Does anyone have any experience with the Pentecostal Holiness Churches?

[Rubia Warren]

Does anyone know anything about these churches? I know nothing about it, and a lady just came to my house and talked to me for a while into going and checking out her church that they are starting up. It is very small right now, and she said that her pastor has a "burden" for people who have had bad experiences and even hurt by some people at church in the past.
We discussed trinity vs. Oneness for a while, and I told her I was interested in talking to the pastor about it, and I told her I would visit to see if I like it. So, either I will be abandoning the truth for a lie, or abandoning a lie for the truth, I don't really know for sure at this point.
I was just curious to see if anybody here has ever gone to one of these churches and what it was like, and if they liked it or not.... I know absolutely nothing about it, but from being previously in a strict church, when I hear "pentecostal" and "holiness" in the same sentence, I cringe.. it reminds me of "holiness standards"... women only wearing pants, not cutting your hair, no makeup, no TVs, no sports, no worldly entertainment. Does this denomination use a holiness yardstick to measure people by, too, or am I just shellshocked by my past experiences? Hehe I am just kidding by talking like that, but I really would like to know more about these churches, good and bad.

[John Reece]

La Rubia,

I've never been Pentecostal Holiness myself, but that was my parents’ background – and probably one reason why they never ever went to any church from the time I was born until after I went away to college.

I had extensive experience with the PH churches and Oral Roberts (a PH minister and the son of a PH minister) while I was in college in the early 1950s.

My paternal grandparents, whom I did not know as a child because they lived hundreds of miles away (and my family was confined to a dairy farm 24-7-365) were strangers to me. So when I went off to a college that just happened to be only 90 miles from the home of my grandparents, I used to catch a Greyhound bus and go for weekend visits to get acquainted with them. That was the beginning of quite an education in Pentecostalism. I could write a long article, if not a book :smile: .

[Rubia Warren]

Thanks, John!
I am a little surprised that no one else has had any experience with these churches... I could have sworn I've seen people talk about it before... maybe it was at another place, or something.

[Vorkosigan]

There's an excellent and sympathetic account of Pentecostalism in the wonderful book:

Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201489317/102-9437959-2156936?vi=glance) by Harvey Cox.

Hope this helps

Vorkosigan

[Woman]

La Rubia,

Just out of curiousity, why would you want to leave your present pastor and church if you don't know anything bout this one?

If you do go check it out, be sure to come back and tell us what it was like and how you feel about it.

[Rubia Warren]

Today @ 10:52 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=73762#post73762)
Woman:

La Rubia,

Just out of curiousity, why would you want to leave your present pastor and church if you don't know anything bout this one?

If you do go check it out, be sure to come back and tell us what it was like and how you feel about it.
I like the church that I go to, and I love my pastor and his wife. (I really don't go as often as I should, though). I get so much out of being there, and so do my kids. The people there aren't worried about what I wear, or what I am doing, and they aren't nosy and gossipy (I'm sure there probably are some, but I haven't met them). My pastor is THE neatest person I have ever met. He is so funny, and nice, and he is so positive. When he preaches, I don't feel like i am getting beaten up... yet it encourages me to grow and change. When people say Hi to me, they don't look me up and down first, and give me a fakey christian lady smile. They act like they actually give a rip...
there's lots of things for my kids to be involved in there, and their Sunday school class teacher is the best lady!!! My kids just adore her, and she has to be one of the greatest examples of what a christian woman- a REAL one, would be. And she is so wise.
They also have an AMAZING choir. If you ever were there listening to them, you would be so shocked that they are white people..... they totally break it on down like they're from the soul side of town, know what I mean? It is incredible.
I've never felt this comfortable in a church before in my life.... I am not a churchy type person- never have been. Before I became a christian, I HATED church (I would have rather gone to a bar, thank you very much).... and even after I became a christian, I was involved in a church for a while that was strict, and hellfire and brimstone was preached every Sunday. I felt like I got beaten down during the preaching, and found myself at the altar afterwards every time, bawling and begging God to give me one more day to try harder at trying to please Him-- one time, I cried so hard for so long, that I fell asleep right there on the altar. I got woke up by the pastor's wife. I just got tired of getting led to repent over and over and over, and feeling beaten up all the time, so after a while, I dreaded going to church. Not to mention that something horribly characteristic of a plot from a weird suspense movie happened between me and another member, and I had to leave.... in fact, I had to literally move from my apartment to get away from it all, that's how bad it got.
After trying to get over all of this for so long, this church that I go to now was like a beacon of light for me, when I felt like I was in total darkness, and in pain... almost like a door left open for me by somebody, when I felt like a whole bunch had been slammed in my face. From the minute I walked in, it felt to me like my own home.... do you know what it's like to walk into a CHURCH and feel like you are in your own house?!?! That doesn't happen to me.

The problem, you ask? Other christians consider my church to be a cult, and I am terribly confused about it. So, I'm trying to work it all out, and find the truth... whatever the truth is. Out of the blue, this lady came to my door, and was pretty cool, so I told her I would try it out sometime. Maybe God gave her a nudge in my direction? Or maybe God left the church I go to now as a beacon of light when my whole world was crumbling underneath me? Who knows? The whole thing is exhausting to me at this moment. I feel like I want to just cry, but if I do, I know I will start bawling! These are times when I envy being a little kid.
So, there it is woman, that's my story.

[John Reece]

La Rubia,

Bless you! That is quite a story.

I did not say any more than I did in my first post above, because I would not want to offend anyone who is currently PH - still don't want to do that.

Your story reminds me of a lot of things: a list of which I just deleted :smile: (you did not ask for advice).

Much comes to mind, but I'm not sure how much to say, either about PH or about your story and present situation.

A relationship with a church and pastor such as the one you are presently related to is a relatively rare and wonderful thing: something to be gratefully cherished, something an enemy would like to seduce one away from - just speaking in generalities, mind you :smile: .

[John Reece]

Other christians consider my church to be a cult, and I am terribly confused about it.

That is very intriguing, but I'm not nosey . . . :smile: .

[Rubia Warren]

Oh, I am sorry, John. I figured pretty much everyone knew that I go to a church that doesn't believe in the trinity. It is considered a cult because it teaches modalism. When I said that I was confused, it wasn't that I am confused as to why others consider it to be heresy, but I am torn between modalism and the trinity..... but I tend to lean way over to the oneness side more that the trinitarian side. I am not so sure that if modalism is false, I will necessarily burn in hell... but whatever I believe, I want to make sure that it is correct. So, the lady from PHC stopped by, and I figured maybe I could give it a try or something.
The more I leave both doctrines alone, and have just prayed about it and quit worrying about it, modalism pops up in my face in various places, and my understanding of it gets deeper. I am not sure if it is God responding to my prayers, or what, so I am pretty confused now. It's probably going to take me a lot of time to work it all out and figure out what's what.

[John Reece]

Ah!

Thanks for clueing me in, La Rubia.

[Bill the Cat]

La Rubia, my dear, I am a youth pastor in the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. I'd find out some of their doctrine on women in church, tongues, and like doctrine. You can check out our website if you'd like. www.iphc.org. I There are several "flavors" of pentecostals out there so find out who they are affiliated with. Any questions, you can PM me any time.