Note: The text in the blue columns on the left, are from the flyer "What's Going On? An Extraordinary Visitation of God!" written by Dr. Shirley A. Elenbaas, of White Horse Christian Center. was picked up at the Toronto Blessing Feb 98 on a Sunday evening service. It is an attempt to justify the weird and unbiblical "manifestations" of the Pentecostal movement.
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All text in this left blue column was written by Shirley A. Elenbaas |
All text in this right column are comments refuting Shirley A. Elenbaas's comments on the left. from www.bible.ca/tongues.htm |
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"What's Going On? An Extraordinary Visitation of God!"
By Dr. Shirley A. Elenbaas of White Horse Christian Center
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We appreciate and applaud Shirley A. Elenbaas for making this brave and rare attempt to justify the unbiblical manifestations seen throughout Pentecostalism! She is one of the first Pentecostals who have made an attempt to quote book chapter and verse! Almost all other Pentecostals just say, "God is doing new things that are not in the Bible". For example: John Wimber actually said: 'There's nothing in Scripture that supports these kinds of phenomena that I can see, and I can't think of anything throughout the church age that would,' Wimber writes. 'So I feel no obligation to try to explain it. It's just phenomena. It's just people responding to God.'" We feel that Wimbers comment to absolutely true! |
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Since 1994 there has been an extraordinary visitation of God which is being experienced by Christians around the world. Many people when they experience this very personal touch by God have physical reactions called manifestations of the Holy Spirit. These manifestations have been somewhat controversial and caused many questions among Christians of various religious backgrounds. So that you may have some brief understanding and explanation of some things you may observe or experience, we have prepared this brief informational flyer. |
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First and foremost, may we urge you to take a "laid back" attitude and not be alarmed by people who are exhibiting strange behavior such as falling over, laughing seemingly uncontrollably, shaking vigorously, weeping, crying or yelling out suddenly, appearing drunk, or temporarily being unable to speak.. Sometimes these manifestations cause observers to be fearful. Throughout history these reactions have been commonly experienced during a visitation from God known as a renewal or revival and only seem strange to us because we have not seen or heard of them ourselves. |
This appeal to history is interesting. We openly admit that on mostly rare occasions, people throughout history have indeed exhibited exactly what is seen in Pentecostalism today. We have documented this at this link:
www.bible.ca/tongues-history.htm
The major problem is twofold:
- these identical manifestations are also seen in occult and non-Christian religions both historically and today. see:
www.bible.ca/tongues-kundalini-shakers-charismastics.htm.
These manifestations are NEVER SEEN IN SCRIPTURE.
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Manifestations of the Spirit Are Seen Throughout History:
In such limited space we cannot go into great detail of historical accounts of the phenomena of revival, but we can briefly state that strange and unsettling manifestations of God's presence have gone on throughout Christian history. Manifestations of the Holy Spirit of God have occurred in the 1700's in the ministries of Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield, in the United State and in the ministry of John and Charles Wesley in Great Britain. In the 1800's on the Western frontier of the United States, the ministries of James McGready, Barton Stone, and Peter Cartwright all experienced a visitation from God that caused wide spread revival especially in the southern states. The Cane Ridge revival in Kentucky received wide publicity in the newspapers of their day.
Charles Finney was one of America's greatest revivalists. He received great criticism for his "new methods. of evangelist procedures such as altar calls. The Welsh Revival in Wales under Evan Roberts became a world wide phenomena through newspaper accounts while the Azusa Street Revival in California is credited with the beginning of the Pentecostal Revival. Many other events and persons could be named where the Spirit of the Lord moved in such a way that there were great social and life style changes. |
We take note that this is highly selective list that omits all the occult "Christian groups" like the Shakers of the 1700's. Such an appeal to history is in fact totally un-authoritative.
The Roman Catholic church makes exactly the same appeal to history to substantiate its unbiblical doctrines and practices.
The record of history proves that such manifestations were VERY RARE with several spans of 500- 1000 years when NO ONE blamed these ridiculous manifestations on the Holy Spirit! |
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What Are Physical Manifestations of the Spirit?
