So my wife and I were in Barnes & Noble yesterday....and I had prophecy book in my hand....and then set it down to look at a politics book....which I also bought....my 107th book on Donald Trump! Only when I picked the first book back up....in a hurry as we were on our way to the movies....I picked up the wrong book.
When we returned home later....after dinner.....dinner and a movie.....I sat down in my recliner intent on reading the prophecy book for a while...,and I saw that I picked up the wrong book! I was in hurry to make the show time and did not even ask for a receipt....so I am stuck with this book. So what is the book? Well....let me just say this....the blurb on the front of it is by Benny Hinn!
Benny Hinn woke up one morning way back when....this in Toronto, Canada....and according to him....the Holy Spirit was in the room with him....and he said...."Good Morning Holy Spirit".....which became the title of the book that sent him on his way to celebrity.
It was about 38 years ago....and my wife and I were in a large gathering of Pentecostals and Charismatics....regular meetings that might be described as....dinner and a testimony. Maybe there were a few hundred people there....and we were sitting at a table in the back. My back was to the wall. A minister of some sort....was giving his testimony that evening....and his 'ministry' included calling people up front to prophesy over them. He called about eight people at random up front....of which I was one. He pointed to the back....'You....by the wall.' The first thing he did was pray loudly in front of each person and put his hand on their forehead....and some would fall backwards. I didn't...and he pushed on my forehead....and I still did not go backwards. Then he gave a prophecy over each person. Mine was short...."You want to speak in front of large numbers of people. This is not what you will do. You will speak to people one on one." That was it. We went home....and I didn't think about it for about twenty years....and have since only pondered that night for a few minutes....a few times.
There is a big difference between Pentecostals and Charismatics. This is from my ten year experience anyway. Pentecostals....tend to be....tend to be....Jesus people who also believe in the Holy Spirit. Charismatics....tend to be....Holy Spirit people....who also believe in Jesus....and therein is and has been the problem.
I am reading the book right now....but have read dozens of these kinds of books back in the eighties. It is a blend of Gnosticism and Christianity....as is the Charismatic Movement itself.
I'll add this anecdote. There was a wonderful Christian woman....she has since died....who was a Sunday School teacher in our first church....an Assemblies of God. We moved on....as I became Reformed partially because of men like Benny Hinn who were taking over Pentecostalism. This lady moved on also....to a charismatic church. Years later I ran into her at a Christian bookstore. She had somehow changed. In our short....maybe ten minute talk....of which she talked almost the whole time....she must have told me a dozen different specific things that the Holy Spirit had told her.
Note: I fully intended to go back to the Barnes & Noble today to get that first book. In fact I called there and had them put the book aside. Then I....for some reason....Googled the book....and here it is an updated book....with a slight title change....a book that I probably read the first time out. So I cancelled that.
