That is excellent that you are open to the full moving of the Holy Spirit. Do you see the kinds of gifts, miracles, signs, etc. that I mentioned? If so, I would love to hear about how God is moving in your church? (This is not to say that God isn’t moving in other ways, but the article is about that balance of charismatic & reformed experience.) If not, do you expect to see them in the future?

Andrew, the author of this post, is a graduate of RTS and the son of Bill Hyer, Senior Pastor of an Evangelical Presbyterian church. I also attend the same church (Christ Church EPC). We are open to the full work of the Holy Spirit and are reformed in our perspective.

-Steve

I would add that the description of the charismatic churches is probably a bit limited. By its very nature, the charismatic movement reflects freedom, spontaneity, and diversity of gifts and experience. However, most of the charismatic (I’ll include Pentecostal and Foursquare here) services that I have witnessed, do include clear, systematic teaching of the Word. It would be the exception when a sermon has not been prepared well in advance, and it would be the exception when it would be discarded in terms of what the Spirit seems to be doing on any given Sunday morning. It certainly does happen, but in my personal experience, it has not been the norm.

I have less experience with reformed services, but the description given seems to fit my experience, so I can’t comment beyond what has been said. I would, however, love to hear from someone who has attended some reformed churches where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are routinely exercised and people are encouraged and built up not only through the Word, but through God speaking and moving through prophecy, intepretation of tongues, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, miracles, and healing, etc.

It seems to me, that any reformed church that seeks the freedom of the Holy Spirit moving in power, or any charismatic church that preaches the Word with care and diligence will display the kind of balance that I think we all are (or should be) seeking.

I’m reminded how Martin Luther did a tremendous thing in freeing the scriptures from the Roman church. There was a down side, however. When individuals interpret the meaning of scripture without following good principles they can end up way out in left field. Our culture elevates “self” over everything, and the unprincipled practices many charismatics embrace are usually self-focused.

An unbalanced charismatic believer approaches the worship service without context, seeking to “experience” God. The focus is on the experience and its effect on the person, rather than on the One experienced. I make this observation because many people leave a church when they conclude that “God is not moving there”. In fact, they are saying that they cannot feel/see/sense God’s moving, and, in effect, stand in judgment of the pastor, leaders, other members, etc. The only person not responsible for God’s seeming lack of activity is themselves.

There’s not much to say about the unbalanced Reformed believer. He’s frozen in place. “I believe what the pastor says, we pay him well to say it, and he has the Th.D. to prove he knows what he’s talking about. He tells me I’m saved. Have a nice day.”

I grew up hearing, on alternating Sundays, either the Nicene or Apostles creed, and I would testify that they were meaningful as I grew in the Lord. You say that these “sum up what a Christian ought to believe.” I would suggest a rewording. The creeds summarize historic Christian doctrine, issues that were settled by the church as God, in His Providence, worked through councils. Thus, the creeds sum up the basic doctrines of the Christian faith, and must be believed if we are to have a right theology.

The balance issue is crucial in these days. Both sides need to move.