QUESTION:
Is it wrong to worship and praise the Lord in dancing?
ANSWER:
"And as they marched over, how beautiful; that types our churches today, how that they crossed through the Red Sea. And then, Moses began to sing in the Spirit. Miriam picked up a tambourine, begin to dance just like an old fashioned Holy Ghost meeting: dancing and singing, and praising the Lord. Why? They had the victory. They got the victory. All the tas... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... the next morning. And when they went out, Manna laid all over the ground. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... From God out of heaven. They tasted it, and it taste like honey. Oh, my. There's something about honey that's sweet." [Believest Thou This, Minneapolis, MN 50-0716]
"God is under obligation to take care of His promise. When God brought Israel out of the wilderness back there, out into the wilderness, rather, He promised to take care of them. And what God promised, God's under obligation to do. When they needed water, they went to the rock. When they needed food, God rained manna out of heaven. He opened up the Red Sea. Look at that manna falling down, what a beautiful type of our Church today. As God led Israel in the natural, He's leading the Church today in the spiritual. Watch this. Then when they crossed over the Red Sea, all the taskmasters was dead. The Red Sea, the Blood of Christ, the man come through the Blood be sanctified from the things of the world set over on the banks over here of a new land, a new people. There was Miriam; she got real happy. She got a tambourine and she went to dancing. Down the banks she went dancing. The daughters of Israel followed behind her dancing. Moses got in the Spirit and sang a song in the Spirit. If that ain't an old fashion Holy Ghost meeting, I never seen one in my life. There you are. After they'd crossed over into a new land, then God said He'd take care of them." [The Resurrection of Lazarus, Erie, PA 51-0729A]
"Now, I'm speaking directly to Christians so that you could see the pro and con, the negative and positive where there's anybody asked you, then you can give them a--an answer. Now, of everything that God has, the devil has a counterfeit. You go and whatever you want to do... You find like these old dances; that's of the devil; but God has a holy dance for the people. The Bible said so. I was one of the greatest critics on that you ever seen, till God told me just what to do. I find out that Miriam danced in the Spirit. David danced when he had victory. And oh, many time--it... All of it was through--was victory. It was dancing, holy dancing." [Demonology, Owensboro, KY 53-1112]
"And remember when Jesus commissioned His disciples not to go to the Gentiles (Is that right?), but go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. How did they condemn themselves? By blaspheming the Holy Ghost, calling the Spirit of God an unclean thing. Made fun of Him when they were dancing in the Spirit, and so forth, on the day of Pentecost. That same city that made fun of it, Titus killed them in there, and their blood run out the gatesway. They eat their own children and everything in that same century. That's right. One of the greatest nations of the world become the lowest, and scattered to ev--four winds of the earth. Because why? Unbelief. And that was the original stump, the original tree, Israel." [The Laodicean Church Age, Jeffersonville, IN 60-1211E]
"[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] People set in the back of the church and laugh at somebody that's speaking with tongues or dancing in the Spirit: gone, blasphemed the Holy Ghost, sealed forever. "Whosoever speaks a word against the Holy Ghost will never be forgiven in this world, neither in the world to come." Don't gaze upon It. Stay away from It or either accept It. We'd better leave that Scripture. Read It on, the rest of It; see what God said. And the people said, "O Moses, you speak. Don't let God speak any more. We wish now we hadn't have asked for this. (See?) Let you speak to us, Moses. If God speaks, we'll all die." See, God had made an atonement." [Revelation Chapter Four #3, Jeffersonville, IN 61-0108]
"I heard my mother... I never was at a dance in my life. But I heard only a--a holy dance one time in church. I never forget that. When we was still a Baptist church, I would always criticize, kinda, in my heart. I wouldn't say it out loud, because I--I'd be afraid to do that. Anything that God does... I always kinda thought it was kinda strange to see, when I seen, first got acquainted with the Pentecostal people, see them dance, you know, dance around. I thought, "Now, you know, that ain't in the Bible. What--what are they dancing about?" And then one night I was teaching from a chart on Daniel and Revelations. It was New Year's night. I was going to teach on the chart untilmidnight. It wasn't a chart, like a blackboard, I was teaching. And there was some Pentecostal people had come from Louisville. They had a--oh, some sisters. A sister pastored a church over there and she had a... They had washboards, and thimbles, and--and all kinds of little things to make rackets with, and--and they all got harmonizing some way. I don't know what it was, and they... And she started playing the piano, and all these girls up there got to hitting with these thimbles on washboards and things. And--and they--they got they was playing that song,
There's going to be a meeting in the air,
In the sweet by and by,
Or some... Well, that little girl that was playing, little lady pastor, she just turned white, oh, just like a chalk. And she just begin to playing it in such way, I don't, I never seen anything play like it in my life. And I thought, "Now, what's that?" And then, one on the washboard, she got to doing the same thing. Then here, two or three got up. And a little blond head got to dancing right in the floor. I thought, "Oh, my." Right up and down the floor as hard as she could go, just a dancing away, like that, little old girl, about sixteen, eighteen years old. I was just a young fellow myself. And I... "Now, isn't that something? Right here in my church. How I'll ever live that down? See?" And watching her like that, and I thought, "What do they do that for? Why do they have to do that? Why couldn't they just played their music and went on and let it alone like that?" I thought, "Well, that's terrible." [Only Believe, Chicago, IL 61-0427]
"I got to thinking, "Now, in the Bible is there such a thing as dancing?" And I remembered that David danced around the ark, when he saw the ark coming. See? He danced before the Lord. And the Lord said, "He's a man after my own heart." I thought, "Well, now, that's... He... What did he dance for?" Well, they had a victory. And Miriam when they crossed over the Red Sea, Moses sang in the Spirit, and Miriam took a tambourine and begin to beat it, and they went down along the bank, all the daughters of Israel, dancing in the Spirit. See? And I seen that dancing was when they had victory. I thought--got to thinking, "Well, maybe, I haven't got victory enough." See? I got thinking about it. And you know, after while I got to patting my foot, and before I knowed it I was out there dancing with that girl, out there in that aisle." [Only Believe, Chicago, IL 61-0427]
"I like this kind of singing. When I was back there praying for some of the people, a few moments ago, that had been brought in. And this not being a prayer service; just to speak. I was in there. And I could hear the songs, the clapping of their hands. And we wonder... And some of them even, I seen them, run up-and-down the floor, what they call "dancing in the Spirit." At first time, I was a critic of that, when I seen the Pentecostal people dancing in the Spirit. And I thought, "What is this? It must be a bunch of nonsense." Then I got to reading the Bible, and I found out, that, when dancing in the Spirit. The Devil copied it and put them out here with rock-and-roll and stuff, but the real genuine dance come from God. That's exactly. And, always, a dance was victory." [Pardon, Tucson, AZ 63-1028]
"When David slew Goliath, and this little ruddy-looking boy come dragging the head of this giant into the city, the people met him, dancing. They had the victory. When Moses crossed the Red Sea, by the power of God, and took the children of Israel on the other side, Miriam picked up a tambourine, and all the daughters of Israel, and up-and-down the bank they went, beating the tambourine and dancing in the Spirit. If that isn't an old-fashion Pentecostal meeting, I never seen one in my life. The trouble was, with me, I didn't have enough victory. But when you finally get that victory, and the token of the Blood of Jesus Christ comes upon you." [Pardon, Tucson, AZ 63-1028]
[Answer provided by Bro. Donny Reagan, Pastor, Happy Valley Church, Johnson City, Tennessee, USA]