It's interesting how God and Satan are different in that respect. Satan does works that way - he 'writes' his messages himself, verbatim. What he does is find willing servants, teach them how to enter into a waking trance, an alpha-like state, and they become 'channelers'. Then they write down or type exactly what they are hearing, word for word, which is called automatic writing. New Age leaders like Alice Bailey, founder of Lucifer Publishing Company in the 1920's did that, and she wrote prodigiously. She wrote out something called The Plan, which predicted world government by 2025, and this was written in the 1940's. Another writer, I can't remember exactly who, I think Esther Hicks maybe, writing a book about the law of attraction or something like that, talked about how she'd be at a typewriter and her fingers would start going by themselves, so fast that she would nearly break her hands trying to keep up! She was being totally controlled, like a robot. Well, God is not like that. He really likes using people to do everything through a relationship with them. He's gentle. He respects people's free will, and doesn't commandeer them and force them to do anything. He's a gentleman, like a lover. He speaks in a still, small voice to those who seek Him. He may do something to get their attention, or He may wait until something in their lives causes them to seek Him. But when the authors of the Bible wrote those books, their writing style, their education, life experiences, theological understanding, and worldview came through to some extent, so each book is written with the personality of the author coming through. Yet, since "holy men of God spoke [or wrote] as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21), (that's called Biblical inspiration) they were able to tune into God spiritually and then hear what He wanted to say. They put it in their own words, but the Holy Spirit was able to oversee the process so it came out right. It's a mystery that's hard to explain - how God speaks to people, but I'm convinced He does. When you look at the prophecies of the future that are in the Bible, it's amazing. I know the authors could not have known all that in their natural minds. They had to "get it" from somewhere. If you read biographies and testimonies of Christians they are full of things like "the Lord called me to go to a certain place where you'll meet somebody", "to pray for that person and see them healed or delivered", "to help someone out financially", etc., and then it happens just like he heard it. God really does lead people. I've read and heard countless testimonies like that - they can't all be false or coincidences. God just likes to do things through people. I feel very sad sometimes that God entrusted ordinary people to spread the Gospel all over the world, because I think they've done a very poor job in many ways, and it seems very likely to me that many people might have become Christians if they had heard it presented in a winsome yet truthful way, and I feel sad about that. I don't understand why God would entrust something so important to very flawed people. Some of the more spiritual Christians have been able to be good ambassadors for the Gospel, but they are few. Most Christians have not demonstrated the gentleness, love, joy, peace, happiness, and other amazing spiritual qualities that would make the Gospel more inviting to others, more Good News than the bad news that it's often received as being. Also, many, many Christians don't even have good teaching and understanding themselves of how to live a joyful and happy life as a Christian. They have had bad teaching. They have not wrestled with different parts of the Bible until they can put it all together. It's very important to view the Bible as a whole. In modern writing, authors are very careful to qualify everything they say to make sure the reader won't misunderstand what's being said. So they explain everything in great detail and very precise language. They add the necessary exceptions and qualifications and other applications, etc. But the Bible writers were more sparing in their writings, and emphasized one aspect of truth at a time, as if they expected the reader to put it into context with other passages of scripture, so they would not misinterpret it. For example, Jesus said if you love Me you'll keep my commandments, but elsewhere he said without Me you can do nothing, and Paul wrote that it's no longer I that live but Christ lives in me, and that Christ is in me to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So if we get the idea that we have to "do something" in our own strength to serve the Lord in order to keep his commandments, to force ourselves to "do something" out of obligation, we must remember that "we", that is, our old man, never keep any of the Lord's commandments. If we do keep any, it's Him keeping them through us. We are vessels. We should wait until we hear clearly what He wants to do through us, and then obeying Him becomes easy and natural, because He's in us to will (want to) and to do what He wants, so we don't end up doing something else that He doesn't want, and do it grudgingly or out of duty, and not from the heart.
It was God, who introduced me to another option, a way out. I was a within a week of getting my Coronavirus vaccination,
But something wasn't right, I could feel it. Then a thought came!
"Ask of me." Why had I not asked God, if I was doing the right thing or not? I go to Him for everything, at least I thought. Why in this most important decision - because I could feel something wasn't right, my conscience bearing me witness.
So, I got on my knees and prayed. I can't remember how long it was exactly, that evening or the next, that I was on YouTube and and came across Dr. Pierre Kory. He was testifying to Senator Johnson. Tears came to my eyes, and I knew it was from God, because of his testimony of how the Hospitals were treating patients who were not sick enough. It was personal! God made it personal to get my attention! You see my brother had just experienced this sort of treatment, and it was very scary how the Hospital just released him when he was clearly sick, and was confirmed to be a Coronavirus patient. But, through prayer and the Grace of God, it passed.
So, this was how I was introduced to the other side of the narrative. Then, others followed who I started to pay attention to and ultimately was introduced, online, to Geert Vanden Bossche.
God, is my first line of defense. There is no error with Him.
