Sign Gifts Semi-Safe House

[Taken]

I have a close friend who was speaking "gibberish" has you called it, in a prayer meeting, and found himself speaking in a Ghanaian visitor's own village dialect. All he was doing was speaking in tongues in exactly the same way that Pentecostals do, but on this occasion it was an understandable language. But it was a one-off for that particular situation.

I had the same experience praying in tongues, and a New Zealand lady told me that God spoke encouraging things to her through me in the Maori language. I had no idea that I was speaking Maori, a language I had never learned at that time.

To my understanding ... That ^ was exactly the point of the Holy Spirit putting words in the mouth of the Disciples...a foreign speaker in the crowd could understand the speaker.

Now this woman you mention had duel language? English and Maori?

 

[Sabertooth]

So is word of wisdom knowing about someone's life? What is word of wisdom used for?

Word of Wisdom is receiving a spontaneous understanding of a situation and how to deal with it, from God, without going through a natural reasoning process, first.

Jesus exhibited such wisdom in Matthew 22:15-22,
“Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,

and to God the things that are God’s.” v. 21​

Also, in John 8:2-11,
“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” v. 7

 

[Mayflower]

Word of Wisdom is receiving a spontaneous understanding of a situation and how to deal with it, from God, without going through a natural reasoning process, first.

Jesus exhibited such wisdom in Matthew 22:15-22,
“Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,

and to God the things that are God’s.” v. 21​

Also, in John 8:2-11,
“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” v. 7

So it would be like Joseph knowing how to tell pharaoh what to do about the famine.

 

[Paul Christensen]

Oh yipes! Being born in a northern state, I had never seen a cockroach, till traveling in the south. The warmer and longer summer seasons, huge cockroaches...yuck. Never made me want to set a skillet on the burner.
LOL

On this side of the world, the warmer weather is to the North. While living in Auckland NZ, which has a sub-tropical climate, cockroaches were common. I once had one crawl over my face while at night in bed! I used to wrap them in tissue and put them down the toilet. We have a ginger cat which I call the Ginger Ninja, and he could hook cockroaches out from all sorts of places and worry them to death.

We also had a large black spider, which I called Herman. He lived up in the venetian blind connector in the lounge and would sometimes come out in the evenings for a bit of exercise around the ceiling. He was good at keeping the flies under control.

Once we had a 30cm NZ native centipede come through the ranchslider to pay us a visit. These things have a nasty bite if one interferes with them. The cat in the photo went after it, and I'm glad she didn't catch up with it! After investigating behind our television, it went back out the ranchslider never to be seen again.

These were the creepy crawlies we encountered in the somewhat humid climate of Auckland.

Then we moved to Christchurch NZ, an hour and a quarter flight time from Auckland, and has a colder southern climate, and I haven't seen one cockroach in the house.

In the movie Anachrophobia the spider used came from Auckland, and were called the Avondale spider, because they were common in that suburb in Auckland. In my home town of Blenheim, around halfway between Auckland and Christchurch, we had large grey spiders in our laundry. As a kid I got one on my hand and went to show my mother. I couldn't understand why she went screaming to the other end of the house! :)

 

[Paul Christensen]

To my understanding ... That ^ was exactly the point of the Holy Spirit putting words in the mouth of the Disciples...a foreign speaker in the crowd could understand the speaker.

Now this woman you mention had duel language? English and Maori?

Yes. She was bilingual. Maori was her first language.

The point that I am making is that my friend and I were praying in tongues in exactly the same way that Pentecostals and Charismatic do - with no thought of the language being understood by anyone except the Lord.

 

[Taken]

On this side of the world, the warmer weather is to the North. While living in Auckland NZ, which has a sub-tropical climate, cockroaches were common. I once had one crawl over my face while at night in bed! I used to wrap them in tissue and put them down the toilet. We have a ginger cat which I call the Ginger Ninja, and he could hook cockroaches out from all sorts of places and worry them to death.

We also had a large black spider, which I called Herman. He lived up in the venetian blind connector in the lounge and would sometimes come out in the evenings for a bit of exercise around the ceiling. He was good at keeping the flies under control.

Once we had a 30cm NZ native centipede come through the ranchslider to pay us a visit. These things have a nasty bite if one interferes with them. The cat in the photo went after it, and I'm glad she didn't catch up with it! After investigating behind our television, it went back out the ranchslider never to be seen again.

These were the creepy crawlies we encountered in the somewhat humid climate of Auckland.

Then we moved to Christchurch NZ, an hour and a quarter flight time from Auckland, and has a colder southern climate, and I haven't seen one cockroach in the house.

