Something that has bothered me for years (long before HNI existed) is that often in a religious discussion the phrases "I think", "I believe", "I feel", etc. are used to justify a practice concerning worship. There's several situations this brings to mind that hopefully will illustrate a point, and my guess is most of us, if not all, have been in at least one of them.
You are out fishing, and get a nibble. You yank back on the pole, and your heart starts racing--it's a whopper--you canFEEL it! You tug and reel and pray your line holds--this one is going on the wall, if not in the record books! After a long battle, you land it, and you discover what's actually on the end of your line is a snag, or a turtle, or a small fish with an unusual amount of fight in it. You got all excited, happy, elated......you just KNEW you hadTHE big one--you could FEEL it......but your feelings betrayed you.
You are out hunting. Off in the bushes, you notice a movement, and the 'ol heart picks it up a notch. Then you get a little better look--antlers everywhere! Your heart goes into high gear and at the same time falls down in your stomach. This is the one you have been after all of your life.......you can SEE too many points to count! Your pray your shaking hands can make a good shot, and you do! You are jumping for joy on the inside, if not out! You run to your trophy, only to find your prize has suffered "ground shrinkage", and "transformed" from a Boone and Crockett to an average 6 point. This can't be right! YouSAW antlers in every direction! But your eyes decieved you.
You are young and have fallen in love. You know that this is the one you want to spend the rest of your life with--it's your perfect mate. Then, as time goes on, somehow they change. They wind up not being the person you thought they were at all. This can't be right--your HEART told you early on that this was the one! But your heart was misguided.
Now, for a minute, think about this. What if you had an instruction book that told you what to do in every step, and every minute of your life, from beginning to end. You know without a doubt that this guide is flawless and foolproof. It's proven itself time and again. It even tells you on the day you thought you had a monster fish, it would be a turtle. It told you on the day you thought you saw a world record buck that it would actually be an average 6-point. And it told you thatyour first love was really just "puppy love". Would you have gotten all excited and trusted your FEELINGS, your EYES, or your HEART over that perfect guide? No, because you would know that human beings can't always put their faith in these things, and this perfect guide would never lead you in the wrong direction--unlike your feelings, your eyes, and your heart sometimes can.
However, when it comes to religion, that is often the case. We have the PERFECT guide to life, but for some reason people will put more trust in their own feelings, their own eyes, and let their own heart guide them rather than follow the Bible. Sure, most will say they do follow it, at least as a guide, but not the final authority--have to leave some room for changing times and "interpretations".
You have your feelings--call it your concious, call it a voice in your ear, you can even call it the Holy Spirit--but what if those feelings can't be backed up with scripture? You have your eyes--you may see something that you cannot explain or understand, and you may refer to it as a miracle--but what if the manner in which it happened doesn't correllate with God's word? You have your heart--it may be a very kind and loving heart--but what if your love and kindnessare not guided by Christ's instructions? Which one will you follow? Before you answer, think about how many times you have used those phrases: "I think", "I feel", "I believe","I saw", etc.and cannot back them up with plain and simple scripture. Don't answer here. Simply be honest with yourself. Which one are you REALLY following?
Chad
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"We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all."-- Theodore Roosevelt
A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. Ecclesiasties 10:2
The last four letters in American..........I Can
The last four letters in Republican........I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats
You have your feelings--call it your concious, call it a voice in your ear, you can even call it the Holy Spirit--but what if those feelings can't be backed up with scripture?
Then you shouldn't do it.
I see this alot. As a Pentecostal believer, we tend to get caught up in the emotions of worship and it's easy to "worship worship" and not have focus on Christ. I do believe that you should be able to worship God almost anyway that you want. Even if something isn't necessarily Biblical I don't think it's wrong (raising of hands for instance.) But when worships starts becoming all about the feelings...it's not worship anymore, it's a show.
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πνεύμα γ*μισα
"Error never shows itself in its naked reality in order not to be discovered. On the contrary, it dresses elegantly, so that the unwary may be led to believe that it is more truthful than truth itself."
-Irenaeus of Lyon
Chad
Something that has bothered me for years (long before HNI existed) is that often in a religious discussion the phrases "I think", "I believe", "I feel", etc. are used to justify a practice concerning worship.
Chad..these words are words which I use in expressing my faith. Let me use these in sentences.
1. I think we should all be walking in the Spirit to day. I think I should read my Bible more today than yesterday. I think is alot like the Word believe. Believe is like the Word faith. Feelings is how one walks with God since we don't walk by sight . We do by our instincts which are grounded in God's Word.
2. I believe is an affirmation word. I believe God loves me . I believe I should not complain to day. I believe God will be with me through every trial today. I believe His Spirit lives within me.
3.I feel like I need to read my Bible alot today.And I mean this Chad. I felt the Lord say this to me this morning right before I woke up .This is what I felt. "Chuck..you know why you have been going through all these trials .It's spoken in Psalm 119..trials are todrive you back into the Word. The Word will cleanse your heart. They who truly love me love my Word. I felt God speaking those words to me this morning right before I awoke. And I beleive those are direct quotes out of His Word. At least I think they are.
