Pentecostals
|
8. As you know, in some Pentecostal Churches, principally during
prayer, people fall to the ground through the laying on of the hands of the
elders or pastors. Do you accept this manifestation? They claim that the
power of God and the power of the Holy Spirit can manifest in this way? What
do you think of it? |
|
Before
answering your question, I want to say something about this fall to the
ground which occurs among some Pentecostals Churches. While people are in line
before these preachers who lay their hands on them, they lose their balance
and fall to the ground; in many cases there is somebody behind them, who
accompanies their fall to the floor (so they drop back into the arms of
strategically-placed ‘catchers’). This experience is called ‘falling under
the weight of God’s glory’, being ‘overcome by the Spirit’, and it is said
that those who fall to the floor ‘rest in the Spirit’. While people are lying
on the floor, some will be lying peacefully, some will be rolling or flailing
about, some will be moving their bodies rapidly and rhythmically and some
will be laughing hysterically. Some of these people have reported that they
felt physically anaesthetised and unable to get up. Those who fall to the
floor describe this experience as pleasurable. How is this falling to the
ground explained biblically? Those who preach the falling to the ground take
the following biblical passages to support it: |
|
● “As
the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the
appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the
likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face,
and I heard a voice of one that spake” (Ezekiel |
|
●
“Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words,
then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground” (Daniel
10:9) |
|
●
“And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore
afraid” (Matthew 17:6) |
|
●
“And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand
upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last” (Revelation |
|
● “And
as he journeyed, he came near |
|
What shall
we say then? Shall we say that this falling to the ground which occurs in
these Churches is of God? Not at all, because it is not the same phenomenon
recorded in the Bible. Let me explain to you why. Ezekiel, Daniel, the
disciples of Jesus, John and Saul of Tarsus fell to the ground after they had
a heavenly vision. |
|
Particularly,
I want you to notice that Ezekiel and Saul fell to the ground before they heard
the voice of the Lord, while Daniel and the disciples of Jesus on the holy
mountain fell to the ground when they heard a voice (as for the vision that
Daniel had, we are not told who was the heavenly being who appeared to Daniel
and spoke to him, while the voice that was heard by the disciples of Jesus on
the holy mountain was God’s voice). Concerning John; the Scripture says that
he fell to the ground not when he heard behind him a loud voice speaking with
him, but after he turned and saw the Lord. Therefore, we must not be
surprised that today those who have such visions fall to the ground, for in
these circumstances the power of God is so great that they have no strength left,
their legs begin to tremble and shake, they breathe with difficulty and it is
impossible for them to stand. So I believe that before such visions, a
believer may fall or rather will fall to the ground by the power of God. |
|
However, I
am speaking about people who fall to the ground because of visions, that is,
because of things that come from heaven, things that come from the Holy
Spirit, which are therefore unforeseeable because they can occur all of a
sudden. For you can have a heavenly vision from God while you are in the
countryside, at home, while you are praying, while you are standing, but that
is a glorious phenomenon that comes from God. |
|
But with
regard to the falling to the ground which occurs in these Churches, we have
to say that it does not come from God for people fall to the ground because
they are manipulated into falling to the ground (many of them are pushed to
the ground by the preacher, who lays his hands on their heads or their
shoulders and in the meantime he pushes them, so many think that these people
were hit by the power of God). |
|
But let us
look closely at the atmosphere which is in these meetings. People are
introduced to the idea of the blessing by means of introductory talks by the leadership
and personal testimonies by recipients of the experience, therefore the
hearers have been already told that they will fall to the ground; so those
who attend these meetings expect to fall to the ground in order to receive
the ‘Blessing’, that is, ‘to rest in the Spirit’. In some places of worship
chairs are removed before people are called forward to receive the ‘blessing’
(while many are standing to receive the blessing or have already fallen). It
really seems that those who attend these meetings must fall to the ground –
whether they like or not – , as a result, most of the people who attend these
meetings know that during the service they must expect to fall to the
ground!!! After the introductory talks by the leadership and personal
testimonies by recipients of the experience, people are called forward where
there are several pastors or elders or preachers who are ready to lay their
hands on people to let them receive ‘the blessing.’ What happens at this
point? It happens that those who lay their hands on people begin to pray.