In the movie Anachrophobia the spider used came from Auckland, and were called the Avondale spider, because they were common in that suburb in Auckland. In my home town of Blenheim, around halfway between Auckland and Christchurch, we had large grey spiders in our laundry. As a kid I got one on my hand and went to show my mother. I couldn't understand why she went screaming to the other end of the house! :)

LOL- interesting. Not a big fan of insects creepy crawly things. Did See a Luna moth the other day. Medium size abt 3". Usually see one or two a year. Bright lime green. Pretty.

 

[Taken]

Yes. She was bilingual. Maori was her first language.

The point that I am making is that my friend and I were praying in tongues in exactly the same way that Pentecostals and Charismatic do - with no thought of the language being understood by anyone except the Lord.

Gotcha.

 

[April_Rose]

I was told by @FluffyYellowDuck to ask about discernment on here when I believe I've heard from God since there have been times where I've been absolutely one hundred percent right. For sometimes it's random, sometimes I believe it's Him answering a question for me, and sometimes it's just a feeling that He wants me to say or do something. Cause what happens to me is that when I get the message wrong (even though I'm a hundred percent confident at the time) I start doubting myself and faith again.

 

[Paul Christensen]

I was told by @FluffyYellowDuck to ask about discernment on here when I believe I've heard from God since there have been times where I've been absolutely one hundred percent right. For sometimes it's random, sometimes I believe it's Him answering a question for me, and sometimes it's just a feeling that He wants me to say or do something. Cause what happens to me is that when I get the message wrong (even though I'm a hundred percent confident at the time) I start doubting myself and faith again.

The test of any "discernment" is who is being glorified and who the impression is pointing to. When the Holy Spirit speaks to a person, it is to draw that person closer in faith to Christ. The Holy Spirit's mission is to draw people to Christ, get them saved, and then to give them guidance and strength to grow in grace and faith in Christ. If the impression, internal word, dream, or vision is not Christ-centred, it is most probably from the world, flesh or the devil.

You can be totally confident about a discernment or impression that comes to you, but it can be just self-confidence and not a certainty that it is actually the Holy Spirit giving you the discernment.

God has said all He is going to say to us in the written Scriptures, therefore any discernment or words of wisdom and guidance must have been already written in the Bible somewhere. If what you are receiving in your mind can already be read in the Scriptures then you can be fairly confident that it does come from the Lord. But if not, then I would avoid it like you would avoid Covid-19.

The problem with many Charismatics is that they believe that every impression and internal word of instruction comes from the Holy Spirit; and they treat many mental pictures as visions from the Lord. It is no wonder that so many harmful mistakes are made by deluded people thinking they are got something from the Lord, when it is nothing of the kind, and they are being led by the nose by a spirit of divination instead of the Holy Spirit.

This is why Peter instructs us to be sober and vigilant because the devil goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

 

[Heart2Soul]

I was told by @FluffyYellowDuck to ask about discernment on here when I believe I've heard from God since there have been times where I've been absolutely one hundred percent right. For sometimes it's random, sometimes I believe it's Him answering a question for me, and sometimes it's just a feeling that He wants me to say or do something. Cause what happens to me is that when I get the message wrong (even though I'm a hundred percent confident at the time) I start doubting myself and faith again.

Discernment in the Bible
First Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil."

The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). According to the New Testament, discernment is not optional for the believer, it is required.

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ ~ Philippians 1:9-10

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. ~ Hebrews 5:14

 

[Mayflower]

Discernment in the Bible
First Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil."

The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). According to the New Testament, discernment is not optional for the believer, it is required.

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ ~ Philippians 1:9-10

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. ~ Hebrews 5:14

I am praying about this, but I had like a flash dream during the day. All I saw was a red pair of kid scissors with a yellow lightening bolt on it. They opened and closed once. It was all black behind it. Happened last week... I've been praying about it. Nothing seemed to relate to that. I am not sure what to trust with these. I just be praising the Lord unless I know for sure. But I don't want to just forget it if it is from God. I think with learning to relax about things, discernment will come.

 

[Paul Christensen]

I have come to an interesting conclusion. Cessationists accuse Charismatics of putting faith in experiences instead of God's Word. But searched the Scriptures to find any clear indication that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit were meant to be limited to the Apostolic Age and I couldn't find any; but I found many references in Scripture that the supernatural gifts were available for the good of the whole body of Christ and not exclusively for the use of the Apostles, but distributed by the Holy Spirit to members of the body of Christ as He wills.

So, I have come to the safe conclusion that Charismatics, who are Sola Scriptura, and who are committed to the authority of God's Word, are the ones who are putting their faith in the Scriptures, while Cessationists, who have no Scripture at all to back their claims, are relying on the experiences which do not include the supernatural gifts of the Spirit.