Love Chuck
And because I think it was God's Spirit I beleive I should act on that unction.At least I feel in my spirit I should.
Chad what ever one beleives they should be able to back it up with scripture, but where one should use the words "I beleive" instead of "the Bible says" is when others differ with your beleifs, yet both sides have scriptual backing and then it is a matter of how individuals understand the scriptures.
There are things that are so straight forward in the Bible that there is absolutely nothing to be disputed from certain scriptures, other scripture can lead one to beleive one way or another.
Chad I have a question to ask of you, do you beleive the Holy Ghost helps us in our daily walk in life?
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The Tazman aka Martin Price
Proud father of a Devil Dog
I guess I wasn't clear. On one hand, you have what you see, what you feel, and what you choose to think. On the other, you have the Bible, which guides us in all things concerning worshipping God. We might think, or feel, or see something that we put to use in a religious manner, but if there is no scriptural referance pertaining to Christian worship, is it right to do that? Is it not adding to God's word? How much can you add before it's wrong?
Taz, I do believe the Holy Sprit guides us through the Bible. I do not believe that the Holy Spirit tells us things that are not in the Bible. I believe this because the Bible is God's inspired word and instruction for us. If we have the option of doing whatever we think is right, then the Bible is of no use. If we have the Holy Spirit guiding us as the apostles were guided, then we would automatically know what to do in every circumstance, and wouldn't need the Bible because it would be ingrained in our brains. I base these beliefs on what the Bible says--not what I think, or feel, or what my heart tells me.
My heart tells me that someone that leads a very good life, and does nothing but help others, and goes out of their way and makes sacrifices for others, should have a one-way ticket to heaven, regardless of whether or not they are religious. However, the Bible tells me that we have to obey. My heart tells me that someone like Jeffrey Dahmer, regardless of whether or not he accepted God before he died, should have a one-way ticket to hell. But my Bible tells me that Christ's blood will cleanse even his sins, if he obeys. I will believe the Bible, not my heart.
Chad
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"We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all."-- Theodore Roosevelt
A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. Ecclesiasties 10:2
The last four letters in American..........I Can
The last four letters in Republican........I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats
I "feel" (as well as believe and think)that man can be guided by his feelings. However, man cannot be guided by feelings alone. He must be guided by the holy Spirit in thought as well.I beleve the Holy Spirit confirms the Word (whether it be the Bible or any other inspired scripture) in our head and our heart.The heart is the seat of emotion. It is where the seeds of rebirth are planted. Thye should be watered daily. Seeds need water and light in order to grow (Symbolic of baptism and the Holy Ghost) Something must be felt in order to produce a change and a growth in us daily.. This change is felt through repentance and desire.The thoughts and desires of our heart are what makeus "us."
In addition, there are things that the holy Spirit can teach us that are not contained in the bible alone. For instance, I have have had many prayers answered that do not not always coincide with what the Bible says or doesn't say. In fact, whether to hunt or not or to continue to hunt when challenged by one church leader said it was "wrong." falls into this category for me. The bible insinuates a few things about hunting, but it did not give me answersI was looking for (It helped to guide my search though. It pointed me in the right direction. It encourged me to Go to God and ask in prayer and to obtain an answer on my own). The asnwer came in both my head and my heart. I could clearly discern what he Spirit said to me in my head and he confimed the words in my heart. I had my answer, but it was not directly from the pages of holy writ.
Can people be mislead by emotion and feeling? Sure they can. I think there are many individuals who think they know and can identify who the Spirit of God is.Moreover, most of these individuals clain to have some auditory message given from God. One must learn to know how the Spirit communicates and how it "feels" to have him as a companion guiding you throughout the day. The Lord taught this one several occassions. So did those who "felt" the truth when the Lord taught it to them (Ie the disciples on the Road to Emmaus). Ie. Did not our hearts burn within us? They felt something inside just like John the baptist promised when he said the Lord would come after him and baptise with fire. Same as the Lord said himself. He didn't just say, I leave you only my holy word,to guide but the Comforter, who will lead and guide you in all things. The Comforter is primarily felt, (part of the promise given in accordance with the baptism of fire)but can be heard as well. It is rare when I onlyobtain his presence by just one means. My belief and faith lead me to repentance. Repentance leads to achane of heart and desire to plant the seed (fruits of repentance) Baptism. Baptism of water leads me to have the bestowal of fire, even the gift of the holy ghost by the laying on of hands. Desire to continue to repent daily and keep my baptismal covenant leads to seeking and hopefully finding and maintaining the Holy Spirit on a daily basis.
Beleive me, after more than 20 years in the mental health industry, it is interesting to see and hear all the thingsI have about what people have to say about this subject.
There is much moreI could add to this, but it is late and I'm headed for bed and the happy hunting grounds tomarrow. To sum up my thoughts: The bible is the Word of God for all men. We should feast upon it daily. The bible should be the external witness of the word we consult everyday to help us obtain and retain the feeling associated with the internal witness, that of the Spirit of God everyday.
God Bless,
Porter.
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"The Lord commands us to be peacemakers. This is more than peace keeping. Peacemaking is an active thing that requires much greater effort at making peace happen rather than just keeping ones peace."
Which Do You Believe?
