Slayed by the Spirit?

I have been discipling a fellow worker who was once backsliden and now is filled with the fire of the Lord. He attends a Vietnames Assembly of God. During the Christmas holiday he attended a retreat up in the Sierra Mountains. There, he cried out to the Lord and twice he and his wife testify that the Spirit of God knocked them to the ground. Since I have not been around Pentecostal ministries, and am not familiar with their doctrine, is this what they call being "slayed in the Spirit?"The things he described to me sounded like those who fell before the preaching of Wesley and Finney.Are there any threads concerning this type of testimony?In ChristJeff

Hi Jeff,The term used in Penecostal circles is "slain in the Spirit."You can do a google search on slain in the Spirit and get many hits. My own experience is that when I was a small boy people sometimes fell back because they were under tremendous conviction from the Holy Spirit. I felt something on a couple of occasions and I fell back one time as I recall.I have only rarely seen this since I returned to the Lord but the difference now is that I don't see conviction of sin when this has occurred and nothing happened to me. One of the primary gifts of the Holy Spirit is conviction of sin. If I don't have that conviction, then I know my heart has hardened and then I have to repent of that coldness.I guess the question I would ask is there conviction that accompanies this phenemona? If not, I would recommend staying away from it.

I know this brother had been convicted of smoking. He felt hypocritical telling others about what God was doing in his life and smoking at the same time. He testified that his testimony was not glorifying God. Before this retreat, he had struggled in his flesh to stop this habit which had been part of his life for over 20 years. He testified to me that he made another attempt to stop smoking by not taking any cigarettes with him to the retreat. He didn't smoke for 4 days during the retreat. He then came home and gave into temptation once again. But this time he became ill and could not continue smoking that cigarette. It has now been 12 days. He testifies that God has healed him of smoking. What I find heart rendering is this, everywhere he goes, he tries to tell others of the good news in his life. This is one example. Last week he had to go to the dentist to have a root canal done. As the dentist was injecting novecane into the area of the problem tooth, my friend blurted out, "Jesus healed me of smoking." His dentist, just sat there with his mouth open. My friend began to witness to the dentist and then his helper about what Jesus is doing in his life. The dentist sat there for 30 minutes just listening to him. This dentist was a buddist. Well after the procedure was completed, the dentist gave my friend his business card and wrote his personal cell phone number on it. My friend will be talking to me, and in the middle of our conversation about some Scripture, he will just start crying. The love of Jesus is always on his lips. And of course, I ask these questions to you all, because I ask myself, how satisfied am I with my present walk? I began discipling my friend and now his testimony is convicting me. In ChristJeff

RookieI have witnessed, on one occasion, one brother being “slain in the Spirit”. He is a member of this forum and perhaps his testimony will be more insightful than mine will…It was the first time we had ever prayed together and we had often spoken of spiritual experiences and discussed bible doctrine but we had never prayed together in this manner (I do not usually pray in tongues or with groaning around other people). As we prayed, the Lord spoke to my heart and asked me to lay my hands on him. We were both standing as we prayed and I placed my hand on his head and immediately he fell back. I felt absolutely nothing and was shocked to see it happen …I barely caught him as he hit the ground. He was in a trans from this point and we began to speak in the same (spiritual) tongue to each other while he was still in a trans. The mind was completely unfruitful from this exchange but I can tell you for a fact that spiritually he has seen many more manifestation after this. Neither of us are Pentecostals nor have we ever been to a Pentecostal meeting nor are we familiar with the terms they use but, if the description I hear of being “slain in the Spirit” are accurate then this is definitely what happened. Those who have read my posts before know that I like to quote scripture to back up anything I say but unfortunately, there is none I can think of… you will just have to take my word for it. Perhaps I can get the brother to write a post to give you a first hand account of what took place. I have omitted many things because this is more of his testimony than it is mine…In Christ James

