SAVED FROM CHARISMATISM III

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

Fake Deliverance

In the early years when I just became a Christian, my friend brought me to a house for deliverance. She said it was to help me remove the old past and the bad things that happened to me. At that time, a famous pastor from US happened to be in Singapore doing deliverance. I thought why not go and give it a try. When I was there, the pastor was away dealing with a person in hospital who was supposedly possessed by an evil spirit. I waited for about an hour and a half before the pastor came back.

Before the deliverance, I was told to confess a list of sins on a piece of paper. They prayed for me for each of the sins I confessed. At that point, I felt kind of embarrassed to have to confess my sins because some of them were very personal. Although I felt pressurised, I still went along with it. Come to think of it, I don’t remember them preaching to me the gospel during that time. The gospel did not seem to be their emphasis.

The pastor began praying and made me drink a lot of water. According to him, if the deliverance was successful, I would puke out a lot of stuff. But nothing happened and the same thing was repeated—praying and drinking more water. This deliverance reminded me of Taoist exorcism. It looked quite similar. During the whole process, I didn’t feel anything. But I was full from the water and eventually puked out a bit of water. And then the deliverance was deemed a success. I remember the whole process took about 30 minutes or so and I truly did not feel any difference at all. My friend told me that there were others which took one hour or more and still no demons were cast out and they had to take a break. But in the Bible, we find Jesus and His apostles casting out demons immediately; there was no long process.

Now as I think of it, it really makes me feel that this sort of Charismatic deliverance is to attract people with motives, to make them feel more “holy” and “cleansed”. At that point I think I was one of them. After studying the Bible, I learned that a true Christian cannot be demon-possessed as the Holy Spirit is already dwelling within him (John 3:5–8), and it is by confessing our sins to God and asking for His forgiveness and obeying His commandments that we are sanctified and consecrated.

Speaking in tongues is also common in the Charismatic churches. They seek to speak in tongues during worship services or in their prayers. They think that this will cause them to be closer to God than those who do not speak. My brother who is attending City Harvest Church told me that speaking in tongues is to be closer to God and that our prayers cannot and will not be heard by Satan if we speak in tongues. But the Apostle Paul said, “I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue” (1 Cor 14:19). If our messages and prayers are spoken in a language that others do not understand, it is not edifying at all. CJP

Fake Dreams

I thank God for the privilege of studying His Word through the FEBC online courses while I am working overseas. This course on Charismatism is one that I have been looking forward to taking as there is a growing number of Charismatics around me. I have also unbelieving friends asking me about the Christian faith in light of the news that surround the megachurches in Singapore. This course has benefitted and encouraged me spiritually.

The most important takeaway from this study is not to quote scripture out of context. Throughout this study I saw how the Charismatics simply take a verse from the Bible and use it as a basis for what they practice without considering its context. We need to understand God’s Word in its entirety and not in bits and pieces which may cause us to misunderstand and misapply the Bible. Recently I watched this video on YouTube showing Kong Hee, the pastor of City Harvest Church, praying and anointing bottles of olive oil to be given out to members so that they can “tide through difficult times by the anointing of the Holy Spirit”. He quoted James 5:13–15. But James 5 is talking about rubbing the sick person with olive oil with a medicinal purpose, and not a superstitious anointing for miraculous healing.

The Charismatics preachers are known for preaching based on their dreams, visions, and experiences. This cannot be right because the time of prophecy is over since we now have the complete and perfect Word of God which is the sole and supreme authority of our faith and practice. I have charismatic friends who tell me of God appearing to them in their dreams and telling them to do certain things. But Wang Ming Tao rightly asked—is it man’s will or biblical truth?

Charismatics preach a health-and-wealth gospel. This cannot be right because nowhere in the Bible does it say that God will give us a lot of money and good health if we believe in Him. Many are attracted to such health-and-wealth megachurches because of this false gospel.

