family) refer to similar churches as "get up and dance" chuches, lol. 

 

Are speaking in tongues done regularly during the service? Loudly, up front? Quietly, off to the side, in one's seat?  How distracting is it to others around? Do you have to have interpreters?  If I were to go to a Foursquare Church, how likely would it be that I would notice it?

In a Foursquare church different pastors put different focus on when the gifts of the spirit are played out during a church service. Some pastors would be so discrete about tongues that you might never notice it.

 

At my church in Oregon one of my neighbors told me that she loved attending my church but that she wanted to go to a spirit filled church. I had to explain to her that we WERE spirit filled, but that the pastor kept speaking in tongues, prophesy, and laying on of hands for healing on Wed with the regular attenders. Partly he did that so as not to weird out visitors and partly he did that to keep weekend services running smoothly and on time. But on Wed after worship he would ask if anyone had a word in tongues and then we would have someone else interpret and we would pray for healing for people and "Pentecostal Dogpile" people who needed prayer.

[ThisIsTheDay]

Every church I have ever been to taught this.  Speaking in tongues is just one of the 9 gifts of the spirit.  A gift is given to you; you have to accept it to have it, so to speak.

So it was more along the line that you "get" to speak in tongues (and/or operate in other gifts, as the Spirit wills) not that you "have" to speak in tongues to accomplish salvation. 

 

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

That was really funny!!

 

[MeAndTheBoys]

ya'll are so into asking questions about the tongues--I have a more basic question.  We have a lot of "Holiness churches" in our area.  I notice that the women are all distinctly dressed, in long skirts and modest shirts, no makeup, long hair.  While the men seem to be dressed in any old way.  What exactly dictates the dress code other than modesty and perhaps adorned with grace, etc?  Are there any dress guidelines for men?

 

And where do ladies learn all the pretty bunwork that they style their hair into?  I guess if there are so many ladies in the community and congregation with long, long, long hair, it may just be information passed around between family members and friends.  I like my hair longer and often wonder how I could learn to let my hair be my adornment :) but I don't have any styling ideas.

 

Okay, there are my deep, deep questions :) 

 

Betsy

[Anne in CA]

These questions will have to be answered by a Holiness person, lol. I, for one, sometimes see women ahead of me in church who have their thong underwear showing. Pet peeve of mine I will admit. 

[MeAndTheBoys]

These questions will have to be answered by a Holiness person, lol. I, for one, sometimes see women ahead of me in church who have their thong underwear showing. Pet peeve of mine I will admit. 

 

Ok, that's my ignorance then--  we have a lot of Holiness and Church of God in our area, and I know they are Pentecostal--but I assumed (wrongly) that all Pentacostals had similar dress.  Learned something new!  Guess I don't really know what makes a church "Pentecostal"--will keep reading :)

 

betsy

[DawnM]

I am sorry.  I do know how they view it.  My mother got involved in this "movement" for a while and so my interpretation is a little tainted.  

 

Dawn

 

 

Welllll, "demand" isn't quite the right word (I was Word of Faith for some time).  "Believe for" is a better way to describe it.  Those with this theology don't think they're demanding anything, and they aren't. They believe that God has taught in the Bible that we can ask for things and believe for them (as long as they're good, godly things that are according to His will -- which prosperity and health are; again, to them these are Biblical things; there ARE Scriptures they can use to back up their beliefs).  So they don't demand financial increase, they ask for it and believe for it.  They may even call it forth (which may seem like a demand), but it's more like they believe it's God's will so if anything is hindering it, it needs to be have a stand of faith set against it.  Hope that makes sense. 

 

ETA - I do admit that if one read transcripts from the teachings of some of the modern WOF teachers, they might include the word "demand" as in "Don't let the devil win!  You rightfully demand what's yours in the name of Jesus!"  But the idea is that what you're asking for is also God's will, so you're not really demanding anything from Him, but instead you're demanding the devil to let go of what's yours. 

