A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®

"holy ghost party"

When I was a Word of Faith enthusiast I loved God because I was born again and the only church I knew taught what I eventually picked up. I did not understand much of what was taught in church and knew some of the doctrines made no theological or scriptural sense. I easily embraced prosperity theology and any fad that slithered to the pulpit. It is true that when people are always shifting their doctrinal principles, they are not likely to bring forth much fruit to the glory of God. It is good for young believers to begin with a firm hold upon those great fundamental doctrines which the Lord has taught in His Word. But scriptural exegesis and theological exertions are not encouraged by many churches-most especially in the liberal non-cessationist camps. They call this being “pharisaical” or “too conservative” or limiting the move of Holy Spirit who would otherwise want every one to be open minded and receptive to every and anything.

Its against that background that I understand why this young man drew a line in the sand and dared the bravest of Calvinists to smell the coffee on the liberal side:

Recently I made a very hard important decision concerning Facebook. I felt like a few people on my friends list were posting and promoting things, that I feel are a threat to my personal faith walk, and a threat to the effectiveness of the Body of Christ period. If you do not know by now, I am not a Calvinist, and I do not agree with the doctrines of Calvinism and reformed theology (mainly the TULIP).

I’m simply a FULL GOSPEL, bible believing CHRISTIAN! So to get straight to the point, I had to delete a few fokes [sic] from my friends list (and I’ll probably be deleting more if I feel that I need to).

What made the decision so hard for me is that a few of these people I know personally and I truly love ’em,  But I have to guard my heart, and I have to contend for The Faith that was once delivered. Some of the fokes [sic] that got deleted actually called me their mentor at one time…before they went to a faithless seminary, or before they got a heart full of some faithless music. Some of the people that got deleted are popular Christian rap artists, but regardless of the genre title, Truth is Truth, and error is error.

I’ve seen these doctrines shipwreck the lives of believers who were once “on fire.” When I say fire, I’m not talking about zeal or passion, I’m talking about “Holy Ghost Fire!”…PENTECOST (yeah, I believe that Holy Ghost baptism, tongues, signs, miracles, and wonders are for today, and are ESSENTIAL to what God wills to do IN and THROUGH The Body of Christ TODAY). ~Mynista’s Blog

Since I came across The Doctrines of Grace I now understand how God has been merciful to me. I find myself stocking up books on the attributes of God and listening to podcasts the Sovereignty of God. I count my self the chief of sinners for I was once dead in sin. With no ounce of righteousness to endear myself to God. Being Reformed or Calvinist or Ascribing to the Doctrines of Grace has taken me back to Biblical Christianity. Back to the old truths that seem to have been abandoned for mystical manifestations and experiential fads. If we want to dwell in truth then we must have the fortitude of seeking that which is consistent and  rhymes with what is written in scripture as sound doctrine.

Did I lose my fire then? [Gulp] Yes…I actually lost my self righteous “holy ghost fire” arrogance. I now realise how I was made alive in Christ and that was not of myself  (but despite myself) lest I should boast. I am grateful its now all behind me.

Like Charles Spurgeon I can now say:

“The old truth that Calvin preached, that Augustine preached, that Paul preached, is the truth that I must preach to-day, or else be false to my conscience and my God. I cannot shape the truth; I know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John Knox’s gospel is my gospel. That which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again.”