Category: United Pentecostal Church | Page 42

Five Different Experiences….One Result Pt 3

Part 3 of 4, continued from here.

Although it seems at first glance Acts 2:38 is the only way to be saved. But such an interpretation is impossible because of the following:
1. Dozens of New Testament scriptures where salvation is said to be by faith in Jesus (John 1:12, 3:16, 36, 6:47, Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9)
2. The thief on the cross (Luke 23:43)
3. Jesus never baptized anyone
4. The Apostle Paul stated he only baptized a few.

It is important to note that the Jews were the only ones told to be baptized for the REMISSION of sins. On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached his message to the house of Israel only. The Feast of Pentecost was a Jewish holiday, there was not a gentile among them (MacDonald, William p.1586-1587)

Second, it was the house of Israel that called for the crucifixion of Jesus and for his blood to be upon them and their children (p. 1586). They cursed themselves with the blood of Jesus and not only cursed themselves but their children also.

“Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” And all the people answered and said, ‘His blood be on us and on our children.’” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭27:23-25‬ ‭NKJV)

Could it be that Acts 2:38 was for the house of Israel? We are talking about the very people who called out for his death and his blood to be upon them were now being pricked in their hearts. “The House of Israel? Were they crooked and a perverse generation that rejected and murdered the Lord Jesus” (MacDonald, William p.1588)?

They were the ones that needed to repent for killing Jesus, and to be baptized in Jesus name for the remission of those sins (to break the curse they had put on themselves and their children) and to show that they accepted Jesus, then they could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The house of Israel was offered grace by receiving Jesus as their Messiah and Savior and by disclaiming any further connection with the guilty nation of Israel through Christian baptism (p. 1588).

As the story goes they gladly received Peter’s word and about three thousand souls were added to the church that day. In Acts 2:42-47 it is interesting to know that the new converts continued steadfastly in :
1. The Apostles’ doctrine
2. Fellowship
3. The breaking of bread
4. Prayers
5. Assembled together
6. Had all things in common

Now on to the next conversion. The Samaritans, they were looked down upon by the Jewish people because they were a mixed race. Actually there was hate on both sides of the fence. But evidently God wanted all men saved and that’s why Jesus visited the woman at the well and told the parable of the Good Samaritan. And could it be why the next conversions recorded in Acts 8:5-17 were Samaritans?

The story goes on that Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ to them, and the people with one accord believed the things preached by Philip, both men and women were baptized (in the name of the Lord Jesus) and there was great joy in the city. (Acts 8:5-8).

When the apostles heard about Samaria receiving the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them and they prayed and laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17).

Do you see the differences of their conversion?
1. They believed (faith)
2. Water baptism in Jesus name
3. The Apostles prayed and laid hands on them.
4. They received the Holy Spirit but it was not noted that they spoke in tongues. (MacDonald, William p.1588)

The Samaritans had only to believe in faith to be saved. Baptism does not save you but it is an important sign to others that you’ve made a public commitment to follow Jesus.

Note: The majority of what is included in this part comes from the Believer’s Bible Commentary by William MacDonald.

Part 4

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Five Different Experiences….One Result Pt 2

Part 2 of 4, continued from here.

So I have a question….whose report do you believe?

Let’s begin with what we do know from the Gospels. First of all we know that Jesus forgave the sins of many. Mary Magdalene, “”Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”” (Luke‬ ‭7:48‬ ‭NKJV). The paralytic man, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.””(Mark‬ ‭2:5‬ ‭NKJV‬) The crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.'”(John‬ ‭5:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

We also know the thief on the cross next to Jesus was saved without repentance or baptism, just faith, “Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” (Luke‬ ‭23:42-43‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). Even disciples had their sins forgiven by Jesus and received the Holy Spirit when he breathed on them (John 20:22-23 NKJV)‭.

But one thing I noticed was Jesus didn’t baptize anyone during his 3 1/2 years of his earthy ministry. It could have been because John the Baptist was busy baptizing unto repentance and getting them ready for Jesus. Again, just a thought as I searched the Gospels.

Now we come to the book of Acts, also referred to as the Acts of the Apostles, and this book was written by Luke the physician. Luke writes in great detail about the men and women who took the great commission seriously and began to spread the news of a risen savior to the most remote corners of the known world.

In the first chapter of Acts, we find the apostles, along with other believers both men and women including the mother of Jesus, in an upper room in Jerusalem waiting and praying for the power from on high as commanded by Jesus before he ascended into heaven.

