Posted on 02/14/2017 10:42:07 AM PST by Gamecock
He identifies himself as a male, not a trans.
While I will hardly waste a minute on reading novels, God did use parables, which could have been about real people (such as the ‘Good Samaritan’).
It has been decades since I read Pilgrims Progress. But while reading it I became convinced that the writer of ‘the wizard of oz’ (only saw the movie with the family when just a kid) had used PP as a guide to make a similar book. The really big difference being that TWOO boils down to humanism. Dorothy was told that she had the ability deep down inside (without any mention of God). Same for the three sidekicks.
Also, as is the devil’s common behavior, TWOO shows almost a mockery of faith, hope, and charity, in the three bumbling fellows that abides with Dorothy.
Faith takes a brain
Hope takes courage
Charity takes a heart
Really? Are you reading the Greek version or the original Hebrew, perhaps Aramaic?
It's all besides the point. We humans use He or Him because calling him an "It" removes the spiritual aspect completely out.
It's the language we use to transmit a idea or concept. How you you have a trans if you don't have gender?
Gender is totally his concept.
Further, when we look at Him as a human, we completely miss that he is not like us. He is above gender, above time outside of any reference we may have.
That's the box we put him in.
What gender was the burning bush? Isn't that a ridiculous question?
How he chooses to reveal himself is petty compared to the fact that he does! The rest is how we describe that encounter. How would you describe something that is deeply spiritual to someone else? You're wasting you time and focus on the "gender" and limiting yourself to scripture.
The apostles wrote that there were many, many more experiences to write down all of them but they saved the ones that spoke the most to them in their own way.
Take a look at the gospels and how they were chosen amongst the myriad of books written at that time. They threw out quite a few for various reasons. Not the least of those reasons being it doesn't reflect the pope's idea of what God is.
The real fact is if you have a relationship with Him, none of this matters. To verify that it is, in fact Him, compare what you receive with scriptures and you will find they match.
God is alive not dead to the scriptures of old. He is doing new things all the time. If you hold on to the past, you'l miss what's going on in the present.
the message of redemption is the same but the media and method changes.
Jesus referred to God as Father.
That is good enough for me. I’m not going to play gender bending word games.
Michael Youssef of Leading The Way radio show felt the need to preach an entire sermon responding to this book.
What gender is the Holy Spirit?
Does it even have one?
Does it need one?
Since it presents itself in an infinite variety of ways, can we even define it?
In John 14:26, Jesus said:
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26, NASB)
English translated version.
(John 14:26, NASB)
-NASB
“Traditionally, he and him were used to refer to both genders in formal writing:
‘If anyone has any evidence to oppose this view, let him inform the police immediately.’
“Nowadays, we often see gender neutral forms (e.g. he or she, he/she, s/he, (s)he, they and him or her, him/her, them) when we do not know if the person referred to is male or female.”
It is a language convention not a gender assignment.
Greek is the same, as is Aramaic.
Most languages use the male pronoun when gender is unknown or ambiguous.
Better than what you have read, what is your personal experience with the Holy Spirit?
The scripture puts the Holy Spirit in the present tense, so you should have some direct experience.
What does your own spirit testify to you?
If you have no experience other than quoting scriptures, then you will not know.
Deeper than sounds are words.
Deeper than words is language.
Deeper than language is meaning.
Deeper than meaning is understanding.
Deeper than understanding is thought.
Deeper than thought is idea.
Deeper than idea is intent.
Deeper than intent is purpose.
Deeper than purpose is Spirit.
If you are hung up on the language, your are not even scratching the surface and the entire message and therefore the connection is lost.
Only if you are talking about a generic individual, not a specific person.
It is a language convention not a gender assignment. Greek is the same, as is Aramaic. Most languages use the male pronoun when gender is unknown or ambiguous.
Are you saying that Jesus doesn't know the proper gender to use when talking about the Father or the Holy Spirit?
Better than what you have read, what is your personal experience with the Holy Spirit?
If anyone has an experience that deviates from scripture, then it false. If God wanted us to see the Holy Spirit as feminine or neutral, and not masculine, then He would have explicitly expressed Himself that way.
What does your own spirit testify to you?
That the God in Three Persons is so ultimately male that he refers to us as His bride.
So he doesn't know my gender?
(He designed me, I think he knows.)
The father is not just a gender it is also a role.
Same with the bride/groom analogy he uses.
I am not going to limit God in any way.
If he wants to present himself as a female or a burning bush or a hobbit, that's fine with me.
My experience is in a spirit that has no physical form most of the time. Some times it has been what appeared to be a person but disappeared after we spoke.
He chooses his form, if any, and if a female form speaks to someone and brings them closer to him, I am at no point to say it cannot be him because it does not conform to what I expect nor accept.
Any form is acceptable from the entity that created all forms and even the concept of form.
No boxes of preconceived ideas of what he can or cannot do. ALL things are possible!
The current culture we live in has no understanding of biblical authority as they have not lived with it their entire lives or if they have, religious figures have a negative experience.
In order to transfer some understanding they need to have an experience that they can understand.
My prayer is for God to make his presence obvious and express the love he has for them even in a unusual way. An experience with Christ has not been a part of their lives.
When it happens, it is indeed impressive and I love to hear those stories.
There have been quite a few terrorists that have been converted because of dreams and visions. I have not heard of any two being alike.
Obviously, not. Otherwise, you would not plainly torture the obvious expressions of His masculinity.
Since we have limited understanding of God, God, in His word, plainly self-identifies as masculine. When He became incarnate, He came as a man, not woman.
He chooses his form, if any, and if a female form speaks to someone and brings them closer to him, I am at no point to say it cannot be him because it does not conform to what I expect nor accept.
Where, in all the Theophanies shown in the Bible, do you see God as anything but masculine, or inapproachable light?
He does what he is going to do regardless of my or anybody else's preference.
Where, in all the Theophanies shown in the Bible, do you see God as anything but masculine, or inapproachable light?
You mean like the burning bush? Since Jesus us the bridge between us, I don't see him as inapproachable at all. The woman at the well did not see him as inapproachable. Nor did the woman who was healed by her faith by touching his garment. As a matter of fact, everybody he healed and those who healed in His name were all approachable.
Isn't that one of his points for being born in a carpenter's family? Isn't that why he went around Judea teaching, telling and showing people what he is like. And then to be crucified on a thieve's cross.
He was certainly was not revealed in a way the Hebrews of his day expected him to be. Why should that change? That aspect of his personality is still alive and well today.
If you are going to reach others out of your experience, an open mind is needed about what He does and can do.
Remember, at one point, he had never before or since (that we know) revealed himself as a burning bush. At some point it was new and there are new things happening all over. That's another pattern of his.
There is a real problem with the traditional church and why members are dying off and the churches are empty and becoming museums about what once was. Expectations have become more important than the experiences of the followers.
Some call it "The Third Generation Effect":
http://www.crivoice.org/thirdgen.html
The first generation is connected to their experiences in God and experiences growth.
Second generation is entrenchment and they hold onto the experiences of the first generation as they are trusting of the first generation and want to protect those beliefs.
Third generation has only heard stories from somebody else they don't know and dismiss them as just stories and with ignorance, create their own identity outside of the stories they have only heard and no experienced.
That link also has a solution to this problem.
As long as we are not able to see His hand in motion or even believe he is approachable to us, we'll always be stuck without a recent touch. Living off of somebody else's experiences and stories with no testimony of our own.
We need a revival to see for ourselves what is can do and start a whole new first generation. Maybe we can stop the cycle and allow the following generations their own experience with Him so the faith can continue on.
Pray for a revival and expect it to be something that has never happened before.
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