More on “Falling Down”

I’ve been going through the Old Testament for my Bible reading these days.  Last night I was in the book of I Kings, in the passage where King Solomon dedicates the temple of the Lord.
That’s when I came across a couple of verses that seemed especially familiar:
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled [...]

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The Fruit of Charismania

I’ve mentioned before how we arrived at our “Charismaniac” church after a lifetime spent in more traditional Bible-based Reformed/Evangelical churches. 
I think a good part of the allure that Living Word Church (a pseudonym) had for us, at least at first, was that it WAS such a departure from what we’d grown up with.  Instead of [...]

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Falling Down

I haven’t posted anything meaningful in quite awhile, mostly because I tend not to think so much anymore about our time in Charismania.  We’ve moved on and are in a good, healthy place.
But every once in awhile, something does trigger a memory, or a flash of insight.
The other night, right as I drifted off to [...]

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The Privilege of Washing “Anointed” Toilets?

One of the strangest (and most unbiblical) things about our particular experience with “Charismania” was the odd dynamic that swirled around the pastors of Living Word Church (a pseudonym, as are most other names on this website).  Within the world that they’d created inside the walls of Living Word, the Smith family – Pastor Smith, [...]

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Jesus Died for the U.S. Economy?

Pastor Smith is still at it.  He’s still preaching what amounts to a “different gospel.”
I don’t know why this surprises me.  We’re a few months shy of the two-year anniversary of our leaving Living Word Church (a pseudonym, as are all other names mentioned in this post), and every time I check in and listen [...]

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Surveying the Wreckage

As I’ve said before, many times, the journey out of Charismania seems to take longer than one would imagine.  We’ve been gone from Living Word Church (a pseudonym, as are all other names in this post) for a year and a half, and yet I still keep coming to new realizations about things we experienced [...]

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Great Faith, or Delusions of Grandeur?

My exit out of Living Word Church (a pseudonym), and Charismania in general, for that matter, was prompted by a handful of what Oprah Winfrey would call “Aha!” moments.  One of those moments, ironically, was born out of a friendship, probably the only true friendship I had at Living Word. 
Living Word Church was NOT a [...]

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Part iv of Herescope’s excellent series on Todd Bentley and Lakeland

From the Herescope site:
Lakeland’s Recycled Revival

 
Music, Mass Hypnotism and Angels
A Pastor Reports on Todd Bentley’s “Revival” in Lakeland, Florida
By Pastor Gary Osborne
[Note: this is part 4 of a weeklong series of articles on this topic]

MUSIC AND MASS HYPNOTISM

Everything in these meetings is driven by the music. I shared this earlier but it bears repeating. When [...]

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Part iii of Herescope’s excellent series about Todd Bentley and the Lakeland “Outpouring”

From the Herescope site:
Lakeland’s Recycled Revival
 
TODD BENTLEY’S CONNECTION TO THE LATTER RAIN MOVEMENT
A Pastor Reports on Todd Bentley’s “Revival” in Lakeland, Florida
By Pastor Gary Osborne
My first real concern with these crusades revolves around the issue of who Todd Bentley looks up to and who he considers spiritual leaders. He frequently mentions, and even has up [...]

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Pastor Smith Solicits Birthday Gifts For Himself Through The Mail

I decided to take a break today from discussing Todd Bentley and the “Florida Outpouring” so that I could bring you documented proof of the sort of greed for money that we encountered during our time at Living Word Church (a pseudonym).
I’ve described before, in a post entitled Asking For It, just how Pastor Smith (another pseudonym) [...]

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