SAVED FROM CHARISMATISM

Testimonies of FEBC students who took the course on “Charismatism Q&A” online last semester

Taught Me the Correct Interpretation

Thank God for the opportunity to study “Charismatism Q&A”. From this study, I am able to have a clearer picture of my journey from an unbeliever to where I am now. As a child growing up in a small village in China from 1978 to 1991, there was totally no exposure to any form of Christianity at all.

Then in 1991, my parents brought me to Singapore as they had a more stable job and were able to secure a three-room flat. In Singapore, my first exposure to Christianity was of the worldly kind, which is none other than Christmas and Santa Claus. As a child, I certainly looked forward to Christmas with all the feasting, parties and gifts. I will not be surprised if there are many like me whose knowledge of Christianity is only Christmas and Santa Claus.

In 1997, I attended a Methodist school, ACJC. Every morning, the school would start with morning chapel. All I could remember were the catchy songs they sang and motivational talks they gave; no impression of God or mention of the name of Jesus. Although surrounded by classmates who attended church, yet none of them evangelized me during my two years at ACJC. Looking back now, Charismatism had already crept into Methodist churches. The songs during morning chapel were of the Contemporary Christian Music kind. The lives of the church-going students around me were not shining lights for Jesus. They were just like me. There was no light too, even in a Christian school. How dark is the age! How powerful is the work of Satan! How he had switched off the light in different phases of my life!

In 2001, I met up with my ex-ACJC classmate who brought me to his church. This was my first invitation to a church. I went out of curiosity. I remembered the church was in Orchard and sort of like my auditorium in NUS. A young man of my age was preaching on the stage. He gave a very motivational talk on how we must study hard and not procrastinate. He gave tips on how to study better, how to plan our time and study for exams. This was very useful to me. “Ah, this is Christianity”, I thought in my heart. Not bad to believe if I can learn something that is useful to me in my studies. There was no mention of sin or salvation. When they gave the call, I raised my hand! Soon after, they assigned me to a cell group. They met me once a week for a one-to-one study on a book which required me to fill up the answers according to what they had taught me. Then one night while praying together, they stood in a circle, raising their hands and praying in tongues. I was quite horrified then.

My subsequent church services were experiences of worshippers dancing, rolling on the floor, making loud noises and praying in tongues. All these freaked me out. Then at my cell group meetings, my cell group leader tried very hard to convince me to speak in tongues. She showed me many verses in the Bible that indicated that a Christian must be able to speak in tongues to communicate with God. I was not able to do it. At the next meeting she invited her leader and another person to pray for me to have the gift to speak in tongues. They held my hands and just kept praying aloud in tongues non-stop. That night I wished I had never stepped into a church. In my horrified state, I just copied them and spoke aloud the gibberish that they were speaking. I had goosebumps all over when I heard myself speaking gibberish. After that night, I stopped going for church services and cell group meetings. They were very persistent and I had to use my father as an excuse. They actually suggested that I leave my house and sever ties with my father, and if needed, they would go to my house to challenge my father. This experience in a Charismatic church stumbled me for years. To me, Christianity was cultic and satanic.

What with my experiences in the Methodist school and the Charismatic church? I found that none of them presented me the full gospel. With this course, I realize that their main problem lies in their interpretation of the Bible. Firstly, they are using the corrupted version of the Bible. Secondly, they do not read the Bible themselves. They rely on their cell group leaders, preachers and pastors to interpret the Bible for them. The Charismatic churches do not train these leaders theologically. Their interpretation is not biblical. The sermons they give are just like the worldly seminars on positive thinking and motivational talks with little reference to the Bible. They interpret the verses out of context to support their preconceived ideas. Fourthly, their worship service is not biblical too. When I was there, it was just noises from their tongue-speaking, crying, shouting, rolling on the floor etc. Even the songs they sang were just short chorus of “I love Jesus” or “God loves me” which just kept repeating and repeating. Fifthly, their focus is not biblical too. They focus on growing the church in terms of numbers and not the spiritual state of the members. They focus on the experiences of the members and seeking their approval instead of God’s approval. They preach what the members want to hear and not what God says in His Word. In summary, they have been deluded, and are deprived of God’s Word. Their salvation is questionable.

