The Great Divorce: Desiring the Spirit's Power Without Going Through the Cross

Welcome to Empowered Theology.
Bridging pentecostal theology with healthy church leadership.

Hey friends, Josman here.

In my last post, I shared about my unexpected decision to begin a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program at Asbury Theological Seminary.

As promised, today I want to share what my dissertation over the next few years will actually be about.

But before getting into the topic itself, I need to tell you a bit about the stories and wounds that brought me here.

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When the Power of the Spirit Becomes Abuse

I grew up my entire life in churches that were part of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement.

I love this movement. I deeply value its passion for worship, the presence of God, the relational aspect of mission and discipleship, the doors it has opened for women in ministry, and the deep conviction that the Holy Spirit is still working miracles, healing, and speaking today.

I have experienced profound moments with God, but I have also witnessed the movement’s darkest and most damaging side.

During my teenage years, I was part of a church filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The lead pastor possessed a remarkably accurate prophetic gift and extraordinary natural charisma. I experienced incredible moments in God’s presence. However, as the church grew in numbers and influence, I also watched leadership become virtually untouchable, shielded by the belief that God fully approved of them simply because of the miracles and the visible move of God taking place.

Gradually, power began to centralize. Anyone who dared to make a comment or question a decision was labeled a rebel.

Loyalty to the leader became far more important than the fruit of the Spirit.

This leadership crisis merged with a prosperity theology that made matters far worse. Extreme financial sacrifices were demanded under promises of immediate prosperity. Many of these moments were manipulated with a steady: “Thus says the Lord.”

The outcome was devastating: the church collapsed into a crisis of systemic spiritual abuse. Entire families—including my own—walked away deeply wounded.

The most painful part for me was watching so many people I loved abandon their faith in God altogether, right up to this day.

The gravest problem is that my story is not an isolated one. Many Pentecostal and Charismatic churches live through these kinds of systemic abuses: material prosperity messages, extravagant displays of power, out-of-order manifestations, and untouchable leaders paraded around as God's “mega-anointed.”

And while a handful of leaders get wealthy or gain followers… many others stop following Christ because of the terrible representation given of Him and His Spirit.

The Great Divorce: Desiring the Power Without Going Through the Cross

Years later, now serving as lead pastor at Iglesia Rompiendo Fronteras, I’ve had conversations with many college students, young professionals, and families who carry those exact same scars.

They had stories of:

Supposed prophecies that led them into devastating life decisions.
Healings they prayed for with tears and fervency that never came, accompanied by the accusation that “they lacked faith.”
Financial offerings given during moments of emotional manipulation.
Authoritarian leaders who weaponized the pulpit to control the congregation.

Many of them end up reacting in one of two ways:

Abandoning the Spirit for “cessationism”: They move to more traditional or intellectually focused churches where the contemporary power of the Spirit is denied—simply because there they find order, they aren't manipulated, and everything sounds “more biblical.”
Abandoning faith altogether: They sink into profound confusion and pain toward God and the church, and they end up walking away from everything.

Being immersed in the teaching and preaching of these churches, I find that the root of this problem is very similar to what happened in the church of Corinth:

The Charismatic movement committed the fatal mistake of divorcing the power of the Holy Spirit from the weakness of the Cross.

By constantly emphasizing that God wants to give you power, that He is going to heal you, prosper you, and turn your situation around in an instant, we ended up creating a culture of “triumphalism.”

A gospel where everything must be victory, success, prosperity, blessing, and perfect health. But when that false gospel collides with the inescapable reality of human suffering—an illness that isn't healed, a financial crisis, clinical depression, or the death of a family member—faith ends up crumbling to pieces.

The Project: "Power in Weakness"

My response to this crisis is not to abandon my Pentecostal-Charismatic identity.

The solution to the abuse of the Holy Spirit is not to quench the Holy Spirit. The solution is to return to the gospel of the crucified Christ.

That is why the working title of my doctoral research at Asbury is:
“Power in Weakness: A Cruciform Model for Charismatic Ministry”

My goal is to develop a biblical and pastoral framework that addresses three urgent questions:

How do we exercise spiritual gifts without falling into extremes?
Paul wrote to a church in Corinth that was obsessed with the status of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12–14). His answer was not to ban the gifts, but to submit them to self-giving love and healthy church order.
How do we lead with authority without abusing power?
In 2 Corinthians, Paul defends his apostolic authority not by boasting in his successes, but by boasting in his weaknesses and sufferings. A truly Spirit-filled leadership is a cruciform leadership: incarnational, humble, and vulnerable.
How do we embrace suffering without losing our faith in miracles?
We need to teach that God’s power is not only revealed when He miraculously breaks an illness; it is revealed with equal glory when His grace sustains us in the midst of weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).

A Reformation From Within

My intention with this research is not simply to produce a paper and receive a diploma.

My deep longing is to see healthy churches: full of the Holy Spirit’s power and solidly grounded in the Word of God.

I don’t make these observations as a detached critic, but as an active pastor within this movement. As someone who regularly listens to people carrying questions, doubts, and wounds—believers who are now afraid to embrace the spiritual gifts God wants to awaken in them because of bad experiences in their past.

I am doing this to help redeem the very movement that brought so much blessing to my own life, by modeling a leadership marked by humility, ethics, and accountability.

Over the coming years, this Substack will be my public laboratory.

Here, I’ll share what I’m reading, my exegetical breakthroughs, hard questions, and the practical ministry frameworks we discover along the way.

We do not have to choose between the power of the Spirit and the Gospel of the Cross. God designed both to walk together.

Before You Go...

I hope this topic resonates with you as deeply as it does with me. I’d love to hear your thoughts:

Leave a comment: Have you ever experienced a community where “the anointing” was used to cover up a lack of character? Or an unfulfilled promise of healing or prophetic word? How did you navigate that wound?
If you know someone who would be encouraged by this post, feel free to forward this email or hit the Restack button.

Josman Proudinat.