watso to jconnell
jus read your post - re your involvement in the pentacostal movement
i have not commented on this thread so far, but have had input into other times that this topic has done the rounds
like you, i have also seen the light. my background was pretty ho hum methodist - not very exciting, but i was a believer - lots of prayers - before and after dinner, church youth group etc etc. later on, i met a woman who became involved in the pentacostal movement - and it was then that i had to confront my beliefs - after all, as i was not one of "them", i was really an outcast. they way that these little pentacostal churches control the flock is amazing . anyway, i remember once, at a large gathering, when everyone was getting zapped by the spirit, and falling like ten pins - well, i was the only one left standing. well, i started my search, did a lot of reading (without the aid of the internet) - and i saw the light - we have all been duped. the reality is, is that i only believed what i believed, was for no reason than i was brought up to believe, and then believed the circular arguments, that were tossed up as proof. a person is a catholic, because they are born in italy, a person is a muslim, because they are born in iran, a person is a hindu, becasue they are born in india - etc etc - religion is all a matter of geograpy (ah - only to extent). i remember laying in bed with this woman, and watching jimmy swaggert on sunday morning - while he cried out, because of the filth and pornograpy in the world - while the filthy bugger was paying prostitutes, outside of the pulpit.
jsut for fun sometimes, i would watch that benny hinn guy on tv, in the morning- gosh the gullible who believe that rubbish- what a laugh.
the odd time that i have to listen to a sermon, i squirm when the preacher takes a verse here, and then a verse from somewhere else, and then a verse from somewhere else again - and then proclaims that this is the message from the lord. strange how they never use the verse in psalms somewhere (forget where - up around the psalm 100 somehwere) which goes a bit like this "blessed is the man that throws the baby against the rocks) - i suppose a concordance would help
what a joke this pentacostal movement is. this woman (actually, she was a wonderful woman), returned once, and told how somebody had witnessed that her boyfriend had tried to tear apart her bible - but was unable. a few weeks later, when we were arguing over god, i got her bible, and simply ripped it apart - there was no "divine intervention" i regret it of course, as the bible belonged to her dear departed mother
the yoke is lifted for those who are weary, and who have seen the light, and are not sucked into wasting so much valuable time believing in a load of rubbish. having said that, a lot of people find it comforting to believe in something - and good luck to them, but sadly, that is not for me
