Confessions of a Former Cessationist (continued)

As I mentioned in the previous blog, I am writing a new book, and parts of it will appear here. This is installment #2:


Growing up in a mainline denominational church, I did not have the opportunity to see these greater things that Jesus speaks about with certainty. (See end of previous blog)

Mind you, I saw and experienced many wonderful things, like excellent teaching of the Word of God, solid discipleship programs, wonderful hearts for missions and reverence and awe of God the Father and God the Son and the Word of God, the Bible. I absolutely love and honor the background from which I have come spiritually and every person who faithfully poured into my life through the years. I received a solid grounding in the Word, for which I am eternally grateful.

One noteworthy thing that continually pricked at my heart, even as a young believer, was how quickly we glossed over the third person of the Trinity--The Holy Spirit. To me, and this is most likely my own fault, Holy Spirit was some sort of ethereal entity, very mysterious and sort of "out there," yes, significant, but somehow, He seemed less important or at least less emphasized than the Father and the Son.

I even remember having a conversation with someone when I was looking for a church home during graduate school. This person said, "That church places more emphasis on the Holy Spirit, whereas this church really emphasizes the Word and Jesus."

I took the bait---the latter was clearly 'better' than the former because it's the written Word of Truth that trumps the 'experience' of the Spirit. Somehow, Jesus' words in John chapter 4 to the Samaritan woman at the well got pushed to the wayside in my mind. "A time is coming when true worshipers will worship in Spirit and in Truth."

It's a both/and---not an either/or; it never has been nor ever will be. In the end, it's God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit revealed by the written word of God and the church, God's people, living out the fullness of everything that God is as recorded in Scripture.

I began by saying that I was on the journey away from cessationism before I even knew I was on the journey, and that's because some things really bothered me. Such things as why we focused on 1 Corinthians 13 but glossed over chapters 12 and 14, and why if the Apostle Paul taught clearly that we are to eagerly desire the gifts, especially that we would prophesy, then how could prophesy no longer exist? At one point I was told by a radical mainline person that speaking in tongues was of the devil, so imagine my surprise when one day I am praying and I am, quite suddenly, speaking a language I don't recognize! It welled up from deep inside of me and came bubbling out, and since that time, my relationship with God has only grown more intimate and even deeper as I pray in tongues. I knew there had to be something to this fullness of Christ dwelling in me via Holy Spirit because my new spirit in me, renewed by God's grace, was communing with Holy Spirit like it never had before.

The other mental challenge I had was reading about the five-fold ministry, but only seeing three of the ministries active. Of course there are teachers, evangelists and pastors, but apostles and prophets are no longer in existence, I was told. This confused me a bit, but I simply accepted it, even though it seemed a bit odd to me, especially since Paul was writing about this regarding the early church and how that church and churches to come would be established until Jesus' second coming. As I began studying much later in my walk with the Lord, and experiencing things in my own life connected to these giftings, I realized that indeed they are gifts for today.

....More to come......