I would like to encourage you on your walk with God. And this is exactly that — a walk with God, not with men. We walk with men only when they are also following after God. Thus do not allow man-made traditions and doctrines to use fear, guilt, and other things to pressure you to conform. The more someone compels you to follow tradition, the more he exposes himself as someone you should despise. If he has Christ, would he pressure you to follow Apollos?

As for church selection, once you have been established in some basic doctrines, it is better to attend an Arminian Pentecostal church than any Calvinist church I know. Calvinism — I use the silly word for convenience when I speak to outsiders, those who are immature, unspiritual, and are obsessed with human tradition — Any CHRISTIAN must tell you to decide, that you must use YOUR WILL to walk with God. The Bible spends much more time speaking on this level than on the eternal level. The so-called Calvinist only has a better explanation for why you do what you do. He often has a worse implementation when it comes to what you ought to do. One reason is that he uses God’s sovereignty to excuse his own unbelief and disobedience, whereas the Arminian leaves himself no such excuse, and in fact neither does the Bible.

Do not avoid a church just because it does not understand the doctrines of election. You would assume that an Arminian church or a Pentecostal church would not understand election. But does any Calvinist church truly understand the doctrines of election? I have shown that historic orthodox Calvinism is a huge mess, and modern popular Calvinism can be even worse. Whether you go to a Calvinist church or an Arminian church, you will have to learn the true doctrines of divine sovereignty from outside of that church. So this cannot be a deciding factor in church selection.

But I would insist that you avoid a cessationist church. Avoid any church that teaches against the power of faith, and the spiritual and material blessings that God has given us by Jesus Christ. Don’t even think about it. Just don’t go there. Unbelief is poison. It sinks deep, wide, and lasts long. It is the worst thing to have in a person’s system. Once you are established in the doctrines of divine sovereignty, no Arminian can talk you out of it. You are not in danger here. On the other hand, when the Bible says, “Choose you this day…” you must choose, whether you are Arminian or Calvinist, or something else. And this is the level where we live. God did not write the Bible for himself to read, but for you to read, and he speaks to us on the level of precepts, not eternal decrees.

He speaks to you about eternal decrees so that you can know the truth and understand him, but you live according to his teachings and commands. The Reformed/Calvinist disaster is that they honor God’s decrees, at least formally in their doctrines, but then they refuse his commands. This is more evil than any doctrine of free will. Or, they use man-made traditions about his commands to intimidate people into following their way of life, and to overturn faith, mercy, and justice. This is what they do with the Sabbath, the Lord’s Supper, water baptism, and all such things. Otherwise, if they really cared so much about God’s decrees, God’s commands, or the Sabbath, they would heal the sick and cast out demons whenever they gather. If they really cared so much about the Lord’s Supper, they would know that even under the inferior administration of Moses, the Passover enabled a whole nation — every single person — to walk out of slavery with forgiveness, healing, prosperity, and a constant stream of miracles (see Exodus 12:23, Exodus 12:35-36, Deuteronomy 8:4, Psalm 105:37, and many others). Their mystical doctrine of the “real” presence of Christ is an outright scam, but their unbelief and ritualism make Satan’s oppression tangible. And if they really cared so much about water baptism, then their people should also receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and they would encourage prophecy and speaking in tongues. So do not feel afraid or guilty to go where you should, where you are more free to obey the word of God.

Do not misunderstand — I do not mean that Arminianism and Pentecostalism are better than Calvinism. Arminianism is certainly heresy. And Pentecostalism, to the point that it has become another human tradition, also cannot experience true demonstrations of God’s power. On the other hand, I have never been satisfied with anyone’s doctrine of divine sovereignty, who at the same time calls himself a Calvinist. Even Calvinism is too weak on Calvinism. Among us, we do not degrade ourselves by coming under some traditional “ism,” although we sometimes speak in such terms because this way it is easier to communicate with religious enthusiasts.

So I do not mean that Calvinism is worse. It is better on some things, although never good enough on any one thing. Even Satanism, unlike Atheism, believes that there is a God. But is that good enough? Rather, I mean that faith is better than unbelief, and obedience is better than rebellion. And if you have this attitude, why would you be satisfied to reduce your faith to an “ism”? A church that teaches faith in all the doctrines of God and obedience to all the commands of God is ideal, and better than a church of any “ism.” Teach God’s sovereignty as the Bible teaches it. Teach man’s choice as the Bible teaches it. Teach the Christian’s power of faith as the Bible teaches it. Teach the experience of the Spirit as the Bible teaches it. What “ism” is this? It is the gospel. Anything less can imitate the gospel, but it is not the gospel.

Now after all this, if anyone is angry that I step on your “ism” — the Calvinist is usually the one who gets angry — then let me say this. If there is a church that teaches Calvinism like it is the only thing in the Bible, but if it heals the sick and casts out demons, so that cancers drop off on the floor and amputated limps grow back in front of hundreds of people, GO THERE. Keep calling it Calvinism if you wish. However, if your Almighty Calvinism does not even allow the God who decrees all things for his glory to fulfill his own promises so that he would flood your church with miracles of healing and prophecy, then SHUT YOUR STUPID MOUTH. Your actual teaching is the sovereignty of Calvinism, not the sovereignty of God.

If your Calvinism shackles the Most High even more than Paganism, then it is certainly not the gospel. Shut up “for the glory of God.” Some people are fond of saying that Calvinism is just “the gospel,” and this could be true as far as it goes. (This assumes that we fix the many errors that I have pointed out about Calvinism, and still allow it to be called Calvinism. Otherwise, Calvinism is not really the same as the gospel, even if on some issues it resembles the gospel more than other traditions. My version of “Calvinism” is indeed gospel, when I “speak as a fool” and allow it to be called this, but any other version of Calvinism, whether historic or modern, I do not believe amounts to the true gospel.) But even if Calvinism is the gospel as far as it goes, is this only as far as it goes, that God saves by grace and not by human will or effort? Calvinism is supposed to be a system that applies to all of life, so that when it goes wrong, it wrecks all of life, and it takes us further and further away from the gospel.

As for participation in the power of God, I agree that the ministry of healing is a good place to begin. Do not give up.

From: Vincent Cheung, Sermons and Letters