Cell phone anointing (Miracles through cell phones.) Holy rollers in action. Wasilla Assembly of God. Is this mainstream christianity?

YouTube - Sarah Palin's Churches & The Third Wave

I would be curious for any thoughts as to whether this is mainstream christianity. It seems very weird to me!

__________________
"It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory." -Barack Obama, November 4th 2008

Great! Now I can expect to be harrassed by Bible thumping telemarketers.

weird and very creepy!

Still watching the video. This stuff reminds me of pro wrestling.

If you want to know about the Pentecostal religion you-tube is a poor example of what their religious beliefs are and the manner they chose to worship the Lord.

__________________
"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
P. J. O'Rourke

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Thomas Paine

Well I doubt I'll be attending their services to learn more, so the net is what I got....

From what I have learned on Wikipedia, and other spots on the web, they are strong evangelicals, and believe in demonic possession, speaking in tongues as a manifestation of being baptized in the holy spirit, and the gift of prophecy.

I don't want my government thinking they are prophets.

But I started the thread for any feedback. So any is welcome.

__________________
"It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory." -Barack Obama, November 4th 2008

Well, it's hard to fully understand what the Pentecostal religion is all about based on what someone else percieves it to be, who might not necessarily be involved in the Pentecostal religion themselves. If you haven't attended one of their worship services it's easy to get the wrong impression of what is taking place, as was shown in the video.

__________________
"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
P. J. O'Rourke

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Thomas Paine

What is the right impression?

I'm not going to be the one to explain it. Just from the few comments made in this thread I can see that it's easier to mock the the Pentecostal style of worship than try to understand it.

Your comment, "This stuff reminds me of pro wrestling" gives me the impression you have already made your mind up about what it means to you. I doubt anything I could say would change your perception of what you saw in the video.

I've attended a lot of different Pentecostal church services and seldom are any 2 the same. Pentecostal preachers tend to be very diverse in how they worship, unlike a Catholic service, or a Baptist service, which seemed to me to be a more scripted style of worship, at least the ones I've attended in my area.

__________________
"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
P. J. O'Rourke

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Thomas Paine

I'm sure they are all very different. If you doubt anything you could say would change my perception, then I guess you've only reinforced it.

BTW You are speaking of your perception of my perception.

I am specifically interested in whether they generally believe in (1) demonic possession (Catholics don't, even though it is part of the traditional catholic teaching), (2) baptism in the holy spirit manifesting through speaking in tongues, and the (3) gift of prophecy.

With my 'science hat' on these are examples of wishful thinking. With my 'faith hat' on they are more extreme than what I raised with and I wonder how generally accepted these three tenets are. With my 'american' hat on I think Bush acted impulsively because of his evangelical beliefs and his belief that he was doing God's will and we'd damn well better know if the potential VP operates from the same position.

Anyway, I don't expect you, Denny, to 'explain' sara palin but I do wonder if you know how generally and strongly those three tenets are held. I know that people and churches are individual....

__________________
"It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory." -Barack Obama, November 4th 2008

Are Pentecostals and Evangelicals the same thing? I've heard of Evangelicals whose main political concern is not prayer in school, banning abortion and gay marriage, etc, but fighting for environmental protections because they believe God entrusted man as the custodian of the earth. Something like that.

Fair enough I suppose. The point I was trying to make is the style of worship Pentecostal followers typically use is very unconventional compared to other religions, which makes it hard to describe to anyone the context in which a lot of events like in the video clip take place, like talking in tongues, dancing in the spirit, or the laying on of hands in worship services.

Judging Palin for how she choses to worship is just as pointless as judging Obama for how he choses to worship.IMO.

__________________
"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
P. J. O'Rourke

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Thomas Paine

Trying to figure out the Pentecostal religion with a science hat on will be extremely difficult.

Most of what takes place in a Pentecostal worship service is done according to what the spirit of the lord dictates. Speaking in tongues is considered a blessing, and most of the churches I'm familiar with feel that without that blessing you won't enter the kingdom of heaven.

I have seen examples of what was considered demonic possession, but it was more in the context of a person not being able to overcome the impulse to do evil deeds, so in that respect it is sometimes attributed to a person being possessed by a demon.

As for prophecy, I think a lot of that can be contributed to what considered the sign of the end times fond book of Revelations.

__________________
"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
P. J. O'Rourke

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Thomas Paine

The Evangelist I'm familiar with within the Pentecostal religion are similar as they are often speakers who travel from church to church spreading the word.

I can't speak for all Evangelists but the Pentecostal ones I know are very much in favor of prayer in school, very pro-life, and against gay marriage, because gay sex is considered an abomination. While they are very concious of our enviroment that isn't their main purpose where spreading the word of God is concerned.

__________________
"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
P. J. O'Rourke

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Thomas Paine