I think there have been occasional comments on this phenomena but I can't find them. The overall issue with any physical phenomena is that it is NOT true reasoning to say 'x happened therefore y must be true'. If the x is the sudden trance state there is no way that we can calculate what 'y' is.This, when genuine, is a physical phenomena. (Im sure with some it is self-induced) It may have had a physical cause, or an emotional cause, a psychiatric cause or a demonic cause, or a Holy Spirit cause. People then usually say 'well, by their fruit you will know them'..'and this person has been blessed, helped, convicted... etc.' Again it is not really possible to make a one-to-one conclusion about this. If someone genuinely reaches out to God there may be a great mixture of causes.There is a verse in Isaiah that I often turn over in my mind. It refers to the maker of idols. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. (Isa 44:14-15 KJV)This man has planted a tree with the intention of nurturing it to become good timber so that he can make an idol. No doubt he is confirmed in his convictions that this is the right thing to do in that ‘the rain doth nourish it’. Is God encouraging his folly? (Rain is almost always a sign of God’s favour in the OT.) Why doesn’t God stop the confusion by withholding the rain? This man is going to create an idol because God has ‘nourished’ his plans. Why doesn’t God put things into neat boxes? There is mixture everywhere. I wish it were not so, I have often prayed that it were not so, but there is. And a brief reading of the NT will tell us that it has always been the same. Why doesn’t God sort the sheep from the goats now? That Ananias and Sapphira judgement was scary but at least people knew where they stood. I am sure that in the ‘being slain in the spirit’ phenomena there is ‘mixture’ too.Some have made quite an issue about the direction in which people fall. Prostration before the Lord they say was always forwards, onto your face. Whereas ‘being slain in the spirit’ is usually backwards. There may be some truth in this but I would just like to make a practical point that falling forwards is much safer! That may not sound a very biblical contribution. The concept of ‘catchers’ developed in some circles. Did I tell you this story? I can document it. A close friend met his cousin in an UK town. The cousin was limping and it transpired that he had ‘put out a disc’ in his back. He was in considerable pain. My friend asked how the injury had occurred. “In a healing meeting”, came the answer. Apparently the man, a deacon in his local church, had been nominated as a ‘catcher’ for a series of evangelistic meetings by a visiting evangelist. The pattern was that as the evangelist laid his hands on the sick they were ‘slain in the spirit’ and toppled backwards quite rigidly. The deacon took his station behind a large woman. When she ‘keeled over’ he caught her and ‘slipped a disc’. I have no idea whether or not the woman was healed; I only know that the catcher was seriously injured.I have witnessed the phenomenon of people falling down after prayer. I have often seen people on their faces before God, but they usually got down themselves in an act of contrition or worship. The recent ‘Toronto Blessing’ made this phenomenon almost a hallmark of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. This is foolish and dangerous; other spirits can produce this effect. To begin to measure the power of a meeting by the number of prostrations is also dangerous. Bonhoeffer once said “Quantities are competitive, qualities are complementary.” I am not always sympathetic to Bonhoeffer but I think this statement is exemplarary good sense.In the early days of the Lord’s earthly time His ‘physical phenomena’ drew many to Him, but their dependence upon Him as a ‘phenomena’ producer created a faith He could not build on. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, during the feast, many believed on his name, beholding his signs which he did. But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men, (Joh 2:23-24 ASV) If the phenomenon genuinely draws people to Christ who can object? But if it results in a preoccupation with the phenomenon it is working against the Holy Spirit who ever seeks to focus our attention upon Christ.

