A biblical look at the abuses of the gifts within Charismania...

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What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.1Corinthians 14:26-33 (ESV)

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Usually during the season of Pentecost Sunday we start to see defenses of Charismania pop up everywhere. Cessationists and continuationists start sharpening their swords for their annual dance about how the other side is so wrong when in reality, they both are. I believe any sane reading of the bible cannot support cessationism. It simply does not pass the commonsense test. The above verses were written by the Apostle Paul in 54 AD. They are just some of the detailed writings from Paul, describing how we are to have church service. Now, a cessationist believes the gifts, described in these key verses, ceased in operation after the death of John, in 99 AD. We all believe in divine inspiration, so we know it was actually God who wrote these detailed instructions for Christian church services. Why in the world would God do that if it would only be relevant for 45 years and during that time few would have these Pauline letters to begin with? Why would God do this when He knows full well that these letters would make it into the canon of scripture, but the bible would not be decided for hundreds of more years? Simply put. He wouldn't. That said, I understand why people want to become cessationists and that is because the gifts are largely abused today and utilized by scam artists and charlatans. So, the continuationist is correct that the gifts are for today but mostly wrong in how they manifest them. The above linked article is from J Lee Grady. I have always respected much of what Grady has written but have always been troubled by his affiliation with Charisma News and the extreme elements of Charismania. Let us reason through his article on Pentecost and the gifts to sort through what the problems are with the Charismata today.

"A few years ago I was invited to speak at a conference in California. During one of my messages, the Lord showed me that a woman in the auditorium was struggling with infertility. When I made the announcement, a young woman in the back of the room burst into tears.

I didn't know this woman had endured three miscarriages or that she was depressed because she feared never having a baby. She came to the front of the auditorium with her mother by her side, and I briefly prayed for her. There was nothing sensational about that moment; all I remember was asking Jesus to break the spirit of barrenness. A year later I returned to that city, and when the pastor picked me up at the airport he said: "I forgot to tell you that a woman in my church wants to talk to you. She said last year you prayed for her to have a baby!" I learned that this woman went home from the conference and got pregnant a month later. She now had the baby, a girl named Esperanza, and she wanted me to meet her. That was not the first or last time I've received a "word of knowledge" while ministering. It is one of the nine supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. But I've often wondered what would have happened if I had ignored the Holy Spirit's promptings during that conference in California. Would Esperanza's mother have received her miracle?" - J. Lee Grady

I will assume Grady is telling the truth. This is a great story and testimony. I am curious what "the Lord showed me" means. Let me explain how this is also a template for the problem with this gift expression today. God is not vague. If God wanted to use Grady to show this woman the gift of knowledge, He would have specified which woman it was. Let's be fair here, Grady called out to the entire room claiming someone there had a problem that 26% of women who could get pregnant suffer from. There was a high likelihood that SOMEONE would answer, especially in a Charismatic service. We see this nonsense all the time in the false apostate church system. The false prophet claims God is showing them someone with back pain, or diabetes. If no one answers they just blame it on someone being too scared to admit it was them. So, while this nice story is wrapped in a bow most similar scenarios are entirely fabricated.

"One simple word of knowledge changed that family. But what if I had let fear stop me from flowing in the miraculous? What if I had just decided to stick to my notes, preach a nice sermon and play it safe? I'm afraid that's what many of us are doing today. We say we believe the Bible, but when it comes to the Holy Spirit's gifts, we are either too timid to step out in faith, or we don't believe we need miracles anymore. If we really want to be a people of Pentecost, the spiritual gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 should be manifested regularly through our lives. Few Christians today have even heard of these gifts; fewer have seen them in operation. We need a refresher course in the ways the Holy Spirit works:" - J. Lee Grady

I am not sure if Grady is really suggesting that God would not have figured out what to do if he was disobedient. This trespasses into the area of God needing us and let me assure you - He does not. He does not need J. Lee Grady to give a word of knowledge anymore than he needs to me to explain why it could not be true. Because He is God, all alone, by Himself. God sees all time, so He knows full well that Grady was going to respond and thus give this woman a reason to believe. The problem remains that the vast majority of people expressing the gifts are simply dishonest. The regularity of the gifts is determined by the Holy Spirit I might add, not J. Lee Grady. Let us continue into the gifts:

