Posted on 05/20/2015 8:17:11 AM PDT by Salvation
“That is why I have always said we do not know the half of it, but we should only preach from scripture which is plain and to the point.”
You don’t think some supernatural occurrences are communications from God?
You don’t think some supernatural occurrences are communications from God?
But people tend to only take their own serious and no one else`s and maybe that is because they are personal.
But I believe we are only to preach Christ`s Gospel.
“But I believe we are only to preach Christ`s Gospel.”
What about, “And one more way I know it’s true is that I have His word for it.”
What about, “And one more way I know it’s true is that I have His word for it.”
“What do you know is true? you lost me.”
I was assuming that, if you had a mystical experience, it further confirmed some article of faith.
I was assuming that, if you had a mystical experience, it further confirmed some article of faith.
“Yes it sure did that, thanks.”
And you don’t witness?
And you don’t witness?
Paul said you must have two or three witnesses to establish any word
In the case of miracles.
Acts 1
22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
Jesus had to have 12 witnesses to the resurrection which was a miracle.
John 4
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his own word;
42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
John 4
48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
Jesus had 12 witnesses as to who he was so do we need miracles to believe in him?
41 And many more believed because of his own word;
As far as the witnessing goes,I believe I saw an angel one night as I was walking down the street.
To make a long story short I was hungry and there was a café ahead of me abut 50 feet which I had already checked and found it closed.
There was an alcove I guess is what you would call it, you walked in the first door and was in an in closer and then the main door.
A man was coming from the other direction and I noticed he was wearing a sort of wide brimmed city hat and a rain coat, this was in 1970 and the hat was of a style 20 years before that.
He opened the outer door and walked in but since he did not come back out I thought I must have been mistaken about it being closed so I walked in about 5 or 10 seconds behind him.
The alcove was only about 6 feet square, he was not there and the café was still closed, he would not have had the time to unlock it go in and relock it and disappear inside as the complete inside was visible from the out side.
After this a few other weird things happened which could be explained and I believe they happened in order to convince me that the first thing could also be explained.
I was perfectly innocent in the above matter but generally these things happen when I am not at my best behavior.
“If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” James 1:26,27
We are not to advertise the stupid things we do and most of my witnessing would include stupid things, so what kind of a witness would that be?
People who are whole so to speak only need the word of our savior, it is people who are in bad trouble that may need shaken up.
“We are not to advertise the stupid things we do and most of my witnessing would include stupid things, so what kind of a witness would that be?”
I don’t know what you may have done, so I can’t really say. However, I was thinking of something like, “God really does forgive us, because he showed up and told me so.”
“People who are whole so to speak only need the word of our savior, it is people who are in bad trouble that may need shaken up.”
Perhaps your experiences might be the spark that ignites faith in someone else.
21st century Americans who have a supernatural experience are mostly inclined to hush up about it.
Thanks for posting. I think the following is the true meat of the lesson:
“God also gave us the Church to help us cultivate holiness in this life. Over the course of time, the Church began to offer indulgences for pious actions, such as saying prayers, reading Scripture, making pilgrimages, and supporting causes such as the building of churches or the endowment of hospitals. These things are good in themselves, and by offering an indulgence as an incentive to do them, the Church gave individuals a reason to school themselves in holiness and grow in sanctification.”
When we read this and then the requirements for obtaining an (plenary) indulgence, it becomes quite clear that indulgences aren’t some kind of “get out of hell” card. They are a means to help the usually selfish (which are most of us myself included of course) to be more holy, not by some magical means but by cooperating with the Grace of God and those in the Body who came before us. Cooperating meaning we still have to do something. And what is it?
It’s something that, by doing anyway, one will already become more holy, less sinful, more oriented towards God. Confession. The Eucharist. And prayer. If one does these things (especially the Confession part) sincerely, with a love for God and a hate for sin, then one will already be a better person! So it’s not some magical secret formula that some critics seem to imply.
The true power of the Indulgence comes from and is directly proportionate to how much one cooperates with and has a desire for God. The amount of money donated (if any, many don’t even involve charitable donations) is irrelevant.
It’s no more than a simple dedication to Him at its root. Who could have a problem with re dedicating one’s life to God? Only the evil and/or ignorant that’s who.
To be clear what Colofornian posted was *never* the case for the Church Universal.
Please note the words “Church Universal”. The quote posted was certainly the teaching and practice of some who were quite deluded at the time. But it was never a universal teaching of the Church. This is where Luther erred, by assuming his experience was the experience and teaching of all, and where some continue to err today assuming errors and lies and misconceptions are what the Church teaches to all. (Universally).
This is the point Aikin was making when he wrote “The practice of indulgences has changed over the centuries and, like any institution regulated by men, it has been subject to abuse. There were real abuses at the time of the Reformation. In addition to superstitious understandings of what indulgences would do, some preachers were unscrupulous in the raising of money. (Contrary to popular legend, indulgences were never “sold” but were granted as an incentive to support charitable causes.)”
There were indeed unscrupulous evil people in the Church then as there are now. This does not automatically negate the truth claims she makes however. It’s a logical fallacy to suggest it does.
21st century Americans who have a supernatural experience are mostly inclined to hush up about it.
In demonstrating how the mule would work he first took a two by four and wacked the mule over the head explaining that getting the mules attention was the first step.
God can get our attention in that same way but then do we preach the word of God or do we talk of our experience which people may or may not believe.
While I do not believe there is anything wrong with relating experiences, ( if I did I would not be doing it ) I believe my experiences are because that is what I needed.
God knows who his people are but some times and I believe quite often they do not know it.
Paul is a good example in this case, he was not a believer in Jesus and in fact he was an anti Jesus, God got his attention.
1 tim 1
15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me;
1 Corinthians 9
9 Am I am not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?
2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.
3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,
There may have been many people especially in Asia doubting Paul because they did not believe the experience he told about because it was only his word.
And it was obviously being questioned in Corinth which is why he was being examined.
We don`t know what the problem was but since I have some doubt about Pauls word on his experience I believe it is likely.
So fine, we can tell people about our experiences but don`t expect them to take it as gospel because after our experience we are to preach the word of God instead of our experience.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.