Thanks Ron,This produced some chuckles which I have repented of. It's kind of difficult to hear My friend asked how the injury had occurred. “In a healing meeting”, came the answer. and not... Yet, having had past vertebrae misalignment know just how acute this can be.Ron, you are becoming more and more quotable everyday;Why doesn't’t God put things into neat boxes? And There is mixture everywhere. I wish it were not so, I have often prayed that it were not so, but there is.How's that go...? 'You say tomato, I say tomoto'...Indeed it's true. Mixture...muddy, my word of choice. A lot of sorting and hard to characterize everything into neat little piles. But will say that this idea of 'holy men' applying their hands to ones forehead while manipulating (either intentionally or not) the atmosphere, and having 'catchers' and of course the proverbial shove, just to get the ball rolling so to speak, is nothing short of psychological manipulation. And I think it is bogus and despicable frankly. Came out of this sloth and to see sincere believers being played with in this way always gets my dander up.This so called phenomenon is only so in that it is largely cooked up in imagination of mere men who ought to know better.There has been talk around here on this subject before, will see if I can back track it. But wish I could go back and turn the tables on my own experience with a Mr. Humbard at one of Benny Hinn's little manipulation conventions. I bowed to the atmospheric pressure and 'went along with it' though absolutely nothing happened other than having someone push me in the forehead even though I was enamored with this gentleman and was full of anticipation. If now was then, would have stood my ground and blown the cover off the whole charade, of course knowing what I do now wouldn't find me anywhere near one of these things...hmmm, could see myself doing some open-air on the other hand....And here comes the... 'but'.Can recall a couple of years ago an somewhat elderly gentleman calling in to the Bible Answer Man as this 'phenomenon' was in full stride and he was sincere and confused by it all. He said that he was so overcome by the presence of the Lord while in what was an otherwise normal service, nothing orchestrated, that he fell to the floor in his pew, don't recall if it was necessarily conviction or just being overwhelmed, but this dear soul was in tears as he explained it, it's still etched in my memory. He was so concerned that what happened to him was a possible trick of either the devil or part of this whole so called 'slain....' that he didn't know what to make of it. Mr. Hanaggraff graciously dealt with him in a very loving way, explaining that this certainly was not uncommon to be overwhelmed either by conviction or just by the Lords sheer presence.In actuality and largely in scripture it makes perfect sense that we would be anywhere else but standing upon our feet in the Presence of pure Holiness, be that of our Lord or angels. But it's all the difference in the world between theatrics and reality.

Thanks for the response. With the response, these particular parts were present with my friend.First, he testified, that the man prayed for him for some time and nothing happened. The man then went to the next individual and began praying. It was my friends desire to know the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He said he lifted his hands to God and then he fell backwards and stiffened. Secondly, there were men assigned to catch individuals.Thirdly, once on the floor he was stiff. One individual sought to bend his arm inward toward his chest. Upon release of his arm, my friends arm sprang back to the original position, that position, representing the cross. All I know at this point is that my friend was on fire before he went to this retreat. And now the fire is burning hotter. I appreciate all your responses. I too am weary. Yet, my friend, my brother, stated that he too was unbelieving until it happened to him. In ChristJeff

Hi Jeff,I know that you are a level headed brother and wouldn't want to make my own particular experience or opinion anything other than what it is.It really is irrelevant in one sense, but for what it's worth...I had a dream a number of years ago, that was very vivid. The essence cumulated in a number of people who had fallen prostrate and I recall as I approached them saying out loud (in the dream) "Lord, you know I don't by into all this 'slain-in the spirit' stuff..." the next thing I knew I was literally crushed to the ground, not backwords or forwards, but sideways..it was very overwhelming, a sense of His power and not a thing I could do but lie there in awe.Doesn't prove or disapprove anything other than we certainly by know means have everything figured out.

I've been in services where people were obviously trying to just be more wild/holy-rollerish than the next person. I've seen people pushed down, or people lining up just to have the experience of being slain in the spirit, which is not something we should not seek in and of itself.However, the other side of the coin is trying to outline what God can and cannot do. He often does things that we may not be entirely comfortable with. I think the acid test is where the emphasis is. Are we thinking "wow, what a great service, half the audience and the entire choir were slain in the spirit" or are we thinking, "thank you Jesus that You were free to come and change lives"?I grew up with a rather pentecostal bend, but have only been slain in the spirit once. The preacher did not lay a hand on me and I do not remember falling. I just remember that one moment I was standing and the next moment I was laying on the ground in His presence amidst perfect peace.Phebe

