Any Pentacostals or former Pentacostals out there?

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My brother has a new girlfriend and she is a non practicing Penacostal.When we first talked she quickly told me I am not Catholic,I don’t believe or agree with any things Catholics believe.Well,I was taken back since I had said nothing,I asked her what she didn’t agree with, of course Mary came up she said among other things like alcohol.She was married to a Catholic for eight ears and he beat her so maybe that is why she is defensive.Anyway help me out.What do they believe?She mentioned no make-up jewlry,yearly communion(with grape juice),Dresses not pants.Give me some information about her faith so I can relate.Thanks in advance and God Bless
 
I think I found one that might answer your question better. I haven’t posted on this one (in fact I didn’t even read it all) but it seems to be more specific to what you are looking for. Pentecostals, and Non-Denominationals differ from group to group also. I have known some who allowed women to wear pants, and some who don’t etc…

christianforums.com/t1174462-the-meaning-of-penticostal.html
 
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e-catholic:
I think I found one that might answer your question better. I haven’t posted on this one (in fact I didn’t even read it all) but it seems to be more specific to what you are looking for. Pentecostals, and Non-Denominationals differ from group to group also. I have known some who allowed women to wear pants, and some who don’t etc…

christianforums.com/t1174462-the-meaning-of-penticostal.html
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Thanks Thanks so much.It is hard to believe there are no Pentecostals or formor ones out there. God Bless and thanks for answering:)
 
hey!! what about me!! just didn’t have a chance to read your post untill now…sorry for the delay. i’m sure there are not too many pentecostals who visit this website. this might be the last place many of us would ever think to visit.

there are many different branches of the pentecostal movement. the vast majority of pentecostal churches in the united states have their early roots in california in the early 1900’s. i think it was 1914. this was the time in which a group of protestants had an experience that they felt was similar to the experience that the early christians had in the 2nd chapter of the book of Acts. this included experiences with baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tounges, prophesy and such.

the early pentecostals quickly became involved in what we refer to as the “holiness movement”. this was a push toward separating ourselves from the society around that had become so corrupt. early pentecostals refrained from wearing makeup, playing basketball, playing card games…all sorts of taboos. this is not unlike many renewal groups that find a new zeal to please God in the beginings of their movement.

today there are, as i mentioned, several large pentecostal groups including, but not limited to, the assemblies of god, the church of god in christ, the vineyard movement, pentecostal assemblies of canada…just to name a few.

our basic beliefs center around the Bible being the only authoritative source for faith and doctrine (this means that we do not hold a high regard for writings of the early church fathers and such), belief in the Holy Trinity, belief in Jesus Christ as the one and only way to find eternal salvation, baptism of the believer only after the individual has verbally repented of their own sins, participation in the eucharist (which we always call communion) as a symbolic act of obediance to Christ (we do not believe that the wafer and the wine actually become the flesh and blood of Jesus), and, of course, the active role of the Holy Spirit to dwell within a believers life and to manifest Himself in various ways through that believer.

this is just a brief synopsis. i’d be happy to answer any questions i can. also, you mentioned your brother’s girlfriend. does she seem to be opposed to the catholic faith? do you happen to know the name of her specific denomination?
 
by the way…based on what you have said about your brother’s girlfriend, it sounds like she may be part of a more conservative group of pentecostals, but for a nice look into a pentecostal denomination, you can visit the assemblies of god homepage at www.ag.org. this is one of the largest pentecostal movements and they have a “we believe” section that should answer most of your questions.
 
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Stef:
hey!! what about me!! just didn’t have a chance to read your post untill now…sorry for the delay. i’m sure there are not too many pentecostals who visit this website. this might be the last place many of us would ever think to visit.

there are many different branches of the pentecostal movement. the vast majority of pentecostal churches in the united states have their early roots in california in the early 1900’s. i think it was 1914. this was the time in which a group of protestants had an experience that they felt was similar to the experience that the early christians had in the 2nd chapter of the book of Acts. this included experiences with baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tounges, prophesy and such.

the early pentecostals quickly became involved in what we refer to as the “holiness movement”. this was a push toward separating ourselves from the society around that had become so corrupt. early pentecostals refrained from wearing makeup, playing basketball, playing card games…all sorts of taboos. this is not unlike many renewal groups that find a new zeal to please God in the beginings of their movement.

