Re: "Slain in the Spirit"

Alikat,

Thank you so much for sharing your testimonies...it blessed me to hear them and reminded me of how much God's love can truly touch us, not just in our spirits, but physically and emotionally. Sometimes that love and presence is experienced in a profound and miraculous event, much like your two experiences, and other times it is just a peace and confidence that surpasses all understanding.

Shortly after I was saved, I began attending a charismatic church where there were many moves of the Holy Spirit (which I long to see manifest again). I remember one time going down front for prayer and there were people lined up all along the front of the church, and the minister began going down the line praying for people and anointing them with oil and they were falling down one after the other. I don't remember too much about the experience other than I truly felt washed, like you described, and completely filled with God's peace. On another occassion, we were having prayer time in our women's fellowship and I laid hands on a pregnant woman and prayed for her. I felt led to place my hands on her pregnant stomach and pray for her baby too, and when I did, she was 'slain in the spirit'. This took me completely by surprise and nothing like it ever happened again - but, I was extremely humbled by the whole experience.

At this point, I feel that I must issue a warning! A genuine life as a disciple of Christ does not depend on 'experiences' like the ones described above. As a matter of fact, the church that I attended at that time, was later shut down and the pastor run out of town because of serious abuses of the flock. This all happened after I had already left the church. The pastor had gotten way off balance in the prosperity message and I felt the Lord leading me to leave. Sometime later, the pastor had charges filed against him for unethically soliciting funds from his congregation. Since that time (about 20 years) I have concluded that many of the pentecostal/charismatic ministers are way off-base on many doctrinal issues and keep their audiences through the emotional experiences and false promises. I don't want to throw out the proverbial baby with the bath water - but for me, doctrine is what's important~!

Shalom~!
Eileen
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