Is the Charismatic Movement Dangerous and Heretical?

[Guest kingdombrat]

23 minutes ago, kingdombrat said:

I remember as a child growing in the Church Pastor'd by my Grandfather and Father, the local Methodist/Baptist/other Denominational churches would all come when we held Revival.   I never thought much about it then and saw it as people hungry for God who got past their personal doctrines and wanted fellowship in an electrified atmosphere.   Later on, my Grandpa would point out if we saw this or that [meaning people of other doctrines were acting like Pentecostals who got a good ole touch from God].   My Grandfather always was quick to point out, "if you believe you are dignified, wait till God gets a hold of you, you'll be the next one getting roasted in the churches of the {Dead}."

 

True Godly Revival has a way of shedding learned behaviors and opening the doorways to touching God that in many other settings are quite impossible.

I want to quote my own post because it relates personally to my Grandfather's own experience.   In the day and era my Grandfather lived, it was looked very favorably if you held certain Church positions.   My Great Grandfather had a lot of influence in a big chunk of the State we all come from.   And he dreamed of his son, my Grandfather, of fulfilling one of these prestigious positions.   

 

Long story short, my Grandfather was on his way to becoming part of my Great Grandfather's vision [a Church Leader] when my Grandfather was driving along and saw the biggest tent surrounded by cars and horse buggies he'd ever saw [at that time].   He said, he pulled over, turned off his vehicle, and could hear this thunderous crowd of people doing something he'd never heard/saw/knew existed before.   He snuck in, dressed in his own Sunday best a top of the line (for those days) nice white 3 piece suit decked with sleek black shoes and found a spot in the last row [the AMEN Corner] we call it.   And my Grandfather just watched as the Worship was something he'd never seen before.   He said, he even felt things that he didn't recognize and was questioning what was happening.

 

Anyways, this Preacher, before starting his sermon said, "Someone here today will become a New Creation in God."   Immediately, my Grandfather said he felt this urge that it was him.   The Preacher said, If you're ready to meet God, there is no time like now.   My Grandfather said the urge inside him was so great, and without thinking, he stood up from his bench seat and began to walk all dignified before the others towards the Preacher.   Said he got almost half way there when his legs just quit working.   He was frozen and could not make his legs walk.   The Preacher began laughing and told my Grandfather, the Holy Spirit is all over you, Brother.   And then told him, if you want what God wants to give to you, You will find a way to make it to this altar.   My Grandfather said, he dropped onto the dirt ground in his expensive white 3 piece suit and [Crawled] to the Altar.

 

After that experience, my Grandfather became a Staple Name in several Pentecostal Organizations and became well known for His understanding of the Hebrew Language, which He eventually was paid to come and Teach to several Churches throughout his lifetime.

 

And it all began with an African American Preacher holding [Revival] in the middle of a cornfield!

Edited May 9, 2021 by kingdombrat

[Daniel Marsh]

The Greek word from which we derive the modern word Charismatic is translated in the King James Version Bible and New King James Version Translation as 'gifts' (Romans 11:29, 12:6, 1Corinthians 12:4, 9, 12:28, 30 - 31). In general, its meaning is that anyone who is a true Christian and who exercises one of the many gifts that God's Spirit can give is charismatic.

The apostle Paul used this term in 1Corinthians 12 to designate the supernatural gifts made available to individuals through the power of the Holy Spirit. These are many times referenced as the charismatic gifts of Christianity.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the benefit of all. For to one, a word of wisdom . . . knowledge . . . faith . . . healing . . . miracles . . . prophecy . . . and to a different one, various languages . . . But the one and the same Spirit is operating in all these things, dividing separately to each one as God Himself desires (1Corinthians 12:7 - 8, 11)

https://www.biblestudy.org/beginner/definition-of-christian-terms/charismatic.html

Charismatic
Charismatic is an umbrella term used to describe those Christians who believe that the manifestations of the Holy Spirit seen in the first century Christian Church, such as healing, miracles and "speaking in tongues," are available to contemporary Christians and ought to be experienced and practiced today.

The word charismatic is derived from the Greek word charisma (meaning a grace or a gift) which is the term used in the Bible to describe a wide range of supernatural experiences (especially in 1 Corinthians 12-14).