today there are, as i mentioned, several large pentecostal groups including, but not limited to, the assemblies of god, the church of god in christ, the vineyard movement, pentecostal assemblies of canada…just to name a few.

our basic beliefs center around the Bible being the only authoritative source for faith and doctrine (this means that we do not hold a high regard for writings of the early church fathers and such), belief in the Holy Trinity, belief in Jesus Christ as the one and only way to find eternal salvation, baptism of the believer only after the individual has verbally repented of their own sins, participation in the eucharist (which we always call communion) as a symbolic act of obediance to Christ (we do not believe that the wafer and the wine actually become the flesh and blood of Jesus), and, of course, the active role of the Holy Spirit to dwell within a believers life and to manifest Himself in various ways through that believer.

this is just a brief synopsis. i’d be happy to answer any questions i can. also, you mentioned your brother’s girlfriend. does she seem to be opposed to the catholic faith? do you happen to know the name of her specific denomination?
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Yes, she seems verymuch opposed to what she thinks the Catholic Church is.Mary came up and I told her we do not worship Mary,we honor her “and all generations shall call me blessed”. she said we don’t have the same “spirit”.I said we worship the same God,she said I am not so sure.I asked her if she worship God the Father,Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit and she said yes,I said then we worship the ame God,she didn’t believe me,which I thought was strange but not uncommon because I grew up Church of Christ and they had bizzare beliefs about what the Catholic Church teaches,too.God Bless,could you give me any specifics as to what they think we do an outside observer can come to very strang conclusions if they don’t know the actual teachings of the Bible or Church History.Thanks in advance:)
 
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Lisa4Catholics:
Yes, she seems verymuch opposed to what she thinks the Catholic Church is.Mary came up and I told her we do not worship Mary,we honor her “and all generations shall call me blessed”.
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My MIL is pentecostal, my best friend from when we were kids was pentecostal (now non denom) and I attended a pentecostal summer camp with her when I was 14.

Many Pentecostals are taught that the Catholic Church is a cult. Each church is some what different because I believe they are generally independant of one another so I can only speak from my own experience. They talk in tongues and “dance” in the Spirit-very similar to the Catholic Charismatic Renewel I believe. They generally believe all the misinformation about Catholics that is spread. Mary worship, idolatry, the Pope having higher authority than God, we added books to the Bible instead of them being removed during the reformation. They believe in the rapture (like in the Left Behind books).

The sermons I’ve heard basically seem to stress suffering is a punishment from God for not having enough faith. I used to get headsches from gritting my teeth while the peacher ranted at the congregation about if your ill, if your having troubles in your life it was because your faith wasn’t strong enough. Also they seems have great joy in being saved and going to Heavan while their sinful neighbors, co-workers ect are going to hell. Their preaching style is very loud. Lots of pounding, shouting, jumping up and down, and even running up and down the aisle. Which is probably why the Catholic style of worship is completely foreign to them. They aslo generally have “altar calls” as every service. People who would like to come forward and ask Jesus to be their person Lord and Savior.

Generally they have no religious art in their church, definately no crucifx. If anything maybe a plain cross. (My MIL has changed churches several times so we’ve been to different ones.) Communion is symbolic and is not a weekly occurance - if I remember correctly - maybe a few times a year.

My MIL has come around since she’s been to Mass with us on several occasions and realized why don’t make human sacrifices and our heads don’t spin.😃 In fact she made our daughters baptism gown. Oh yeah no infant baptism, and they can be rebaptized several times over - immersion style.

That’s about all I can think of. Many are very anti Catholic basically because of the false things about the Catholic Church that is promoted. And most of the ones I’ve met object to being called protestants.
 
Thankyou so much,you guys are being so helpful,I am looking to gain as much knowledge as possible,I have custody of my nephew and my brother wants to marry this girl and plans on trying to regain custody of my nephew.My nephew was recieved fully into the Church last Easter,so you can imagine I have not slept well since I met her and the comments were made:eek: I ask you all to pray for his faith and for God to protect him his name is Joseph(Joey).His natural Mom beat him and burned him,she was badly abused growing up and she doesn’t seem to have a concience and my brother is an addict who is also an unmedicated bi-polar and feels like since his girlfriend has it together and is well off financially that he can just take him back.He admitted he did crack Christmas and he met her the day after Christmas and now he wants to marry her and he will stay clean so he won’t lose her:eek: Anyway,my nerves are shot.God Bless
 
well…here is my chance to speak for a brief moment. as to convincing your brother’s girlfriend that the Catholic faith is the true religion…i would suggest putting that idea on hold while you attempt to get to know her a little better. i would suggest getting to know her on a personal level so that you can build some trust with her first. from what you have stated, it almost seems like the pentecostal experience is something that she was raised with, but not something that she is firmly attached to at the present time. does this seem to be the case to you?

