26. May 2010 by admin.

If you are a church goer like me, you have probably seen some pretty strange things in church.  Some of them are funny, some are sad, and a few things just don’t seem right.  All of how we feel about events that happen in Church are influenced by our own Church backgrounds and experiences.  If you come from a very conservative church experience that looks at any kind of emotional happenings in church as something to be frowned upon then any emotion in church to you might seem wrong.  If on the other hand, you are used to a wild free-for all, then there may be verry little that you see as suspicious behaviors when it comes to emotional things in church.

I was raised with a very pentecostal style background.  It was nothing for me to be in a church service where people were shouting, jumping up and down, shaking and where many other demonstrative activities were taking place in Church.  I can recall much “shouting” and praising going on! 

I have seen people, doing all kinds of things that I will attempt to describe here as if no one has ever experienced them.  Following is a list of them.  I will not try to convince anyone or deny the validity of these experiences at this time.  I will just try to describe and tell you what I think is the common thinking concerning the actions on behalf of those doing them.

1.   Speaking in Unknown Tongues.      A gift of the Holy Spirit, mentioned in Several places in the New Testament.

2.   Speaking in Tongues with Interpretation.  Speaking in a language that is not known but is interpreted by someone who has the Spiritual Gift of Interpreting this utterance by the Holy Spirit giving the person the knowledge of what is being said by the Spirit of God.

3.   Shouting.  Jumping up and down, shaking, moving about as a result of excitement or joy of feeling or sensing that the Lord is there in some special way.

4.  Singing in Tongues.  Very similar to Speaking in unknown tongues. Considered Singing with the Spirit as mentioned in 1. Cor.

5.  Holy Laughter.  Considered an overflow of Joy at the presence of the Lord.  Not forced, just a joyful reaction to God’s presence being experienced or sensed in the service.  Laughter caused by great joy.

6.  Falling Down.  Either as a result of prayer or extacy at the presence of the Lord.  It is considered that someone is overcome with great emotion or that they are “In the Spirit” as was the Apostle Peter was when he “fell into a trance” on the rooftop.  Or like John the Revelator when he was “In the Spirit” and saw visions in the book of Revelation.

Some believe that these happenings should no longer accompany worship by Christians and that a much more reserved manner should be observed when in Church or Prayer.

I will continue with my effort to examine these phenomena in light of scripture and current thought as I continue to blog here.

I am no longer going to promise when the next blog post will be!  Just that they will come.

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26. May 2010 by admin.

Wow,

It’s been a while since I have written a blog post.  I am planning another Fast.  June 1^st. will be the first full day.  I will begin on May 31^st. at Sundown and continue until I feel like I should stop.  I am not going to say exactly how long I feel I should fast this time on this blog, but if I reach my goal I will then tell about it.

The purpose of this fast is to seek God’s Direction.  I really Need to know God’s will concerning my next step.  My life could change on July 10^th. and I need to know God’s direction.

I am already getting my body ready.  I am eating smaller meals and I have cut back one of the meals and only eat a snack for that meal.  I do not consider that fasting.  It’s just preparation.  Five days left until the start of the Fast.  Keep me in your prayers.

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15. February 2010 by admin.

Whoooooo are you, who who, who who… Whooooooo are you, who who, who who… I really want to know……This popular theme from the tv show CSI is a key to why you do the things you do.Did you know that everything you do is driven by who you believe yourself to be?  One will only cuss and use profanity if they see themselves as the kind of person who uses profanity.  The same with is true with stealing, or using drugs or working as a fireman or going on a mission trip.Your self-image is the secret director of all of your actions or omissions.  Most of us will sometimes say something like, “I’m not the kind of person who… or I am the kind of person who…”.    Your actions are driven by your self concept, which includes you self image, your self talk, and all of your beliefs about who you believe yourself to be capable or incapable of.    If someone is a drug addict, it is because at some time in their life, they saw themselves as someone who for them, for some reason, it was acceptable for them to begin to use drugs!  If when they were presented with the possibility of using illegal drugs for example, they saw themselves as someone who would not do drugs under any circumstances, they would never use drugs.Our self concept is all encompassing when it comes to what we do.  If we view ourselves as a leader who works hard and always comes out on top, guess what our actions will follow!  We will lead, work hard and always come out on top!  Why?  Because that is the only thing that is acceptable and what will be congruent with our self concept and self image. 

