Metamorphosis:” a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.” The church in general and the COG in particular has been and is going through dynamic change. That doesn’t mean that the change isn’t of God. No one has gone through more identities than Christ himself. In the beginning the creator, the fourth man in the fiery furnace, appeared as an angel and came as a human baby, preached to the spirits in hell, was the first to go into space, has served as the great judge and will be transformed even more in the end times. During the metamorphosis things look kind of messy but then comes a beautiful butterfly.
So do I love the Church of God. I wasn’t raised in Church of God. I was raised in the Baptist Church. That acted like Church Of God.they shouted , had strict rules. When they changed to more formal ways. My daddy called it the new deal Baptist. The only thing. They didn’t preach The Baptism Of The Holy Ghost. It was many years I never heard of Pentecost. When I was a young teenager. We mover to a place where they had a Church Of God There. I got started going with my niece. And got Filled with The Holy Ghost. Not long after as a teenager girl. The called me into the ministry. That was back when women preachers wasn’t all that popular. My daddy never said a word about The Holy Ghost or my preaching. He did say he believe the Holy Ghost was a gift. Some had the gift. And some didn’t. But I had great strict parents.they was more strict than Church Of God now days. Church Of God was strict when I joined it. I love the Church Of God. I believe its teachings is closer to Bible teachings than any other Church I know.
Melvin Harter, is there any reason, from the Bible, to think that modern choruses sung to an electric guitar, are any less holy than old timey sounding hymns sung to an acoustic guitar with a bit of twangy steel guitar thrown in? Some of the new stuff can be kind of fluffy, but some of it is powerful, taken right out of the Psalms and other scriptures. Some of the hymns are powerful, and some aren’t.
As far as dancing goes, when I first saw the ‘intentional’ type dancing in church, that was strange ot me. I knew some people were against it unless it was ‘dancing in the spirit’ which is supposed to be when the Spirit takes control of you and makes you dance, or something like that. It’s an individual thing that one person does. There were some people against people choosing to dance and some people against choreographed dancing.
The Psalms tell the people to dance. The implication is that the listener would hear and make the choice to do so. I can’t find an example in the BIble where someone is overtaken by an ecstacy and made to dance, not a clear one, at least.
As far as miracles go, I’ve seen healing in churches that sang modern praise choruses, mostly pretty ‘tame’. I even visited a small megachurch that had black lights and rock/pop band sounding that laid hands on someone and got a report back that the child they were praying for had a clean bill of health. That was technically a Baptist church. I don’t know that I’ve seen healing in a COG. I’ve witnessed prophetic words in a COG, also PH, and churches Wagoner would call ‘Third Wave’.
In the early 1990’s, pre-Toronto Blessing, when I spent some time around Vineyard people, I wondered why I hadn’t seen so much of these gifts in the Pentecostal environment I was raised in. I had grown up hearing prophecies and tongues and interpretation. But, usually, there was one person, maybe two, who would operate in these gifts in the congregation. What I was seeing was that a number of people could operate in revelatory gifts in one-on-one settings to minister to people. I I started to flow in a little bit of that sort of thing myself. I wondered if denominations and movements tended to lose their fire and be less likely to pursue God in the area of spiritual gifts. God is no respecter of persons, of course. But us people can be a problem.
I don’t think doing miracles has anything to do with being Old Timey. The problem could be a lack of prayer. It could also be related to holiness as well.
Metamorphosis:” a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.” The church in general and the COG in particular has been and is going through dynamic change. That doesn’t mean that the change isn’t of God. No one has gone through more identities than Christ himself. In the beginning the creator, the fourth man in the fiery furnace, appeared as an angel and came as a human baby, preached to the spirits in hell, was the first to go into space, has served as the great judge and will be transformed even more in the end times. During the metamorphosis things look kind of messy but then comes a beautiful butterfly.
The one truism is that we can not go back; so we are left to help in the birthing process, to help the church become the best it can be.
revival is a coming back to life
Even revival takes us forward…forward in faith!
Don’t think that is an accurate definition.
You are not confusing evangelism with revival are you?
Performing various roles does not classify as transformations. As to becoming a human baby it is called incarnation.
becoming a new babe in Christ requires Holy Spirit regeneration.
So do I love the Church of God. I wasn’t raised in Church of God. I was raised in the Baptist Church. That acted like Church Of God.they shouted , had strict rules. When they changed to more formal ways. My daddy called it the new deal Baptist. The only thing. They didn’t preach The Baptism Of The Holy Ghost. It was many years I never heard of Pentecost. When I was a young teenager. We mover to a place where they had a Church Of God There. I got started going with my niece. And got Filled with The Holy Ghost. Not long after as a teenager girl. The called me into the ministry. That was back when women preachers wasn’t all that popular. My daddy never said a word about The Holy Ghost or my preaching. He did say he believe the Holy Ghost was a gift. Some had the gift. And some didn’t. But I had great strict parents.they was more strict than Church Of God now days. Church Of God was strict when I joined it. I love the Church Of God. I believe its teachings is closer to Bible teachings than any other Church I know.
Praise God!
They are correct there is one in McAllen that I won’t go to I’m 52 and youngest there. All red back and dead spirituality.
dead because they don’t twist and shake???
No dead because no God there
but God is in the dancing and flag twirling and fog machines?
Melvin Harter, I don’t normally correct people’s grammar online, but that should be ‘churches of God’ not ‘Church of Gods’. One God.
Melvin Harter, is there any reason, from the Bible, to think that modern choruses sung to an electric guitar, are any less holy than old timey sounding hymns sung to an acoustic guitar with a bit of twangy steel guitar thrown in? Some of the new stuff can be kind of fluffy, but some of it is powerful, taken right out of the Psalms and other scriptures. Some of the hymns are powerful, and some aren’t.
As far as dancing goes, when I first saw the ‘intentional’ type dancing in church, that was strange ot me. I knew some people were against it unless it was ‘dancing in the spirit’ which is supposed to be when the Spirit takes control of you and makes you dance, or something like that. It’s an individual thing that one person does. There were some people against people choosing to dance and some people against choreographed dancing.
The Psalms tell the people to dance. The implication is that the listener would hear and make the choice to do so. I can’t find an example in the BIble where someone is overtaken by an ecstacy and made to dance, not a clear one, at least.
As far as miracles go, I’ve seen healing in churches that sang modern praise choruses, mostly pretty ‘tame’. I even visited a small megachurch that had black lights and rock/pop band sounding that laid hands on someone and got a report back that the child they were praying for had a clean bill of health. That was technically a Baptist church. I don’t know that I’ve seen healing in a COG. I’ve witnessed prophetic words in a COG, also PH, and churches Wagoner would call ‘Third Wave’.
In the early 1990’s, pre-Toronto Blessing, when I spent some time around Vineyard people, I wondered why I hadn’t seen so much of these gifts in the Pentecostal environment I was raised in. I had grown up hearing prophecies and tongues and interpretation. But, usually, there was one person, maybe two, who would operate in these gifts in the congregation. What I was seeing was that a number of people could operate in revelatory gifts in one-on-one settings to minister to people. I I started to flow in a little bit of that sort of thing myself. I wondered if denominations and movements tended to lose their fire and be less likely to pursue God in the area of spiritual gifts. God is no respecter of persons, of course. But us people can be a problem.
I don’t think doing miracles has anything to do with being Old Timey. The problem could be a lack of prayer. It could also be related to holiness as well.