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, suddenly a mighty wind filled the place and they all began to speak in other tongues as the fire set upon each of them. The power of the Holy Spirit was so strong that they spilled out into the streets and everyone could hear them magnifying God in their own languages (Acts 2:1). I counted about 12 different languages being recognized by the Jews that were there for the holiday.

When other people saw this, they were amazed but skeptical and mocked it saying these were drunk, although it was only about 9:00 in the morning, a little early in the day to be drunk. Then Peter stood up and boldly preached to the Jews who were gathered there, Jesus Christ whom they crucified. He quoted the prophet Joel and the psalmist David, whom the Jews would know about.

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts‬ ‭2:36‬ ‭NKJV)‬‬. In other words he was letting the “whole house of Israel” know what they did and how that God had made Jesus both Lord and Christ and how he had ascended to heaven and was sitting at the right hand of God.

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.'” (Acts‬ ‭2:37-39 NKJV)

Please note this was being said to the house of Israel. First they were to repent, acknowledging their guilt and taking sides with God against themselves. Then they were to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of their sins. “At first glance, this verse seems to teach salvation by baptism, and many people insist that it does…” (MacDonald, William p. 1586).

If you came out of the United Pentecostal Church or another Oneness organization, this is how we were told to be saved. That it was the only way to be saved. This was “The Truth” that they’ve been preaching for many years as the only way to be saved. They’ve proclaimed it as truth and condemned others for not obeying it. They caused disunity with other believers and centered a whole doctrine around it.

Part 3

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Five Different Experiences….One Result Pt 1

Part 1 of 4.

So many times I heard the only way to be saved was by following Acts 2:38 (“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'”) Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom and said upon this rock I will build my church (Matthew 16:13-19).

The United Pentecostal Church taught we were to follow what Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and not what Jesus said in Matthew 28:19: “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”

My grandfather and his family were saved during a Pentecostal tent revival in 1917 and he married a sweet Baptist girl, my grandmother, in 1928 and the big debate of Acts 2:38 and Matthew 28:19 began in our family.

Now my grandmother converted to Pentecostalism and became indoctrinated quickly and prayed for her family to follow in the Pentecostal ways. Problems began with my mother who rebelled against the church and its teaching at age 17 and married my father when she was 18. The marriage didn’t last long and they divorced when I was four and my brother was 14 weeks old. We moved in with my grandparents and were once again under the influence of Pentecostalism.

Thus began my many years of questioning the faith and much confusion because I really did want to live for God but I just couldn’t understand all the rules and of course the teachings of “We have the truth and everybody else was doomed to hell”. That always made me sad to think of my friends and family going to hell because they didn’t want to obey “The Truth”.

Although God desires for us to live in unity. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalms‬ ‭133:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). There is no unity with other denominations and UPC, nor is their unity within families.

‭‭So I began asking questions…a lot of questions and instead of answers I received rebuke. Instead of being satisfied with the UPC view of “The Truth” I studied the scriptures and commentaries. This article came from a research paper that I gave to my husband before he abandoned me and the church….I always felt it was my fault because I must have pushed too hard when all I really wanted to know was the truth for myself and not just accept the preaching and teaching of an organization. Some of the references and writing have been updated.

Part 2

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UPC Unpardonable Part 2

Continued…

Well sure enough, we got a call from the assistant pastor to come into his office before church the following Sunday night. The pastor was out of town but was grooming his son to take over the church and since he came on board, the church took on a stricter tone. One night, he was preaching and began boasting about measuring his wife’s hair and how long it was. I remember being sickened by this talk. I knew God was bigger than the length of my hair! We went in to see him that evening and he told us due to the fact that I had cut my daughter’s hair, my husband would have to step down from his position in the church leadership and I could no longer teach Sunday school. You can call me naïve or stupid, yes, I admit to being both concerning what would happen if I broke the rules or maybe, by this time, I just didn’t care.

Now, during this period of my life, I was just beginning to hear the message of God’s grace. I heard the story of the woman caught in adultery and how Jesus told her “to go and sin no more!” One of the grace filled preachers I was listening to on the radio put it like this “the only one worthy to condemn you, won’t.” I was not stepping down without speaking my mind, so I pulled out some of my new found grace speak. I told the assistant pastor that I felt like the woman caught in adultery except instead of “saying, go and sin no more, you are saying pick up the stones and throw them.” He did not like my protests and insubordination, it was plain to see. To reinforce his position of dismissal, he told me that he knew of my past experience with scissors in cutting my oldest daughter’s hair. Then he proceeded to tell me that cutting my suffering baby’s (not even two years old) hair was just as bad as if I had given her alcohol and cigarettes! (In a works based church, alcohol and cigarettes rank right up there with lying, cheating, and stealing.) Yes, that I had harmed her in the same way as if I had given her abusive substances! It is interesting to note here: the senior pastor called me when he got back in town and told me that he would never have done what his son did!?!