"1. The word of wisdom. God can give us a supernatural solution to a problem that cannot be solved by man's ideas. We desperately need this gift so we can stop relying on man's carnal ways and instead discover heaven's answers." - J. Lee Grady

The least discussed gift, along with faith, wisdom is desperately needed. I refer to it as someone who has the eternal insight into a problem and not the typical carnal solution. A personal example is my old church had a bad reputation decades earlier for taking loans from congregants and then not repaying. My pastor had nothing to do with this but still felt God wanted him to pay off the debt and restore people's faith. So, we collected separately for that for a year and many people came back to the faith because of it. The largest note holder absolved the church of the debt because they just wanted the acknowledgement that it was owed. I would consider this solution to be a word of wisdom, either given to my pastor or by my pastor.

"2. The word of knowledge. The Holy Spirit will sometimes reveal information that could not have been known by man. Just as Jesus knew the Samaritan woman had been married five times (see John 4:17-18), the Holy Spirit can reveal the secrets of the heart so people will listen to God's truth." - J. Lee Grady

Jesus did not walk up to a crowd of women and claim God showed Him that someone had been married five times. He was already speaking to the woman in question. So, if we are speaking to someone and God shows us something we shouldn't know, that would be a word of knowledge. Oh, that knowledge is gleaned without the aid of a smartphone like Shawn Bolz does.

"3. The gift of faith. This is not the normal kind of faith we need daily. The gift of faith is a special ability to believe for big things. It required a gift of faith for the prophet Elijah to pray for rain after more than three years of drought (see James 5:17-18). We can experience this level of power today through the Holy Spirit

4. The gift of healing. Paul told the Corinthians that there are actually gifts (plural) of healing. I have met people who have a special gift to pray for hearing problems; others have faith to pray for those with cancer; in my own ministry I have seen many people healed from depression and the effects of abuse. God is still in the business of healing bodies, minds and broken hearts.

- J. Lee Grady

We do tend to give up too easily. I do not see the gift of faith manifest in churches today. Or perhaps we do not do a good job of identifying it. As for healing, I could write a book. The first problem is with the belief in divine healing, which says God MUST heal us. This position is accepted by most Charismatics, so I would be curious Grady's take. It of course heresy as it usurps the sovereignty of God. That aside, many fake healers are polluting the pulpits today. Benny Hinn's suit coat does not have the anointing to heal anyone. Most false healers are experts at emotional manipulation. It is a shame because God definitely still heals and can use us if He sees fit to but there is so much false in this area that needs to be purged first. I know so many people whose faith is shipwrecked because an itinerant healer promised them God was going to heal them if they had faith and when the healing doesn't come - they blame God.

"5. The gift of miracles. The book of Acts is a series of miracles"so why would we ever assume God pulled the plug on that power? He still opens prison doors, breaks chains, releases angels, opens blind eyes, changes weather patterns and delivers people of demons. If we remove the miraculous from our Christianity, we portray a puny God to the world. He is a miracle worker!" - J. Lee Grady

Yeah. No. When we portray God as a schizophrenic welcher of what He allegedly promised we paint a far worse imaginary God. Look, God can do whatever He wants with His creation so technically he could change weather patterns but why are you bringing it up? Have you seen the lunatic Charismatics who have prayed against hurricanes only to then watch the hurricane make landfall and devastate countless amounts of people? Do you think this brings glory to God or reproach to His name? Why are you bringing up angels? I have only seen mockery in Charismania when it comes to angels. Jennifer LeClaire claimed to have the power to release the angels of abundant harvest but only after she published her book of the same title. C'mon Lee. Bill Johnson brags about angel feathers falling all around him in a diner one night. These are not miracles, and they distract from the genuine miracles God does do. Does God deliver people from demons? Sure, but not the way modern Charismania portrays it. Just today I saw another article on Charisma News from the "demon slayers" who think that we have to discern if someone is laughing uncontrollably or shaking violently if the manifestation is of God or not! Spoiler alert! It is not!. As if these could be true manifestations of the spirit of God. We should be about the father's business, but we have to separate from the charlatans that steal the gifts for their own personal gain.