Often confused with Pentecostalism (by which it was inspired), Charismatic Christianity tends to differ in key aspects: most Charismatics reject the preeminence given by Pentecostalism to "speaking in tongues," reject what they consider to be legalism sometimes associated with Pentecostalism, and often stay in their existing denominations such as Roman Catholic Charismatics.

Because of the continual cross-over between Pentecostalism and the modern Charismatic movement, it is increasingly difficult to speak of Charismatics and Pentecostals as being part of separate movements. Yet because neither movement is monolithic, it is also unfair to speak of them as being one movement either. The difference is primarily one of origins. Beliefs of the two groups are very similar; each movement, however, is unique in its historical beginnings. Having been conceived in unique contexts, the difference may secondarily be described in terms of contrasting church cultures evidenced through each movement's manners and customs (i.e., worship styles, preaching styles, altar ministry methods). Until a more acceptable broad nomenclature is used, it needs to be understood that both movements share a great deal in common, and yet can sometimes be clearly differentiated.

History
Beginnings 1950-1975
While it is difficult to locate the place and time that Charismatic Christianity began to influence the mainstream churches, Dennis Bennett, an American Episcopalian, is often cited as the movement's seminal influence. Bennett was the Rector at St Mark's Episcopal Church in Van Nuys California when he announced to the congregation in 1960 that he had received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Soon after this he was ministering in Vancouver where he ran many workshops and seminars about the work of the Holy Spirit. [1] This influenced tens of thousands of Anglicans world-wide and also began a renewal movement within the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.

In the 1960s and 1970s there was a renewed interest in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit in mainstream churches such as the Episcopal, Lutheran and Catholic churches. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal was focused in individuals like Kevin Ranaghan and his group of followers at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Dennis Bennett was Ranaghan's counterpart in the Episcopal Church.

The Charismatic Renewal movement in the Eastern Orthodox Church never exerted the influence that it did in other mainstream churches. Individual priests, such as Fr. Eusebius Stephanouof the Greek Orthodox Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, founder of the Brotherhood of St. Symeon the New Theologian, Fr. Athanasius Emmert of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese and Fr. Boris Zabrodsky of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America, founder of the Orthodox Spiritual Renewal Services and editor of " Theosis" journal, were the more prominent leaders of the Charismatic renewal in Orthodoxy.

On an international level, David du Plessis along with a host of others (including Lutheran and even Southern Baptist ministers) promoted the movement. The latter did not last long with their denominations, either volunteering to leave or being asked to do so. But in the Episcopal and Catholic churches priest and ministers were permitted to continue on in their parishes, provided they did not allow these concerns to create major divisions within their congregations.

Change 1975-2000
While there are many charismatics within established denominations, many have left or have been forced out and have joined either more progressive Pentecostal churches or formed their own churches or denominations. The house church movement in the UK and the Vineyard Movement in the USA are examples of a formal Charismatic structure. The Hillsong Church in Australia is an example of a Pentecostal church that has embraced Charismatic belief and practices, which has, in turn, influenced the Australian Assemblies of God denomination. In New Zealand, the pre-eminent Pentecostal movement has been the New Life Churches, although other local and international Pentecostal denominations are also well established.

Since the mid 1980s, the Charismatic movement has made some notable changes in its theology and emphases. This process has been termed The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit and has been typified by the ministry of C. Peter Wagner, Word of Faith Theology and the Toronto blessing phenomenon. Some opponents of the Charismatic movement have noted that these recent trends have been influenced heavily by the Latter Rain Movement of the 1950s within the Pentecostal churches — a movement that was officially declared heresy by The Assemblies of God at the time.

There appears to be a great deal of evidence which shows that, since 1975, the Charismatic movement has been influenced by the Latter Rain Movement and its influential teachers (such as William M. Branham). ^[ [citation\ needed](Theopedia:Writing_guide#Reference_your_work)]^ This can be explained by the desire of Charismatic Christians to enter into fellowship with those within the church who have experienced similar forms of Religious ecstasy. As a result of this, Charismatics came into contact with both mainstream Pentecostalism as well as the Latter Rain Movement. It appears that modern-day Charismatics and Pentecostals are far more united in experience and theology because both movements have adopted elements of Latter Rain teachings.

Theological distinctives
Because the Charismatic movement is not monolithic, it cannot easily be examined or judged as one entity. As a result, vast theological differences can be found in the movement, with some parts appearing to have quite orthodox beliefs while others seem to embrace more heterodox ideas. Some charismatic groups such as newfrontiers lead by Terry Virgo are Reformed in their theology.

