Part 1

If you are a church goer like me, you have probably seen some pretty strange things in church.  Some of them are funny, some are sad, and a few things just don’t seem right.  All of how we feel about events that happen in Church are influenced by our own Church backgrounds and experiences.  If you come from a very conservative church experience that looks at any kind of emotional happenings in church as something to be frowned upon then any emotion in church to you might seem wrong.  If on the other hand, you are used to a wild free-for all, then there may be verry little that you see as suspicious behaviors when it comes to emotional things in church.

I was raised with a very pentecostal style background.  It was nothing for me to be in a church service where people were shouting, jumping up and down, shaking and where many other demonstrative activities were taking place in Church.  I can recall much “shouting” and praising going on! 

I have seen people, doing all kinds of things that I will attempt to describe here as if no one has ever experienced them.  Following is a list of them.  I will not try to convince anyone or deny the validity of these experiences at this time.  I will just try to describe and tell you what I think is the common thinking concerning the actions on behalf of those doing them.

1.   Speaking in Unknown Tongues.      A gift of the Holy Spirit, mentioned in Several places in the New Testament.

2.   Speaking in Tongues with Interpretation.  Speaking in a language that is not known but is interpreted by someone who has the Spiritual Gift of Interpreting this utterance by the Holy Spirit giving the person the knowledge of what is being said by the Spirit of God.

3.   Shouting.  Jumping up and down, shaking, moving about as a result of excitement or joy of feeling or sensing that the Lord is there in some special way.

4.  Singing in Tongues.  Very similar to Speaking in unknown tongues. Considered Singing with the Spirit as mentioned in 1. Cor.

5.  Holy Laughter.  Considered an overflow of Joy at the presence of the Lord.  Not forced, just a joyful reaction to God’s presence being experienced or sensed in the service.  Laughter caused by great joy.

6.  Falling Down.  Either as a result of prayer or extacy at the presence of the Lord.  It is considered that someone is overcome with great emotion or that they are “In the Spirit” as was the Apostle Peter was when he “fell into a trance” on the rooftop.  Or like John the Revelator when he was “In the Spirit” and saw visions in the book of Revelation.

Some believe that these happenings should no longer accompany worship by Christians and that a much more reserved manner should be observed when in Church or Prayer.

I will continue with my effort to examine these phenomena in light of scripture and current thought as I continue to blog here.

I am no longer going to promise when the next blog post will be!  Just that they will come.

This entry was posted on 26. May 2010 at 16:02 and is filed under Falling Out in Church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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