A look at the distortions of the Holy Spirit practiced within Charismania...

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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

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I was raised Catholic, so my feelings of guilt and condemnation were taught to me. By the time I was an adult I was what we called a non-practicing Catholic. Basically, that meant we believed in God. We believed in Jesus. We just couldn't believe He wanted us to get up early on a Sunday to go to church. In 2002 I was brought to a Charismatic church. We arrived in the middle of worship and I leaned over to my friend who brought me and asked what was with all the singing and dancing. She responded that they were happy to which I replied, in church? I was saved that day, radically changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. I know this not because of the sinner's prayer and I cannot even remember the sermon topic. I know because God dealt with me that day with my sin and nothing has been the same since. Perfect? Hardly. I am amazed when God uses me for anything. The new journey started that day however and has lasted through this moment. Growing up from spiritual infancy, over the past 20 years, discernment has been a demanding taskmaster that has forced me to always reexamine my beliefs in light of scripture. At every turn when faced with my personal experience and the truth of God's word, I had to side with His word. Why? Because my heart is wickedly deceitful above all things and while I may have no problem lying to myself, God never will. I say this as a backdrop to a frank discussion about the Holy Spirit, the often-misunderstood member of the Trinity. So, let us reason again together through the above linked article from J. Lee Grady and let us see what we can learn.

"When I was filled with the Holy Spirit many years ago, I knew my Southern Baptist mother probably wouldn't be happy about my Pentecostal experience. She and I shared the same core beliefs in Jesus and salvation, or course. But I knew that some Christian denominations don't encourage believers to be baptized in the Holy Spirit or to practice the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament. So I didn't share my testimony with her for a few years. I'll never forget the day my mother learned of my experience. After she told me a story from her childhood, in which she witnessed some Christians "rolling in the sawdust" at a backwoods Pentecostal meeting, she widened her eyes and asked: "You don't speak in tongues, do you, Lee?" "Yes, mama, I do," I said. I didn't apologize for my experience, even though she was visibly horrified. And I reminded her that I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit while praying at our Southern Baptist church in suburban Atlanta. I first spoke in tongues on Baptist property!" - J. Lee Grady

I can commiserate with Grady's pain here. I do not remember how long it was before I told my mother that I was born again. Catholics, like Baptists, do not always encourage such conversion, let alone understand the gifts of the spirit. As I would discover through the years however, the Charismatics did not understand the gifts either. The problem most on the outside do no not get is the "rolling in the sawdust" issue and while it took many years to realize - they are right. The gibberish as tongues is problematic enough because it is not biblical but to this day the defense of the indefensible destroys the Charismatic witness. For example, I assume Grady would defend the Toronto outpouring, which was clearly demonic. The notion that the Holy Spirit would force believers to roll around on the ground, laughing uncontrollably, while making animal noises is unbelievably ridiculous. One of the fruits of the spirit, listed in the key verses, is self-control! Most Charismatics to this day defend the Kundalini spirit outpouring at Pensacola where the Holy Spirit was blamed for violent shaking and convulsing. Or they defend Todd Bentley's ministry where he said the Holy Spirit would tell him to kick people in the face to impart healing. These are just the most public examples and when you are forced to face these truths you must conclude that like Catholicism and the Baptist church, false teaching is prevalent. We must use the indwelt Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, not to laugh like a lunatic.

"Since then I have shared my story with countless people, written books about my testimony and prayed for hundreds of people to be filled with the Spirit. But I've also been shunned, rejected, misjudged, ridiculed and treated with suspicion by brothers and sisters in Christ because I embraced an experience that brought me closer to God. I've learned not to take these reactions personally. I love God's family, with all of its flaws and divisions. I don't just love Christians who agree with me. I love Christians who think I'm deceived or even dangerous. Since love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, it would be counterproductive if I lashed out in anger at a brother in Christ. But why are so many Christians afraid of the Holy Spirit? From my observations, there are six reasons:" - J. Lee Grady

Fair enough but the core problem remains. Not everything Grady embraces is true or biblical. His runs his writing for example on Charisma News, a virtual cesspool of heresy. His articles stand next to Jennifer LeClaire's sneaky squid spirit and angels of abundant harvest. They are approved for publication by Stephen Strang, a notorious NAR dominionist. Grady recently wrote defending the wildly heretical Chosen TV series, produced by Catholic priests and Mormons. It is a shame because there are many things Grady writes about that are correct. His approach here leaning into the fruit of love for example is spot on. Too bad he cannot lean into self-control for the facets of Charismania that are clearly out of control. Notice here his premise. If people choose to not experience the Holy Spirit as he does, they must be afraid. Never considering that he just may be wrong. Let's see where the chips fall.

