"Have you ever had a spiritual paranormal encounter?"

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bbyrd009

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No they aren't. The Lord's supper was a full meal, part of a celebration, not a ritual nibbling. Baptism was not a performance at the front of the church. Jesus never closed His eyes and bowed His head; He looked to Heaven. We are told to raise Holy hands, NOT to deliberately refrain from doing so. The people of Israel stood, they did not pop up and down when told to.
I don't dig the lying on tombstones either, but I won't ridicule it as being of the Devil.
and who knows? "Raising holy hands" could mean actually getting ones hands dirty, yeh?
:D
 

marks

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You saw a video that showed stuff coming out of floor vents?
Yes.

The person recording it panned from the air vents at the bottom of the wall, across the floor, where you could see it wafting up between the people, and collecting on air above the croud, as this woman exclaims, Its the glory cloud of God! Do you see it?? Do you see it??

I could see the glitter coming out.

Others have testified that they'd seen the trap doors built into the ducts for them to pour the stuff in.

Much love!
 
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marks

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I don't think I understand that reasoning. But I also know that people chase after highs.

Epi is right that the bible is full of experiences and personal encounters with God. A lot of them wouldn't be written there if someone hadn't spoke of them, shared them, with others. How would anyone know an angel came to zecharia or what the angel said if zecharia didn't tell anyone, for example?

If God arranges for you to be with a small group of people and you start to be a body together, you have to get over your fear at some point and trust and love the rest of the people enough to share or you will be holding back to the detriment of the whole group/body.

How do you think they came to agreement to send out Paul and Barnabas? Do you think one man said he heard it from the Holy Spirit and they went with what the one man said? Or do you think the different members heard different things that...coalesced, to the point where they were confident what the Spirit was saying? One of them might have come in the morning with 50.00 and said, okay you guys, this might sound weird but...I heard this quiet voice that said give Paul and Barnabas 50.00. I have no idea what for, but I brought the 50.00, and I'm not completely sure about anything here. Then a few hours later, another person may have showed up and said, okay guys, this is going to sound weird, but I think I heard that I was to bring a new pair of shoes for Paul, I seemed to hear a quiet voice say: take a pair of shoes for Paul. And so on.

Now, it does not work, those frenzied meetings of running after a high. That's not a body working as it should, soberly (But with joy and wonder). And it requires a desire to give for the whole body, not a prideful desire to be seen as important or as one who God speaks more to.

So...no, I don't think sharing experiences or what we think we might have heard (even if we aren't sure or confident, because it's only happened once, that it didn't just come from our own head) is a problem. I think refusing to speak for fear of looking foolish would be the problem.

I just don't see a huge megachurch being able to move together, honestly. I think small groups can come to that kind of unity, and I think a few small groups can function together and visit one another's meetings and who knows how video internet might help in that? But a megachurch working and moving together in that extreme intimacy? I just don't see it, personally.

Running after a high, I think that really answers a lot!

I think . . .
Some people are in competition with each other over who has had the most "sacred" experience.
Some people have an experience, and then spend the rest of their life seeking a repeat experience.
Some feel the need to have an experience to relieve their insecurities.
Some people feel threatened by other's experiences, as they are . . .
. . . disagreeing with the theological context
. . . thinking that such things don't happen
. . . so completely unable to relate to what is being described.

I've wondered myself how it was the Holy Spirit called out Paul and Barnabas in Antioch. Detail isn't given, but I think that if it were, it would be used as a recipe.

I agree with you that the larger the church the more difficult to have an intimacy with the others, that's one of the reasons my wife and I changed to a smaller church some years ago. And the small groups are best yet as we are truly coming to know each other.

It think it can be very difficult sometimes to be able to separate our theological differences from our service in love. It doesn't matter so much whether I believe the exact same things as someone else, God still intends for me to care for the needs of others, in all senses.

I've not made much a practice of talking about my supernatural encounters with God because it seems there is so much involved to properly contextualize things, and I'm not intrested in just making a display of myself.

I suppose I just wait until it seems appropriate, and then say what seems to be useful.

We should never ever ever in my opinion share our supernatural encounters with God as being the goal, or something necessary for the Good Christian Life. Or as something that unless you've experience this, your walk, or your life, is incomplete. I believe God gives us all we need.

If someone receives more, I think it is because they needed more. Like what you were talking about being remedial, and this grand vision is solely to bring me to the same simply faith share by those who have not received this vision.