However, it must be said that very often the laying on of hands is nothing
but a push, so suddenly those who are looking for ‘the blessing’ begin to
fall to the ground one after the other!! However, they don’t fall on their
faces as Daniel, Ezekiel and the disciples of Jesus did, but they fall to the
ground backward, and their fall is controlled by some assistants who are
behind them to help them to fall carefully especially if they have back
problems, pregnancy or fear of falling. |
|
So we
can’t help saying that these are improper behaviours, which are not supported
by the Word of God, rather they are condemned by it. This phenomenon of
‘falling’ is the result of the power of suggestion exercised over people; and
since people – included many believers – are easily influenced no wonder that
many of them fall to the ground. Therefore we cannot say that they fall to
the ground under the weight of God’s glory, but we must say that they fall to
the ground because of the craftiness of astute and unscrupulous preachers in
their deceitful scheming. It may happen also that some fall to the ground because
of the excitement caused by these unscrupulous preachers but the fact is that
they don’t fall to the ground by the power of God. So this fall to the ground
is not a manifestation of the power of God. |
|
I repeat
myself, in order to avoid misunderstandings: I am convinced that when God
manifests Himself with power, it may happen that some believers or even some
unbelievers fall to the ground. Sometimes they fall to the ground because God
strikes them for some sins they have committed. Yet, between this fall to the
ground and the fall to the ground which occurs in these churches there is a
big difference because the former occurs without any form of suggestion while
the latter occurs by the power of suggestion exercised by some unscrupulous
preachers: the former is true, while the latter is false. |
|
I want to
tell you the testimony of a sister who many years ago told me personally what
had happened to her during a meeting (in |
|
Therefore
beware of all those preachers who push people and breathe on them to make
them fall to the ground. Beware of this fashion which has became a dogma in
many churches, so many have come to the conclusion that if in a Church nobody
falls to the ground that means that the power of God is not in that Church!!! |
|
|
|
The impressions of a pastor who attended a meeting
conducted by Benny Hinn in 1995, who is a televangelist who very often makes
people fall by pushing them to the ground |
|
|
|
One
Pastor's Experience and Response |
|
After
attending a Hinn meeting in |
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Rev.
Thomas Trask, Gen. Sup't. |
|
ASSEMBLIES
OF GOD |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear
Pastor, |
|
This
address is chosen deliberately because you are, above all, pastor to our
Fellowship and my pastor/bishop/overseer. Since General Council is imminent
and demanding your fullest attention, I am happy to wait for a reply for a
month or two. |
|
Friday,
July 14, I attended a Benny Hinn Crusade service in East Rutherford, NJ. Like
most A/G pastors, I have heard more than a fair amount of praise and
criticism of his ministry and of our Fellowship's decision to issue
Ordination credentials to him but I had no personal knowledge about him other
than reading some of his writings. Since he was now a colleague in this great
Fellowship, I decided to go and ask the Lord to minister to me through this
man who now enjoys the endorsement of our movement and our leadership. |
|
Out of
that four hour-long service, many questions were raised in mind so I am
writing to you- my Pastor- heavy in heart; confused; and in need of answers. |
|
To give
context to my further remarks know that I am 40 years of age and have served
the Lord in the Assemblies of God- sometimes wisely and sometimes not so
wisely- for 20 years. My maternal Granddad was and my Dad is an Assemblies
pastor. I know Pentecost and treasure the fullness of the Spirit. He is the
Life of the |
|
What
happened to me that raised so many questions? Please be patient with my
lengthy detailed account. |
|
The
service began with a self-congratulatory 5 minute video about the grand goals
of Benny Hinn to reach the world and an appeal for "partners" who
would be granted certain special privileges in future crusades for their
support. That is standard stuff for evangelists and traveling ministries. |
|
The next
segment of the service was praise/worship and it was wonderful. The Spirit
touched our hearts through the skillful ministry of music provided by the
