The first time I went to an Assemblies of God church I was 17. I loved my home church but we didn't have a large youth group and I was looking to interact with more believers my age.
My best friend was dating a guy at the AG church and invited me to go to youth with them. I was skeptical but eager. Little did I know how
this one experience would change me...
I noticed right away how different this church was from what I was used to. That night I made a decisions that Pentecostals were crazy and i was never coming back. Here's why
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| http://www.johnpiippo.com/2011/05/pentecostal-epistemology-privileges.html |
1. The Weird Lingo
At youth that night the students were raising money for
Speed the Light. I had no idea what this was. I asked a student next to me and
he explained they were raising money to buy a vehicles for people overseas. My
first thought was like, "cars? Must be like Christian NASCAR". True
story.
It took me at least 2 years to finally start catching on to
all the weird AG lingo. Things like BGMC, Missionettes, Royal Rangers, AGWM,
DYD, and District/General Council made no sense to me. Too bad they don't have
a section for the new members class called "Acronyms of the AG".
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| http://www.newlifebrownwood.org/Missions.html |
2. Raising Hands
My first experience with Pentecostal worship caught me off
guard. As soon as the first chorus hit everyone raised their hands. I remember
looking around and thinking "do these people need to ask a question? do they
all want high fives? what is happening???" I was so confused. The worship
style I was raised in was usually just a piano, organ, and a choir. People sang
but didn't do anything other than that. We still worshiped the Lord...just
quieter I guess. It took me a while to get used to hand raising, this didn’t
make me a lesser Christian just a different
worshiper.
3. Their Abrasiveness
One of the first distinctive things I noticed about Pentecostals is how blunt they are. I had never heard of pastors preaching so boldly. At first i was worried someone would be offended but when I talked to others after the service a student made the remark "well he's preaching the truth." Then it hit me.. it was the truth. Not watered down, not sugar coated, just the plain raw truth. Not that I had never heard the truth before, but never so matter-of-factly. I loved it.
4. They never stay still
I thought the Pentecostal church was crazy because people never stayed still. People would come, get saved, then be called in to ministry, and then they were gone. Whole families would pick up and move to foreign countries and do missions work, students would leave for bible college, or a man and wife would go start a church in rural neighboring areas and so on. At first this seemed strange, but then over time it became normal... and then really cool. There was such a since of pride when one of the members would announce they were going over to India to work with victims of human trafficking, or a family would announce they were leaving to go do ministry with the homeless in the inner cities. It was awesome. Eventually I became one of them. My last night of church before leaving for Bible college was wonderful and filled with lots of hugs and encouragement. The revolving door for members became part of my story too and I finally realized what the church was doing. They were raising up leaders to go and change the world and I was now one of them.
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| http://www.charismanews.com/culture/40704-assemblies-of-god-s-debut-album-tops-praise-and-worship-charts |
3. Their Abrasiveness
One of the first distinctive things I noticed about Pentecostals is how blunt they are. I had never heard of pastors preaching so boldly. At first i was worried someone would be offended but when I talked to others after the service a student made the remark "well he's preaching the truth." Then it hit me.. it was the truth. Not watered down, not sugar coated, just the plain raw truth. Not that I had never heard the truth before, but never so matter-of-factly. I loved it.
4. They never stay still
I thought the Pentecostal church was crazy because people never stayed still. People would come, get saved, then be called in to ministry, and then they were gone. Whole families would pick up and move to foreign countries and do missions work, students would leave for bible college, or a man and wife would go start a church in rural neighboring areas and so on. At first this seemed strange, but then over time it became normal... and then really cool. There was such a since of pride when one of the members would announce they were going over to India to work with victims of human trafficking, or a family would announce they were leaving to go do ministry with the homeless in the inner cities. It was awesome. Eventually I became one of them. My last night of church before leaving for Bible college was wonderful and filled with lots of hugs and encouragement. The revolving door for members became part of my story too and I finally realized what the church was doing. They were raising up leaders to go and change the world and I was now one of them.
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| http://penndelyouth.com/tag/missions/ |
5. Speaking in Tongues
I remember driving past the AG church with my family one
Sunday while on our way to church and asking my mom why we never visited that
church. She mentioned something about speaking in tongues. I asked “how can anyone
understand them?” She told me they have interpreters. I remember thinking “that’s
weird. Why don’t they just speak English?”
I just really had no Idea.
That night in youth I heard several people praying in tongues and was pretty freaked out. I thought they were demon possessed.
After I had been at the AG church a few months my friends
invited me to go to youth camp with the church. I was excited to go until I
found out that one night they talk about the Holy Spirit and people get
baptized. I felt weary of that night but still decided to go.
I became close to my camp counselor who happened to be a
student at the Bible College I would later attend. She convinced me the night
of the Holy Spirit service to go down to the alter and be prayed over to receive
the baptism. I went down hesitantly but I went.I closed my eyes while she prayed in front of me. A few minutes in I felt something hit my face. I opened my eyes and looked at her. She had blood all over her mouth and when i looked down I noticed I had blood splattered all over me. As she prayed she kept splattering me with blood...needless to say, I freaked the freak out. I was about to turn and run when she opened her eyes and saw my face and clothes speckled with red she realized what happened. She had bit her tongue while praying and was bleeding without realizing it. She walked me outside of the chapel we cleaned up and then she explained everything had happened wasn't normal. It was wild but she explained herself well and then explained the Holy Spirit in a way I hadn't thought of before. That night the Holy Spirit surprisingly became less spooky to me...as odd as that sounds.
I am now finishing my senior year at an AG University and plan on pursuing ministry with my soon-to-be husband. I'm currently working on getting my credentials for ministry right now and am very excited to live my dream. I still think Pentecostals are crazy, but not like clinical insane crazy, just crazy for Jesus.
I am now finishing my senior year at an AG University and plan on pursuing ministry with my soon-to-be husband. I'm currently working on getting my credentials for ministry right now and am very excited to live my dream. I still think Pentecostals are crazy, but not like clinical insane crazy, just crazy for Jesus.