In my own experience, I have been slain in th spirit twice. The first time was in the summer of 1999 while on internship. A fellow brother and I were discussing things and he told me that God told him to tell me that I was supposed to be a warrior for God. Now I didn't really think God would use me in this capacity but that's what God told him. Later on that night as we were talking with another brother, the 3 of us were standing and I felt myself begin to rock backward and forward involuntarily. I remember thinking it to be unsual but I had not idea what was to take place just then. Now Leo was standing in front of me as we faced eachother and then I felt myself falling back away from Leo then all of a sudden he caught me from behind and laid me dowm. At this point Leo instructed me to let the spirit do what it had to with me so I did and the spirit began to repeat a phrase in a foreign tongue and it did so for some time after that. As I lay there I convulsed some but after it all I was not hurt. At that time I had seen such things happen but didn't think anything of them.Then recently it happened again when my brother James came by one day to pray as God instructed him. So we stood and he prayed and laid his hands on as he faced me and I fell back. Again as before I'm unsure as to how he got behind me in time to catch me but he did. At this time the spirit began to speak once again the same phrase it did in '99 but with time the spirit spoke with more force and the speech was expanded greatly. Then my spirit began to speak with my brother's spirit. All along God had been slowly revealing to me and confirming to me what Leo had told me in '99 and it has come to pass. God deals with His children as He sees fit and this is how He dealt with me and many others. Many people dismiss this as rubbish but I thought it rubbish myself till it happened to me. Since then God has increased the power of His spirit within me to do His work accordingly. You may ask how I know it was God and all I can say is the more God does through me the more I see that this is not of myself because it makes me more aware of my own faults and that this is UNDOUBTEDLY God doing what he sees fit. I have seen God do things through me that are difficult to descibe, even when I explain them to James I am overwhelmed because the flesh cannot comprehend the things of the spirit, understand them or profit from them because such things are foreign to the flesh.This is my story and I hope it gives some insight on this topic.

This remains a difficult thread, I think. As a statistical sample it is defective in that we are only likely to hear evidence from those who have survived, and yet each reference tends to make the phenomenon legitimate.I don't think this has any of the characteristics of prostrations recorded at times of revival. There the emphasis was God-consciousness and a sense of overwhelming unworthiness. In the modern phenomena we have convulsions, spasticity and a focus on the event that doesn't sound at all healthy to me.I have moved in these circles and am not afraid of these events, but I would never seek them. Nor would I visit a place where they are 'likely' to happen. I have also seen the phenomenon used to manipulate crowds and individuals. Bible teachers are often asked their views of such events. I used to say I can't help you with this, I'm a Bible teacher and the Bible has nothing to say on the topic. Superficially there are New Testament precedents but in the New Testament the phenomenon seems to be associated with evil spirits leaving rather than by a Holy Spirit arriving.God is God, and He may do as He wishes. The dangers arise with the theology. When we try to systematise the event, or find the means to reproduce it we have moved into speculative theology, rather than Bible teaching. My recommendation,for the survivors, would be to actively press on with God, laying no lasting importance to the event. Self-forgetfulness is a healthy trait in the growing soul. Move on, reach out to God, do not seek for a repitition, centre everything on Christ. Make love your aim. Today is the day of salvation, not yesterday.

Very, very well said. Amen.

