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What is lost and hard to understand by atheists is that “practicing” Christians are in an ongoing RELATIONSHIP with Jesus and God. And part of growing in that relationship is learning to discern when we are getting direct guidance, signs, answers, awakenings….
For young Christians it’s often confusing, maybe a whispering, but as they grow - the voice gets discerned better like telepathic— you KNOW it’s not from your mind.
...<snip for space>...
Yes, it will be perceived as all coincidences by atheists, but I and other practicing Christians KNOW when it’s a God-prompt, a sign. And that’s how I and others roll spiritually…..
yes i have to agree that the more a person becomes accustomed to doing this, the more pronounced it becomes and the easier it is to discern. it is not a one way conversation, it is a dialogue.
some say it it this way: "prayer is talking to God, meditation is hearing the response" . And those answers, response, replies, can come to us not just during meditation or quiet time, but anytime, anywhere, throughout our daily life, from any direction. The more we engage in this and enhance our awareness (some call it mindfulness) the more able we are to receive and discern, what some call that still small voice.
a person can dismiss and ignore it. or a person can engage and participate. every person has free choice the extent, frequency, and level at which they engage and participate in this relationship, dialogue, awareness.
every post on a public discussion forum, is available for anyone to comment on and respond to. Otherwise if it is a personal message for one person only, then the direct message function is for that.
I was asking what her thinking was. Not what your thinking was.
yes i have to agree that the more a person becomes accustomed to doing this, the more pronounced it becomes and the easier it is to discern. it is not a one way conversation, it is a dialogue.
some say it it this way: "prayer is talking to God, meditation is hearing the response" . And those answers, response, replies, can come to us not just during meditation or quiet time, but anytime, anywhere, throughout our daily life, from any direction. The more we engage in this and enhance our awareness (some call it mindfulness) the more able we are to receive and discern, what some call that still small voice.
a person can dismiss and ignore it. or a person can engage and participate. every person has free choice the extent, frequency, and level at which they engage and participate in this relationship, dialogue, awareness.
Discernment should be measurable and provable, in some virtuous way... not necessarily to the world, but to you. I'm rarely about feelings... kinda like "where's the beef"?
Discernment should be measurable and provable, in some virtuous way... not necessarily to the world, but to you. I'm rarely about feelings... kinda like "where's the beef"?
those are good points.
my own view is that it also needs to be practical, and have practical application to whatever i am dealing with in the here and now.
When I left my Dad's funeral, less than a month after my 19th birthday. I got in my car and turned on the radio as I left. The song by Michael Stanley- Rosewood Bitters played, and then right after that the song by Boston- More Than a Feeling played.
I figure it was a year or two later leaving my Grandmother on my Dad's sides funeral, I got in my car and turned on the radio and the song by Michael Stanley-Rosewood Bitters played, and then right after that a song by Boston played, but this time it was the song Hitch a Ride.
After all these years I still remember those two moments. I remember the first one because of how I felt in that moment. I remember the second one because of the sense of wonder, the attention and how I felt in that moment.
I don't care at all about the odds or probabilities of that happening. It is the comforting I felt in each instance coming through the airwaves. And the sense that there is more than all this.
Last edited by chief scum; 03-30-2024 at 04:35 PM..
I read this some years ago and I loved it. I found it online now. Enjoy!
Dan Rather, CBS anchor, once asked Mother Teresa what she said during her prayers. She answered, "I listen." So Dan turned the question and asked, "Well then, what does God say?" Mother Teresa smiled with confidence and answered, "He listens." For an instant, Dan didn't know what to say. "And if you don't understand that," Mother Teresa added, "I can't explain it to you."
It is a HUGELY popular local church (that’s why they have to have a policeman directing trafic after service) and it’s mostly young folks, young families, which that makes me feel really hopeful. Apparently it started out as just small services at the high school, but really grew over ten years, and all this land and buildings have been donated. The other two churches were more traditional and mostly older folks — but still nice.
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It sounds wonderful. 