Sincerely,
Sister in Christ, Jesus-
Whom He healed and made me whole around my 50th year in this body. And now, a new creation with Eternal Live "with God." What can be better than this?
This is the most poignant and beautiful conversation IтАЩve ever seen on any message board. Your ability to understand and spread the gospel is a gift, Ari. God Bless You.
I'm very encouraged by that - thank you! I enjoy learning about how wonderful God is and how He answers our every longing - and boy, I sure need Him! And He's graciously given me the ability to communicate, or teach, these ideas to others. I'm so glad to have blessed you to some extent.
I had a friend who had your gift. Great guy. Member of the the Bill Glass prison ministry. He was fun to be around.
I never felt he was preaching (with all its negative connotations) as much as just explaining The Bible in a clear, logical and constructive way. ThatтАЩs a gift.
You have that gift.
He and I shared similar career and hobby interests. Fun guy to hang around. Different jobs, a daughter born and other life circumstances got in the way and I lost touch with him. I always had it in the back of my mind to reconnect as IтАЩd like my now teenage daughter to hear his words.
Sadly, I learned he passed away in March. Bacterial pneumonia. It was quite a blow to me. He was a weight lifter full of vitality and the picture of health.
I miss him and his wife and feel stupid for not reconnecting when I had the chance. Particularly with the evils wrought by the pandemic.
At any rate, your non-preachy non-judgmental non-off putting way of clarifying Christianity is truly something. YouтАЩre offering a level of clarity that people are free to choose or reject.
I see myself as a logical person who tries to control emotions with varying degrees of success. My hubris is my enemy. Or as the famous line from the comic strip, Pogo quipped,
тАЬI have seen the enemy and he is us.тАЭ
God Bless You my friend. DonтАЩt be discouraged. The fight is worth it.
Thanks a lot - you've made my month! I credit most of my way of presenting the Gospel to Pastor Jim Borchert of Fort Worth (died in 2021, unfortunately) emmanueltx.com There are a lot of his messages on that website. I'm into his older ones these days, from 1981, 1982, around there, near the bottom of the messages page. He had a very encouraging way about him because he emphasized resting in the unconditional love of God first, to set a strong foundation, before moving on to good works, which are vitally important, but not before setting a strong foundation of rest and joy in being accepted by God apart from our behavior. I posted his 12 teaching series on Basics of Christianity here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgb3oyPnadMS4ny2Csn4gf4wEpFnKql_-
Why would god get others to write the bible? Why didn't he write it?
It's interesting how God and Satan are different in that respect. Satan does works that way - he 'writes' his messages himself, verbatim. What he does is find willing servants, teach them how to enter into a waking trance, an alpha-like state, and they become 'channelers'. Then they write down or type exactly what they are hearing, word for word, which is called automatic writing. New Age leaders like Alice Bailey, founder of Lucifer Publishing Company in the 1920's did that, and she wrote prodigiously. She wrote out something called The Plan, which predicted world government by 2025, and this was written in the 1940's. Another writer, I can't remember exactly who, I think Esther Hicks maybe, writing a book about the law of attraction or something like that, talked about how she'd be at a typewriter and her fingers would start going by themselves, so fast that she would nearly break her hands trying to keep up! She was being totally controlled, like a robot. Well, God is not like that. He really likes using people to do everything through a relationship with them. He's gentle. He respects people's free will, and doesn't commandeer them and force them to do anything. He's a gentleman, like a lover. He speaks in a still, small voice to those who seek Him. He may do something to get their attention, or He may wait until something in their lives causes them to seek Him. But when the authors of the Bible wrote those books, their writing style, their education, life experiences, theological understanding, and worldview came through to some extent, so each book is written with the personality of the author coming through. Yet, since "holy men of God spoke [or wrote] as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21), (that's called Biblical inspiration) they were able to tune into God spiritually and then hear what He wanted to say. They put it in their own words, but the Holy Spirit was able to oversee the process so it came out right. It's a mystery that's hard to explain - how God speaks to people, but I'm convinced He does. When you look at the prophecies of the future that are in the Bible, it's amazing. I know the authors could not have known all that in their natural minds. They had to "get it" from somewhere. If you read biographies and testimonies of Christians they are full of things like "the Lord called me to go to a certain place where you'll meet somebody", "to pray for that person and see them healed or delivered", "to help someone out financially", etc., and then it happens just like he heard it. God really does lead people. I've read and heard countless testimonies like that - they can't all be false or coincidences. God just likes to do things through people. I feel very sad sometimes that God entrusted ordinary people to spread the Gospel all over the world, because I think they've done a very poor job in many ways, and it seems very likely to me that many people might have become Christians if they had heard it presented in a winsome yet truthful way, and I feel sad about that. I don't understand why God would entrust something so important to very flawed people. Some of the more spiritual Christians have been able to be good ambassadors for the Gospel, but they are few. Most Christians have not demonstrated the gentleness, love, joy, peace, happiness, and other amazing spiritual qualities that would make the Gospel more inviting to others, more Good News than the bad news that it's often received as being. Also, many, many Christians don't even have good teaching and understanding themselves of how to live a joyful and happy life as a Christian. They have had bad teaching. They have not wrestled with different parts of the Bible until they can put it all together. It's very important to view the Bible as a whole. In modern writing, authors are very careful to qualify everything they say to make sure the reader won't misunderstand what's being said. So they explain everything in great detail and very precise language. They add the necessary exceptions and qualifications and other applications, etc. But the Bible writers were more sparing in their writings, and emphasized one aspect of truth at a time, as if they expected the reader to put it into context with other passages of scripture, so they would not misinterpret it. For example, Jesus said if you love Me you'll keep my commandments, but elsewhere he said without Me you can do nothing, and Paul wrote that it's no longer I that live but Christ lives in me, and that Christ is in me to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So if we get the idea that we have to "do something" in our own strength to serve the Lord in order to keep his commandments, to force ourselves to "do something" out of obligation, we must remember that "we", that is, our old man, never keep any of the Lord's commandments. If we do keep any, it's Him keeping them through us. We are vessels. We should wait until we hear clearly what He wants to do through us, and then obeying Him becomes easy and natural, because He's in us to will (want to) and to do what He wants, so we don't end up doing something else that He doesn't want, and do it grudgingly or out of duty, and not from the heart.