We hear so much about the strange sounds and gestures that people make under the power of the Spirit. What are they and are they real? A brief description of some of the physical manifestations and a Biblical example will help your understanding. |
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Falling |
It is the most common phenomena. People feel weak and find it difficult to continue standing. Those effected find it necessary to lay down and yet remain conscious and aware of what is going on around them. It is best to leave them alone until they are able to get up on their own. We find an example of falling in John 18:6 where Judas and the soldiers came to arrest Jesus and, when Jesus spoke to them, they all jumped back and fell to the ground. They got up shortly and arrested Jesus. In Acts 9:22, 26 Paul fell to the ground on the way to Damascus when he heard a voice from heaven speak to him. Also Ezekiel 3:23; Daniel 8:17. |
We admit people fell down in scripture, but it is absolutely two different things. First, people's common reaction to meeting God or and seeing an angel was to fall flat on their face. But they were totally functional, communicative and did not twitch uncontrollably.
John 18:6 is the only example that may be the direct action of God. But notice that these are the enemies of God. Surely their falling down would not count as a "slaying in the spirit" and a spiritual infilling!
All the rest of the examples were OUT OF HUMAN FEAR or astonishment, not the Spirit of God. Again, this does not parallel in any way, "slaying in the spirit" in Pentecostal revival meetings where people do not claim to see God, but become twitching zombies!
There are no examples in the Bible ANYWHERE that are anything like being "slayed in the spirit"!!! |
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Laughing |
People often laugh for an extended period of time. They seem to be filled with an overwhelming sense of joy and childlike abandon which may be shared by those around them. The Bible in Ecclesiastes 3:4 speaks of "A time to weep and a time to laugh." It seems that God is saying it is a time to laugh. Also Psalm 126; John 17:13. |
A simple reading of these verses is all it takes to see there is no parallel. Joy and uncontrollable laughter are not the same. In fact uncontrollable laughter is seen as MADNESS: "I said of laughter, 'It is madness,'" Eccl 2:2.
There are no examples in the Bible ANYWHERE that are anything like "holy laughter"!!! |
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Drunken-
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A person appears to have had too much alcohol to drink and may stagger, weave back and forth when they are walking, laugh, be unable to speak, or to walk unaided. In Acts 2:13, on the day of Pentecost, Peter exhorts the gathered crowd that the ones they were observing who appeared to be drunk, were not drunk at all but were reacting to the visitation of the Holy Spirit. Also Jeremiah 23:9; .Ephesians 5:18. |
" My heart is broken within me, All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, Even like a man overcome with wine" Jer 23:9 is the best they have! Yet here the prophet Jeremiah is speaking of his human emotional reaction to the fact that Israel will be judged and taken captive! He is speaking figuratively!
It is incredible that she quoted this verse:
"And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit" Eph 5:18 It says EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE. Here the Lord says, he hates those who worship him while drunk, but wants people to be filled with the Spirit. Her interpretation of this passage is as ridiculous as the manifestations themselves: Don't worship me while literally drunk, RATHER LET THE HOLY SPIRIT MAKE YOU ONLY APPEAR LIKE A DRUNKARD when you worship God. How absolutely shameful!!! |
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Shaking or Jerking |
The person may shake Vigorously or jerk suddenly. This is a physical reaction to the presence of God. When Daniel (Daniel 10:7) saw a vision it caused a great trembling or shaking to fall upon the people who were with him. You may have heard of the Quakers and of the Shaker denominations. They got their names from shaking and jerking when the power of God came upon them. Also Habakkuk 3:16; Acts 4:31. |
" a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves" Dan 10:7 The Hebrew says FEAR not shaking. (This misapplication of scripture proves Shirley Elenbaas is not Spirit led!) No one in this verse "shook or jerked", if they did it was out of HUMAN FEAR. Daniel certainly did not "shake are jerk". Daniel was seeing a vision. Very rarely do people who "shake or jerk" in Pentecostal revivals! The Quakers and Shakers were both occult. For proof of this check: click here. and then here
Acts 4:31 "the place where they had gathered together was shaken" the men didn't shake themselves, it was an earthquake type of thing.