"1. Religious tradition. Many of the hardline Jewish people in Jesus' day couldn't handle it when He touched lepers, healed a bleeding woman or talked to Samaritans because He was breaking old religious rules. Tradition prevents us from being open to anything new, even if God is the one providing the new path. Many Christians have been taught that the spiritual gifts in the New Testament don't happen anymore, so they have built-in skepticism." - J. Lee Grady

The fact that some people have been taught cessationism and others continuationism, is correct but one always needs to be open for what the spirit will teach us. Someone once asked my opinion and I did some research and came to the conclusion through scripture that the bible does not support cessationism. It just does not pass the smell test. That said, neither does holy laughter. Just because something is new doesn't make it right either. The fact that Jesus touched lepers does not mean that the Holy Spirit makes us bark like a dog while worshiping God.

"2. Fear of the supernatural. The book of Acts is full of accounts of healings, angelic visitations, doors opening by themselves and demons coming out""accompanied by screams. I'm not sure why a Christian wouldn't want to see such miracles today. Maybe they watched too many horror movies about demons? Fear can cause someone to live in a box of limitation. I hope more believers today will ask the Holy Spirit to do His supernatural work through them, because we need New Testament-style miracles now more than ever!" - J. Lee Grady

To be honest I see this less. I can see religious tradition making people uncomfortable but a fear of the supernatural? Nope. What Grady is missing is that most people discern that the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit and something being supernatural does not mean it must be from God. For example, I do not believe that Jennifer LeClaire can release squadrons of angels for personal harvest in your life even though she wrote an entire book on the matter. I believe in angels because the bible tells me so, but I do not believe when charlatans like Bill Johnson claim angel feathers started falling all around him in a local diner. I believe God heals. I have seen Him do so powerfully. I do not however believe Todd White's leg growing scam or itinerant healing evangelists who never seem to go to a hospital to show off the power of God they pretend to have. So, most Christians I know would love to see powerful moves of the spirit but have no interest in the false signs and lying wonders of the NAR.

"3. Dependence on logic and reason. Many Christians today have built their faith completely on an intellectual foundation. They love apologetics and eloquent sermons, but they forgot that the apostle Paul""who was a masterful scholar""actually put more emphasis on the subjective realm of the Holy Spirit than on scholarship. Paul wrote: "...my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Cor. 2:4). God gave you a mind, but if you continually lean on your own understanding you will limit Him!" - J. Lee Grady

It is always a fine line to walk. Skeptics would argue that most Charismatics leave logic and reason at the door but that is no more biblical than what they complain about. Faith is not checking your brain at the concierge. The spirit will lead us into all truth but we still must understand what is being shown to us. Paul's reference here is that he did not come to them with eloquent speechcraft, which was desperately sought after and worshiped in his age. The demonstration of the power of the spirit does not mean convulsing demonically or slapping people to impart healing. So, I agree we must always be open for the display of the power of the Holy Ghost but issue a warning of caution to not assign every bizarre movement to Him personally.

"4. Fear of talking to others about God. When people are baptized in the Holy Spirit, they are filled with boldness and begin to share their faith openly. This can be terrifying to someone who is timid or introverted, so they naturally pull back when there is an opportunity to receive more of God's power. God has not given us a spirit of timidity (2 Tim. 1:7), but many Christians are satisfied to live in timidity's control." - J. Lee Grady

Again, I agree partially but I think Grady misses the boat on the reason. People are not afraid of the Holy Spirit but of the fears and anxieties they carry from this world. As a former sufferer of anxiety, I can tell you that knowing perfect love casts out all fear may not be enough to practice it in real time. I agree that most Christians are deathly afraid of witnessing but most of that has to do with how poorly they are taught. God did not make all evangelists. We witness first with our lives. Too many churched folk run around asking people to say sinner's prayers with them so they can check the box that they "led someone to Christ." It does not work that way. Grady is right and fear/anxiety is a silent killer in the church today that excuses the sorcery of pharmacotherapy because they just do not know how to deal with people who are struggling with these issues. To say however that it is all a fear of talking to others about God misses the boat entirely.

