Association of Charismatic Reformed Churches, including calvinistic churches and non cessationist churches

The Association of Charismatic/Reformed Churches, or ACRC, began with a desire in our congregation and leadership to find people of like-mind in the Body of Christ with whom we could fellowship. We have also had a desire for more input into our local body from other like-minded pastors and ministers. The problem was that there just didn't seem to be any! At least not in our area, and not with the particular "doctrinal distinctive" that we have come to embrace. I do not mean to say that we believe in any sense that we are the only true church. For many years we have been a part of a wonderful fellowship of churches located on the East Coast. (The leaders of which are absolutely true men of God and have contributed greatly to the Kingdom.)

The difficulty of continuing with this particular group is that over the last ten years or so, we have become increasingly Reformed in our theology. Also, we have always been very conservative Charismatics, shying away from the extremism found in the doctrine and practice of so many Charismatic churches. As a whole, this fellowship of churches seemed to be neither as Reformed in doctrine, nor as conservative in its approach to the Charismatic experience as we are. The bottom line is that this situation left us longing for a place that we could call home.

In early 2001, there began to be this growing idea that perhaps, by God's Grace, we could be instrumental in beginning a fellowship of like-minded churches and pastors. Through this association, we could also have a greater voice with which to speak to the issues that we believe threaten the church today.

To better understand where we are coming from, I thought it would be useful to share a little bit of my personal theological journey. It is one, I believe, on which many have traveled - back to the roots of the Reformation. I pray that it does not bore you!

My own walk with Christ began in early 1974. I was eighteen years of age and had participated heavily in drug and alcohol use. At this point my life had pretty much fallen apart. It was then that the Holy Spirit began to sovereignly touch my heart and convict me of my sin.

A young girl shared the Gospel with me on New Years Eve 1973, instructing me to read the first five chapters of Romans. Four days later, as I did this, I was born again. My life was totally turned upside down! I knew nothing about theology, but this girl did explain one thing to me that I clearly, by God's Grace, got hold of. This was that we are saved absolutely by the Grace of God alone, apart from our own works. I share this because it later became crucial to the Holy Spirit's work in unraveling the Arminian thought that I was about to embrace.

Soon after my conversion, I began to have a real hunger to serve the Lord with my whole heart. I began to think seriously that the Lord was calling me to begin seminary. As I was considering this, I met some people from a local ministry who really loved the Lord. They were heavily involved in street ministry and performed work akin to the average rescue mission. I began to fellowship with them and before long was invited to join them. Later I became a part of the staff.

The place was an absolute joy! The leadership was well grounded in the fundamentals of the faith, and there was great emphasis on having correct doctrine. This laid a foundation that served to keep me from many of the aforementioned extremes of the Charismatic movement.

I also learned a great deal theologically from the street ministry. Frequently, I encountered members of various cults, (i.e., Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, New Age, etc.). This forced me to study hard to give an answer, rooting me in the central truths of the Faith. (The Trinity, Salvation by Grace, The Trustworthiness of the Scriptures, etc.)

The one thing, however, that has taken years to get washed out of me was the Arminianism that this group accepted. The senior pastor had come from a Pentecostal background, and while many of the excesses of that movement he had jettisoned, the Arminianism he had not. There was strong emphasis that a true believer could ultimately lose his Salvation. There was also the ever-prevalent belief in the Arminian view of Free Will and Universal Atonement. While they did believe and teach Justification by Grace through Faith alone, they failed somehow to see their theological inconsistencies! I am very sorry to say that I did too.

After a few years, my wife and I (we met while on staff together) married and settled down in a more traditional Assembly of God church. The A/G's seemed to fit us perfectly. We were there for several years, and I continued to study, still feeling that God had a call on our family to serve Him full time. Eventually, we became members of a local Charismatic fellowship.

It was there that I began to do a lot of teaching and preaching, and reading in earnest the works of some of the great Reformation thinkers of our day. My favorites were J.I. Packer and R.C. Sproul. My understanding of the Five Points of Calvinism grew stronger, and I began to see more and more my theological inconsistencies. During this time, we felt increasingly the call of God to the pastorate. I had grown up around the Jacksonville area, and believed that God wanted us there. I was ordained in February of 1984, and in September, with the blessing of our then pastor, we formed Jacksonville Christian Fellowship. (It's been 23 years, and God has truly blessed us as a church, giving us many precious families throughout the years.)