Hab 3:16 is identical in nature to Jer 23:9 mentioned above and is in no way applicable! There is no example of the Holy Spirit making someone shake or jerk. |
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Crying or Weeping |
Many people weep in the presence of God. Nehemiah 8:9 tells us of all the people present weeping when they heard the rending of the Bible. Also 2 Chronicles 34:27. |
The weeping in all these passages was a human reaction to the bad news as to how sinful they were. There is no example of the Holy Spirit making someone cry! |
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Sudden loud Sounds |
Occasionally a person may emit a loud spontaneous noise or sound that is not understood. The sound seems to come in agreement with something said or in reaction to something the person is experiencing by the Holy Spirit. Psalm 35:27; 55:2; Jeremiah 25:30; 4:19; Romans 8:16. |
None of these verses are in any way relevant or parallel. This woman is obviously not Spirit filled seeing how badly she misapplies scripture. But we give her credit for trying! |
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No reactions at all |
This does not mean that they are not being touched by God in some deep inner way. No one knows why some people react very strongly some people only a little and others react in quiet inner ways that cannot be seen. It seems that God Himself makes the decision on how an individual will react. |
Incredible! What more needs to be said! |
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People who are experiencing any of the above reactions to the Holy Spirit are not in pain or distress even though it may appear so. |
This is totally untrue! While not all are in pain, some will tell you they are! And what about the ones who bang their elbows, heads and hips when they fall! Many Pentecostals walk out of these healing revival meetings WITH BRUISES and are sore for weeks after!!! |
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How Do We Know This Is God?
Jonathon Edwards wrote a treatise in 1741 called The Distinguishing Marks of the Spirit of God. He stated that we could recognize God 's hand by five sure distinguishing, scripture evidences" |
Jonathon Edwards was a cessationist
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1. It raises the esteem of Jesus in the community. |
We agree with Edwards , but the Pentecostal movement has done more damage to the image of the church than any other movement in history! Everybody EXCEPT Charismatics view them as RAVING LUNATICS!!! In fact this is exactly what God warned about in 1 Cor 14:23, "If therefore the whole church should assemble together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?" This statement condemned two or more people speaking in tongues in the church at the same time. How much worse it looks with the common ridiculous spectacle of slaying in the spirit and the uncontrollable jerking movements defended in this tract! Both Edwards and the unbeliever condemns them! |
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2. It works against the Kingdom of Satan. |
We agree with Edwards . Of course Pentecostal have no way of really knowing this! Jehovah's Witnesses feel the same way about THEIR work. We maintain that Pentecostalism is dominated by doctrines of demons: 1 Tim 4:1-4 and 2 Tim 4:2-5 |
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3. It stimulates a greater regard for the Holy Scriptures. |
We agree with Edwards , but Pentecostals openly DISREGARD the scriptures and appeal to FEELINGS as their ultimate source of truth. Pentecostals are quite anti-doctrine. Edwards condemns, not supports them! |
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4. It is marked by a Spirit of Truth. |
We agree with Edwards . But Pentecostalism believes and practices SO MANY false doctrines and practices not found in the Bible that Edwards condemns, not supports them! |
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5. It manifests a renewed love of God and of man. |
We agree with Edwards . But Pentecostals always confuse raw emotionalism with genuine renewal. |
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What Are The Phenomena For?
Some of the reasons for the manifestations that may satisfy the questions of our logical mind are as follows: They are signs of the Lord s presence. God is shaking us to wake us up. To humble us. To anoint us for greater service. To make us aware of His great love for His people. One man deeply involved in the renewal explains it this way God offends the mind to reveal the heart. |
Comment: Occult religions today manifest the identical manifestations and say exactly the same thing!
Click here to see proof! |
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By Dr. Shirley A. Elenbaas of White Horse Christian Center. |
Comments from www.bible.ca/tongues.htm |