It's been a joy to read this discourse.
My Spirit within me smiles...
It was God, who introduced me to another option, a way out. I was a within a week of getting my Coronavirus vaccination,
But something wasn't right, I could feel it. Then a thought came!
"Ask of me." Why had I not asked God, if I was doing the right thing or not? I go to Him for everything, at least I thought. Why in this most important decision - because I could feel something wasn't right, my conscience bearing me witness.
So, I got on my knees and prayed. I can't remember how long it was exactly, that evening or the next, that I was on YouTube and and came across Dr. Pierre Kory. He was testifying to Senator Johnson. Tears came to my eyes, and I knew it was from God, because of his testimony of how the Hospitals were treating patients who were not sick enough. It was personal! God made it personal to get my attention! You see my brother had just experienced this sort of treatment, and it was very scary how the Hospital just released him when he was clearly sick, and was confirmed to be a Coronavirus patient. But, through prayer and the Grace of God, it passed.
So, this was how I was introduced to the other side of the narrative. Then, others followed who I started to pay attention to and ultimately was introduced, online, to Geert Vanden Bossche.
God, is my first line of defense. There is no error with Him.
Sincerely,
Sister in Christ, Jesus-
Whom He healed and made me whole around my 50th year in this body. And now, a new creation with Eternal Live "with God." What can be better than this?
Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad to hear God led you to make the right decision.
This is the most poignant and beautiful conversation IтАЩve ever seen on any message board. Your ability to understand and spread the gospel is a gift, Ari. God Bless You.
I'm very encouraged by that - thank you! I enjoy learning about how wonderful God is and how He answers our every longing - and boy, I sure need Him! And He's graciously given me the ability to communicate, or teach, these ideas to others. I'm so glad to have blessed you to some extent.
Be encouraged. And, please keep it going.
I had a friend who had your gift. Great guy. Member of the the Bill Glass prison ministry. He was fun to be around.
I never felt he was preaching (with all its negative connotations) as much as just explaining The Bible in a clear, logical and constructive way. ThatтАЩs a gift.
You have that gift.
He and I shared similar career and hobby interests. Fun guy to hang around. Different jobs, a daughter born and other life circumstances got in the way and I lost touch with him. I always had it in the back of my mind to reconnect as IтАЩd like my now teenage daughter to hear his words.
Sadly, I learned he passed away in March. Bacterial pneumonia. It was quite a blow to me. He was a weight lifter full of vitality and the picture of health.
I miss him and his wife and feel stupid for not reconnecting when I had the chance. Particularly with the evils wrought by the pandemic.
At any rate, your non-preachy non-judgmental non-off putting way of clarifying Christianity is truly something. YouтАЩre offering a level of clarity that people are free to choose or reject.
I see myself as a logical person who tries to control emotions with varying degrees of success. My hubris is my enemy. Or as the famous line from the comic strip, Pogo quipped,
тАЬI have seen the enemy and he is us.тАЭ
God Bless You my friend. DonтАЩt be discouraged. The fight is worth it.
Thanks a lot - you've made my month! I credit most of my way of presenting the Gospel to Pastor Jim Borchert of Fort Worth (died in 2021, unfortunately) emmanueltx.com There are a lot of his messages on that website. I'm into his older ones these days, from 1981, 1982, around there, near the bottom of the messages page. He had a very encouraging way about him because he emphasized resting in the unconditional love of God first, to set a strong foundation, before moving on to good works, which are vitally important, but not before setting a strong foundation of rest and joy in being accepted by God apart from our behavior. I posted his 12 teaching series on Basics of Christianity here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgb3oyPnadMS4ny2Csn4gf4wEpFnKql_-
He DID write it. The Holy Spirit spoke through appointed men.
2 Peter 1:21