I had thought of not posting but thought this was an issue worth sharing. Please keep in mind ANY type of "experience" should be suspect. I have never found a way to test whether something is from God or not.
If you'll notice some of these posts, many of these people would have been stoned in the Old Testament days simply because their "prophesies" never came true. To me all this "experience" dabbles too close to things we were never meant to explore. It is through God written word that He reveals Himself, not through some experience or feeling we may have.
Quix knocks the Calvinists but it was because of God revealing Himself to me in the manner that He did that I became a Calvinist. I didn't freely "go forward" or "make a choice" like Quix teaches. So that places my Calvinistic "experience" squarely against Quix's theological Arminian position which means 1) either my "experience" of salvation is wrong or 2) Quix's theological position is wrong. Either my “experience” is not God given or Quix is teaching false doctrine. In the method that I was saved Quix can’t have it both ways.
The very FIRST thing God instilled within my heart when I became a "new creature in Christ" was to read His word-and I might add it was the first thing that was attacked. The only way you can have a relationship with God is through His word and through prayer. I too would leave a church that would forbid the reading and studying of the ENTIRE Bible. But DON’T look for an “experience” from God. He’s not into parlor games. Instead, “STUDY TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED”.
Quix knocks the Calvinists but it was because of God revealing Himself to me in the manner that He did that I became a Calvinist. I didn't freely "go forward" or "make a choice" like Quix teaches. So that places my Calvinistic "experience" squarely against Quix's theological Arminian position which means 1) either my "experience" of salvation is wrong or 2) Quix's theological position is wrong. Either my “experience” is not God given or Quix is teaching false doctrine. In the method that I was saved Quix can’t have it both ways.
And you wrote that stuff straight faced? YOUR contradiction meter didn't peg off the scale???
You seem to take at least a couple of flying leaps off the logic cliff.
God does tons of things that seem to defy my expectations or ways of doing things. However: (A) He's God and I'm not! PTL! (B) His ways are higher than my ways. (C) He's welcome to do thing with any individual or any part of Creation any way He chooses. I trust His ways and His Nature.
What you describe is not very well described. Evidently there was some sort of
whereby you went into the experience a NONBELIEVER and a NONCALVINIST and came out of the
a believer and a Calvinist. It could easily be that God, realizing your psychological makeup etc., realized that there was one way to get you into the Kingdom in anything remotely like a timely way and that was the 'Calvinist' route.
I could certainly understand that from His perspective, it was far better to have you IN THE KINGDOM as a Calvinist rather than still outside The Kingdom.
There could also be any number of other reasons that The Lord allowed/facilitated things to go along that route.
FURTHER . . . such an experience has AT LEAST two sides and two parties--God's and yours.
There are ALL KINDS OF ISSUES, FACTORS, COMPONENTS etc. on both sides. You wholesale label the whole thing a certain glib, fuzzy, vague, shallow way. There's any number of other possible, plausible, Scriptural explanations and descriptions one might come up with.
"Sorry," your characterization doesn't box in my construction on reality, in the least.
The only way you can have a relationship with God is through His word and through prayer.
Oh, dear--"relationship"--as in an experience of an exchange between at least two personalities! Great!
is through His Word and prayer.
Great, as far as it goes. Kind of sounds rather anemic in a long list of ways. Kind of like getting married and on the first Honeymoon Night, the new wife says:
Oh, Honey, it's sooooooooooooo great to read all these cards and tags on all the gifts. Reading all these boxes and instruction manuals for all our gifts is soooooooo wonderful. It's such a thrill. Thanks soooooooooo much! NOW DON'T TOUCH ME! I CAN'T HANDLE THAT KIND OF EXPERIENCE! I know that the only thing tolerable for my marriage is to read all these manuals and cards and gift tags and to dream of a Heavenly Honeymoon. Thanks anyway. But NO TOUCHING. That's evil!
God have mercy! What unBiblical, satanic nonsense from the pit of hell. What a hideous doctrine of demons!
THE GOD OF ALL THAT IS GOES TO SUCH GREAT LENGTHS TO GIVE HIS SON THAT HE MIGHT HAVE THE MOST INTIMATE OF RELATIONSHIPS RESTORED WITH MAN.
THE SON LEAVES THIS PLANET AND SENDS HOLY SPIRIT TO CONSUMATE THE
And clever satan has seduced masses of even earnest believers into being content--even defensive about contenting themselves with reading the manuals and gift tags on the gifts! What hideous NONSENSE! How it must grieve The Father, The Son and The Spirit!
