.

[sunlover1]

Then why is that praying, waiting and fasting for gifts? Fruit is least sought for!

Not sure who is praying and fasting for gifts.
When I got the baptism of the Spirit i was fasting for HELP
my life was a mess and I was broke down..
I prayed, I fasted, I gave to the poor. the third day I asked
God if there was more I needed, more power etc.
(my ministry was prayer/intercession) He's the one who
gave me gifts.. gifts are very good!. He's used me to
heal folks and to pray (gift of faith) for their lives, and to
give them a word of knowledge about a situation they were
in that i had no way of knowing (nor did they)
And EVERY time something like this happens, guess who gets
the glory! GOD!! The people weep when you speak to them a
prophecy that God gave you.
Actually, if you have the gifts, you have the giver inside of
you, and if you have the Spirit of God in you, you're going to
display the FRUIT thereof!
win win win!
ALL for the glory of God

 

[Gwen-is-new!]

Let's just say that I consider myself fortunate to have had my world turned upside down.
-CryptoLutheran

Sounds like an amazing testimony!

 

[Gwen-is-new!]

"And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5)
I'm not against happy-clappy, as I think that there should be times of great joy in the knowledge of the salvation that He brings, but there .

I love the reverence displayed in the Catholic mass as well! When I am alone in my prayer closet, I do a lot of woe is me, I am undone. I light candles, have a little alter - so I'm not always happy-clappy

 

[jimmyjimmy]

"Spirit-filled" means Presbyterian, of course!

In all seriousness, a Spirit-filled church is one in which God's word is proclaimed, heard, and believed and God's Spirit is at work to produce repentance, faith, and the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of the people. Beyond this, I'm not sure what else could be meant. Some believe that "Spirit-filled" has to do with extraordinary manifestations of the Spirit or certain gifts of the Spirit being present, but Paul thoroughly shuts this down in 1 Corinthians 12-14. For Paul, the supreme evidence of the Spirit is repentance, faith, hope, and love.

Well said.

 

[rockytopva]

Here is part of a Spirit filled church service. I filmed it myself and can tell you that there was a very sweet spirit in that place!

 

[D2wing]

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is separate from when the Holy Spirit joining with our spirit when we are saved.
Baptism of the Spirit is something Jesus promised his followers and it first occurred at Pentecost.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit spread widely in the Seventies. Now it is difficult to find Churches where it is taught and the gifts are spread.
To say it is not from God is to say God is a liar. To Judge people that have it is to judge the word of God. To make accusations against is of what spirit?
I am for God, I am willing to accept whatever gifts Jesus wants to give me. That it is real is without question. Those of you that oppose the gifts of the spirit and those that have them should maybe do some repenting and seeking the face of God. Or you can wallow in self righteousness and false teaching.
I suppose I will be banned again for speaking the truth.

 

[Righttruth]

Not sure who is praying and fasting for gifts.
When I got the baptism of the Spirit i was fasting for HELP
my life was a mess and I was broke down..
I prayed, I fasted, I gave to the poor. the third day I asked
God if there was more I needed, more power etc.
(my ministry was prayer/intercession) He's the one who
gave me gifts.. gifts are very good!. He's used me to
heal folks and to pray (gift of faith) for their lives, and to
give them a word of knowledge about a situation they were
in that i had no way of knowing (nor did they)
And EVERY time something like this happens, guess who gets
the glory! GOD!! The people weep when you speak to them a
prophecy that God gave you.
Actually, if you have the gifts, you have the giver inside of
you, and if you have the Spirit of God in you, you're going to
display the FRUIT thereof!
win win win!
ALL for the glory of God

Then why did Paul recommend better gifts? Do God gives inferior and superior gifts? Why did Paul say that the best is the 'love'--the fruit of the Spirit?

 

[Righttruth]

I use the term spirit-filled church often, and I would describe most churches in America as being dead..

Yeah, dead to Satanic acrobatics and animal instincts.

 

[sunlover1]

Then why did Paul recommend better gifts? Do God gives inferior and superior gifts? Why did Paul say that the best is the 'love'--the fruit of the Spirit?

Yes, the greatest of all is love.

 

[ml5363]

I have been know to use the term spirit filled..i meant that I could feel the presence of the holy spirit at that time and or place...i am not pentecostal nor have i spoken in tonques either.

 

[Righttruth]

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is separate from when the Holy Spirit joining with our spirit when we are saved.
Baptism of the Spirit is something Jesus promised his followers and it first occurred at Pentecost.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit spread widely in the Seventies. Now it is difficult to find Churches where it is taught and the gifts are spread.
To say it is not from God is to say God is a liar. To Judge people that have it is to judge the word of God. To make accusations against is of what spirit?
I am for God, I am willing to accept whatever gifts Jesus wants to give me. That it is real is without question. Those of you that oppose the gifts of the spirit and those that have them should maybe do some repenting and seeking the face of God. Or you can wallow in self righteousness and false teaching.
I suppose I will be banned again for speaking the truth.

