I AM I AM [Charismatic Caucus]

I AM much greater than anything that can be placed on a throne . The way that I AM is much greater than the eye can conceive in itself for it must gather light and a reflection is posed and focused yet as " The Ancient of Days " how can it truly catch something eternal and timeless for I am within myself alone yet constantly expanding .

So do not try to piece me together but enjoy me as God Almighty and remember it is my love alone that holds , creates , moves and shapes in an eternal manner not known to mankind on any plateau or dimension and yet even the word heaven is truly more than mankind can conceive , fathom or understand even the thread to a page "yeah" a Jot or Tittle of my Word that is my Son for as I AM eternal he created you in my image yet you speak a mystery unto yourself in a word that attempts my creation and kingdom " Heaven " !

The waters rise and shift even as you sleep yet I am unchanged while I expand my kingdom before you .

My love for you is eternal do not succumb to the lies of the enemy for their days are numbered and shall soon be fulfilled .

I am your mirage of hope above the ground as on a hot day yet I am reachable , tangable in My mind alone ! ! !

Romans 12 A Living Sacrifice to God 1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”

I am caucusing Jedediah's prophecies in the Religion Forum to avoid provoking personal attacks and flame wars by those who are deeply, deeply offended by anyone alleging to be a modern day prophet speaking in first person.

As you say theological disputes can arise among those who do recognize the possibility of modern day prophets, i.e. pro and anti Catholicism beliefs and also pro and anti Mormonism beliefs.

The alternative is to caucus Jedediah's prophecies under the label "Pentecostal."

As a final point, even though an article has been caucused, an RF poster may repost a similar article for immediate "open" thread RF discussion or wait for the four hour no-duplicates-allowed bar to pass and then repost the same article for "open" discussion.

This initial caucusing essentially provides a "safe harbor" for discussion by those who share a common belief in modern day prophecies spoken in first person.

Dear Religion Moderator,

“I am caucusing Jedediah's prophecies in the Religion Forum to avoid provoking personal attacks and flame wars by those who are deeply, deeply offended by anyone alleging to be a modern day prophet speaking in first person.”

I understand. Perfectly reasonable.

But here's the thing: I'm not deeply, deeply offended by someone alleging to be a modern-day prophet speaking the first person.

Having spent many years in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, I listened to many people give prophecies, and I was not offended per se by their witness.

That doesn't mean that I checked the requirement for discernment at the door. Sometimes, after reflection, I came to the conclusion that the prophecy given may well have been from God, and may well have been worthy. Other times, after reflection, I concluded that the “prophecy” was not of God, and probably more related to the person's ego. Still other times, the prophecy was given by someone that experience had shown might be mentally not fully balanced. In these cases, prayer group leaders tried to deal gently with these folks, but in some cases, we actually had to physically prevent some of these folks from coming to the meetings.

But it worked in part because the prayer meetings were organized and run by a specific set of core group leaders who were recognized as having the authority to make these judgments and to act accordingly.

Here, we have at least one person claiming to make these prophecies, and those of us so inclined to listen and discern may or may not judge these prophecies as being valid, possibly valid, or certainly not valid.

But there is no leadership mechanism to achieve order. So that's something that's unavailable.

So what's left is the individual judgment of each member of the forum.

Now, certainly, those folks who make no claim at all to being charismatic or pentecostal should stay out of these caucus threads.

But what about folks who are, to some degree or other, charismatic or pentecostal (and this isn't as easy to pin down as whether one is Catholic or Methodist or Presbyterian)? Even if they don't go to an overtly charismatic assembly, if they count themselves charismatic or pentecostal, may they enter the caucus and give their possibly negative judgment?

“The alternative is to caucus Jedediah's prophecies under the label ‘Pentecostal.’”

I'm not sure what that buys. Many Cahtolic charismatics wouldn't balk at being labeled “pentecostal,” even if they aren't part of a formally pentecostal denomination. As well, there are denominations and non-denominational groups that specifically call themselves “charismatic” to contrast themselves with more fully “pentecostal” groups that nonetheless are broadly speaking, “pentecostal,” in the actual meaning of the word. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there are some here who identify strongly as charismatic, but if they were honest, would point out that they wouldn't want to be categorized as “pentecostal.”

Then, there are serious theological disputes within those who might properly be defined as “pentecostal” which could easily make one person denounce a specific prophecy while another fully endorsed it - all the folks involved being rightly called “pentecostal” (or “charismatic”).

I guess my point is that if we're trying to do things in an intellectually honest way, “charismatic” or “pentecostal” caucus threads have a much, much greater inherent capacity for theological battles and harsh disputes than, say, Catholic caucus threads. If we are saying that by “charismatic” or “pentecostal,” we're talking about folks who accept that in the current day that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including speaking in tongues, interpreting speech in tongues, prophecy and healing, then I properly belong to this caucus.

That doesn't necessarily mean that I accept as prophecy what is offered here as prophecy.

sitetest

markomalley:

That doesn't necessarily mean that I accept as prophecy what is offered here as prophecy.

Disputes among family members should be expected around the dinner table, i.e. in any RF caucus. But non-members must keep their noses out of it.

Jedediah, label your prophecy threads either "Charismatic Caucus" or "Pentecostal Caucus" and use "other" as the only denominational topic. This should help avoid personal attacks and flame wars and provide "safe harbor" for sharing prophecies spoken in first person.

Dear RM,

As I see it, you’ve done yet another masterful job of waltzing through the mine field here . . . or was it ballet?

I think the only quibble I have is . . .

Using “Catholic” or “catholic” instead of “Roman Catholic” or “Vatican Affiliated Congregations”

IS A THEOLOGICAL POSITION which many Protestants would disagree with. We vigorously protest their claim to exclusive ownership of catholic/universal or Catholic/universal as their exclusive term.

Making it a distinction as outlined above in caucus titles sides with them on that theological point.

Thanks tons for all you do so wisely by His Spirit.

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