Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Great points aron. I was "caught" in 1976 in a gospel meeting in Cleveland where I was encouraged to stand with others and "release my spirit." That night changed my life.
That event, in and of itself, was spiritual, healthy, reviving, and positive in every way. I stood up, shouted praises to my Savior, pumped my fist, lost my face, and was completely filled with the Spirit of God. That one "charismatic" experience shaped my entire life. Had I sat on my seat clinging to embarrassment, a very real possibility, I would have left that meeting in shame, and never gone back.
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Our Christian life had been improperly defined according to some charismatic "high," and Lee was the "reason for that season."
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It would be easy to understand these two parts as in contradiction to each other. But they are not, except for what is behind them.
Ohio's first experience was an encounter with Christ. But over time, those encounters were replaced, both currently and somewhat by attribution to the past, as being encounters with the truth being taught by Lee. Oh, there was some truth in it, but it was the "by Lee" part that was preeminent. It overshadowed even the real experience of Christ. We began to attribute its source to the teachings we got from Lee rather than the Christ who is the only possible source. And once those were surrounded by false "experiences" that did simply come from Lee, it is nothing short of a mess. You can never deny the real experience. But it is sometimes so hard to find amidst the faux experiences and is even seen differently because of the faux experiences. (Of course the experience is never faux or false. But what we attribute it to may be.)