Testing Your Spiritual Gifts:

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by soopy

I'd say that we are expressly proscribed from actively engaging in these, while Scripture acknowledges that they are possible. But your later examples mirror Scripture, which tells us that dreams are pertinent.

While I am surprised that this area would interest you, despite the admonitions you surely are aware of? I would brace you to test the spirits, and see if they agree @ Christ, and be wary. Even contact from the dead should be viewed with quite a bit of, trepidation, I'd say. People who talk with the dead historically end up dead themselves?

But this needn't mean that a warm feeling recalling a departed relative is bad.

Jesus was visited by Moses and Elijah (Moses had long been dead) on the Mount of Transfiguration.

[Aquila]

The point regarding the dead that I'm trying to make is that there is a distinct difference between using occult methods to attempt to contact the dead... and feeling their presence should something key your memory or... even if God allows them to visit you.

[OnTheFritz]

Originally Posted by Esaias

It's sad when you see a person showing interest in or gravitating towards something you KNOW from personal experience is nothing but bad news... and they think your warnings are either due to 'ignorance' or 'fear' ... Very few people these days are serious about heeding the advice of people who speak from experience, especially in matters like this.

The seducing spirits aren't called 'seducing' for no reason...

Doesn't sound to me like Aquila is dabbling in the occult. He seems well grounded in his beliefs and may be providing some much needed influence to these people. Heeding the advice of people who speak from experience is important - depending on the person and about a hundred other variables, of course.

[Aquila]

Here's something interesting that perhaps I've shared before. My son Noah was two going on three. We were on our way home from the mall and it was getting dark. He mentioned wanting to play with his friend. I asked who his friend was. He called his friend "cowboy". I said, "Oh, is he a cowboy?" He said, "Yes". I said, "What is his name?" My son said, "Billy."

The odd thing about this is that my brother "Billy" died when I was about a year old. He was 7 and loved to play with me and watch over me. One of the last photos my mother had of Billy was a picture of him in a cowboy get-up about a week before he died. Now, my son was going on three years old. He had never seen that picture because it had been in an envelope since my mother's death just two days before my son turned 1. Since I wasn't even two years old when Billy died, he's never really a topic of conversation, I never got to know him. His mother and I were really struck that he had said this. When we got home I explained that one of the last photos my mother had of Billy was him in a cowboy outfit. I then dug out the photos later that night and showed them to her.

Was it Billy visiting my son? I don't know. But it is very intriguing.

Who is to say that our beloved loved ones are unable to visit us? We know that we are surrounded with a cloud of witnesses. Running a race as they cheer us on. Even the martyrs of Heaven in Revelation appeared to know what was transpiring on earth. There is only one church... regardless as to if part of that church is on earth or in Heaven.

[soopy]

Originally Posted by Aquila

The point regarding the dead that I'm trying to make is that there is a distinct difference between using occult methods to attempt to contact the dead... and feeling their presence should something key your memory or... even if God allows them to visit you.

I'm inclined to agree, and that something put in front of you is different than seeking it out. Moses and Elijah appearing to Christ might be considered a pretty special case, tho...but I would personally be uncomfortable where you're going...but can't say anything but good about ECayce

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by soopy

but can't say anything but good about ECayce

[jediwill83]

My grandfather died in a cropduster accident....it was a traumatic event to us all....my uncle my grandfathers son was in a bad way...my dad who is VERY level headed and not prone to fancy and is also a preacher was running errands for his construction company in his truck when he said he heard my grandfathers voice like he was right there with him saying "Bill....go check on Curt....Will you?!" My grandfather was a very stubborn independent person and it shook my dad up so bad he turned around in the middle of the road and went to find my uncle....and when he found him he was about to eat a bullet....my dad walked up to where my uncle was and said "Curt...come out here...your daddy sent me to talk to you."You will never convince me otherwise that it wasnt my pawpaw my dad heard.

[jediwill83]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Spoke to a woman on the forum today who states that her house has an "evil presence" that is troubling her and her husband. Many were suggesting burning various herbs, meditating on white light, etc. I shared some dimensions to spiritual warfare from a uniquely Christian perspective. Interestingly, I got a positive response. A wayward Catholic chimed in about how he thought I was right with calling upon the name of Jesus and rebuking the spirit. I'm sure she didn't expect this on a psychic's forum. lol

It's almost like being a missionary among those who are seeking spiritual answers and don't know exactly where to look. Remember, many of these people were burned by religion or were heavily judged over a moral struggle in their personal lives or spiritual questions. God loves them as much as any other soul. If someone wasn't willing to get in close and get their hands dirty, many trapped in this stuff wouldn't have found deliverance. I don't know why I felt led there. Maybe we'll see the fruit of it in the coming days.

Many have a desperate hunger for the supernatural in their lives. However, their experience with religion has been dry and ritualistic. I'm slowly and conversationally introducing the supernatural realities of Spirit filled Christianity to them. So far, we've talked about prayer, the name, oil, prayer cloths, and angelic assistance in spiritual warfare. I've also talked about the 9 spiritual gifts with them with very positive discussion and interest. Some of them haven't actually heard the more supernatural aspects of Christianity from a non-fundamentalist-crazed perspective. It's proving to be interesting.

U never know the seeds u could be planting man...wouldnt it be cool if someone came on that forum reporting something they had never experienced but as they describe it you realized they got the HG?

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by jediwill83

My grandfather died in a cropduster accident....it was a traumatic event to us all....my uncle my grandfathers son was in a bad way...my dad who is VERY level headed and not prone to fancy and is also a preacher was running errands for his construction company in his truck when he said he heard my grandfathers voice like he was right there with him saying "Bill....go check on Curt....Will you?!" My grandfather was a very stubborn independent person and it shook my dad up so bad he turned around in the middle of the road and went to find my uncle....and when he found him he was about to eat a bullet....my dad walked up to where my uncle was and said "Curt...come out here...your daddy sent me to talk to you."You will never convince me otherwise that it wasnt my pawpaw my dad heard.

People don't understand that there is much more to the spiritual than what religion realizes.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by jediwill83

U never know the seeds u could be planting man...wouldnt it be cool if someone came on that forum reporting something they had never experienced but as they describe it you realized they got the HG?

That would be very cool.

What I'm discovering is that many of them are far more "spiritual" than so many of us. If we post something about an evil presence in our home we're likely to get mocked or teased. I've known pastors who roll their eyes at this sort of thing.

Think about it... we speak in the tongues of angels when we receive the Holy Ghost, the very Spirit of the living God who comes to reside in our inner man. He is the same God manifest in the man Jesus Christ who raised the dead, healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, cast out devils, controlled the weather, and rose from the dead. Yet we act like the supernatural is something alien to us.

If someone mentioned that they converse with angels or cast out demons... fellow believers go skeptical. If we mention a vision or a dream, we get chided. If we discern a person's spirit while present with them or at a distance through a picture... people get all weird. If we believe in anointing oil and prayer cloths... fellow believers smirk.