"6. Prophecy. God loves to speak to His people, and He wants to use us to relay His message. I consider the gift of prophecy "supernatural encouragement" because it always edifies the person who receives a word from the Lord"even if it is corrective. Will you allow God to use you to speak His direct message to others?" - J. Lee Grady

I like that description because prophecy now is contained to scripture. There are no extra-biblical revelations. God did not forget to tell us something that He is now conveying through Mike Bickle. That is absurd. The problem is that the false prophet network pretends the rules have changed. That they can be wrong and still be a prophet. What is worse is that most are trained to empty themselves through transcendental meditation and assign the first thought into their wickedly deceitful heart as coming directly from God. That is not prophecy. It is also not prophecy to speak vague future fragments over believers. That is called clairvoyance. Most prophecy today in charismatic circles is nothing more than psychic parlor tricks.

"7. Discernment (or "discerning of spirits"). When the Holy Spirit gave His gifts, He also provided a way for us to tell the difference between God's work and a demonic counterfeit. Not all that is supernatural is from God, so we need discernment to protect us from false prophecy and occultic fakery. We also need this gift to set people free from demonic bondage." - J. Lee Grady

This is probably the most needed and less encouraged gift of the spirit. No one in churchianity likes calling out what is false. The perfect example is Dr. Michael Brown who wrote a great book denouncing antinomianism but then refuses to call Joseph Prince a false teacher! When Jennifer LeClaire declared there was a sneaky squid spirit stalking her, Brown invited her on his radio program to give her space to defend herself from all the righteous criticism she had received. Grady almost has it right, but we really need this gift to set the church free from demonic bondage. I remember one night at my old church they had an itinerant preacher on Friday night who made everyone come up and throw their offering money on the altar. I remember watching in horror, discerning this was obviously demonic, as people lined up to throw their money at his feet. Church today needs a discernment ministry to watch that the apostate influences in this world do not infiltrate the body of Christ.

"8. Speaking in tongues. There are "various kinds of tongues" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:10. Believers can have their own private prayer language, but some people are also gifted to speak in tongues in a church meeting. I also know of situations where Christians received a special ability to speak in a foreign language so they could communicate the gospel.

9. Interpretation of tongues. Similar to prophecy, this gift can relay a message from God that was spoken in a foreign or angelic tongue. Linguistic barriers don't limit our God; He loves the entire world and He knows all languages!" - J. Lee Grady

Here is where most Charismatics depart from scripture. Grady is right that there is a private prayer language and a gift for the church. The problem is the gift for the church is foreign languages. Without stating it, he is advocating for the gibberish tongues as the church gift and oh by the way, it could also be foreign languages. Wrong. It was foreign languages, and it still is today. We of course do not see this much in America anymore because the gibberish is what is taught. Similar to prophecy, we are taught to empty ourselves and just allow the flow of baby babble. Then usually the person waits for someone to pretend to translate and if it does not come, they translate themselves! Why be biblical if the entire manifestation isn't anyway? So, does tongues still exist? Of course, but it is the foreign known languages. Many early missionaries testified that they were given this gift to be able to communicate with the indigenous peoples they encountered. I shudder to think what might have happened if they approached them with "ashondamambadadondra."

"The apostle Paul told the Corinthians: "Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts" (1 Cor. 14:1a). God wants His gifts flowing through us, but He never forces us to use them. He is looking for availability, courage and surrender. As we prepare to celebrate Pentecost on June 5, please allow the Holy Spirit to jumpstart His power in your life in a fresh way." - J. Lee Grady

The bottom-line beloved is the true gifts are sorely lacking in churchianity today. The purpose driven models do not encourage them because there is little money in it. Regardless, there is a showy spirit in Charismania that demands people look at individuals instead of God. People cry out vague warnings and call it prophecy. They spit out indiscernible babble and call it tongues. All it really does is shift the focus of the service to the individual. To show they are more spiritual than everyone else. If you do not have this baptism yet, then you are treated as spiritually inferior. I was in a charismatic service once and counted 17 active flaggers during one song! They obscured the worship leader to the point we thought she was raptured. God is rarely the star in a Charismatic service. That is because His gifts are largely abused or ignored. There is no wisdom. There is very little knowledge. There is virtually no discernment. This Pentecost I pray we realize this road is unsustainable. It is however prophesied about in scripture. It is the broad path that many follow and it only leads to destruction.

Reverend Anthony Wade - May 30, 2023

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.