try not to focus so much on the differences between the two churches. try to focus on the common ground that you can find. there are so many things we have in common. for starters, Jesus…the son of God…the Messiah. there’s not a pentecostal alive who doesn’t love to talk about Jesus and the sacrifice he made to pay for our sins. God…the almighty Father…the creator of the world. every pentecostal has their hope firmly planted in God to save them from eternal punishment and bless their lives. the Holy Spirit…sent to be our helper and our guide in this life.

yes, it is true that the pentecostal style of worship is vastly different from catholic mass. pentecostals tend to be more vocal and spontaneous in their sunday worship services. yes, we are very much like the charasmatic catholic renewal. but that really does not matter. i wouldn’t focus on that if you are trying to bring her into a relationship with you. i also wouldn’t attempt to de-bunk any of the major issues like mary, the pope or the eucharist…infant baptism…etc. just get to know her. try to figure out if she honestly has any personal devotion to God herself. try to get her to express what it is that she really believes. do it all out of love…love for Christ and for his church…love for all of His creations.
 
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Lisa4Catholics:
My brother has a new girlfriend and she is a non practicing Penacostal.When we first talked she quickly told me I am not Catholic,I don’t believe or agree with any things Catholics believe.Well,I was taken back since I had said nothing,I asked her what she didn’t agree with, of course Mary came up she said among other things like alcohol.She was married to a Catholic for eight ears and he beat her so maybe that is why she is defensive.Anyway help me out.What do they believe?She mentioned no make-up jewlry,yearly communion(with grape juice),Dresses not pants.Give me some information about her faith so I can relate.Thanks in advance and God Bless
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Old-time pentecostals are extremely conservative - dresses, no-jewelry, plain, unbraided hair, etc. And of course, their view of the Catholic Church is that it is worldly and full of made-up rituals. The newer brand of pentecostals are quite different. My father-in-law is a former pentecostal.

He spoke in tongues, very conservative, etc. The difference is that his brand of pentecostalism is “prosperity teaching” based. They actually believe that God wants all people to be rich - if you’re not rich you are not in the will of God, etc. He belonged to a Church of God and Assembly of God.

Of course, there are different denoms, but Church of God and Assembly of God are the big ones and are fast becoming all prosperity based. I have attended both Chruch of God and Assembly of God. The worship in these churches was lively, lots of singing, dancing, speaking and praying in tongues. There were “healings” and some were “slain in the spirit”.

Hope this helps.

Peace…
 
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Stef:
well…here is my chance to speak for a brief moment. as to convincing your brother’s girlfriend that the Catholic faith is the true religion…i would suggest putting that idea on hold while you attempt to get to know her a little better. i would suggest getting to know her on a personal level so that you can build some trust with her first. from what you have stated, it almost seems like the pentecostal experience is something that she was raised with, but not something that she is firmly attached to at the present time. does this seem to be the case to you?

try not to focus so much on the differences between the two churches. try to focus on the common ground that you can find. there are so many things we have in common. for starters, Jesus…the son of God…the Messiah. there’s not a pentecostal alive who doesn’t love to talk about Jesus and the sacrifice he made to pay for our sins. God…the almighty Father…the creator of the world. every pentecostal has their hope firmly planted in God to save them from eternal punishment and bless their lives. the Holy Spirit…sent to be our helper and our guide in this life.

yes, it is true that the pentecostal style of worship is vastly different from catholic mass. pentecostals tend to be more vocal and spontaneous in their sunday worship services. yes, we are very much like the charasmatic catholic renewal. but that really does not matter. i wouldn’t focus on that if you are trying to bring her into a relationship with you. i also wouldn’t attempt to de-bunk any of the major issues like mary, the pope or the eucharist…infant baptism…etc. just get to know her. try to figure out if she honestly has any personal devotion to God herself. try to get her to express what it is that she really believes. do it all out of love…love for Christ and for his church…love for all of His creations.
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Thankyou,Stef:) I am not trying to convert her only God can pull that off:D I guess the hateful comments about the Church gets to me:crying: And of course I feel I am put in the position to defend my faith.Should I steer the conversation somewhere else?God Bless
 
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ahimsaman72:
Old-time pentecostals are extremely conservative - dresses, no-jewelry, plain, unbraided hair, etc. And of course, their view of the Catholic Church is that it is worldly and full of made-up rituals. The newer brand of pentecostals are quite different. My father-in-law is a former pentecostal.