 

[greenvneck]

Oh, wow. I was just about to post a huge thing about growing up Apostolic Pentecostal and I seriously felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I know this thread isn't really current, but now I will see further posts. I have a LOT to talk about growing up in that faith. It's the most important part of me and my family being atheists.

[greenvneck]

 I notice that the women are all distinctly dressed, in long skirts and modest shirts, no makeup, long hair.  While the men seem to be dressed in any old way.  What exactly dictates the dress code other than modesty and perhaps adorned with grace, etc?  Are there any dress guidelines for men?

 

 

 

Men should wear pants and a shirt. That's it. Any old way they interpret it. Isn't that nice?

[greenvneck]

I just wanted to be included in the other ask about religions topics. I really would answer questions, but mostly I just wanted the title, lol.

 

I grew up in an Apostolic Pentecostal house. I thought I would be okay looking at this thread but I am seriously hyperventilating. It SUCKED. I want to say so many expletives but then I feel like an infant for how much it still makes me cry and I hate myself for living like this as a child, thinking it was normal. I am 40 years old and I am crying just thinking about what it was like as a teenager, being kicked out of my house forever because my mom caught me wearing a (forbidden, of course) pair of jeans as a 17yo. I am literally bawling, just thinking of the stupid stuff we had to endure.

[Garga]

I grew up in an Apostolic Pentecostal house. I thought I would be okay looking at this thread but I am seriously hyperventilating. It SUCKED. I want to say so many expletives but then I feel like an infant for how much it still makes me cry and I hate myself for living like this as a child, thinking it was normal. I am 40 years old and I am crying just thinking about what it was like as a teenager, being kicked out of my house forever because my mom caught me wearing a (forbidden, of course) pair of jeans as a 17yo. I am literally bawling, just thinking of the stupid stuff we had to endure.

Kicked you out at 17 for wearing jeans? Forever!?! That's horrible. I would cry too. That was wrong of them to do and doubly wrong for them to blame such horrid behavior on God. What a crock.

[milovany]

I'm sorry.

[greenvneck]

Kicked you out at 17 for wearing jeans? Forever!?! That's horrible. I would cry too. That was wrong of them to do and doubly wrong for them to blame such horrid behavior on God. What a crock.

Guess what my mom wears now? Pants! Shorts! I can't even bring the subject up to her even though my entire childhood/teen life was me being made fun of because I had to wear skirts or dresses. Taunts every day, things I don't even want to admit now as an adult because it is EMBARRASSING and I wonder what sort of parents would subject their children to such ridiculous stuff. And that's just the clothing. The rest of it is just over-the-top ridiculousness.

[Alenee]

Guess what my mom wears now? Pants! Shorts! I can't even bring the subject up to her even though my entire childhood/teen life was me being made fun of because I had to wear skirts or dresses. Taunts every day, things I don't even want to admit now as an adult because it is EMBARRASSING and I wonder what sort of parents would subject their children to such ridiculous stuff. And that's just the clothing. The rest of it is just over-the-top ridiculousness.

 

I wonder if your parents were caught up in the same thing my neighbor's parents were into.  She was worried as all get out when I decided to homeschool because of her own history.  Yours sounds a lot like what she described and she looks back on those memories with disdain.

[Alenee]

I was somewhat raised in a charismatic church but judging by the responses it probably wouldn't have been considered "Pentacostal".  We had the dancing in the aisles and the, "Thank you, Jesus!" after different things, the dogpile prayers at the front of the sanctuary... but I remember distinctly the one time I heard a woman speaking in tongues.  I was sitting with my Sunday school teacher and she whispered to me that what the woman was doing was NOT okay.  It was so burned on my brain that when I began attending a bible study (church service) on Wednesday nights while my girls attended classes there and heard someone speaking in tongues, I delved deeply into a study about speaking in tongues.

 

My question on that note, is it normal or outlying to find a charismatic church that doesn't support speaking in tongues?

[Anne in CA]

I have never belonged to a church where people did not speak in tongues. I do think most Pentecostal/ Charismatic churches would consider it standard operating procedure, lol. I have never belonged to a church where you "had to" or were not saved if you did not.