And of course, like you say, we can be afraid to share.

Good post, and some good things to think about!

Much love!
 

amadeus

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I have never claimed such a thing.
Perhaps not, but I haven't see you give much, or even any, credit to someone else's testimony or faith in work of God.

God does not work in only one channel.

You seem to more often than not be lining up with the doubts or disbelief expressed by the unbelieving secular world. If you are really different than them should we not see it once in a while?


God does perform what anyone knowing the facts would call miracles today. Purposely He does not let every one know or see all of the facts. Should you discount every occurrence you have not perceived and proven yourself via your five natural senses and something like the scientific method? If so, perhaps you should be a scientist rather than a man of God...?

Go back and review for yourself what the scripture says that faith is. Do you not believe what it says? Where is the proof in you? I said review, but better try simply talking to God about it. Do you not sometimes hear from Him directly?
 
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marks

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And then there's this. I waddled around for years trying to figure out what the Holy Spirit was saying when those waves and goosebumps would wash over me. I think it was just training to know He WAS speaking, or confirming, so that when He did begin to place me somewhere, and did say something, I would know I should share it without fear or confusion.

I used to come to my own conclusions of what He must be saying. I always got it wrong. But that's because He wasn't saying anything in particular as I had supposed, but was instead preparing me for moving with a body. He doesn't just speak to give something to me. He speaks to give something to the whole body. This is still quite new to me, But I am certain of this. He kept me from churches. No matter how many times I tried a new one, I could not find the intimacy in the Spirit I desired or thought there must be out there somewhere. I had to just wait alone for Him to begin to move me into where He wanted me. And now, we (I can actually say we now, which fills me with joy) wait for the others He will send us. And amazingly, we meet online because of locations, which some might say cannot develop into a body, but I don't believe it for a second! In fact, if He wanted me here or there, physically, He literally could just whisk me there. He has done that before with men.
This is something people need to realize, I think, that God really does do things differently with different people.

Personally, I find that personal contact allows for more than can be achieved by other means, although this forum, for instance, allows for something we couldn't otherwise do. Myself, I want to be in a circle of people, but then, I'm blessed to have that available to me. Not everyone does, particularly in this day and age.

I guess I've had the same sort of "learning curve", if you will, about learning to just "be" with God, and to receive His joy without it being because of anything other than that I'm His child.

I think it's the question of trust, can I really trust that God will bring me into what is good for me? And can I really trust that God will bring you into what is good for you? If we can, then the pressure is off, and we can just give without trying to force something to happen.

Much love!
 

marks

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Another thought came to me...
When my whole demeanor was bossy and argumentative and when my thoughts were that I would never find anyone I agreed with 100%, I was not yet ready and prepared to be in a body and would have done damage to it. I wasn't ready to listen and consider that there were some things holding me back still and things I didn't understand that were hindering me. So when my attitude was to start with the idea of it never being a possibility of coming to agreement completely, God was right to hold me where I was. If you are led by the Spirit, rather than by your opinionated self, and the others gathered are led by the Spirit, unity and agreement will follow.
That's a big part of the picture, I think!

Do I truly believe we can reach unity? Because if we don't believe that, well, are we just here for the purpose of butting our heads together?

I look back over my church life, I see what I used to be like, I can't speak towards when we are to be a part of a congregation, and which one, God leads us personally, but still, I see what I used to be like, and I just try to keep it simple, realizing that in 20 years I may look back on now in the same way.

Much love!
 

stunnedbygrace

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That's got me laughing. The old saints used to call audible words "locutions."

But of course one cannot, by scripture, prove that God does not ever give audible words to anyone. And one cannot prove from scripture that God does not and cannot do this in the year 2020.
 

amadeus

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If you mean in an audible voice outside of Scripture? No. He does not interact that way today.
Why do you want to put words in my mouth. I believe I said what I meant.

As for hearing an audible voice, if you ever heard any man speak God's Word and it touched your heart, you have certainly heard God speak in an audible voice. Do none of the men of God who teach and preach and minister ever speak as they are led to speak by the Holy Spirit in them? Do none of His sheep ever hear His voice?


You keep on telling us what you do not believe or do not accept. One day perhaps you give us positive testimony instead always a curt denial of this or that. That is not how Jesus taught!

"And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Matt 5:2-6
And he did not stop there!
 