THEY WON'T EVEN
THE MANUAL IN THEIR !!!!RELATIONSHIP!!!! WITH THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE SPIRIT!!!!!!! DOH!!!
And The Father watches, grieves and shakes His head at how excruciatingly bluntly He has to spell it out in neon colors with miraculous handwriting on the walls and lives and minds of countless Calvinists stubbornly resistent to His Spirit . . . stubbornly resistent to even simply applying the manual!
I too would leave a church that would forbid the reading and studying of the ENTIRE Bible.
That's great to read. Could have fooled me! But, really, I understand what you're saying. A church should
the entire Bible--they'd just better be darn careful about encouraging anyone to
VERY SIGNIFICANT PORTIONS OF THE KEY NEW TESTAMENT PORTION OF THE MANUAL FOR CHRISTIAN LIFE!!!!
Yeah, right. Makes perfect NONsense!
But DON’T look for an “experience” from God.
WELLLLLLLLLL! I guess we have to throw out your conversion, then!
Not only so, but we'll HAVE to THROW OUT ALL those thousands of seconds of your
with the WRITTEN manual.
BTW, PERHAPS you all could explain:
WHY
THAT PARTICULAR ARBITRARY
CHOICE?
Oh, I know the answer to that one!
(1) Not a choice in the first place--Calvinists don't have choices!!! LOL.
(2) Your personality factors demanded something more
than all that other delicate, difficult to discern; tricky to apply; hard to measure, !!!!CONTROL!!!! and package, Spiritually sexy STUFF! (Oh, dear me, where's the hanky? Bring me my hives medicine! I mean, REALLY, King David should have been stoned for such a dance before the Ark! DISGRACEFUL. His wife was RIGHT! Why did SHE get punished? DAVID WAS THE BAD BOY! What a DISGRACEFUL EXPERIENCE HE WAS BRAZENLY DEMONSTRATING! TSK TSK TSK! /sar)
Of course, "safer" is nonsense. Witness all the 100's of heresies over the many centuries based ?totally? on some VERY FLAWED
with the WRITTEN MANUAL.
Witness all the mangled new believers and seekers in countless congregations every Sunday from all the mishandling of the WRITTEN MANUAL in intellectually AND WITH HARSH EMOTIONS verbally grabbing folks by the throat and BEATING THEM ABOUT THE HEAD AND SHOULDERS TOWARD A HOPELESS HEART by EXPERIENCES of abusing the WRITTEN MANUAL in an intellectual dance, exercise, hideous display of emotional, intellectual abuse of individuals AND OF THE WRITTEN MANUAL--trying to hammer and pound into tidy little boxed confirmity all the ears and gray matter between of all those in earshot of the GRAND PONTIFICATOR nearby
And this is supposed to be SAFER? Only because it's YOUR particular tidy little boxed cells that you're so gleefully, smugly, proudly hammering folks into!
He’s not into parlor games.
True--usually. HOWEVER, CALLING HOLY SPIRIT'S DEMONSTRATION OF GOD'S WILL, MAJESTY AND POWER A "parlor game"
is NOT likely to endear you to The Father. But You're not really interested in an EXPERIENCE with The Father anyway. You just want to read about Him FROM A
You just want some nice, safe, comfortable mental masturbation looking at the ink on pages in the tiny, tidy little box closet of your mind.
ACTUALLY, God is USUALLY much more dramatic than hoakey, phoney little anemic parlor games. Even if it's a quiet miracle within someone's heart--it's still much more dramatic than a parlor game. I realize your constitution can't stand or handle dramatic. But you might prepare yourself. God happens to be very dramatic and is going to demonstrate it much more so than ever before--shortly. And, HEAVEN has TONS of drama! Perhaps you'd better plan on taking your smelling salts.
WHY you VERY ARBITRARILY choose that sort of closet masturbation EXPERIENCE viewing the the pretty intellectual pictures in the ink on the page INSTEAD of having a vibrant, restored-garden-walk with The Living God kind of experience--is somewhat mystifying--EXCEPT when one takes into consideration the psychological factors involved.
Instead, “STUDY TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED”.
Oh, it's GREAT TO STUDY
and then to go out or in and APPLY THE WRITTEN DANCE MANUAL in my
RELATIONSHIP
with The Father, The Son and The Spirit.
THAT DANCE IS WELL WORTH THE
PRACTICE!
Sigh.