Hello everyoneBrothers and sisters, this post is in response to some personal conversations I have had with some brothers and is not at all an attack on anyone, so please take no offense. As brother Ron said, this is a very difficult subject and emotions are likely to run high if we are not cautious.To begin, let us be exceedingly careful when we refer to anything that may have the Holy Spirit involved in it. I say, “may have” because, for those who have never experienced this phenomena it is probably the best you can say. Let us remember that Balaam prophesied and he was not an Israelite nor was he voluntarily in God’s will and yet the Holy Spirit still used him. Saul prophesied when he was at the brink of mental collapse and consumed with jealousy and the Holy Spirit still used him. Samson slept with prostitutes (definitely against God’s will) and was still endued with the Holy Ghost power.Again, Matthew 7:21-23 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.Without a doubt, prophesying is the highest order of spiritual gifts and yet one can prophesy in the name of the Lord and still not be right with God. If I were to make a human assessment, I would say that such a person is demon possessed, but such an assessment borders on blasphemy… To attribute the works of the Holy Ghost to the Devil is blasphemy. I can see easily why many spiritual phenomena have a bad report due to the conduct of people who perform them or are exercised in them but this still does not mean that they are not of God. Remember, Mark 9:39 “But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.”Concerning those who are slain in the Spirit. Let us examine the three examples we have from the members of this forum starting with that of Brother Jeff. What was the effect of the phenomena on his friend? He began to testify about the Lord to man, some of whom may never have heard anything “real” about God. The brother is undoubtedly of good repute because if it causes even the likes of Brother Jeff to question the meaning of such things means that he is not some fruitcake. The testimony of a sound person of good repute is very potent! Imagine Jeff’s friend was your close friend, brother or son, whom you know well, and you know such a thing has never happened to him. It is not so easy to dismiss this as being a fake or the works of Satan…it will probably cause you to seek out God a little more fervently. Who can be against that? Although this phenomenon in itself is not fruitful, it is for a sign. The person who experiences this, all of a sudden has a very “real” God and he is compelled to seek him out and to talk of him more openly. Some individuals have ministries, which carry this as a sign (not that this is the only sign). Signs verify things for those of little faith, and even them who are mature in Christ are greatly encouraged by a sign. It excites the human condition and motivates discussions and research about, “who this God really is”. This is not to say that the men and women with signs in their ministry are infallible but it does indicate a few things. Firstly, perhaps the person is in fact walking very close to God. Secondly, the person may have been walking very close to God at some point but has backslidden to some extent but has retained the sign (Samson was backslidden but retained his Holy Ghost strength). Lastly and perhaps most seriously, the person is completely evil and is using the power of Satan to deceive God’s Children.Signs, wonders and miracles in themselves are not Christ but, let us remember dear siblings, we ALL are the body of Christ. Just as you cannot express your personality through your eye alone, Christ cannot express himself through only a few members. How great would it be if all members were unified? The problem we have is that, as soon as we receive a little manifestation of Christ, be it in wisdom, knowledge, preaching, healing or tongues etc… we want to break of and start a new denomination and we become divided against each other. We cannot stand like this. We have had 2000 years of proof that any one ministry by itself cannot evangelize the world. I sense myself drifting of into another topic so I’ll stop here for now.In ChristJames

Hi James,Came back to put this in a different section but it seems to fit here. Before that though, still must state that largely this is overwrought with just plain nonsense as it is 'practiced'. One of the areas not really dealt with here is the issue of very similiar 'phenomenon' in occult practice's.Not really attempting anything other than to be sober minded about all of this. Would have to side with Ron's earlier comments in the broader sense, exceptions naturally expected, but don't find they validate anything as far as the so called 'phenomenon' is concerned. More reasoning here; SLAIN IN THE SPIRITBut as it relates to your thought's, this did seem to find a niche;Christian Quotation of the DayJanuary 10, 2005"The 'outsider' who knows nothing of the mixture of tradition, conviction, honest difference, and hidden resentment, that lies behind the divisions of the Christian Church sees clearly the advantage of a united Christian front and cannot see why the Churches cannot 'get together'. The problem is doubtless complicated, for there are many honest differences held with equalsincerity, but it is only made insoluble because the different denominations are (possiblyunconsciously) imagining God to be Roman or Anglican or Baptist or Methodist or Presbyterian or what have you. If they could see beyond their little inadequate god, and glimpse the reality of God, they might even laugh a little and perhapsweep a little. The result would be a unity that actually does transcend differences, instead of ignoring them with public politeness and private contempt.... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Your God is Too Small [1953]_______________________________________________________________Meditation:Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. -- Romans 15:5-7 (KJV)http://www.cqod.com/