Speaking gibberish that required interpretation by another person requires a third person in dealing with voice of the Holy Spirit, which is an absurd arrangement that is very strange to the dealing of the Holy Spirit who deals directly with a person. It is not substantiated anywhere else in the Bible.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

I have been know to use the term spirit filled..i meant that I could feel the presence of the holy spirit at that time and or place...i am not pentecostal nor have i spoken in tonques either.

How did you know it was the Holy Spirit?

 

[ml5363]

bc it happens when i am worshipping, listening to his word, reading his word, praying, feeling convicted, thanking him, or just enjoying his beautiful creations

 

[jimmyjimmy]

bc it happens when i am worshipping, listening to his word, reading his word, praying, feeling convicted, thanking him, or just enjoying his beautiful creations

What happens?

 

[ml5363]

What happens?

I feel peace, warmth, comfort, joy, happiness..a tinglly sensation concentrated in chest area

 

[jimmyjimmy]

I feel peace, warmth, comfort, joy, happiness..a tinglly sensation concentrated in chest area

And because of this "tingling in the chest area" you know that the Spirit of God is present?

Do you realize that Mormons say the very same thing?

 

[ml5363]

no I did not...did you not see the rest of that sentence? so does that make it wrong? or me a mormon?

 

[stephen583]

I'm going to tell everyone about a Spirit Filled Church. This is significant, because I've always been a "non-clerical" Christian, who doesn't believe in "organized" religion in principle. As a rule, I think people in general tend to mess up everything they touch, especially when they get organized. So "organized religion" sounds like an oxymoron to me, like "military-intelligence", or "political-freedom".

Anyway, it's several years after Hurricane Katrina.. I'm unemployed and homeless and walking from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where I have enough money to catch a Greyhound bus to Houston, Texas. About twenty miles this side of Baton Rouge, at 3 AM in the morning I'm walking down the side of the road through a small town. I'm exhausted and hungry. I look and I'm astonished to see the doors of a church standing wide open with the lights on. I needed to refill my water bottles, so I walked up to the door and holler inside. Honestly I was a little spooked, because I half expected to find someone lying dead on the floor of a heart attack, or something worse.

A minister fella steps to the door and invites me inside. I was carrying a backpack and pretty smelly, so I know I must have been a pretty scary sight at 3 AM in the morning, and yet he looks happy to see me. I ask him, "Why are you here at 3 AM" ?! He answers, "This is God's house, and he didn't tell me to close the doors", "I'm just a minister here".

He asked me next if I needed anything, and I told him I could use a couple hours of sleep. He got a blanket and showed me a spot inside on the floor where I could rest. When I awoke, there was a sandwich on a plate sitting on the floor next to me with a can of coke. He appears again and asks if I need any money. I explained I had enough to catch a bus in Baton Rouge. He says, "Wait a minute, I've got an idea".. He returns and says "Let's go".. I asked him, "What are we doing" ? He replied "I've got a car, and God just told me to lock the Church doors and drive you to Baton Rouge".

Funny thing was, I don't remember the name of the church, or what denomination it was, because he never spoke about any of that. When we reached the bus terminal, I quickly gathered my gear out of the car, thanked the minister for the help, and started walking toward the door of the bus station. I stopped, turned around, looked at him and said, "There really is a God, isn't there" ? He said, "Of course there is".

To this day, I don't recall the name of the church, or the minister's name,.. but I do distinctly remember having visited a "Spirit Filled Church" in a small town in Louisiana at 3 AM in the morning in November 2009.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you" (John 13:34, NAS).

 

[jimmyjimmy]

no I did not...did you not see the rest of that sentence? so does that make it wrong? or me a mormon?

It doesn't make you anything.

My point is only that I don't think that a subjective tingling feeling, or contentment/peace should be used as a determination of the presence of God's Spirit. You said that you knew a church was "Spirit-Filled" because you felt something. I would argue that feelings can't be relied on as they can change for no apparent reason. I believe that a Spirit-filled was described pretty well by Tree of Life in an earlier post:

"a Spirit-filled church is one in which God's word is proclaimed, heard, and believed and God's Spirit is at work to produce repentance, faith, and the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of the people. Beyond this, I'm not sure what else could be meant. Some believe that "Spirit-filled" has to do with extraordinary manifestations of the Spirit or certain gifts of the Spirit being present, but Paul thoroughly shuts this down in 1 Corinthians 12-14. For Paul, the supreme evidence of the Spirit is repentance, faith, hope, and love."

​

This is also a very helpful post regarding "feeling" the presence of God. http://www.christianforums.com/threads/feeling-the-prescence-of-god.7938217/page-2#post-69410263

 

[swordsman1]

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is separate from when the Holy Spirit joining with our spirit when we are saved.
Baptism of the Spirit is something Jesus promised his followers and it first occurred at Pentecost.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit spread widely in the Seventies. Now it is difficult to find Churches where it is taught and the gifts are spread.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit is what happens to all believers upon conversion. It is not some subsequent event for the spiritual elite.

1 Cor 12:13 (ESV) "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit."​