Manifestation Averted by the Blood of Jesus!
I had been a member of a Denver church for over 3 years and thought that this place would be where I and my family could grow spiritually and establish our roots. It had pretty good Bible based scripture sermons which were encouraging and uplifting, but challenging. Our pastor's parents were affiliated with Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship and so this church, when it was time, became affiliated under an organizational name. Soon, they started going up there with some of their staff and coming back to talk about their experiences. At first it sounded wonderful with the testimonies of hearing about people being touched by the Holy Spirit.
One weekend though, we had a guest speaker from T.A.C.F. and there were over 30 churches represented throughout the weekend that came to hear him. He started in with some strange manifestations and right away, I noticed that other people joined in with him. He would bend over and shout "ho, ho, ho". Some other people started laughing and shaking. He laid hands on many people, and imparted to most of them these manifestations.
Thus, the start of the "revival" at our church. They started having Sunday night services specifically for this phenomenon, and so I went to about 4 or 5 of them. I just couldn't get into it and something held a check in my spirit about what I saw happening. There was no one checking or testing the spirit and it got to where I saw people doubled over on the floor shouting, "ho, ho, ho", or blowing really hard, others acted completely drunk out of their mind, others rolling around just laughing right during service. I had to research this stuff.
One afternoon, I really prayed that the Lord would show me what was going on and to the best of my understanding, He pointed me to Acts 16. As I read this I came upon the story of the woman possessed by a spirit who was shouting "These are men of God. They announce the way to salvation!" Paul then rebukes the spirit and it leaves her. It was acting as if it were of God but was a counterfeit. As I read through testimonies and scripture references on the web about this counterfeit, I became more convinced that this was what was happening here.
On another Sunday night, I happened to be at the service and right as the sermon was being preached, a teenage boy in the balcony went into a seizure. I ran upstairs because my 9 year old son was also up there and I didn't want him to get freaked. There were 2 prayer team leaders praying over the teenager while he was shaking violently and forcing a strange laughter out of his mouth. I went over to him to put my hand under his neck because it was lying on the edge of the stairs. I found to my amazement that he was piping hot! This went on for about 15 minutes or more and then the two men just left him there. I started pleading the Blood of Jesus over him and speaking peace to him. HE STOPPED INSTANTLY! I later told the pastor about what happened and he thought that the manifestation was a deliverance and that it was "COOL!" He in no way considered that the blood of Jesus was the real deliverance! I had the creeps.
We soon had another guest speaker and since my husband and I ran the church's cafe, I set up for a night service. During that time, a group of people were in another section of the room and they started praying. It really started that way, but then it turned into chanting, then it ended in howling like wolves for about 20 minutes. It was so loud that my flesh was crawling! It was like they conjured this up until they got a manifestation, like the way a circle of satanists do. I told my husband that in no way am I going back that weekend before the service. He went the next night and it also gave him the creeps.
One Sunday morning, during the praise and worship time, a group of people started a groaning sound. (This was unusual because they usually didn't want the manifestations going on in the morning so as not to spook any newcomers.) Unfortunately, there was a new family there and the sounds terrified their little boy. They had to leave immediately. The pastor responded in the next weeks bulletin that he was grieved over this incident, but that "God does things in a messy way...and there's sometimes a cost"!
I was burning mad.
Fortunately, we are out of this church now completely. I don't have an anger at the staff or people into this anymore, but I am praying for their deliverence and that the truth will set them free. Its hard, because some of our friends are still there and they don't understand. Most people just go on trusting their pastor and not looking into this for themselves. Some may have left also because of this, though, and they are blessed.
People who have experienced this phenomenon usually say how wonderful an experience with Jesus that they had. They go by what they have felt and not check this with God's Word. We all have been warned that in the last days, signs and wonders will manifest, even to deceive the very elect if possible. They will be wonderous and good though, and many people think that they can spot what will be the counterfeit just by what they think or perceive. Sorry, but nothing will be exposed without the Word of God as the BLUEPRINT!
Your sister in Christ,
A.Z.