Thank God this course had taught me the correct interpretation of many of their misinterpreted verses. This course has grounded me more in my understanding of the Word of God. The Charismatics will not be able to deceive me easily when they start to use the Bible to support their wrong practices. With my own experience and this course, I have learnt that the Charismatic movement is indeed a tool used by Satan to attack God and to hinder the gospel work. I pray that I will have the courage to share with the Charismatics the Word of God I have learnt in this course. HBH

I Was Sincerely Wrong

I was born and raised in a Christian home; albeit a Charismatic one. Since young, I attended Church of Our Saviour (COOS) in Queenstown. COOS is an Anglican Church involved in the Charismatic movement. I’ve been to healing rallies, participated in contemporary worship, heard people speak in tongues, been prayed for to receive the gift of tongues, had people prophesied over me, heard of demon-casting sessions etc.

Years later, when I was 16, I left COOS and followed my parents to New Creation Church (NCC). This was my first time in a megachurch. Size aside, nothing much was really different. New Creation was also a Charismatic church and the lingo, practices and manner of worship was similar to what I was exposed to before. Nothing much was really different. I even thought Joseph Prince was a remarkably gifted teacher/preacher because of the way he spoke and the things he taught. He supposedly ushered in the ‘Grace Revolution’. I followed his ministry earnestly, even during my time studying overseas in Melbourne, Australia. Week after week, I would purchase his sermons online and listen to them. Be it travelling, studying or during meal times, I would be plugged in and listening to his audio sermons. Joseph Prince’s sermons formed the bulk of my spiritual diet. My mind was constantly meditating on his sermons and his interpretations soon tainted the lens in which I saw God’s Word. I sincerely thought that I was growing in the faith … sincerely wrong that is.

Towards the end of my university education, a close friend of mine (both of us had followed Joseph Prince’s ministry very closely during our time in Australia) suddenly dropped a massive bombshell. He claimed that we could all be believing in a lie, and that Joseph Prince could actually be a charlatan/phoney, teaching false doctrine and deceiving the masses. My whole world came crashing down. My whole life just felt like a lie and my beliefs were shaken to the core. The scariest thing about this was that whatever Joseph Prince taught was not blatant heresy. It was a mixture of biblical truth carefully interwoven with false doctrine. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. I didn’t know what truth and error was anymore. Before we parted, my friend’s last comment to me was to return to Scripture, to allow God’s Word to guide my path.

Fast forward to today, it is definitely God’s sovereign grace and providential mercies that I am where I am. Since leaving Australia, God has opened opportunities for me to re-orientate and relearn my theology. God was gracious to set up an encounter with a former neighbour who brought me to Far Eastern Bible College’s (FEBC) night classes, Sunset Gospel Hour and finally the morning worship services at Calvary Pandan Bible-Presbyterian Church (CPBPC).

CPBPC and FEBC have provided me with so many avenues to learn/study God’s Word. Given my Charismatic background, I definitely do not take this for granted. Instead, I sincerely cherish each moment and strive to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. I am also thankful for the strict stance CPBPC adopts in guarding its pulpit ministry and doctrine; its emphasis on biblical separation and holiness. All this might seem dogmatic, but as the Bible states ‘a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump’, a little compromise on certain matters will allow the world to creep in and corrupt.

Now, I am thankful for the faithful teaching of Dr Jeffrey Khoo in exposing the erroneous Charismatic practices through Scripture. This course has provided me with a detailed systematic study and an in-depth understanding of various matters like healing, prophecy, tongues, miracles etc. Be it far from me to be puffed up by such knowledge. Instead, I owe a great debt to God. I owe it to my loved ones and friends who are still trapped in Charismatic circles to share with them from Scripture the error of their ways. May God grant me the grace to approach the matter with a sincere heart of love whilst gently admonishing them with sound doctrine. I do believe that there are many genuine born-again believers in the Charismatic movement who have been led astray by a lie. May God be merciful unto them to open their eyes to the truth.

We do live in a perilous day and age where false doctrines abound. We are constantly exposed to erroneous notions/arguments and bombarded with false ideas which are set against the knowledge of Christ. More ever than before, we ought to ground our lives in God’s Word and earnestly contend for the faith. I can only give thanks to God for his gracious mercies in redeeming me from the snare of the devil. I can only give praise to him for not abandoning me to the error of my ways. To God be the glory. Amen. TYY

The book Charismatism Q&A (FEBC Press, 1999) can be downloaded freely from www.febc.edu.sg (click “Publications”).

It is available in English as well as in Chinese.

Book Endorsements:

“Dr Khoo has brought the subject under closest examination…by a meticulous, exegetical study of the relevant Scripture passages. An unbiased student…cannot help but come to the same conclusion as the author.” (Dr Timothy Tow).

“Helpful to any who have an open mind on the subject…A fine piece of work.”  (Dr Homer A Kent).

“This book should be of great help to people around the world seeking guidance on this subject. It is strong and plain, yet written with care, concern, and compassion.” (Dr Gary G Cohen).