I found this wonderful testimony of a person who was a Pentecostal gibberish babbler all his life then at the age of 42 was born-again rejecting gibberish babble.
"WHY I LEFT THE PENTECOSTAL CHURCH"
"But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you" (2 Tim 3:14).
Paul could have been thinking of me when he wrote this verse to a young man named Timothy. I was born into a Pentecostal family of many years. My grandfather preached "fire and brimstone" from the time I could remember until his death in 1968. He was some-what an intimidating individual who was demanding and abrupt. I was taught that only those who were "chosen" or "called" could ever enter into the "faithful" ministry of our Lord. I never challenged his thinking or his preaching. What he said was like a direct command from Jesus Christ himself. With this in mind .. at the age of 12 .. I was told I was being called into the ministry and preached my first sermon shortly thereafter. I spent a total of 18 years preaching as a "Pentecostal" preacher. I taught the "Jesus Only" doctrine known as the "Apostolic Faith" (United Pentecostal Church).
To this day, my family fully believes that if one is not of the "Lord's true church" that being, saved in baptism in Jesus Name, and filled with the "Holy ghost" with the evidence of "Speaking in Tongues" ... one is not a Christian and headed for a "Devil's hell". My Grandfather (before his death) preached this 54 years ... my step-father has preached this in excess of 50 years ... my brother-in-law and sister "Pastor" a very large Pentecostal church in the Cincinnati, OH area. I have two cousins that are "Pentecostal" preachers. I have been accused of being "In a den of thieves and a pit of vipers", because of my stand on the Word of God and my faithfulness to the Lord's church. My wife and I have been publicly chastised and the atmosphere is very tense when we are visiting with my family. We are shunned by most of my family. We are reminded regularly of (2 Tim 3:12) ... "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
It was the first Thursday night of October, 1984, at the age of 42 when I realized that all that I had been teaching for 18 years as a "Pentecostal" had been "false doctrine" and that I was like the "blind leading the blind." That Thursday night of October, 1984 changed my life, my thinking, and my understanding of the "Word of God." I was invited to a "Gospel Meeting" at the Sandstone Drive Church of Christ, Little Rock, AR ... (I had never been to a Lord's church in my life.) Chris Bullock, of Kansas City, MO was to be the speaker. I consented to go with the attitude that I would be able to shed some light on his teaching and thus convince others of their wrong. Something happened: what was preached was what I had secretly believed all my adult life ... One did not have to come to an "altar", cry out, beg and plead for mercy to receive forgiveness ... one did not have to come again to the "altar" to "seek for the infilling of the Holy Spirit", which was promised to believers, one did not have to "utter" confusion in an attempt to show one has the gift of "speaking in tongues."
All one had to do was hear the simple word of truth, believe it, confess Christ as the Son of God, repent of ones sins, and be baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for remission of sins. The Lord not only forgives completely but adds one to the church. This I did in obedience the following Sunday evening ... I became a "born again Christian." I gave up my life ... my music ... even my future dreams to follow Jesus for the first time in my life ... on the right path.
It was not until October, 1987 when I met Louis Sharp in Little Rock, AR, that I really understood what "faithfulness" really means. As we began to study and learn... I began to realize that the Lord had work for me, as a Christian, to do. I then began to teach and preach the Gospel of Christ, it has now become my life. My desire is to teach those who are in error ... the truth ... that they to might become part of this body of Christ.
http://www.bible.ca/t-why-I-left-pentecostalism.htm
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