Article: Poor Charismaniacal Excuse Making

"Acts 2:6 clearly states that "at this sound the multitude came together..." What sound? The sound of the manifestation of Holy Spirit outpouring. The unusual signs and wonders that accompanied God's entrance into the Earth realm was a sound from Heaven that drew the multitudes." -- Larry Sparks

No Larry. The text clearly says they were already there in one place. Yes they became focused when sounds from heaven emanated and suddenly they all heard the same message in their won native language. That is not a weird reaction however.

"Sadly, many of us sanitize our expectation of what God will do because we are afraid of offending the "others mocking." Yes, what the Holy Spirit was doing was weird. It was weird because it was new. It was weird because it was unusual. It was weird because it was supernatural. Likewise, it's weird when people fall down when they are prayed for (John 18:5-6, Rev. 1:17). It's weird when people cry or laugh, seemingly uncontrollably (Ps. 16:11; Luke 10:21). It's weird when people shake or tremble in response to the Spirit's touch (Jer. 23:9; Hab. 3:16)."

Here is the full throated defense of everything Charismaniacal. The first set of twisted scriptures is in relation to the Charismaniacal experience of being slain in the spirit. The second set seems to try and defend holy laughter and the final set appears to defend the spasmodic uncontrolled spasms we saw at places such as Brownsville. Now remember beloved, there are zero scriptures to support any of these three false spiritual manifestations so let's see how badly he mangles the Bible to prop up his false theology:

They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. -- John 18: 5-6 (ESV)

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. -- Revelation 1: 17 (ESV)

This is so horribly transparent I cannot believe Sparks even tried to go here. First of all, being slain is always a manifestation of falling backwards at the laying on of hands accompanied with prayer. In both of these cases, the people fell at His feet. Secondly, the first group of people were not saved! They were not followers of Jesus! They were arresting Him! Yet Sparks is trying to sell the notion that they represent people who are slain in the spirit in modern Charismania? Seriously? Thirdly and perhaps most glaring -- no one was being prayed for in these scenarios! So is it weird that people fall down when being prayed for? Yes because it is unbiblical. The guards were not being prayed for and neither was John in the Revelation verse.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. -- Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will -- Luke 10: 21 (ESV)

Yes it is weird when people laugh or cry uncontrollably during church because it is not biblical. If you have not seen holy laughter please visit YouTube and look up Toronto Blessing. These people were beyond uncontrollable. What is weird is to try and justify this demonic outpouring by quoting Psalm 16 which just speaks about fullness of joy -- not losing your mind. If that was not insulting enough he then tries to use Luke 10 to pretend that these are things we just cannot understand because God is secretly hiding them from us. Whatever. Holy laughter is one of the most obvious and blatantly demonic manifestations in the history of the church.

Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the Lord and because of his holy words. -- Jeremiah 23: 9 (ESV)

I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. -- Habakkuk 3: 16 (ESV)

This last set of verses is supposed to excuse the Kundalini spirit driven spasmodic jerking we saw at Brownsville and other places. That the Holy Spirit would leave someone is such an uncontrolled state when self-control is one of His Gifts! Beloved this is the same trait in all three of these false manifestations by which we can easily dismiss them as not being from God. They all result in a loss of control. The fall backwards uncontrollably and in fact must be caught. They laugh uncontrollably or they spasm uncontrollably. God however is a God or order and self-control is one of the traits of the Holy Spirit. As for these verses? The Habakkuk verse is expressing his fear of the Lord; something desperately lacking from Larry Sparks. Habakkuk is describing how his fear makes him feel -- not about how he is in some kid of uncontrolled state. As for the Jeremiah verse read Gill's Exposition regarding this verse. Jeremiah is referring to false prophets here. When he considers what will be visited upon them by a Holy God -- his heart is broken etc. It has absolutely nothing to do with being in a state of uncontrolled spasms. It just doesn't. Sparks concludes:

"When God touches a person, it will always look weird, and there will always be those who mock it. But I can assure you, reader, that the Lord is more interested in how we minister to the multitudes than react to the mockers. The last thing we need to be doing is building a Christian culture that seeks to appease the few mockers while neglecting the desperate multitudes. The reason we seek to appease the mockers is because they can be vocal, loud, and reputation-killing. So be it. If the appearance of our reputation is more important than His, we need to repent for idolatry. He's far more concerned with His reputation than ours. Historically, God has intentionally sought to preserve the accurate representation of His namesake. Signs, wonders and weird manifestations have never threatened God's reputation--if anything, they show an on-looking world that the God of the Bible is alive, well, and moving in the Earth. This reality demands a response." -- Larry Sparks

For the record beloved, while I may have used hyperbole for making the points more obvious I do not seek to mock this because it is far too serious. I am merely holding a Bible up to it to test what spirit it is from. What is sad and interesting here is Larry Sparks thinks it is ok if your infatuation with false manifestations destroys your very reputation. While it is true that God is more concerned about His reputation Sparks fails to connect how as ambassadors to Christ, ours must be impeccable as well. That is not idolatry but biblical truth. Paul tells Timothy he must guard two things. His life and his doctrine. Put another way -- his reputation and what he teaches. What more fitting way to end this discussion about a man who seemingly does not care about either. The God of the Bible is alive and well. It is a shame so many are willing to leave the Bible behind however.

Reverend Anthony Wade -

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