Heart2Soul

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Why do we "normal" people make trips out to the cemetery to stand at the site someone was hidden six feet under? We take them flowers and even stand there talking to them. (But, that is considered sane?)
As with so many things "Christian", THEIR brand of crazy is just different than OURS. We accept and approve of ours, but we ridicule theirs.
I agree...
I have never went around decorating loved ones graves. Didn't Jesus say once let the dead bury the dead?
Luke 9:59-60
“And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.”
— Luke 9:59 (KJV)
“Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”
— Luke 9:60 (KJV)
 
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amadeus

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from a certain perspective, maybe not; but there are other valid perspectives, and it doesnt necessarily negate the first one to contemplate the others, imo. We are told to do from "conviction" yeh? So imo there is no sin in taking those literally, if one is convicted to do that. Also no sin in changing your mind later, right, if it is from conviction? So yes, it might be the same thing wadr
People do hear God's voice, be it audible according to some scientific definition of audible or in some other way. That may constitute what you or other call "conviction" as in convicted in my heart that this or that is God's will for this particular occurrence or situation or...? If a person is not lying to himself or to God, then why would his conviction not be a positive thing in the eyes of God?

Do you suppose we'll have vocal cords and tongues and lungs and lips and teeth in "heaven" [wherever or whatever that is] so that we can communicate with each other and with God?
 
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reformed1689

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That's got me laughing. The old saints used to call audible words "locutions."

But of course one cannot, by scripture, prove that God does not ever give audible words to anyone. And one cannot prove from scripture that God does not and cannot do this in the year 2020.
If God is speaking to you in an audible voice that would be special revelation. If that were true, it should be added to Scripture.
 

Heart2Soul

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If you mean in an audible voice outside of Scripture? No. He does not interact that way today.
Would you consider in His Word He says.."my sheep hear my voice...?

“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”
— John 10:16 (KJV)
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”
— John 10:27 (KJV)

What do these scripture mean to you? This is Jesus talking....teaching.
 
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Willie T

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I agree...
I have never went around decorating loved ones graves. Didn't Jesus say once let the dead bury the dead?
Luke 9:59-60
“And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.”
— Luke 9:59 (KJV)
“Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”
— Luke 9:60 (KJV)
Well, I wasn't trying to say what is right and what is wrong according to any particular Scipture we happen to want to stand on. I personally think it is none of our business how another person worships God.

BTW, in the Scripture you cited, the man was not simply asking for a little bit of time to get his father in the ground.
In those Hebrew days it was the custom that the son got a whopping inheritance when his father died. And this man was saying he didn't want to lose that upcoming financial opportunity by possibly getting disinherited if he left the family religion to follow Jesus. He wanted to wait until after his father died and that money and property came to him before making such a rash decision as upsetting his whole family by following Jesus.
 
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bbyrd009

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People do hear God's voice, be it audible according to some scientific definition of audible or in some other way. That may constitute what you or other call "conviction" as in convicted in my heart that this or that is God's will for this particular occurrence or situation or...? If a person is not lying to himself or to God, then why would his conviction not be a positive thing in the eyes of God?

Do you suppose we'll have vocal cords and tongues and lungs and lips and teeth in "heaven" [wherever or whatever that is] so that we can communicate with each other and with God?
ah well as im sure you're aware i do not believe in "death, more abundantly" so as to the possible future scenario, i couldnt say
 
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Heart2Soul

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Well, I wasn't trying to say what is right and what is wrong according to any particular Scipture we happen to want to stand on. I personally think it is none of our business how another person worships God.

BTW, in the Scripture you sited, the man was not simply asking for a little bit of time to get his father in the ground.
In those Hebrew days it was the custom that the son got a whopping inheritance when his father died. And this man was saying he didn't want to lose that upcoming financial opportunity by possibly getting disinherited if he left the family religion to follow Jesus. He wanted to wait until after his father died and that money and property came to him before making such rash decision as upsetting his whole family by following Jesus.
I understand...it wasn't my intent to speak against those who do visit their loved ones graves.
 

Heart2Soul

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People do hear God's voice, be it audible according to some scientific definition of audible or in some other way. That may constitute what you or other call "conviction" as in convicted in my heart that this or that is God's will for this particular occurrence or situation or...? If a person is not lying to himself or to God, then why would his conviction not be a positive thing in the eyes of God?

Do you suppose we'll have vocal cords and tongues and lungs and lips and teeth in "heaven" [wherever or whatever that is] so that we can communicate with each other and with God?
We sure will!:)
 
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