Pentecostal church experience

[nomoreusernamesfree]

Just wondered about views or experience of Christians who have attended Pentecostal churches.
I was mainstream Christian and heard about a local church which is popular - a 'charismatic ' church with large congregation.
The modern worship songs with guitars etc accompaniment are inspiring, people are nice, engaging , emotional services but I feel uncomfortable about the speaking in tongues and healing and prophetic words etc which are the ' gifts of the spirit' . I understand that there was speaking in tongues in the bible and Jesus and the Apostles healed but I don't feel that we are maybe meant to do it here on earth.
There are very few people my age in my previous church but I feel unsure about accepting all the practices in the new one?
Any comments/ experiences? Thanks

I just engage with the parts that feel like they are for me and leave others to crack on with the bits that aren't.

Yeah I was raised in one, for me it wasn't weird as I obviously grew up in it however I noticed people often cried when they came for the first time and I fairly often suspected it was fear rather than being moved genuine spiritual experience.

To put it bluntly, they are often cults.

Mass hysteria, incredibly controlling usually- before you know it you're being taught and told how to think and every area of your life is first approved by the pastors.

Some churches are probably lovely, I'm not a believer anymore anyway but I don't really think it's possible to find a church with all this going on that doesn't have some level of mass hypnotism going on.

Yes. Some people will be having genuine spiritual experiences. (I don't discount that some people do have genuine experiences in such places, I had my own when I did believe in Christianity) but MANY will simply have no real idea why they are doing what they do... yet do it anyway week after week. Others wonder why it never happens to them and feel like they're not good enough spiritually.

If you're not comfortable with something, that's your intuition- trust it. Don't override it like many seem to do because it looks powerful. Derren Brown can whip up the same responses in an arena

Yes I do believe in the spirit and there seems nothing sinister in the church - but the prayer group is as if they are healing people themselves rather than just asking God in prayer for healing. And when people are' prayed for' people lay hands on them in a group to presumably allow the spirit to flow.
I think to settle permanently in the church I would have to understand the teaching of the church and feel I could support it fully.

Sounds fairly normal for this type of church.

Do they have a website which declares their beliefs? You could check out whether you personally agree or disagree from there upon reflection

I personally think asking people in leadership in the church initially to explain puts you in a vulnerable position with charismatic people as you'll be opening yourself up to manipulation should you disagree with any of their beliefs

I'm not a believer, my beliefs evolved into something new however being someone who left a very charismatic church cult I have witnessed very manipulative behaviour and words in trying to convince me I was wrong and hellbound for daring to trust my own intuition and question if I believed and why I believed. Every person I know who leaves such a place experiences similar. Like everyone there are times in our lives we might wish to turn back to those we grew up with for support in hard times... any time I hope for support or a kind word from old friends and family I seem to find myself faced with "if you only came back to church... this has all happened because you left the church... you were fine when you were part of the church... don't you think God's trying to show you to come back to church" etc and they don't really like my reply of no actually, every problem I'm facing was present when I was in church and if there is a God, He led me out of church for a reason as it was reading my bible that contributed to that decision! Oh and learning to trust that still, small voice within which I now refer to as intuition and used to call the Holy Spirit. But guess what? It's still present within.

Trust your own intuition!

Why don't you think the holy spirit works today in the way it did for the first apostles?

Well I don't see that the Bible is telling me I should be praying in tongues - it seems more like a church construct. Which is fine for those who want to but not for those that don't.