| Subject: Need Your Help Again |
Author:
Kent Dold
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Date Posted: 17:18:15 07/10/02 Wed
Dear Need your help,
Many of you teens are questioning whether or not the "manifestations" you witnessed during Steubenville South are of God. To "manifest" means to make visible or evident something that was not previously so. Some people just like to turn away or condemn what they do not understand, and I am not writing to try to convince you. My wish is to provide what understanding I have for those who are honestly questioning what they see and hear.
There are generally three questions that are raised:
1. Is this really a spirit, or just a church culture?
From my experiences, I have seen spiritual activity in the church. Most of you have never been much outside of Erath, LA. At least in a Church setting. I have lived in 4 states and have been a member of at least 7 parishes. I have seen some people fall over when touched or blessed by the presence of the Blessed Sacrament or simply prayed over by someone blessed with the gift of healing. I don't think this is a learned behavior since none of these persons have ever witnessed or been exposed to the Supernatural Graces of God before. People honestly do encounter a power that their physical bodies cannot handle, which results in them falling down or sleeping in the Spirit. I myself have not ever been overwhelmed by such a power (though I have felt it course through my body first when the Vicar of Christ the Pope himself passed while I was visiting the Vatican in Rome, and secondly at my first Steubenville conference within the presence of the Blessed Sacrament), but I know both Christians and unbelievers who have crumpled under such power. Many just recently during Steubenville. My conclusion is that the power is real and can cause a definite physical reaction. For instance, witness to the levitation (floating) of Saints such as St. Francis and the newly beatified Saint Padre Pio. These people were so close to God that they would be transfixed for hours or days in states of ecstasy and literally be off the ground. These accounts are well documented by the Catholic Church.
I have seen some services outside of the Catholic Church where people had worked themselves into a frenzy of sorts and some (to my eyes) very peculiar things were done. I personally disagree with such behavior (emotional frenzy) in the church, and I believe that Paul warned against such things in 1 Corinthians 14. I believe that this is far different than a spiritual manifestation, and is entirely of the flesh.
2. If this is really a spirit, is this God or the devil?
The Bible mentions manifestations (invisible or not evident things becoming visible) of angels, demons, and God. It is clear that someone in a congregation can have an unclean (evil) spirit [Mark 1:21-27], and that such a spirit can manifest. I have witnessed this before and the aim of the demon is to disrupt the service and strike fear into the hearts of people, causing unbelief to block the power of God. These can be quickly dealt with by a believer in the name of Jesus or the passing of the Blessed Sacrament. Angels do not attempt to possess or otherwise control people, at least we have no biblical evidence to support that. The Spirit of God can and does fill His temple, and the scriptures speak of this often. The scriptures speak many times of people being filled with the Spirit.
The question of what spirit is responsible for the actions of some people during worship such as at the Steubenville conference can be answered both by the behavior of the person and by what results from the behavior. I have heard teens cackling (laughing) who then screamed out "Satan!" and then continued to cackle. I believe that that was not God speaking through them. I believe that it was an unclean spirit.
The Apostle Paul goes into quite a bit of detail in 1st and 2nd Corinthians over conduct in the church and what sort of things are proper. He doesn't directly deal with manifestations but the tone is not one of uncontrolled behavior. On the contrary, he seems to emphasize order, quietness, and careful examination.
However, there are times historically and biblically when the Spirit of God showed up that people had no say in their behavior. Typically, the reaction was remorse, and trembling, often with the person falling down on his face before God. Other times a person could be filled with God in their heart and either led to repentance. God's Spirit took over and moved through his people (Acts 2:1-15 appeared drunk, speaking in tongues). There is no pattern of how He shows himself, but the object lesson is fairly clear that people did not control the situation when He decides to show up.
3. Is this biblical, or something that got invented along the way?
Some of each. As I said in question 1, some of what people do with certain religious expression is learned behavior, just like wanting to remain dormant or stale in religion is learned. However, there are a lot of spiritual manifestations in the Bible and we would do well to not assume that something is made up, just because "we don't do it that way at our church". I think also, that since God does not follow a particular pattern, that he can do things that He has not already done. He can direct people to do things never mentioned in the Bible. He will not contradict Himself ever, nor will He violate His revealed word. But He can and will do things that we have not even thought of [Eph. 3:20, 1 Cor. 2:9].
I respect your parents opinion as you do (and should) too. But don’t close the doors if God is knocking. People are uncomfortable with what they do not understand as I mentioned at the start. I honestly believe that God is working a tremendous conversion of hearts in Erath, and is using the Teens to deliver his promises and messages of Love. St. Paul dealt with these same issues as far back as 70 A.D.. He also gave us a pretty good understanding that through this, and the knowledge of God anything is possible. He also stated that through these manifestations, we should strive to build the Church. 1 Cor 14:12 I think, no...I know that he was right!
May God Bless you, and thank God for Life Teen,
Kent Dold
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