What Is A Charismatic, Word Of Faith, Full-Gospel, Pentecostal Church Anyway?
If people were to ask me what denomination we are, I may respond with any of the above titles, because they all describe us in different ways. They are all similar, but none of them are exactly the same.
The term charismatic in the dictionary means"being a type of Christianity that emphasizes personal religious experience and divinely inspired powers, as of healing, prophecy, and the gift of tongues". We do.
The term "Full Gospel" can mean different things to different people, but 1 of the meanings is: "A Fellowship, Church or individual that believes in the Full Truth & Authority of God's Word and works and believes that the Holy Spirit is alive and that He works in and through us today, not just in the past." (However, some can get a little more self-righteous with it and believe that only they have the truth and preach the whole Gospel, while others are 1/2 Gospel at best).
Technically, Pentecostal is a broad term, and may include many denominations & fellowships, such as The Assemblies of God, Church of God, Foursquare, etc. There are also off-shoots that do not stick to the fundamental doctrines of the church including the trinity. There are particular (holiness) groups that emphasize legalism, how you dress, wear your hair, no make-up, etc., but are not the usual ones. To be pentecostal is to believe that what happened in the early church when it was founded, in Acts chapter 2, is for today as well. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. On the day of Pentecost, believers were all filled with The Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues. So, Pentecostals believe we should have what they had. I believe that also. The gifts of The Spirit are for all today, as they were then.
What does the term Word of Faith mean? It refers to churches and people who believe that what God means what He says. His promises are just as true as anytime in history. The Bible says that "without faith it is impossible to please God". We believe that everything He has promised belongs to the believer and that "with faith all things are possible". We believe that it is important how you talk because the Bible says that "the power of life and death is in the tongue" and tells us to "choose life". It also tells us that "Jesus Christ came to give us life and give us life abundantly." We believe that healing and provision was taken care of at the cross when He said the curse of the law was finished. He came to take care of our sin problem, poverty, & sickness & disease. It is part of the total atonement. Paul said in Rom. 10:8 "But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”, (that is, the word of faith which we preach)" He was the first "Word of Faith" preacher.
I grew up in an independent pentecostal church, went to a pentecostal (Open Bible), Bible school, graduated from a Word of Faith Bible school, (Rhema Bible Training Center), and then obtained my doctorate in theology from a charismatic Bible University in Tampa, Florida.
I have known all of these (camps, so to speak,) and have gleaned from all of them, tried to throw out tradition and keep growing in true, Biblical knowledge.
What is our church? It's a Bible-believing, full-Gospel (in the sense we believe the entire Bible and are growing in our ability to practice it (not having arrived completely), pentecostal, tongue-speaking and gifts of The Spirit Church, charismatic in out-reach and embracing people from all backgrounds, word-of-faith church.