Virtually all Charismatic Christians believe that the presence of God can be experienced in a supernatural way by believers, usually during times of intense spiritual reflection (such as during a worship service, a small group meeting or personal prayer). The singing of praise songs is an important element in this belief.

Nevertheless, there are two primary beliefs which define the charismatic movement. The first is the belief that the "charismatic gifts" of the Holy Spirit, such as tongues, prophecy, and miraculous healing, are still in effect today. Charismatics also hold that sometimes Bible passages are misinterpreted in order to declare that charismatic gifts are not valid for today's believers. [2][3]

The second is the belief that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is separate from both salvation and water baptism. Both of these primary beliefs are characteristic of the Pentecostal movement as well, but are less dogmatically held by Charismatics. Many Charismatics, while they may experience "speaking in tongues," may not view this as being the Pentecostal phenomenon of Spirit Baptism.

Some Charismatic groups are more Fundamentalist, while some are less so. These churches, movements and groups all have in common that they believe and promote the supernatural manifestations of the Spirit in their meetings and lives.

https://www.theopedia.com/charismatic

[Paul James]

10 hours ago, kingdombrat said:

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are still very active and I will argue this point until the day I am taken away to my Maker.  I completely believe [we] are Joint-Heirs and have every Right and Access to what God has offered unto us.   I believe we are able to go before God and speak to Him in Worship/Praise/even Complain like David did/we are able to discuss all issues like 2 human beings would.   I even believe {{if it serves the Purpose and Will of God}} we can Name it and Claim it.   I believe God can bring Prosperity but it's a very [RARE] occurrence [Job was wealthy beyond what we're able to imagine and realize and he still was the Most Upright man in his day and time].

 

I also believe, if we take any one of the things listed that I believe and create a doctrine out of it, we are only doing so to serve our own selfish purpose.

 

I am foolish enough to believe every single Word we read in the Bible pertaining to God's Promises unto us.

 

In my view, that is how I envision a true Pentecostal Movement, or a true Charismatic Movement.  And in that light, I am thankful to God for being a part of it!

The ministry of Jesus to Israel was set as an example for all subsequent Christian ministry.  This is shown in His statement: "The works that I do, you shall do also". This was proved through the ministry of the Apostles and others throughout the Book of Acts.

What we saw in the ministry of Jesus and the Book of Acts were:

Sick people healed by the power of God

demons cast out

The Gospel of Christ preached

The Spiritual gifts operating in the churches

At the turn of the 20th Century during the Pentecostal revival, we saw the same things happening.  In the 1960s during the Charismatic revival also the same.   The teaching was firmly Gospel-based in that Jesus came to save sinners, and everything that happened revolved around it.

But in subsequent years we have seen a trend toward personal spirituality, the desire for the "deeper life", physical manifestations, all changing direction from Christ and His finished work on the Cross, to people's personal sensory experiences.  

When I first came to Christ in 1966 in an AOG church, the music was a piano and an organ and people sang the choruses and hymns with great joy and enthusiasm.  The preaching was Christ-centred, straight from God's Word.

But over the last 40 years, the music has changed to "professional" music groups and singers giving a performance from the stage and "leading" the congregation in worship.  The worship changed from heart-felt praise and worship to the Lord, to worshiping according to the "professional" musicians singers on the stage.  It now has become, in Hillsong, music that is designed to hype up people's emotions and senses to almost a fever pitch where many actually go into trances, and when the pastor comes on the stage to calm people down, he can't, because the trance-like state of the people is out of control, and to stop it is like trying to stop a speeding train.

The preaching and teaching how now developed from Christ-centred and Gospel-based, to "God will bless you and be your friend.  He will heal you on demand, and increase your prosperity".  Instead of faith being rooted in God's promises, it has became a naming, claiming form of sorcery to get what the person desires for him or herself.  Prayer has gone from making requests to God and trust Him for the outcome, to using it as a type of power to achieve outcomes, as if prayer has a power in itself.  Using prayer like this is sorcery and witchcraft.  People have used the gift of tongues in the same way by laying hands on someone and praying over them in tongues.  This is using tongues as a form of sorcery, when the true use of tongues is to convey the mind of the Spirit in a prayer language to God.

