Trace the chalk and seize the day
So those old habits never pass away
Commemorate the conception with
The childrens’ debt the retribution
Deaf to self and mute to mind to find
Muddled wallowing nebulous blind
My crippled confidence chafed away
Without the answers I’m cast astray

My cloud’s so thick, I can barely think
So reveal to me dead sight, dead sight
My cloud’s so thick, I can barely think
So reveal to me dead sight, dead sight

Trace the tree and the veil will flee me
And now I see with salty eyes
Consistent tragedy persisting in me
Disability my soul’s demise
Deaf to self and mute to mind
Muddled wallowing nebulous blind
My crippled confidence chafed away
With the answers I’m pulled astray

The habits laced embrace me
With a cold, chaotic flinch
Kiss of old deaths erase me
Soft, subtle, inch by inch

Upon my face I lie mesmerized
Cauterized by the blemishes
Frail bandages
Without a chance to change
Desperate to rectify
Imperative lest I die
Imminent reality on pace
Down glanced closed-faced
Consistent entrancement
And I’m staring into empty space
With an open wound to clean
Please cleanse me

Is this my time to feel?
Is this my time to breathe?
Is this my time to bleed?
Change the season

–Project 86, “Bleed Season”–

The immediate necessity to write of the common salvation arose out of certain men who had crept into the church unawares. Some of these attacked the Gospel on its practical side with Antinomian subtlety. They cried up the grace of God, but said little of the holy living which it produces. They MADE LIGHT OF SIN under pretence of magnifying the grace of God; they called careful watchfulness a legal spirit (e.g., religious spirit, legalism, Pharisee, etc), derided humble self-examination, and claimed as children of God to be in no sense bound by the precepts of the moral law. The apostle calls it “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness.”…We used to have in our churches a sad amount of the Antinomian leaven; we had among us men who preached the doctrine of grace without the grace of the doctrine, and professors who for evermore spoke about “the truth,” but seemed little careful about following “the way” or exhibiting “the life.”…It is essential at this day that such as fear God, and are his servants, should again and again both write and preach concerning “the common salvation,” and over and over again rehearse the first lessons of Christ, the very alphabet of grace. We must make the joyful sound of the common salvation to be more common than ever. I wish to ring it out this morning with all the power that I have and with all that God will grant me by his Holy Spirit…But it is at the very root of the tree that they lay their axe, and, therefore, we must end all hesitation, take up our weapons, and for the sake of the common salvation earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

–Charles Spurgeon, “The Common Salvation”–

—

Samuel Rutherford, A Survey of the Spiritual Antichrist (London, 1648), pp. 39-42. The “spiritual antichrist” that Rutherford was so concerned about was the Family of Love cult, or the Familists. This was a charismatic group that was a forerunner to the Society of Friends, or the Quakers. An academic book on The Family of Love by Alastair Hamilton is slated to come out soon. It seems that this Familist and Quaker mysticism is really what Bible believers, whether cessationist or charismatic, should be wary about. Because although it was a supernaturalist type of Christianity focused on experience of the Holy Spirit, it seriously dropped the ball on soteriology, and left people with a sense of easy believism, universal salvation, and a low regard for the Bible as the Word of God. Because of their extreme emphasis on the theme of love, and their downplaying or even ignoring of eternal judgment, loose sexual morals ended up cropping up in their midst, like the Ranters cult. The general attitude seems to make one say, “Let’s pursue experience of the Holy Spirit instead of teaching the Bible and preaching salvation from Hell and the power of sin.” That’s a recipe for demonic deception right there. “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8, KJV).

Unless the Scottish Presbyterianism of John Knox, or the early Methodism of John Wesley are informing your spiritual life, I would avoid charismatic spirituality to prevent yourself from becoming deceived by false teachings on salvation. The Baptist churches associated with the IFB or the SBC might be safer places to raise a family. Richard J. Foster and John Wimber are writers that were associated with the Evangelical Friends, which is a Quaker group influenced by Wesleyanism; and so, because of the Wesleyan influence, I don’t see much that is wrong there. But be careful; a lot of the people they quote and cite in their footnotes have questionable theological backgrounds; although, not always. Wesley! Wesleyans! Wesleyanism! This is the safest spiritual ground for understanding a Bible-based charismatic Christian lifestyle. Think more like Harald Lindstrom’s Wesley and Sanctification (Francis Asbury Press, 1998) and Robert Tuttle’s Mysticism in the Wesleyan Tradition (Francis Asbury Press, 1989). Does this mean go to the AG, CMA, and COG churches? Not so fast! Honestly I think they are more influenced by Destiny Image and NAR theology; which way more resembles an easy believist Quaker and C. S. Lewis universalist spirituality than anything; a sort of watered down gospel presentation, Purpose Driven churches, Bethel Church types, with no hellfire preaching, no repentance, a lot of theistic evolutionists, and lip service evangelical attitudes seasoned with rated R movies and M rated video games played by immature manchilds, who want to be the center of attention, and some of which are even gay affirming. HORRIBLE. Young adults are the focus of such unserious charismatic ministries. So which churches are the true Bible Wesleyans? That’s a really good question. Maybe it’s the InterChurch Holiness Convention (IHC), or the Southern Methodist Church, but I’m not speaking from experience. Isaiah 1:5: “Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick.” Proverbs 13:12: “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.” –J.B.