Hi Jimm1. Although this phenomenon in itself is not fruitful, it is for a sign. 2. The person who experiences this, all of a sudden has a very “real” God and he is compelled to seek him out and to talk of him more openly. 3. Some individuals have ministries, which carry this as a sign (not that this is the only sign). 4. Signs verify things for those of little faith, and even them who are mature in Christ are greatly encouraged by a sign. 5. It excites the human condition and motivates discussions and research about, “who this God really is”.I am not wanting to attack anything you have said in this post, but I want to point out that this paragraph is the area of difficulty. I have taken the liberty of dividing your paragraph into 5 separate statements. Speaking from a Biblical point of view the difficulty is that not one of these statements has a Biblical basis. Each statement is a statement of speculative theology. They represent your personal conviction, and you have a right to that as do we all. But ultimately, unless we can find some biblical basis for a discussion, the result is one person who says 'I think this' and another who says 'I think that'. I don't think we are questioning each others integrity here, but just asking 'why do you believe this (or that)?'In one sense any systematising of biblical truth is speculative. It is a kind of 'best fit' hypothesis. Some may not like that phrase but I am not using it in a accusatory way. The Bible makes propositional statements; God is love. This is not speculative theology but good sound 'Biblical Theology'; of course its not nearly so exiciting or likely to cause interesting threads on SI. :-D Our differences are very seldom to do with Biblical Theology.The problem comes when we try to explain, defy or defend something which is not expressly dealt with in the scripture. viz 'being slain in the spirit'. This is the term used to describe a physical phenomenon in which a person is rendered prone. But there is not a single instance of scripture where we can dogmatically say 'this is that'. So we are immediately into speculation.The kind of questions we are asking include.1. Is it truly scriptural?2. Is it contrary to scripture?3. Is it consistent with scripture?Then there another list of questions...1. What kind of persons receive this experience?2. What kind of persons deliver this experience?3. What are the after effects of this experience?4. Ought we to seek this kind of experience?The second lot of questions are heavily influenced by our character, our history, our Christian background and experience. You may have noticed in my posts that I try really hard to use Biblical terms because they have biblical definitions. I try to avoid psychological terms like will, and self, because they have no biblical definition. It can be a helpful discipline to look at extra-biblical phenomena and ask 'what is the biblical term for this?'. When the answer is 'there isn't a biblical term for this' I begin to get uncomfortable.The difference between 'speculative theology' and 'Jake's theology' is only one of degree.

MikeSir, I really enjoyed your quote by J. B. Phillips! I almost feel like opening a new thread for this is where my heart truly is…As for the article I read it and I must say that the writer brought some very good points. If anyone is reading this thread that particular article is well worth a read (it does not feel as long as it looks). It is my opinion however that the article was somewhat unbalanced and that the writer had an obvious bias. It seems as if his article is mainly based in the observations, he has made from mainstream evangelists, some of whom have misrepresented many aspects of the “normal Christian life”.I have to agree with you, that to actively seek out this phenomena is neither biblical nor does it have a display of Godly wisdom. The things he has described, that is, the promoting of this as a “practice” is quite unacceptable. Deeds without a higher purpose are meaningless empty works but still, I would not be quite so quick as to say that this is fake (as the writer of the article alludes). You may not lightly do works in the name of the Lord and get away with it. Apart from that, I hope that the testimonies of the members of this forum mean something (in the mouth of two or three witnesses) It seems that everyone that has written in this thread has more or less the same opinion. We all agree that this does exist but we also agree that overall the practice of the phenomena does not edify anyone and has led many astray. On another note, those who have heard the testimony of Mr. Campbell on one of his sermons (Young Donald Mcphail prays) in the “compilations section” may recall him speaking of another phenomenon. The people on his left hand side had the hands raised toward heaven and the people on his right were all slumped on top of each other in a trans… “in the Spirit”. This is very unusual (although I do not dispute or doubt it for one moment); if one of our modern evangelists reported this what biblical scriptures would he have to his defense? (None) Would it be acceptable? (No) Perhaps we need to reexamine our points of reference. Man can do nothing except it be given him from heaven, especially when he does so in the name of the Lord but still, some have erred in their execution of that which they have been given in good faith. Many shall say in that day Lord, Lord…In ChristJames