Not all Charismatic churches have gone this way, but the corruption has got so ingrained that these things are now seen as part of the mainstream and an integral part of the nature of the Charismatic.

To boil the whole thing down to the simplest, the basic definition of "Charismatic" is the position that the Spiritual gifts as described in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 are available to the church today, and the Charismatic revival happened when groups of believers accepted that and God honoured their faith as they sought Him that the Holy Spirit would activate the gifts in their groups.

The tragedy is that the true Charismatic movement has been hijacked by the false teachers, religious empire builders, practioners of Hindu Mind-Control and occult New Age spirituality, charlatans with "new" revelations, false prophets - all labelling themselves as "Charismatics".

When my Windows computer becomes corrupted and I can't fix it, I do a total new install of Windows and start again from the basics without the added software that has introduced the virus or the corruption.   Maybe we need to do that with the Charismatic movement.  Treat it like a virus - put it into quarantine to prevent it doing more damage to the church, and get right back to the basics of the Gospel that we see in the Book of Acts. 

[Guest kingdombrat]

2 hours ago, Paul James said:

The ministry of Jesus to Israel was set as an example for all subsequent Christian ministry.  This is shown in His statement: "The works that I do, you shall do also". This was proved through the ministry of the Apostles and others throughout the Book of Acts.

What we saw in the ministry of Jesus and the Book of Acts were:

Sick people healed by the power of God

demons cast out

The Gospel of Christ preached

The Spiritual gifts operating in the churches

At the turn of the 20th Century during the Pentecostal revival, we saw the same things happening.  In the 1960s during the Charismatic revival also the same.   The teaching was firmly Gospel-based in that Jesus came to save sinners, and everything that happened revolved around it.

But in subsequent years we have seen a trend toward personal spirituality, the desire for the "deeper life", physical manifestations, all changing direction from Christ and His finished work on the Cross, to people's personal sensory experiences.  

When I first came to Christ in 1966 in an AOG church, the music was a piano and an organ and people sang the choruses and hymns with great joy and enthusiasm.  The preaching was Christ-centred, straight from God's Word.

But over the last 40 years, the music has changed to "professional" music groups and singers giving a performance from the stage and "leading" the congregation in worship.  The worship changed from heart-felt praise and worship to the Lord, to worshiping according to the "professional" musicians singers on the stage.  It now has become, in Hillsong, music that is designed to hype up people's emotions and senses to almost a fever pitch where many actually go into trances, and when the pastor comes on the stage to calm people down, he can't, because the trance-like state of the people is out of control, and to stop it is like trying to stop a speeding train.

The preaching and teaching how now developed from Christ-centred and Gospel-based, to "God will bless you and be your friend.  He will heal you on demand, and increase your prosperity".  Instead of faith being rooted in God's promises, it has became a naming, claiming form of sorcery to get what the person desires for him or herself.  Prayer has gone from making requests to God and trust Him for the outcome, to using it as a type of power to achieve outcomes, as if prayer has a power in itself.  Using prayer like this is sorcery and witchcraft.  People have used the gift of tongues in the same way by laying hands on someone and praying over them in tongues.  This is using tongues as a form of sorcery, when the true use of tongues is to convey the mind of the Spirit in a prayer language to God.

Not all Charismatic churches have gone this way, but the corruption has got so ingrained that these things are now seen as part of the mainstream and an integral part of the nature of the Charismatic.

To boil the whole thing down to the simplest, the basic definition of "Charismatic" is the position that the Spiritual gifts as described in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 are available to the church today, and the Charismatic revival happened when groups of believers accepted that and God honoured their faith as they sought Him that the Holy Spirit would activate the gifts in their groups.

The tragedy is that the true Charismatic movement has been hijacked by the false teachers, religious empire builders, practioners of Hindu Mind-Control and occult New Age spirituality, charlatans with "new" revelations, false prophets - all labelling themselves as "Charismatics".

When my Windows computer becomes corrupted and I can't fix it, I do a total new install of Windows and start again from the basics without the added software that has introduced the virus or the corruption.   Maybe we need to do that with the Charismatic movement.  Treat it like a virus - put it into quarantine to prevent it doing more damage to the church, and get right back to the basics of the Gospel that we see in the Book of Acts. 

