One day, I was relaxing at home when Lillian visited me in a company of 2 friends who she believed would help convince me in joining them in one of the church' programme which holds by dawn.
Unwillingfully i left with the for the programme and we were warmly welcomed on arrival just like they normally do to believed-to-be-new-convert members and with the usual saying that my coming to that church that day way not by incident that it's the Lord that brought me but anyway it couldn't have been since i didn't stray into the hall which was the venue of the programme.
Inside the hall was an exuberant singing, frenzied praying and all other forms of Pentecostal worship, as somebody who was raised in a Baptist way, I was not so comfortable with boisterous way at which the services are being carried out but that was a trivial exasperation compared to something i will later experience.
Sometimes during the service, about 5 people would be called up to be prayed for and once hand is being laid on them, the person will just fall like a bundle on the floor of the hall, this happened and severally and I noticed that almost everybody that the man of got placed his hand upon will be shrieking and within few seconds the person will fall over and there will be somebody beside them to ensure that they don't smash there head or get hurt on the process.
Now it was my turn, I was next to be prayed for, the man of God came closer to me, placed his right hand on my head, expecting me to fall over like other did but there was not special or any force that is moving my feet or shaking me to rather than his hand that is on my forehead, he attempted to push me down but i resisted because I firmly stood on the ground just like the Christiano Ronaldo stands when he's about to shoot a free-kick, after he noticed that it's not working on me, he quickly move on to the next person in Line.
After the session, the girl and her friends could no longer find me, they tried to reach my line but i switched off my line like I always do when I'm going to church so they came to my house after they service was over, when they asked the reason why I left while the service was still on, I explained to them that I could no longer deal with the way things are being carried out during the service, they found it hilarious that they started laughing at me saying that I couldn't understand that it was the way the Holy Spirit operates and that was the reason why people tumble over, when I asked them for more explanation and bible references they couldn't provide one rather than launching into some kind of ramble.
What I don't understand is what makes people believe that falling down when hands are being laid upon you is a genuine spiritual experience, I has continued to demand for textual validation for this practice and what I keep on getting bears no resemblance to the theatrics i see at Pentecostal service, I have no problem with Pentecostal churches and it's worshipers but as Christian we believe that everything we do as Christians should have a valid scriptural backups and references.
Before I go into what is presented as textual validations, let me quickly give you the reasons why I said it's not an evidence of genuine spiritual experience.
The first one is a question, why would the Holy spirit want to make women fall down, especially where wrappers and skirts are won, and have them expose sensitive parts when they lose consciousness?
Secondly; If the Holy Spirit makes people fall when hands are being led upon them, I'm convinced that it wouldn't require their co-worshippers guiding them to prevent them from falling dangerously, I'm very sure that the Holy Spirit is capable of designing it in a way that the person will fall without having any injuries or bruises. Lastly, why is it that those on the control room transmitting the spiritual powers do not fall?, are their power stronger than that of the Holy Spirit?.
Whenever I raise this points the default response is: 'You need more understanding', I guess what they meant by that is the understanding of how to compare apples to pawpaw instead of apple.
Ok, now, to the attempt to provide a textual validation, Pentecostal worshipers like to narrate the account in Chronicles of the dedication of Solomon's temple where all the priests in attendance fell down at once after God manifested His presence, oh yes, apples must always be compared to apples not something else, I expected them to narrate an account where all the worshippers fell under God's power in a Pentecostal gathering.
The most frequently used by these people is Paul's Damascene experience. In acts 9, Paul encountered the Lord on his way to Damascus and fell off his horse, them with him were speechless, heard a voice and saw no one, but they did not fall down, the attempt to provide this as an evidence is a product of deliberate Ignorance. No hand was laid on Paul as the bible clearly shows and this was by no means a frequent occurrence in his ministry, also, Paul was not unconscious as he rationally and clearly spoke to God. All through his life, the bible has not account of Paul laying hand on people and getting them in a bemuse.
In conclusion, people do fell in biblical times but not because hand were being laid on them, therefore, felling down when hand are laid has no scriptural validation whatever the advocates may claim
Written by: Mike Ikenwa
Site: Bloomgist.com
Email: Mikeikenwa@gmail.com