The best change agent is a change in our self concept.

If that is true, how do we change our self concept to a more positive image so we do the things that serve us and help us achieve our goals?  That is really a good question!  The word of God tells us, If any man be in Christ, he is a New Creature!  Old things are passed away!  Look, everything becomes new!   Wow.  Talk about a change in one’s self concept!The best way to have change is to make a change.  Change occurs from the inside out.  When your nature is new, you actions will be new.  When you a different, your surroundings will be different.  The Bible tells us: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and also your whole house!  Jesus also used the phrase, “you must be born again”!  How’s that for a shift in your self concept!  When that happens, you are now someone else!  You are someone NEW!  Now that you are someone new, you will not allow yourself to do the things that that other person would have done.   The new you, is not the kind of person who….This is true for a real change in your life.  Do not believe however that this is just a change of mind for you.  Simply changing you mind will not change your life.  You must have your mind become a new mind!  The only way to have that happen is for you to truly be Born Again by doing the following.1.        Turn away from the life that you have been living, from the person you have been.2.        Accept the fact that Jesus died to pay your sin debt.  He died to save you from your sins.3.        Believe that God has raised Him from the Dead.  After he died for you, he rose again!4.        Confess to others that you have become a follower of Jesus Christ.  5.        Be baptized in water.  Baptism is a way to confess that Jesus is Now your savior.  When you     are Baptized, you are saying that all of the old things in your life are being washed away    and now you are Born Again!  Pray this prayer right now.  Thank you Lord Jesus for dying on the Cross for me.  I turn from my sins right now.  I believe that you died on the cross to pay my sin debt.  I believe that after you died that you rose from the dead three days later.  I will tell others that I am one of your followers.  I will be baptized in water to follow you.  In Jesus Name, I believe! Now, Christian is not something that you just believe, it is something that you are!  Now go and be a Christ Follower.  Don’t back up and go back to the way you used to be.  You are not that person any longer.  You are a New Creation.  Now,  “Who are you, who who, who who…. I really want to know 

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9. February 2010 by admin.

 True peace only comes when we realize that trouble and difficulty are no match for God’s protective covering in our lives.  Peace is not the subtraction of trouble… it is the addition of faith.

Jesus was at peace in the storm on the sea because he had perfect faith in the God over the sea.  He still went through the storm, It just had no power over him to bring fear or worry. 

When you come safely through enough storms, they will not scare you any more.  That is true peace.  So, it is the Storm, is the teacher that helps us to learn Peace!

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5. February 2010 by admin.

Over the last few days I have been aware of an increase in the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit to stay a little longer in my prayer, study and meditations times.  I love the sweetness of the fellowship of the Spirit of the Lord.

The Word of God says that the Lord will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon the Lord.  I do not know a better discription of what it is like to be in the Spirit of the Lord.  Perfect Peace is a great discription.  This peace is felt in the calmness of my spirit and in the absolute restfulness of my body.   To meditate on the Spirit of the Lord (The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God”) is to have true restfulness.

When the early Church Disciples greeted each other they said thing like, “Peace be unto your”.  To speak peace to someone was the same as asking the Lord to be with them.  His peace, is His Spirit.

 Blessings,

ron 

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19. January 2010 by admin.

As a child growing up, my Father was a Pastor and an Evangelist in what was called the Full Gospel-Pentecostal Movement.    I remember Tent Crusades with my Dad preaching under the tent as many came to the Lord.  I also remember that my mother would bring blankets along and make us a place to rest and sleep under the chairs on the old sawdust floors of the tent.  The Tent Services would last so long that we were allowed as children to sleep on these blankets during Service.

People would be filled with the Spirit and at times, shout all around us.  It was a real interesting time and a lot of fun!

While these tent “Revivals” were going on, many would pray and shout and speak in Charismatic tongues.  There would also be spiritual phenomena such as “Singing in the Spirit”, “Holy Laughter”, and also sometimes falling out in the Spirit, or what some called “being slain in the Spirit”. 

My father had been a drunk before accepting Jesus Christ as His personal Savior.  He struggled with Alcoholism, and tried to quit Smoking which was also considered a sin.  He had no success in his quitting drinking until he went down to the alter one day and received what is still called by those who are part of that Christian group as “Being Filled with the Holy Spirit”.  

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is accompanied by Speaking in Unknown Tongues.

