WHY I AM NO LONGER A PENTECOSTAL William Davis There were no miracles, no to attend. While attending the Arlington Church of God at the age of twenty,I power, no gifts, no healings, believed I was being “called” into the nothing but the theatrical ministry and so I started preaching. The following year I was married. In time, my antics and delusions of men. wife and I eventually ended up in the What was claimed for the Assemblies of God where I was a licensed preacher for 27 years. great power of God was There are those who might speculate as nothing more than musical to what caused me to change my mind about being a Pentecostal. Did someone talk me hype and psychologically out of it? Did I read someone’s book? What induced emotionalism. happened? I would say it has been a journey. Even though I was exposed to and had would like to begin by giving some learned many incorrect methods and views of background information concerning my Bible interpretation (hermeneutics), I did Iroots in Pentecostalism. I believe it is know, believe and understand that the Bible important for anyone reading this to was/is the word of God and we needed to understand that I am not someone new to read it and follow it. For some time, I had the Pentecostal or Charismatic movement. recognized certain problems and incon- My roots go down deep into Pentecostalism. sistencies within the Pentecostal church. I was a third generation Pentecostal. My These were difficult to overcome at first. But maternal grandparents were “old time” as time went by, I would discover bits and Pentecostals and my grandfather was a pieces of truth. The problem was, I still Pentecostal preacher of the old style. As a couldn’t put it all together. I couldn’t get the matter of fact, I was a Pentecostal before full picture. there was anyone known as a “charismatic.” During my 50 plus years as a Pente- Actually, in the old days most people costal, I had been involved in countless did not call themselves Pentecostals, they Pentecostal and charismatic influences. It called themselves Holiness or Full Gospel. I would be safe to say that I have been in never remember my Dad calling himself a hundreds of various meetings or gatherings Pentecostal. He always said he was Holiness. in one form or another. I attended several This is one reason Pentecostals in the old meetings involving the “Prophetic Move- days were branded as “holy rollers.” The ment.” In one conference we were taught point I am trying to make is that I am no how to prophesy to people. They call it being stranger to Pentecostalism, its doctrines, its “activated.” My wife and I made two trips to worship and its experiences. Neither am I a Toronto for “Catch The Fire” conferences. stranger to charismatic doctrines, worship This is where the famed “Toronto Blessing” and experiences. took place. I was in Pentecostalism over 50 years of We spent five months attending the my life. As a boy I can remember the old “Brownsville Revival.” When I say five camp-meeting days when we worshiped months, I mean we didn’t miss a service under a tin roof and sawdust on a dirt floor. unless we were having a service at our My family’s roots were originally in the church. We were there night after night, Congregational Holiness denomination — a often times not leaving until midnight or group that splintered off from the Pente- later. During that period I also served on the costal Holiness. I grew up in Jacksonville, Brownsville prayer team. A short time after Florida, a fairly large city, where you could this five month period at Brownsville, we too always find a variety of Pentecostal churches started holding similar services at our “Why I Am No Longer A Pentecostal” by William Davis Page 1 This appeared in the June, July & August 2013 issues of “Seek The Old Paths.” www.seektheoldpaths.com church. These meetings lasted for a whole Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man year. Various charismatic speakers came be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot and held meetings, praying and prophesying enter into the kingdom of God.” The phrase, over people night after night, week in and “born of water” stood out to me. In the past week out. We initially started these meetings I had always read over these words, with a woman who claimed to have a gift of mentally dismissing them on the basis of healing as well as being a preacher, teacher what I had heard or been taught. The and prophetess. I found out later that she teaching usually went something like, “the actually believed herself to be an apostle. word ‘water’ here doesn’t actually mean Our services with her lasted around three water.” For some reason ‘water’ always months. A variety of speakers came in, each meant something other than the obvious. claiming to have their own unique “gift” or That evening I finally decided to accept what “calling.” When we did not have any special I read in the Bible like it was written. I speakers, my wife and I conducted the accepted the simple fact that Jesus said meetings ourselves. During this time a lot of what He meant and meant what He said. I people were prayed for, prophesied over, realized there was nothing in the context claimed to see visions and angels, laid in the that suggested the word water was anything floor, spoke in “tongues”, shook, vibrated, but water. There was no reason to believe laughed, cried, wailed, made animal sounds Jesus meant anything other than what He and of course claimed to be healed. However, said. It was also obvious that to be born of after a year of this our church was no better water referred to water baptism. I found this off than before. After all the claims of could be confirmed by other New Testament healings, salvations and miracles, no one references such as Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, was any different. After the scores of people Acts 22:16, Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:3-6,17- who attended and our building being packed 18 and 1 Peter 3:21. From that point on I night after night, our attendance was less knew I had to find a people who taught the and our finances depleted. By this time, my Bible just like it is written without any wife and I felt depleted ourselves. We had manmade religious additions. put our hearts and souls into these efforts A person has to be a realist when it because we believed it to be God-approved; comes to the Bible. As long as people and who doesn’t want to experience the same continue to make excuses for the flaws and power and miracles we read about in the inaccuracies of their respective denomin- New Testament? I can’t tell you how many ation, they will never come to the knowledge hours we spent in prayer or the number of of the truth. We have to be honest as meals we fasted, all because we wanted students of Scripture. If not, the religious nothing more than God. But after all of this, discrepancies we see will vanish in the haze it wasn’t God that we saw, it was man. From of feeble excuses and unsound explanations Toronto, to Brownsville, to Cottage Hill, and by false teachers. many more places I could name, there were Sometime later, after coming to the no miracles, no power, no gifts, no healings, Lord’s church, I discovered a saying that had nothing but the theatrical antics and been coined generations ago: “The Bible only, delusions of men. What was claimed for the makes Christians only.” There’s one thing for great power of God was nothing more than certain, if you follow exactly what the New musical hype and psychologically induced Testament says without the input of any emotionalism. outside religious source, you will end up In time, as I reflected over the past two being simply a Christian — nothing more years and then over all of the years I had and nothing less. You cannot strictly follow been in Pentecostalism, I slowly began to the teaching of the New Testament and end realize I was in error. I began to see how up being in a denomination because they all deceived I was. Then one night something are creations of men. You can only end up a happened that caused me to completely Christian. change course. I kept a Bible by my bedside Please understand that what I have to and would usually read a few verses before say is not meant as an attack on people. going to sleep. As I was reading, I came to There are many sincere, misguided souls in John 3:5 where it says, “Jesus answered, the Pentecostal and charismatic ranks. I “Why I Am No Longer A Pentecostal” by William Davis Page 2 This appeared in the June, July & August 2013 issues of “Seek The Old Paths.” www.seektheoldpaths.com know because I was one of them. However, I The word “language” in verse 6 and the will attack the lies and heresies of men. word “tongue” in verse 8 is the Greek word False doctrine(s) should always be exposed. dialektos which means a discourse, that is, a We must be willing to earnestly contend for dialect; a language or tongue.