Well, Quix, I am not usually on these threads as you well know. Second, considering I deal with this issue CONSTANTLY in my counter-cult ministries, I would expect you of all people to understand why I consider them to be valid questions.
How about humoring me, please, and answering for me? I’m not being snarky or trying to cause trouble. To me, they are very valid questions.
I may respond to you privately.
I have enough posted answers to those questions on FR publically.
What the naysayers obviously want . . . and what you even may mostly want
is a fool proof formula that works flawlessly all the time in determining
—a word from The Lord
—an authentic prophetic source from God vs an imposter vs a crazy person vs a neophyte etc.
etc.
Ain’t gonna happen.
God doesn’t work that way about such things.
The closest are the Biblical criteria . . .
—do they believe Jesus came in the flesh; is He lord of their lives
—do their lives show it in fruit.
God gave some criteria in the Old Testament. Then violated them Himself.
David ate the shewbread and gave to his companions.
About as soon as God establishes a new ritual or formula, he messes it up.
He recognizes that those quickly become THE DEADLINESS OF RELIGION vs RELATIONSHIP.
HE WANTS A DANCE.
He wants to lead the dance.
All that other stuff is !!!CONTROL!!! phreaque stuff from the flesh and it only yields death.
People have been trying to package God into tidy little boxes from the beginning.
he won’t fit.
HE’LL *NEVER* FIT.
This likely triggers lots of bristling outrage . . . yet the truth is still the truth.
And this is my area of professional expertise.
In my face to face life and on FR, the folks MOST !DEMANDING! in one way or another and one degree or another for a formula
and/or
for a stereotypic precisely pinned down nth’s degree proof in Scripture for a fool proof scrip to follow . . .
are not comfortable without the clear scrip and RELIGIOUS RITUALS THEY CAN !!!!CONTROL!!!! and feel SAFE THEREBY.
GOD WANTS *NONE* OF THAT.
HE WANTS A DANCE.
HE WANTS TO LEAD THE DANCE.
He wants us to TRUST HIM to lead the dance and to keep the mashers away.
Without RELIGION—ONLY RELATIONSHIP.
All the demands on this thread have been for me to offer, prove and provide RELIGION to buttress my perspective.
No thanks. That’s death. Why would I want to offer death to folks I love?
The Lord confirms His written Word and His prophetic word a variety of ways tailored not only to each individual but also to where each individual is at the time.
Virtually every authentic Christian I know has had at least once in their lives a period of great travail and in the midst of it from long tearful seeking God for solution and answers, they are reading along in the Bible and a verse jumps out at them with Holy Spirit quickening in some personally clear way that that verse has a specific meaning and answer for their desperate need.
In most respects, it’s no more complicated than that. It’s just that God is creative and doesn’t usually prefer to do the same things very many times in a row.
HE LEADS THE DANCE. And He leads it somewhat uniquely with each partner.