We see that the Charismatics often fall backwards when they are “slain by the Spirit”. This happens after the pastor waves a jacket at them or touches their forehead while uttering some prayer. This is performed by Benny Hinn. I am enlightened that falling backwards as found in the Bible is actually a punishment and not a blessing. When we are blessed by God, we fall forwards, lying prostrate in humble worship of God, and not backwards!

A few months ago, I had this friend who posted on her Facebook about her five-year-old son speaking in tongues. She concluded that her son is therefore saved because of this. I am burdened to share with her that tongues-speaking does not prove a person’s salvation and also that tongues-speaking is not ecstatic utterances or gibberish. Going through this study of Charismatism equipped me with the knowledge and understanding to better reach out to my friends.

I thank God that my question on whether or not there are any more Apostles today have been answered. The pastor of FCBC, Lawrence Khong, declared himself to be an Apostle and I know that cannot be right. There were only 12 Apostles and I now know why there aren’t any more after the 12 passed away. Lawrence Khong even conducts magic shows together with his daughter and they promote their shows by saying, “Seeing is believing”. As Christians we do not see in order to believe, we believe in order to see! Hebrews 11.

Many years ago I attended the Christmas service of New Creation Church. Though at that time I was a backslidden Christian, I did not feel comfortable at all during the service. I thank God for giving me the grace to know that the Charismatic way of worship is not the right way. In fact, I would not even consider it a service but more of a concert. The music was very loud, the people had their hands raised and waved them all about. Another example would be Sun Ho’s singing pop songs in City Harvest Church. She may say that it is singing for the Lord, but all it does is to bring glory to herself, not God. I thank God for the lesson on the five principles of biblical worship.

I have a few Charismatic colleagues which I interact with on a daily basis. In some of the conversations which I had with them, they refer to God as “Daddy God”. While it is true that God is our Heavenly Father in a most personal way, calling Him “Daddy God” is too casual and lacks reverence.

However, one lesson I learnt from the Charismatics is that they generally live out their Christian faith more zealously than I. They are not ashamed of telling others that they are Christians, which may work out in both good and bad ways. This is one aspect that I have much to work on, in being a good testimony wherever I am and sharing with others the gospel of Christ.

This course on Charismatism has answered the questions I had in my mind about the Charismatic movement. It has benefitted me spiritually. I am now more equipped to give an answer and explain to my charismatic and unbelieving friends concerning what the Bible teaches (1 Pet 3:15). It is my prayer that I would be given the courage to share with my friends these lessons I have learned and to do so humbly. May I be able to remember all the lessons learnt. GKH

EXACT REPLICA

Recently, someone wrote to ask how we know which Textus Receptus (Received Text) is the “exact replica” (ie, having all the inspired words) of the NT Autograph? Here’s the answer from Dr EF Hills, “The answer to this question is easy. We are guided by the common faith. Hence we favor that form of the Textus Receptus upon which more than any other God, working providentially, has placed the stamp of His approval, namely, the King James Version, or more precisely the Greek Text underlying the King James Version.”

[Edward Freer Hills is a graduate of Yale University, Westminster Theological Seminary and Columbia Theological Seminary. After his doctoral work in the University of Chicago in NT textual studies, he completed his programme at Harvard, earning his Doctor of Theology degree. He is the author of The King James Version Defended and Believing Bible Study.]

THE JOURNEY TO HEAVEN

We congratulate our church member Tan Xin Yuan for the publication of her first book The Journey to Heaven (Singapore: Logos for Kids, 2017). It is an illustrated novel telling the good news of salvation to children. A total of 520 copies were printed. 400 books were sent to the Philippines as Christmas presents, and 50 were given out at True Life’s Christmas Gospel Meeting and Children’s Party on December 16. The book can be borrowed from the National Library (Central, Bishan, Toa Payoh). The authoress encourages all who pick up the book to “Follow John, Esther, Lily, and Coby as they embark on an amazing race to discover God’s perfect salvation plan for Man, a Christian’s walk with God after salvation and many other biblical truths from God’s Word—the Bible!”