RonWell Sir, iron sharpens iron… That was indeed speculative, although I would not term it “theology”; it was just one man’s observations. They can be disputed (I do not like that word) easily by another man’s observations. I just wanted to draw attention to the effect it had on one particular brother whose case we are taking as a study based on the fact that we are undoubtedly short of any bible reference that say anything that is either for or against what we speak of particularly. Anything we say with reference with to scriptures on this subject will have to have a human opinion or allusion to make it valid for this subject. Many phenomena are reported in revivals and none of them are questioned even though they lack biblical basis but we all use our God-given wisdom and judge based on the facts. What I was attempting to do was to present a set of facts so as to separate the incident from its effects. When we observe the effects of incident, we can use our God-given wisdom to judge the truth it. My standpoint too was bias, I neglected the fact that there are those who hold the truth in unrighteousness and the effects of this are altogether different. I think they have been adequately outlined in the article linked to us by Brother Mike. I guess the question that remains is, are we at liberty to exercise any judgment or discernment based purely on our God-given conscious and the Holy Ghost bearing us witness? James

This post has moved rather quickly and I'm on lunch. Hence a quick post.Ron, I agree with your advice earlier in this thread. In fact, it revealed a self-seeking (i.e. selfish) attitude in my own heart when I sought these type of "deeper experiences" with God that I have to repent of.Thank you.

About a month ago I preached at my Church, and had a pretty powerful altar-call. We ended up having altar-service for about 2 hours after the sermon. During this time, one person got saved, several were filled with the Spirit, and about 10 or so were "slain" in the Spirit, some, multiple times. Though I am very much Pentecostal, I am often careful with this slain in the Spirit stuff. Some would say it is not found in the Bible, therefore, it is to be rejected. However, I believe the Scriptures permit "unusual" manifestations to occur, such as the miracles God did through Paul with aprons, or with Peter's shadow. During the altar service I had some personal doubts about the people who were slain, sometimes in apparently goofy looking ways, and was thinking that perhaps people were just being emotional. Most of the slain were amongst the youth. However, over the next week I would see some fruit from the lives of the people who were slain that did not give me any doubt that they had a geniune encounter with God in what occured. For example, one brother reported that while he was slain, that God told him to give up cigarretes. Since then, that brother has not smoked once. A week later one of our teens who never says anything during church stood up to powerfully testify of God's grace towards him. So, is every instance of slain in the Spirit of God? Probably not. Most of it is probably just emotionallism of some sort. However, I have no doubt from what I've seen that sometimes it might be of God. I've never personally experienced it, though I've had some encounters with God that caused me to experience something like it.

Thankyou again, all of you. Today, during lunch a number of brothers at UCLA got together to discuss this event. As I read through these posts, it is like a rerun. Many of the the responses of the brothers there echo the responses here. As for my brother who had the experience, first, he led two people to the Lord this weekend. Secondly, he was preaching at me this morning. The things he had prayed for specifically were: " The Scriptures testify of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Lord, I want to know this baptism." As my friend continued, the things he said reminded me of the conversion experiences one reads about of Wesley. Before, he was powerless, after he was a witness used by God to start the Methodist church. As I began this thread, remember I said I was discipling him. Now he is discipling me. He keeps talking about the simple faith. And I know in my heart, I have not submitted to my Lord 100%. I see a simple man before me with demonstration of power. I have known a thousand Christians in my eight years of walking with God, none like this man. In ChristJeff