Could someone tell me a little about this religion. I've been invited to go to one of their church services, but was wondering if someone could give me some positive feed back (positive being the key word) i.e. what they believe in, what to expect at a sunday service, what the girls can and cannot do or wear ect. ect. the more details the better! we'll be helping me out a lot. thank you in advance!
2006-11-16 15:54:41 · 13 answers · asked by koki t 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I go to an Assembly of God.
The music is great.The people are great.But most important the Spirit of God is always there.
We openly worship our Creator. We are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus.
We dress with moral standards.(Jeans are fine.)
Come with an open mind and a open heart.
I promise you will love it.
God Bless you as you seek.
2006-11-16 16:19:03 · answer #1 · answered by funnana 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I do not follow the Pentecostal way but I did attend a few of the churchs in my first marriage. The ones that I attended were very energetic and lively. I got a little tired of all the screaming the pastors felt they needed to do, even with an excellent sound system. There was "laying on of hands" ( prayers for healing, physical and spiritual ), "speaking in tongues" ( Holy Ghost inspired messages that needed interpertation by a second person ) and Holy Ghost inspired? "hysterics ( jumping around, jumping up and down, falling down, passing out, etc ). Actually it was usually the women of the congration that did most of these things. The music was upbeat and uplifting. That was always my favorite parts. I'm not sure I will ever go back to a Pentecostal church with my new wife but I can say my experiences there were spiritually moving. I believed I felt a holy presense to moved in those places.
2006-11-16 16:06:59 · answer #2 · answered by roamin70 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I attend pentecostal church in Australia. Pentecostals believe in all the central teachings of christianity and are open to the movement of the Holy Spirit and believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit - ie: speaking in tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge etc. Services can vary with some being more conservative than others. Mostly you will find that there is a willigness to be led by the Holy Spirit and there may not be as much formality as other traditions and you may experience someone giving a word or speaking in tongues and then having it interpreted during the service. As far as what to wear this varies a lot between congregations but I would stick with something that is smart casual and not too revealing. Hope you have a great experience at church! Usually pentecostals love their worship time so you will probably find it enjoyable too. Something I really enjoy about pentecostal churches in general is that there is a real willingness to be open to what God is saying to the church and to be led by the Holy Spirit. Pentecostal churches generally believe in a separate baptism of the holy spirit that may be evidenced by speaking in tongues. Some pentecostals believe that all spirit filled believers should speak in tongues but I don't agree with teaching. I believe that God gives different gifts to different people.
The pentecostal church is in no way associated with the catholic church (as one above comment implies) and most pentecostals would be using the Church in the book of Acts as their model (hence the name pentecostal that is derived from the day of pentecost in the book of Acts).
2006-11-16 16:06:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
The positive answers above are all good.
they will happily worship God.
There beliefs are simply - If it was good in the days of acts, it will still be good now.
the dead could be raised, the sick healed. If it happened then, god id the same today.
I went straight from a Catholic Church to a Pentacostal type church. People were worried about the shock, but I loved it.
As for clothing - ask your friend, but typically anything is acceptable, you just may feel a bit out of place. The people will feel like family in no time if you continue.
Be blessed
2006-11-16 16:29:00 · answer #4 · answered by Slave to JC 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I just recently started to attend a pentecostal church myself. You have to attend on to really enjoy it. Get ready for a lot of singing and praising. They believe in following the bible, speaking in tongues girls wearing skirts and being modest. Guys are clean cut. Girls cannot cut their hair. They celebrate all holidays but not so much Halloween. Everyone was super nice. You'll have to go and experience it for yourself and believe me you'll love it!
2006-11-19 17:20:36 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They wear dresses, that go at least past the knee. They have their hair in a buns or long down their backs. I am assuming this is United Pentacostal. They believe dancing around, clapping hands, shaking head gets you closer to God, so their worship is full of shouts and lots of movements.
They believe that you must speak in toungues to be saved. They believe that somehow throughout history, the Pentacost that happened in Jerusalem somehow ended, and God had to do another Pentacost, this time in the Watts district in L.A. on Azusa Street. They trace their roots there. Actually many trace their roots there, from the charismatic movement. Although many in the charismatic movement believe in the Trinity.
They do not believe in the Trinity.
I used to be a part of this church. They are the sweetest people you will ever meet. But they are missing quite a bit when it comes to Authentic Christian Doctrine. Early Church history talks about Montanaism, an movement in the earlly church that was denounced that was very similiar to what is depicted in charismatic/pentacostal type churches.
I could speak in two separate toungue languages, and did it often, but for some reason, I felt like my soul was dying. By a miracle I came to Eastern Orthodox Church and had an exorcism....and no longer can speak in those languages any longer!!! What was in me wasn't the Holy Spirit. Sorry to be so blunt....but I hope to spare you worlds of hurt. I pray that Holy Angels will protect you if you go to these meetings. I spent many years in this kind of church, and it really wounded me spiritually, and put me into a place of always clamoring for more, more, more a spiritual greed..needing more of a touch from what I thought was God. I had no real servants heart. I was seeking after a feeling that I thought was God.
2006-11-16 16:10:39 · answer #6 · answered by Felicitas 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋
Pentacost means 50. The Lord comanded Israel to keep a Feast of Pentacost every 7th sabath. Which is 50 days. The church you are going to is a Roman catholic church at least that is where the origin of the pentcostal church comes from. Let alone evry other church. You won't gain or learn anything by going to this church. I can almost gurantee tjhat. I am not being negative. I am only tell you the truth. You might leave church feeling good. But will you have learned how to save your life?
Check this out.
www.theisraelofgod.com
2006-11-16 16:04:34 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋
that really depends on the pastor and the people. You can count on a few things that they all have in common. It won't be boring and people feel very free to raise their hands in worship or to agree with a loud AMEN.
2006-11-16 16:08:04 · answer #8 · answered by maybe 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Here is a link to a site with the Pentecostal doctrine. I hope it helps.
http://www.spiritualabuse.org/upcbeliefs.html
2006-11-16 16:10:01 · answer #9 · answered by hiscinders 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
What is the particular denomination?
I am an Assemblies of God Pastor.
2006-11-16 16:02:48 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