I agree 100%

[Marilyn C]

5 hours ago, Paul James said:

 

When my Windows computer becomes corrupted and I can't fix it, I do a total new install of Windows and start again from the basics without the added software that has introduced the virus or the corruption.   Maybe we need to do that with the Charismatic movement.  Treat it like a virus - put it into quarantine to prevent it doing more damage to the church, and get right back to the basics of the Gospel that we see in the Book of Acts. 

Hi Paul James,

I quite understand where you are coming from. Good picture and something we would like to do. However I am constrained for it would make the Lord, the Head of the Body out to be not very effective in building His Body and maturing it.

Thus I would say that the Holy Spirit, who has been sent to guide us into ALL truth has been doing that for centuries. And now we are at the final truth - Standing in Christ alone, against all of man`s errors and controlling hierarchies.

That is why we will be called `overcomers` for only in Christ is that possible.

blessings, Marilyn.

[Paul James]

1 hour ago, Marilyn C said:

Hi Paul James,

I quite understand where you are coming from. Good picture and something we would like to do. However I am constrained for it would make the Lord, the Head of the Body out to be not very effective in building His Body and maturing it.

Thus I would say that the Holy Spirit, who has been sent to guide us into ALL truth has been doing that for centuries. And now we are at the final truth - Standing in Christ alone, against all of man`s errors and controlling hierarchies.

That is why we will be called `overcomers` for only in Christ is that possible.

blessings, Marilyn.

I am in a bit of a quandary.  I believe in the continuation of the gifts, but don't see much evidence of the genuine gifts happening in the churches I have belonged to, even in the Charismatic churches I was with in the 1960s-70s.  I went to all the healing meetings run by some of the prominent healing evangelists who came to our city, and I never saw one actual healing.  I saw the same people going up for healing meeting after meeting, but nothing happened to them in spite of repeated prayer over them.  As a result, I became a skeptic concerning the modern healing ministry.  I had no doubt that the gifts of healing were Scriptural, but there seemed to be something wrong with the it was being presented in the Charismatic meetings I attended throughout the 1970s.

I was invited to part of the ministry team for a Reinard Bonnke crusade in Auckland around three years ago.  Many came up for healing, but I saw no one actually being healed.  This puzzled me, because the man had an international reputation for conducting meetings where miraculous healings took place.

I am presently part of a Methodist/Presbyterian Union church which is non-Charismatic, so there is little opportunity for the manifestation of the gifts in the services.  So, unless the Holy Spirit did something special with those people, I don't see any manifestation of the gifts in the foreseeable future.

The truth is that I can't make the Holy Spirit do anything, even though I fully believe that He can, and the Spiritual gifts are vitally needed in our churches to fulfill their ministry in our neo-pagan society.   I have talked with the Lord on quite a number of occasions about it, but that's about all I can do.

Sometimes I feel like a hypocrite in many ways because although I strongly advocate the continuance of the gifts in our churches, I don't see it happening, and I don't want to leave my church and attend at Pentecostal one, because in the light of the invasion of Hindu mind-control and occult spiritalism, I cannot trust that the gifts that are manifesting are genuine, and I don't want to be mixed up with something that is not of God.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Paul James

[Paul James]

1 hour ago, Marilyn C said:

I quite understand where you are coming from. Good picture and something we would like to do. However I am constrained for it would make the Lord, the Head of the Body out to be not very effective in building His Body and maturing it.

I thought about your comment here.  From what I understand about the working of the Holy Spirit, He is not a "mist" that hovers over meetings.   He works through believers.  It is because the Holy Spirit indwells us, and He builds and matures the Lord's Body (the church) through us.  Therefore if we do nothing, the Holy Spirit cannot do anything.   This is why Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 12 about the ministries and gifts.  The Holy Spirit has given us the tools to do His work, and we have the responsibility to use the tools He has given us.  When we listen to and hear the Holy Spirit's voice through the Scriptures and "do" the Bible, we will see the Holy Spirit working through us to build up and mature the Body of Christ.

When the Apostles were faced with persecution from the Jewish authorities, they gathered for prayer and they were filled with the Spirit and went out and they spoke the word with boldness, and the Holy Spirit followed them with signs and wonders following.  

[Starise]

I have read here what seem to me to be contradictions with some opinions. I am not going to address these because I think it isn't really relevant to the discussion and is instead something to be realized in another way.

Short term visits to any assembly will necessarily be the "honeymoon phase" of the visits. Longer more intimate connection to the church will disclose things not originally seen. Similarly long term "superficial" awareness or maybe even the ostrich effect are at play in some. 