Hinn team and Alvin Slaughter of Brooklyn Tabernacle. Whatever negatives I
might have carried into the service with me were melting away. |
|
Following
the praise, Benny used time "warming up" his audience with light
humor and extended remarks, during which he was careful to recognize the
Assemblies of God pastors present. He spoke at length about his relationship
with the Fellowship. He spoke of meeting recently with you and your desire
that our churches experience fresh fire of the Holy Ghost. That, too, was
standard methodology for large meetings and did not raise any concerns. |
|
Then,
after another song or two, it started to get heavy. A grand lead-up to the
offering started. For about 30 minutes Hinn treated us to an exhaustive
listing of his achievements for Christ around the world with the clear
implication that he was God's man of the hour. Then, with manipulation that
was beyond any standard of integrity, we were instructed to faithfulness in
our giving TO HIM. A minimum of $100 was set and $1000 was suggested. To
further cap it off, Benny reminded us that if we failed to give to the Lord
in obedience, "God would surely collect from us within the next
year," possibly through financial disaster or business problems. He and
his wife had, he assured us, been through that personally. His warning was to
spare us those kinds of problems. Is this lapse of ethics any less serious in
God's eyes than the recent lapses of Jim Bakker which were held to be so
contemptible? |
|
Following
the offering, Benny presented a message on the "Blood of Christ."
Given his new prominence as an example for Spirit-filled, fire-fresh, A/G
pastors [i.e.; his inclusion in the recent Signs and Wonders Conference] I
would have hoped for better than we got! It was a rambling, not well
researched, presentation of God's Holy Word. His interpretations and
conclusions sometimes were drawn from thin air, a tendency that has created heresy
problems for him in the past. |
|
NOW I come
to the place in the service that I need you to help me understand. |
|
The
concluding 35-50 minutes were, in my humble opinion, the most grotesque
display I have ever seen put on in the Lord's Name. There are no words to
adequately describe ... the blare of music, the roar of a frenzied crowd, the
amplified screaming of Bro. Hinn, and the falling, flailing bodies in and
around the platform area. |
|
"TOUCCHHH!"
he screamed over and over into the microphone while flinging his arms at
groups and individuals. Sometimes he ordered ministry teams members to stand
a person up so he could have a second and even third go at them with his
TOUCCHHH! I was unable to ascertain what was supposed to be happening or
accomplished in Jesus' precious Name. There was no appeal for conversion,
re-dedication, or even healing. It seemed {to me, at least} to be little more
than a frenzy of blessing seeking. |
|
A few
years ago I saw a video entitled "God's of the New Age" in which
there was a section showing a large group of people in so-called spiritual
frenzy at the appearance of their guru on a ranch in |
|
If I write
as one over-wrought, please forgive me. As I moved closer to see what was
happening, I became intensely nauseated. I trembled, but not from the power
of God. What shook my body was a combination of powerful emotions that
included both terror and fury at the blatant manipulation of people that was
going on while men I trusted watched and even occasionally participated. Even
now as I write, tears come stinging my eyes. |
|
Is this
the new direction of our great and wonderful Fellowship? Is Benny Hinn the
new exemplar of things desired in our ministries? |
|
I would be
the first to declare that our generation needs to experience God's Presence
and Spirit in a fresh way. Many of us have lost the fervor that gripped our
fathers. When they responded to the Spirit of God decorum was sometimes
lacking, but there was purpose and meaning to their expressions of the moving
of the Spirit. The passion they experienced moved them to plant churches
across this nation and to send missionaries around the world. Far too much of
what passes for seeking the fresh Fire of the Spirit today is really just a
seeking after another spiritual high. The self-centered attitudes of this age
are in the church and we say, "Bless me, Lord, and make me happy"
while forgetting the call to sacrifice. |
|
Thank you
for your response. Yours humbly in His service, |
|
|
|
JDS |
|
|
|
From: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/hinn2.htm |
|
|
|
P.s. In
1996 Benny Hinn resigned from the Assemblies of God denomination |