the great i am

[Dedicated Mind]

the great i am, the logos that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, is it everyone's consciousness? if spirit is consciousness then we can divide our true selves from our thoughts/psyche/soul/ego/intellect/carnal mind/passions.

[Amanah]

Myticism teaches (Meister Eckhart) taught that the kingdom of God is within us, and we are on the path to a personal realization of God within us. This is very similar to Eastern mysticism.

But this is different from believing that we need to receive the Holy Ghost and be transformed by the renewing of our minds, to crucify the flesh and be led of the Spirit.

I think mysticism is coming from the belief that our spirits actually already contain God and we just have to realize it, vs believing that we need to receive the Holy Ghost and be regenerated by the Spirit of Christ.

I don't believe that our "true self" is already God. I do believe that our spirit is the vehicle to connect to God and follow after God and overcome our "thoughts/psyche/soul/ego/intellect/carnal mind/passions."

[Jay]

Sadly, much of the mystism comes from the Asian countries and India, all of which have similar religions and beliefs about life, death, and the hereafter. Many who start to delve into the mystical eventually lose what they had with God, even if they never see it. That is the greatist danger of going outside of the Bible for truth. If Christianity is filled with false doctrines supposedly based on the Bible, what hope is there of finding truth outside of the Bible? It has not, can not, and will not ever happen. It is an impossability.

[Dedicated Mind]

Originally Posted by Amanah

Myticism teaches (Meister Eckhart) taught that the kingdom of God is within us, and we are on the path to a personal realization of God within us. This is very similar to Eastern mysticism.

But this is different from believing that we need to receive the Holy Ghost and be transformed by the renewing of our minds, to crucify the flesh and be led of the Spirit.

I think mysticism is coming from the belief that our spirits actually already contain God and we just have to realize it, vs believing that we need to receive the Holy Ghost and be regenerated by the Spirit of Christ.

I don't believe that our "true self" is already God. I do believe that our spirit is the vehicle to connect to God and follow after God and overcome our "thoughts/psyche/soul/ego/intellect/carnal mind/passions."

interesting thoughts amanah, but i think there is a middle ground, not an either or situation. i agree that we need the holy ghost, but what is the purpose? isn't it to restore the relationship that adam had with god before the fall? before the fall adam was connected to god and was not self conscious. when we are born again we are taught to deny self and become part of the body of christ where we love our neighbor as ourself. we have a collective conscious in the body of christ and we are the temple of the holy ghost, so i see some influence from mysticism but apply an apostolic methodology. what do you think about this?

[Dedicated Mind]

Originally Posted by Jay

Sadly, much of the mystism comes from the Asian countries and India, all of which have similar religions and beliefs about life, death, and the hereafter. Many who start to delve into the mystical eventually lose what they had with God, even if they never see it. That is the greatist danger of going outside of the Bible for truth. If Christianity is filled with false doctrines supposedly based on the Bible, what hope is there of finding truth outside of the Bible? It has not, can not, and will not ever happen. It is an impossability.

i don't mean to be offensive, but your statement would be a little more credible if you knew how to spell.

[Amanah]

Originally Posted by Dedicated Mind

interesting thoughts amanah, but i think there is a middle ground, not an either or situation. i agree that we need the holy ghost, but what is the purpose? isn't it to restore the relationship that adam had with god before the fall? before the fall adam was connected to god and was not self conscious. when we are born again we are taught to deny self and become part of the body of christ where we love our neighbor as ourself. we have a collective conscious in the body of christ and we are the temple of the holy ghost, so i see some influence from mysticism but apply an apostolic methodology. what do you think about this?

I think it is creative thought, and there is no flaw apparent to me.

[Jay]

Originally Posted by Dedicated Mind

i don't mean to be offensive, but your statement would be a little more credible if you knew how to spell.

I understand and am not offended, but early in the morning is not my strongest point. I would edit it to be write, but the edit button has disappeared and I can not edit my post to correct it. Next time I will type my words into a processor and hopefully the spell check will catch my errors as this thing never does.

[bbyrd009]

Originally Posted by Jay

Sadly, much of the mystism comes from the Asian countries and India, all of which have similar religions and beliefs about life, death, and the hereafter. Many who start to delve into the mystical eventually lose what they had with God, even if they never see it. That is the greatist danger of going outside of the Bible for truth. If Christianity is filled with false doctrines supposedly based on the Bible, what hope is there of finding truth outside of the Bible? It has not, can not, and will not ever happen. It is an impossability.

Happily, Life cannot be strangled by death, and anyone seeking God will surely find Him where they are. Do not be deceived that God has limited Himself to the Bible, or that mysticism originates outside your belief system; this is simply not true. I'm finding the recent/current Catholic mystics (I started my path a Baptist, ty God for deliverance) to be some of the most compelling reading ever. In history.

There are many, having had the Bible misrepresented at them, who come to God in different ways than your path, and you should know that many will participate in the Kingdom who have never uttered those words that you surely associate with "getting saved," or, for that matter, ever cracked a Bible. You want some scripture for that?

As for the bolded part--show me.
I'll answer that with Scripture, paraphrased, and as I gather you're a preacher? I hope you can hear it:

"If you lost It, you never had It anyway, and if you got It, you aren't going to lose It."

I hope this serves you. "Seek your own salvation, with fear and trembling" and see how laughable a single, unwitnessed Word is, in the context of God.
And just so it's clear, I own many of these other Books, and respect them, but I don't really read or refer to them. I am a Western Christian, for better or worse.
http://www.wikihow.com/Recognize-the...ristian-Models
do yourself a BIG favor, whoever you might be, and Understand the Fallacy of Death Centric Western Christian Models. Before you attempt, God forbid, to "witness" to a single other person.

"I am going to stick with what the Bible says. God has many attributes and has revealed Himself in many ways."

to quote you.

[bbyrd009]

Ok your testimony may easily not reflect a death centric view, ok? But please see how centric, how baked in this is in your Gov and other Reps, and many of your assumptions.
May this serve you well.
Happy New Year.

[bbyrd009]

ok, that's still not quite right--your testimony may not easily be completely creation centered, in western society; thus the exhortation to be in the world but not of it.