I continued to teach and preach, and to mature in my understanding of Reformation Theology. I still, however, was resistant on some points, particularly Limited Atonement. Then, somewhere in the early 90's, I read a book that absolutely turned my theology upside down! (It has almost been like getting saved all over again!) The book was entitled The Quest for Godliness, by J.I. Packer, which introduced me to the Puritans. Nothing has been the same since! The chapter, "Saved by His Precious Blood", was especially instrumental to my theological growth. It is actually an introduction that Packer wrote for a re-release of what I believe is one of the most important works ever written, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, by Puritan John Owen.

These works by Packer and Owen were the straws that truly broke the camel's back. It was the last bit of weight that crushed any resistance I had to a full embracing of Reformation Theology. From them I learned that the Arminian way of thinking truly "limits" the Atonement! It limits it and makes it subservient to the supposed free will of man, which is thought to be able to actually trump the Sovereign will of an Omnipotent God! I also learned that while we do have a will, and we do make real decisions in our lives that have real consequences, our will is anything but free! It is in absolute bondage and slavery to sin - that apart from Grace, it has no chance of either understanding or desiring spiritual Truth!

I have further come to understand that this Limited or Effective Atonement is really "the Truth" that brings assurance and security to our hearts as Christians! We have security because the Blood of Christ was totally effective in securing all those that the Father intended it to secure. The Father, before the foundation of the world gave these "Elect" to the Son, and at that time their destiny was set. Therefore, it is Reformation Theology alone that can impart true faith through its teaching that God is Sovereign in every detail of our lives!

Another book that has been influential is No Place for Sovereignty, by R.K. McGregor Wright. In it he chronicles the history of the "Free Will" debate. I began to see that this struggle, bottom line, is simply a manifestation of the idolatry that exists in the human heart. We simply cannot bear the thought that our destiny may be in someone else's hands! Mr. Wright exposes this as the root of the current shift in evangelicalism towards the "Openness of God" theories.

As I was reading it, however, it dawned on me that this idolatry is also at the root of the "Word of Faith" heresy. In this movement there is great emphasis on our "taking of authority" and being able to control our own life and destiny. If this theology is true, my contention is, that, it actually produces fear and doubt, not faith! If I am in control of my own destiny, I'm in serious trouble! The only way this theology can produce something that even resembles faith is if we really believe we are capable of making decisions of eternal value, and that they are dependent on our will. This attitude is not however, real faith. It feeds on, and is, arrogance and pride. Again, I repeat, at the bottom line this is simply a manifestation of the idolatry that exists in the human heart!

As a pastor and as a church, we have a great burden for our Charismatic brethren that labor under the delusion of Arminian thought. We've been there and recognize that apart from Grace we would still be there. We do not feel superior, but we do believe that great damage has been done throughout history because of this heresy. Luther, in his letter to Erasmus said that this question of Man's ability (free will) was the hinge on which the door of the Reformation was hung. It was and is the central question. Do we or do we not ultimately chart our own destiny? Do we even have the capacity to do so? Scripture gives the answer, and it is a resounding "No"!

As I said at the beginning, it is our hope that the formation of the ACRC will provide fellowship for isolated Charismatic/Reformed pastors and churches, and that it will be a voice to help facilitate change, particularly in the Charismatic element of the Church.

In closing, I should say something about the Charismatic aspect of the fellowship. We do embrace the view that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still operational today, being sovereignly distributed as He wills. We understand that many of our reformed brethren are Cessationist in their views on this point. While we understand the reasoning, we simply and very respectfully disagree. We do wholeheartedly agree that there are many excesses and dangers in the movement (just as there were at Corinth!). Our main concern with "charismania", of course, is doctrinal - particularly with the Arminianism that controls so much of the movement. However, we also absolutely abhor the showmanship and pride that is exhibited in many of these churches and ministries. Also, particularly offensive, is the constant begging for and emphasis on money. (A Reformation understanding even corrects this! Why beg, if God is Sovereign?)

At any rate, we do want to state the great respect we have for all of our Reformation brethren, whether Cessationist or not! We would love to fellowship with anyone whose central concern is the issue of Reformation theology. We extend an open invitation to contact us regardless of your view on this point of cessation of the gifts. If this article has resonated within you, and you are so inclined, please feel free to respond.

Respectfully,
Pastor Kirk Wetsell, Jacksonville Christian Fellowship
Association of Charismatic/Reformed Churches

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