The True, Biblical Anointing Does Not Slay & Knock Believers To The Ground!

When we talk of a Spirit-filled place where the presence of God is moving powerfully, many people imagine the minister screaming “fire!”, waiving his hand and the crowd responding in frantic shaking, screaming, falling and vomiting all over the place. This phenomenon is believed to be the power of God at work, mainly to confound and confuse the powers of darkness in people’s lives. This is supposed to be a mark – on the minister’s part – that he is a powerful man of God who is being “mightily used” to liberate people from the troubles of life – poverty included. In fact, an average charismatic preacher loves this so much that he doesn’t like it when he touches you and you fail to respond by falling. Some are never content even after you fall, because as soon as you are on your feet, you are sprayed to the grown again and again until they are satisfied. I cannot count how many church services I have seen, where people folk in numbers, just to have the pastor touch them on the forehead so they could shake without end, make strange sounds, and fall to the ground while the ushers rush in to catch them with a blue cloth.

I have never been comfortable in such environments. Somehow, something never felt right about this practice. Instead, I have always had questions, most of which have been returned with anger when I have asked them. Well, today there is no room for anger because we are going to honestly discuss this issue. My questions begin…

Where in the Bible do we see such?

If you sincerely believe that it is the power of the Anointing that causes people to manifest as they do in these charismatic crusades, where then do you see such a thing happening in Scripture? Let’s consider Jesus, the most Anointed Man who ever lived, did we see Him spraying His Anointing to the Galileans so they could all manifest, scream, vomit and shake uncontrollably? After His baptism, we are told that the Spirit descended on Him with power, how did He behave that day? Of course, He just came out of the water with zero drama involved (Mat 3:16). We can say the same about His Apostles; did we see them lining up the people in Antioch so as to touch their foreheads so they could all fall backwards?  You know the answer to that.

If our Christianity is not Bible-based then what is it? Do we have a right to invent anything and then practice it as a regular principle, just out of the blue? If you study your Bible well, you will discern that there are only two circumstances that remotely resemble the common slaying of people to the ground, yet they are not the same thing. The first one is when individuals were awed by the glory of God and the Bible describes them as falling face down as dead men (Eze 1:28, Dan 8:18, Mat 17:6, Rev 1:17). Notice: face down, not pushed backward by the hand of a minister. This was an act of worship; being overwhelmed by the holiness of the Holy One. That, definitely is not the same thing that we see in these Emmanuel Makandiwa, Uebert Angel false prophet services. The second phenomenon of the fall and scream under the power of God is found in the book of Mark, as a manifestation of demon possession (Mark 9:26). So, if we are to apply that to today’s church, we would say that all those people that “prophet” Bushiri touches into the ground are demon-possessed. Okay then, how come the same process of touch-and-fall is done on them every week and they seem to like it because they voluntarily go upfront to receive the magic wand? What kind of a demon doesn’t come out at once after encountering the power of God, as it did when it saw Jesus, but instead, it enjoys screaming and rolling on the ground week after week? In all honesty, we all know that what we see as the anointing today is not the same thing we see happening in the Bible. Not even close! If then these ministers are not being used by the same Spirit that used the biblical Apostles, what spirit do they have? 

What is the purpose of falling to the ground?

Yes, what do you gain when you are wallowing and wiggling helplessly on the ground under the minister’s spell? According to them, you are being delivered from the powers of darkness. Oh really!? Bear it in mind that these people don’t believe that once you are saved in Christ, you have already been delivered and transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light – once and for all (Col 1:13). To them, no matter how Christian you are, you have demons and spirits and curses that hinder you, hence you need to keep being delivered again and again…and again. Such bad theology is embarrassing, coming from men who claim to know God more intimately that the rest of us.

How about the fact that many of these people who have fallen under the “power” of the man of God still go back home to face the same marriage, unemployment and sickness issues – just like the rest of mankind? In fact, it is a biblical fact that falling under the “anointing” does not make one saved (faith comes by hearing the Word), nor does it prevent worldly people from going back to their sins. If you deny me on this, I give you an assignment today to watch those who are fans of screaming when papa is ministering and tell me if their behavior; character and conduct is any different even after visiting these crusades. Some are even worse than unbelievers in their ungodliness. So, you tell me that the so-called powerful anointing that flows from the man of God can convulse and thrill your body yet it can’t make a lasting change in your heart. Well, then it’s not the power of God, but a sensual, mindless ecstasy that temporally stimulates the flesh while it disappears as soon as the service is done. Again, I repeat: that is not the Holy Spirit of the Bible! It’s strange fire.

The true work of the Spirit

Now please learn the truth. The true Spirit’s primal ministry is to convict sinners of sin, then to save them (change them into new Creatures), then after they are changed, they are not only empowered for Christ-centred ministry but also enabled to practically produce the fruit of the Spirit, including self-control (Gal 5:22). I mention self-control as a vital manifestation of the true Anointing because many people seem to believe a false idea that the Holy Spirit captures your mind, possesses you and causes you to do weird manifestations (even exposing your inner clothing) – against your will. On the contrary, the Spirit gives us a sound mind, not mindlessness (2 Tim 1:7). Christ's sheep are not hypnotized zombies! Furthermore, an environment where the minister has pride about His power, where worldly people are comfortable in their sins, where the church services are not about the Gospel of salvation but a safe haven for a false gospel of prosperity, and where the doctrine of Christ is of little interest but crusades are a showground of what the prophet can do are not the place of the Holy Spirit. Run away from such a place and seek the truth, please.

Conclusion

I once wrote that the Holy Spirit is the most abused Member of the Godhead. The reason for that is that as believers, we are just not willing to test what is happening in our churches compared to the biblical example. Instead, we just love any atmosphere that feels so good to the flesh and comfortable to the conscience, no matter how ridiculous it is. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want any minister to impart some strange fire to my forehead. I can’t even imagine my kids falling and screaming and laughing uncontrollably under the spell of a false prophet. Instead, I want to look at Scripture, where I see Jesus, Himself being empowered by the Spirit that did not make Him act weird, but gave Him godliness, wisdom, knowledge, truth, love, patience, kindness and self-control. That is what I desperately need in my faith walk, and with that, I shall be satisfied. Here I stand. 

Sinothi Ncube