He spoke in tongues, very conservative, etc. The difference is that his brand of pentecostalism is “prosperity teaching” based. They actually believe that God wants all people to be rich - if you’re not rich you are not in the will of God, etc. He belonged to a Church of God and Assembly of God.

Of course, there are different denoms, but Church of God and Assembly of God are the big ones and are fast becoming all prosperity based. I have attended both Chruch of God and Assembly of God. The worship in these churches was lively, lots of singing, dancing, speaking and praying in tongues. There were “healings” and some were “slain in the spirit”.

Hope this helps.

Peace…
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Thankyou also,all this information is helping me.I need to find out where she is coming from so all this info is great.God Bless
 
as far as steering the conversation elsewhere…i would say yes. i only say this because i know how hurtful it can be when someone misunderstands you and attacks you. it sounds like your brother’s girlfriend is relatively uninformed about the catholic faith, but is sounds like she is ready to attack you anyway.

i am a practicing pentecostal (and i most certainly do not believe in the gospel of prosperity). i have been working with a religious order of catholic nuns for four years. the reason i now have such a deep appreciation for the catholic church is that the sisters have allowed me to simply get to know them without questioning my faith or defending their own. they just let me get to know them on a personal level…and over time i asked many questions about their faith. as soon as i asked the questions, they were quick to answer.

i think if you build a bridge with your brother’s girlfriend and help her to trust you first, she will eventually start asking you questions about your faith. you’ll know it is time to start talking as soon as she asks the questions. that’s just my humble protestant opinion. thanks…i can sense from your attitude on these posts that you would be a great person for her to get to know. 😃
 
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Stef:
by the way…based on what you have said about your brother’s girlfriend, it sounds like she may be part of a more conservative group of pentecostals, but for a nice look into a pentecostal denomination, you can visit the assemblies of god homepage at www.ag.org. this is one of the largest pentecostal movements and they have a “we believe” section that should answer most of your questions.
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Stef is right…What you describe is pretty typical of the Penetcostal Holiness churches. A great many of whom deny the Trinity and baptize only in the name of Jesus. They have some other quirks as well like the stuff you describe. I was a member and a deacon in and A/G church for many years while away from the faith. I don’t know about anyone else, but I wouldn’t care if she was “rock your world” beautiful, the second I found out that was her religion that would end any chance of a relationship. You bro may have some really serious problems because most of them believe that we are the Whore of Babylon and that we apostasized just after the death of St. John. To them…we are non-Christian.

http://pages.prodigy.net/indianahawkeye/newpage06/13.gif
 
In regards to “non-provable” matters, one can only tell others what they have experienced. And so, though I’ve not seen too aweful much in Pentecostal churches, I’ll give it a shot for you, Lisa.

When I was 14 years old, my brother brought me into Family Worship Center Church of God, in Kings Mountain, NC… I still miss everyone. And as I think back now, tears almost come to my eyes because I am away from everyone I once knew there. Surely the protection of God was with us. evil spirits were blown away by the Holy Spirit–I’m speaking truth. I certainly felt protected from evil when I was there. God really was there, with us… but, Jesus wasn’t there in His fullest, as He is in His Body on Earth: the Catholic Church.

My Pentecostal church was actually very liberal, compared to what I’ve heard of other Pentecostal churches. Girls wore their jeans sometimes… guys wore their dresses sometimes… etc. (lol jk about the dresses) --We even talked rather openly about sex and stuff, whenever the context of the conversation was appropriate.

Our “Pope?” Our (invisible) Pope was the Holy Spirit.