Isn't that what Jesus said - that the hypocrites are telling others what to do, but they are doing the same things themselves? In the same way, Cessationists are accusing Charismatics of relying on experiences, when they are themselves relying on their own experiences in the absence of any Scriptural foundation.

 

[Heart2Soul]

I have come to an interesting conclusion. Cessationists accuse Charismatics of putting faith in experiences instead of God's Word. But searched the Scriptures to find any clear indication that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit were meant to be limited to the Apostolic Age and I couldn't find any; but I found many references in Scripture that the supernatural gifts were available for the good of the whole body of Christ and not exclusively for the use of the Apostles, but distributed by the Holy Spirit to members of the body of Christ as He wills.

So, I have come to the safe conclusion that Charismatics, who are Sola Scriptura, and who are committed to the authority of God's Word, are the ones who are putting their faith in the Scriptures, while Cessationists, who have no Scripture at all to back their claims, are relying on the experiences which do not include the supernatural gifts of the Spirit.

Isn't that what Jesus said - that the hypocrites are telling others what to do, but they are doing the same things themselves? In the same way, Cessationists are accusing Charismatics of relying on experiences, when they are themselves relying on their own experiences in the absence of any Scriptural foundation.

Praise God, I believed with all my heart that the Truth was in you....the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) had opened your eyes and heart to see and receive.
I am overflowing with the Joy of the Lord to be a witness to this.
Tears in my eyes...
God Bless!

 

[Hemlock]

Cessationists are just bugs on the windshield of Christianity.

 

[Paul Christensen]

Praise God, I believed with all my heart that the Truth was in you....the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) had opened your eyes and heart to see and receive.
I am overflowing with the Joy of the Lord to be a witness to this.
Tears in my eyes...
God Bless!

Michael L Brown's "Authentic Fire" has been ver insightful in dotting the I's and crossing the T's concerning some of my misgivings about the modern Charismatic movement. I have always believed in the availability of the supernatural gifts, but have not been able to answer some of the cessationist accusations. Also, I have concentrated too much on the faults of the movement instead of the major positives.

Many cessationists claim Sola Scriptura as the foundation of their faith, but when it comes to the gifts, they try to use a misquote of 1 Corinthians 13:8-12, when the vast majority of theologians equate that reference to the Second Coming of Christ, along with all the church fathers.

There are no other Scriptures that provide a foundation for Cessationism, but there are many references that fully support continuation. So Cessationism cannot be based on Scripture no matter how hard cessationists try to cobble together unrelated verses out of context to try and support it. Therefore, what have they got to support their false claim? Experience. They observe that the gifts are not widespread in the churches, and they observe the excesses in Charismatic churches (although there are many excesses in Cessationist churches like liberalism, Bishop Spong's anti-resurrection doctrine, social gospel, etc.). So there is the clue: Cessations base their judgment on the gifts on what they observe, and what they don't observe, instead of relying on the Scriptures, while genuine Charismatics put their full trust in the Scriptures and are particular that any manifestation of the gifts are in total accordance with the Word of God.

 

[Hemlock]

To me, Cessationists have "ceased" a long time ago.

Their hubris and arrogance remain, but all else has ceased.

 

[Paul Christensen]

To me, Cessationists have "ceased" a long time ago.

Their hubris and arrogance remain, but all else has ceased.

I agree. The guy is talking stuff that rhymes with "trap"!

 

[Hidden In Him]

Michael L Brown's "Authentic Fire" has been ver insightful in dotting the I's and crossing the T's concerning some of my misgivings about the modern Charismatic movement. I have always believed in the availability of the supernatural gifts, but have not been able to answer some of the cessationist accusations.

I like Michael Brown as well; one of the ones who came to mind as being both scholarly and Spirit-filled.

I might find it interesting if you were to discuss the Cessationist arguments with me, but that would be if you were into that kind of discussion right now.

Many cessationists claim Sola Scriptura as the foundation of their faith, but when it comes to the gifts, they try to use a misquote of 1 Corinthians 13:8-12, when the vast majority of theologians equate that reference to the Second Coming of Christ, along with all the church fathers.

Agreed. The Cessationist argument to that passage makes no sense. If "knowledge" in v.8 is a reference to partial Biblical/scriptural knowledge, and then in v.12 Paul says that after the perfect (i.e. Bible) has come, "then I will know even as I am known," what would he be referring to? The Bible will know him even as he knows the Bible? It's a senseless interpretation.

 

[Paul Christensen]

Now this woman you mention had duel language? English and Maori?

Yes.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I agree. The guy is talking stuff that rhymes with "trap"!

LoL. Paul, your language is getting a little "colorful" these days, shall we say.

Everything ok? : )