 This is why I think the testimony of @Paul James and others who were firmly planted in these congregations for a series of years is so very telling. To be fair, even in the best churches we will get into the "riff raff" that follows them all to some degree. There is division between this common occurrence of human fallibility and outright false teaching.

Two extremes exist commonly at times  between the spiritually open churches such as Assemblies of God, Church of Christ, Pentecostal, Holiness and Charismatics .vs Baptists, Methodists, Lutheran, Presbyterian and similar. Those extremes are Coercion/manipulation .vs Quenching the Spirit. 

We have already covered the ways in which some assemblies "induce" a counterfeit spiritual experience. How do those denominations which are in the other camps quench the Spirit? This might follow up with the question- Does the attempt to put a limitation on the Spirit truly limit the Spirit of God? This seems to place how the Spirit works in men's hands.

I have seen that being "open" to anything can be much too open to anything including false things. How does that work in an opposite way? If a congregant of congregants are filled with an inclination to use a spiritual gift in a spiritually closed church how might this look in action? I don't see a spiritually anally retentive church preventing the Spirit from working. 

It is US who decide not to flow. Do you agree.disagree?

[Justin Adams]

19 minutes ago, Starise said:

It is US who decide not to flow. Do you agree.disagree?

I have a couple anecdotes for the reader.

I know of one preacher at his wits end that forlornly parked his car and headed for the service he was to deliver. Whammo! The spirit fell and every one was totally overcome. [later, he was informed that a nearby church had had a similar opportunity but refused the Spirit].

I know of an evening assembly where suddenly the kids in back were crying and falling down. As they moved to the front, the oldies also began crying and kneeling.

I know of a group ministering to at a local women's prison. After a few minutes, all of the prisoners fell to the floor overcome by the Spirit.

Having read Smith Wigglesworth and seen some of Katheryn Kuhlman's services, when the Spirit comes after being invited, it is awesome.

God is no respecter of persons for sure and this kind of happening has been witnessed in most all denominations that I know about.

Often, but not always, the wind blows where it wills.

[Starise]

11 minutes ago, Justin Adams said:

I have a couple anecdotes for the reader.

I know of one preacher at his wits end that forlornly parked his car and headed for the service he was to deliver. Whammo! The spirit fell and every one was totally overcome. [later, he was informed that a nearby church had had a similar opportunity but refused the Spirit].

I know of an evening assembly where suddenly the kids in back were crying and falling down. As they moved to the front, the oldies also began crying and kneeling.

I know of a group ministering to at a local women's prison. After a few minutes, all of the prisoners fell to the floor overcome by the Spirit.

Having read Smith Wigglesworth and seen some of Katheryn Kuhlman's services, when the Spirit comes after being invited, it is awesome.

God is no respecter of persons for sure and this kind of happening has been witnessed in most all denominations that I know about.

Often, but not always, the wind blows where it wills.

As a person who plays on worship teams I can see a difference between my last church and the one I'm at now. It's tough to explain because there is a solid structure to all music, but sometimes it "flows" better than other times. If I'm the leader I want the music to flow in the Spirit. At this church I am not the leader and I must follow their way of doing things. It's a Presbyterian church that's attempting to loosen up. Nuff said. The music seems restricted to me somehow, like it's holding too close to a template and afraid to venture into spirit led music. Some of that might be the way they lay their services out. Each song has a limited time slot and a pre determined number of times to play it. The music is held to a template to a fault. It's a touchy subject I know but music often feels to me like a thing we do and not a thing we are a part of. Is the spirit being quenched through the limitations in the music? Or maybe the whole service for that matter.

I seen similar things in the Baptist churches. In the early days  many Baptists seemed to think only one or two country genre were acceptable to the Lord, the rest were of the devil. I think they rejected anything that came from the Charismatic movement. At least that's the way it looked to me. They tended to go the other way and the music suffered IMO.

It isn't really the music so much as God working through the music. Too many churches have music because that's what they do on Sunday morning. 

And when you think about it most mainline protestant churches have music and a sermon as their main form of delivery. The healing churches might have a time for healing or a longer music time. Liturgical churches fill it with liturgy. I think I would prefer liturgy to a long sermon that should have finished up 15 minutes earlier since it is also a congregational participation event.