How did He get His orders to the “Church of God?” We didn’t know: such was a mystery to us. Our very existence, was a mystery to us; the Holy Spirit’s workings, were a mystery to us. The Divinity of Christ, was a mystery to us. (We stopped speaking at, “Jesus is both God and human, unlike you and me who are only human living with the presence of the Holy Spirit”)

And also, whether masturbation was wrong, whether Jesus was merely being poetic when He said “eat my flesh and drink my blood,” whether the Saints could actually, consciously hear us right at this instance, whether the Bible is any holier than other books that mention Jesus’ Divinity: **all these, too, were *mysteries ***to us! 🙂

All in all I must say, I never heard anyone speak against the Catholic Church. I heard plenty against the Baptists! 😃 heh heh. And of course, much against Buddha, Confuscious, etc. But nothing against the Catholic Church.

lol, some of the youth, used to pass around a saying, “I once was Baptist but now I’m saved.” :rolleyes:

We also, for those who understand me, used to make references to the “church of the frozen chosen.” lol.

Oh, and we also hated the Mormon church. :cool:

Anyway Lisa, to sum my babble post, I’ll say this: I would either be a Catholic, or I would be a Pentecostal. But I mean a true Pentecostal: don’t be fooled, there are just too many immitations out there. (I really do think a “true Pentecostal” church will be one whose members share a very humble attidude towards Catholicism, and other such things they don’t know entirely about… for if they did know entirely about such, then they’d cease to be non-Catholic!)

:blessyou:

I hope I’ve helped out a little. God bless you!

Jason

P.s. oie, I need to work on that I guess: you’ll all probably notice, that my posts are rather choppy and, might I say, incoherent? The major reason being: I’ve got a French test tomorrow, and I haven’t really been studying French for a little while. And I’ve got an Abnormal Psychology report to begin working on; and I’ve got an Art Appreciation test to study for, which is on Monday; and I’ve got many pages of Music Appreciation to read… and I have to do other stuff too… I’ve got to buy groceries, etc… oh and there’s RCIA tonight. 🙂

My point is: I’m tryin’ my best for ya, I love ya, but I’m just a little sleepy, that’s all. 😉

:coffee: jason
 
Oh, and by the way: my baptism is the Trinitarian Baptism (i.e. in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit).

I was baptised in this Pentecostal church, and it holds weight in the Catholic Church.

(We didn’t really think Jesus was the Father; simply we didn’t have the Theological expertise to avoid some confusion, here and there… What I’m saying is that we didn’t all-out assert, “God is only one Person! Jesus is the same Person as the Father and the Holy Spirit!”)

To the Pentecostals who think Jesus is the Father, I have only ths to say:

:tsktsk:

And: we were not those kinds of Pentecostals. 🙂
 
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love-bias:
Oh, and by the way: my baptism is the Trinitarian Baptism (i.e. in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit).

I was baptised in this Pentecostal church, and it holds weight in the Catholic Church.

(We didn’t really think Jesus was the Father; simply we didn’t have the Theological expertise to avoid some confusion, here and there… What I’m saying is that we didn’t all-out assert, “God is only one Person! Jesus is the same Person as the Father and the Holy Spirit!”)

To the Pentecostals who think Jesus is the Father, I have only ths to say:

:tsktsk:

And: we were not those kinds of Pentecostals. 🙂
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Thankyou,so much Jason sounds like you were in a much different Pentacostal Church than was described,but I thank you for your info.🙂
 
You’re quite welcome. May God miraculously work things out in your life!

I.H.S. jason
 
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ahimsaman72:
Old-time pentecostals are extremely conservative - dresses, no-jewelry, plain, unbraided hair, etc. And of course, their view of the Catholic Church is that it is worldly and full of made-up rituals. The newer brand of pentecostals are quite different. My father-in-law is a former pentecostal.

He spoke in tongues, very conservative, etc. The difference is that his brand of pentecostalism is “prosperity teaching” based. They actually believe that God wants all people to be rich - if you’re not rich you are not in the will of God, etc. He belonged to a Church of God and Assembly of God.

Of course, there are different denoms, but Church of God and Assembly of God are the big ones and are fast becoming all prosperity based. I have attended both Chruch of God and Assembly of God. The worship in these churches was lively, lots of singing, dancing, speaking and praying in tongues. There were “healings” and some were “slain in the spirit”.

Hope this helps.

Peace…
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That is called the word of faith movement in which you can call that a cult too. Being rich in the Bible is refering to spiritual riches in Christ. You have to be a berean and study the word (that includes everyone), alot of it is people taking the word of the pastor.
 
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