We left church after the meeting, not staying for the service, went home, and went to bed. While lying there in the dark, a certain kind of death like silence fell between my husband and me that would affect us for the next two years that we stayed in this church. We could never tell our family members who did not go to a United Pentecostal Church what happened. To verbalize such a trivial thing as cutting a baby’s hair to cause such a reaction was unthinkable and would have made our church look bad to those unfamiliar with the rules. We did not get support from our relatives or friends in the church either. I remember one family member, who is a pastor’s wife saying, “We would have done the same thing.” Other friends said, “They knew the rules.”

To stay in this church for two more years was one of our biggest mistakes. I bravely wore the scarlet letter on my chest and grew further and further away from this ideology and these people, as they drew away from me. I wasn’t cutting hair and I still looked the part but inwardly I came to see that there was no love in this church. By the end of these two years, my depression over my baby’s illness and the death of all that we had lived for up to that point caused me to want out of my marriage and out of life as I knew it. The pain my husband and I were going through kept the veil of silence over our marriage; we were just going through the motions. If we hadn’t left when we did, I firmly believe our marriage would have ended as did the marriages of many of the couples we knew in this church, including the assistant pastor; who eventually took over the church.

Later, I would learn what church discipline should look like. Jesus didn’t leave us clueless about how to handle discipline for believers who were truly sinning. It was so important that He gives us step by step instructions. Reflecting back on the teachings of the United Pentecostal Church and all the things I have learned since leaving makes me realize that they never really emphasized Jesus that much. Oh, they loved His name for distinction purposes but His death on the cross or any of the words He spoke, not so much.

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Matthew 18:15-17 NKJV

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UPC Unpardonable

Okay, I did it. I admit it. I cut my hair and my daughter’s hair. I can still remember the first time I cut my hair. We were probably about six years into the United Pentecostal Experience, when I was sitting on the toilet and fearing my hair was going to go in, I grabbed a pair of scissors, sat back down and cut the tail end that could get wet. I don’t remember feeling guilty or that it might not grow after anymore. This fear of hair not re-growing after trimming had been expressed to me by another woman in the church. Yes, Pentecostal women talk about cutting their hair. Oddly, her hair was only shoulder length. I guess it was due to the teasing, etc. that goes into maintaining the elaborate hairdos she wore. I also remember while sitting in a restaurant one lady sighing “if we could only get enough grace to cut our hair.” This woman was one of a group of older women in our church who resorted to wearing those Gibson Girl style wigs all the time. Honestly, I think they just got tired of dealing with all that hair!

As time went by, I was blessed with a little girl who had beautiful hair. Again, I confess! I did not want her to have long stringy, scraggly hair, so while she was a toddler to probably age 6 or so, I kept it shoulder length. I stopped trimming it when she got older; when she told me someone said something to her about it. No one ever said anything to me about it; however, there were those who were spying out my liberty! (Gal 2:4 NKJV) Ha-ha, there is no such thing as liberty in the UPC holiness standards. By this time, it was the late ‘80’s when the super curly hairdos were in, and frankly, you could cut your hair as much as you wanted and no one could tell. Those pink sponge rollers, along with the concrete mousse it took to set those curls, could take off five inches of your hair length!

My second daughter was born six years later and while still an infant she developed a health problem. She was a precious baby but she had a mind of her own! She was not going to dutifully wear the barrettes and other hair restraints young Pentecostal girls are forced to wear to hold their hair in place, due to the rules for no cutting or trimming of their hair. She would pull out everything I put in her hair and along with the restraint, out came a handful of hair. When she had pulled out enough hair to create a bald spot on her head, I took matters into my own hands. I did not consult with my husband or anyone else. I found the best children’s salon and had her hair cut, along with (gasp!) bangs. I brazenly took her to church that Wednesday night, not thinking anything of it. I thought she looked adorable! I would do anything to help my poor, precious baby! No one said anything to me about it that night except my husband who said, “You know they will ask us to step down.”

To be continued…

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