These occurrences were very common in my Childhood and early adulthood.    I am not a novice to such Spiritual phenomena.  I saw a lot of what I believed to be real Godly, Spiritual experiences in my growing up as well as many, many occurrences of what my dad would call “Wild Fire”.  The wild fire is what he called it when people were doing things that were not really considered by him or many other leaders to be real occurrences of Godly, Spiritual Phenomena.  Or what is sometimes called, “A real move of the Holy Spirit”.

In my next post, I will address, is any spiritual phenomena real or is it all delusion. And we will begin to explore some of what the Bible says concerning these things.

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19. January 2010 by admin.

OK, I know I havent writen a post lately.  I have a confession to make.  I became SO BUISY that I was away from anything except work for a few days.  I also had to do some traveling and so… I went off of my fast after day 10.

Today would have been day 18 of the 21 day fast.  As of today, it is day one of my “New” fast!  I am not yet satisfied that I am finished with my fast.   So, with God’s help, I will begin again today with the intent of doing another 11 days, minimum.  I do want to fast for 21 days this month so with the next 11 days I will be able to complete 21 days of fasting in January… although not 21 in a row.

Please continue to pray for  my as I complete the 21 days.   God Bless.

I’ll keep you posted!

Ron

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7. January 2010 by admin.

Day four and five has gone very well. 

On day five which began the evening of the fifth, I went to bed about 11:00 pm.   It was the most interesting night I have had in a long time.  As I lay there in bed, there was the most comfortable feeling that came over me. 

I was beyond relaxed!  It is hard to describe.  Complete serenity and peace is the only way I can describe it.I lay awake until 5:00 am just experiencing this awesome peace and also the feeling of a flow of the spirit of the Lord over me. WOW!  What an awesome night. 

I got up at five to take a neighbor to work.  They usually walk or ride a bike but the bitter cold is too much right now for that.  So, I got up, took them to work and lay back down a about 6:00 am and went into a kind of light, still aware of my surroundings sleep.  I sprang up about two and a half hours later, wide awake and completely refreshed.I felt fresh all day long on the 6th.  

God is Good!

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4. January 2010 by admin.

Day three was a very productive day for me in the office.  No stopping for an hour lunch could be part of the reason.  My prayer, Bible study and meditation times are becoming very enjoyable.

I am convinced that the joy of the spiritual disciplines is all but lost for most Christians.  Our prayer times should be bathed is joyful peace.  Meditation has been hijacked by mid-eastern religions and new age philosophers.  Christian Meditation is a wonderful spiritual discipline that very little is written or spoken of nowadays.

Television is not a bad word but apart from  disciplined prayer, bible study and meditative Christian discipline can actually infiltrate and drive a persons thinking.

We are learning machines built by God to absorb our and learn from our surroundings.  Any input mechanism whether a parent as we are learning to talk, or a Television Set makes an indelible mark on the mental miracle that God placed within our heads. 

What we watch, hear, feel, taste  and even smell forever influences us from the time that we contact them.  To think that one can spend countless hours with something and not have that instrument make a contribution to who we are is a little simple minded.

As Christians, we MUST spend time in the Word of God and in Prayer and in quiet places of thought and spiritual Christian meditation.

My Prayer Today

Dear Father God;  Help me to find your places of prayer and Spiritual Christian times of Meditation with you more and more enjoyable and beneficial to my thoughts and my life with you.  Help me to spend such awesome times with you that I greatly dislike the times that I am unable to spend with you.  In Jesus Name I pray.  I believe: AMEN

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3. January 2010 by admin.

Well, Day two of the 21 day fast is in the books.  I am already experiencing a dramatic peace.  It is hard to explain this calm.  It is, for lack of a better term, spiritual.  On day two I ate the two apples.  There has not really been a significant temptation as of yet to eat more than determined.  God is good. 

Thanks to the holidays, I gained 10 pounds.  My regular weight is about 205 and before the fast it rose to 215.  This morning my weight was 213.2  There has been no weekness probably because of the two apples.  After the end of day three, I will move to the juce part of my fast for the remainder of the fast.

My Prayer today:

Dear Father, I want to yeild my will to yours.  Please take the reins of my life and teach me to hear clearly what your will is.  Give me peace in believing and passion for the ministry that you have called me to.  Help me to bring honor and Glory to your name.  In Jesus Name I Pray.  I Believe, Amen

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