"5. Unresolved emotional wounds. I've prayed with many Christians who have endured sexual abuse, parental neglect, violence, divorce or other forms of dysfunction in relationships. Sometimes people can be so emotionally crippled by life that they can't open their hearts to the Holy Spirit's transforming power. They want the Spirit to heal them, but they must be lovingly coaxed out of their hiding places." - J. Lee Grady

I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment. Many people are trapped by their past and need pastoral level help to begin to see a new future. Teaching them to laugh and roll around will not heal these deep wounds. Temporary fake laughing is not joy. Telling them that the must speak incoherently or else they do not have a full measure of the power of the spirit is also not helpful. Tongues, slain in the spirit or false prophecies are not spiritual merit badges. They are fake teachings that derail the manifestation of the true power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.

"6. Fear of full surrender. This is perhaps the most common reason why many followers of Jesus don't want to swim in the deeper waters of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit-filled life requires a total surrender to God's will. We must be empty if we want to be filled with Him. We must be able to say, "Not my will, but Yours be done," or else He cannot work in us. We must give God an unqualified yes." - J. Lee Grady

Yeah, no. This does however brilliantly display one of the most pervasive problems with Charismania - the over-spiritualization of everything. Everything that happens in our lives are not secret coded messages from God. Sometimes that swirl in your coffee just looks like Jesus to you. It doesn't mean the Lord visited you this morning. If you live in New York and the car in front of you has Pennsylvania license plates, that is not the Lord giving you "confirmation" about your desire to move to Pennsylvania. I have known many spiritual men and pastors in my time and have yet to find anyone "totally surrendered to God's will." Our flesh will always be our flesh. I have seen plenty of Charismatics however play the totally surrendered role. They run several ministries, lead a small home group, pray the loudest, go on every missionary trip they can, and always go up for altar calls to either have hands laid upon them or to help catching those slain. I remember at one church there was a group of super-spirituals who all wore Jewish Prayer Shawls for a season. I do not doubt their sincerity only what they have been taught. They have been taught this concept of total surrender. What they cannot see is this desire to be seen as totally surrendered, which is prevalent in Charismania, is the opposite of what the bible teaches about humility.

'People have admitted to me that they cannot fully surrender to God because (1) they feared He would require a job change, and they wanted financial security; (2) they didn't want to give up a romantic relationship that they knew was wrong; (3) they were afraid God would send them to a distant continent as a missionary; (4) they worried that He would require them to reconcile a broken relationship; or (5) they didn't want friends and coworkers to know they were Christians.

If you want to be saturated in the Holy Spirit as you begin this New Year, I hope you will surrender all your fears and make room for His miraculous power. You can pray like this: "Father, I renounce all fear in Jesus name. Forgive me for keeping You at an arm's distance. I want everything You have for me, even the things I don't understand. Fill me with Your Spirit, and give me boldness so I can be Your witness. And let Your signs, wonders and miracles follow me as I share the gospel of Jesus. Amen."' - J. Lee Grady

Saturated in the spirit. Purely a Charismatic notion. Look, we either have the indwelt Holy Spirit or we do not. There are not varying degrees where I am sort of saved and you are saturated. Just look at how poorly they have been taught based on what they have seen in church! They actually believe that upon salvation, God will make them quit their job, break up with their significant other, call up their relatives they haven't spoken to in decades, and apparently wear a Jesus Freak tee shirt in the office at work. Here is some deep theology. God is not your employment counselor, relationship guru, or any other nonsense you have been taught. Now that does not mean things will not change but YOU change them because YOU want to and probably not on day one. For example, do not be surprised that you may desire a different relationship with someone who shares your beliefs. Don't be surprised if you really want to go on a missions trip at some point. Not because God is making you. This is all once again the over-spiritualization by the Charismatic church. This article has highlighted that people do not fear the Holy Spirit, just the misrepresentations of Him made by the church.

Reverend Anthony Wade - January 19, 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.