Evidence for God from Science

Nice post Melanie - and welcome to the board.

Your post resonates with me Mel, thank you for posting.

Welcome here. And i also am the type who likes silence and not yelling.

Thankyou for your warm welcome's.
I was concerned about posting it as I thought it may offend and even though I am passionate about speaking the God inspired truth it is never my intention to offend anyone but sometimes when we speak the truth this outcome is inevitable but never an outcome I desire, so I am pleasantly surprised and grateful for your feedback.

melanie wrote:Thankyou for your warm welcome's.
I was concerned about posting it as I thought it may offend and even though I am passionate about speaking the God inspired truth it is never my intention to offend anyone but sometimes when we speak the truth this outcome is inevitable but never an outcome I desire, so I am pleasantly surprised and grateful for your feedback.

I do not think anyone would be offend by what you stated concerning your experience because it mirrors many others experiences as well too. What you said provides a great example of misusing the grace of God for showmanship and shake down for funds. Hype sells. Just know not to toss out the baby with the bath water. In fact 1 Co 13:1,2,3 speaks of this very thing and the reason for it and have a nice day...
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BW, your post was like:

td, td, tdd, tdd, td, td and have a nice day...

Haha c'mon B.W Perhaps the millions of Pentecostals may be offended or even perhaps the people who posted on here who were stating their support of speaking in tongues or the 37% of people who took the poll and have spoken in tongues indicating a very strong possibility they are Pentecostal?? I was very aware of this and sincerely did not want to offend. Your a swell kinda guy, I can tell we are going to get along great, I will replace my warmth with your Ice should make a nice balance. And I had a wonderful day thankyou, I am a very positive person, which in turn creates positive experiences.

1over137 wrote:BW, your post was like:

td, td, tdd, tdd, td, td and have a nice day...

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I grew up in a Pentecostal Charismatic church. You can always tell what type of church you're in by looking under the seats in the front row. If there's a stack of sheets next to the tissues, then rest assured- you are in a tongues speaking, spirit slaying church. I have recently addressed these topics in the latest episode of my podcast.

I no longer practice these things, but only did when I was a kid because I felt less holy if I didn't have tongues and slain experiences. It's been a really painful thing to admit, but it's true. I never spoke in tongues, but was coached to sort of "fake it til you make it" and then told that I was "filled with the Holy Spirit" when I was clearly just better at it because I'd been practicing. Folks in my church even went so far as to say that if you weren't "spirit filled", you weren't a "mature" Christian. Years later it donned on me that we are all "spirit filled" when we fall before God and repent, then accept His atonement through faith. No tongues needed.

I'm glad that I didn't lose my faith after all those years in the Charismatic movement, and I think God really used some things in it to help me, but it has caused a lot of damage I think inside of me. For instance, because of my upbringing, it's really hard for me to not not base my faith on how I feel. It was always about having an experience and "feeling" God before. While I think there are times when we probably do "feel" something, I'm so used to having to "feel" God that I look for it and am disappointed when I don't find it. I know in my mind that this isn't the right way to be, but it's a really hard habit to break. (It's taking me years)

Anyway, I'm trying more and more to be biblically sound. I've been clashing with relatives on charismatic doctrine recently and can usually "win" a debate with them using the Bible, but it's no use. Years of tradition have calloused their reason and I think that, because they've been doing it so long, it would be embarrassing to admit that JUST MAYBE some of these experiences were works of the flesh and not God.

Rob wrote:I grew up in a Pentecostal Charismatic church. You can always tell what type of church you're in by looking under the seats in the front row. If there's a stack of sheets next to the tissues, then rest assured- you are in a tongues speaking, spirit slaying church. I have recently addressed these topics in the latest episode of my podcast.

I no longer practice these things, but only did when I was a kid because I felt less holy if I didn't have tongues and slain experiences. It's been a really painful thing to admit, but it's true. I never spoke in tongues, but was coached to sort of "fake it til you make it" and then told that I was "filled with the Holy Spirit" when I was clearly just better at it because I'd been practicing. Folks in my church even went so far as to say that if you weren't "spirit filled", you weren't a "mature" Christian. Years later it donned on me that we are all "spirit filled" when we fall before God and repent, then accept His atonement through faith. No tongues needed.

I'm glad that I didn't lose my faith after all those years in the Charismatic movement, and I think God really used some things in it to help me, but it has caused a lot of damage I think inside of me. For instance, because of my upbringing, it's really hard for me to not not base my faith on how I feel. It was always about having an experience and "feeling" God before. While I think there are times when we probably do "feel" something, I'm so used to having to "feel" God that I look for it and am disappointed when I don't find it. I know in my mind that this isn't the right way to be, but it's a really hard habit to break. (It's taking me years)

Anyway, I'm trying more and more to be biblically sound. I've been clashing with relatives on charismatic doctrine recently and can usually "win" a debate with them using the Bible, but it's no use. Years of tradition have calloused their reason and I think that, because they've been doing it so long, it would be embarrassing to admit that JUST MAYBE some of these experiences were works of the flesh and not God.

Great post Rob.

I believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit however I believe the gifts are very rarely used properly in the church there is only one church I ever attended where I felt they were used properly but it would be better to not use them until they are used properly but I don't see how a person can believe the bible and reject the gifts of the Holy Spirit.I certainly do not believe they died out when the apostles died.I still prefer the Pentecostal church though over others because I like the liveliness myself but I actually think we need alittle of what all true Christian denominations teach and so I'm not like someone who is closed off to other denominations as long as they are biblical.I see strengths and weaknesses in them all.

Rob wrote:I grew up in a Pentecostal Charismatic church. You can always tell what type of church you're in by looking under the seats in the front row. If there's a stack of sheets next to the tissues, then rest assured- you are in a tongues speaking, spirit slaying church. I have recently addressed these topics in the latest episode of my podcast.

I no longer practice these things, but only did when I was a kid because I felt less holy if I didn't have tongues and slain experiences. It's been a really painful thing to admit, but it's true. I never spoke in tongues, but was coached to sort of "fake it til you make it" and then told that I was "filled with the Holy Spirit" when I was clearly just better at it because I'd been practicing. Folks in my church even went so far as to say that if you weren't "spirit filled", you weren't a "mature" Christian. Years later it donned on me that we are all "spirit filled" when we fall before God and repent, then accept His atonement through faith. No tongues needed.

I'm glad that I didn't lose my faith after all those years in the Charismatic movement, and I think God really used some things in it to help me, but it has caused a lot of damage I think inside of me. For instance, because of my upbringing, it's really hard for me to not not base my faith on how I feel. It was always about having an experience and "feeling" God before. While I think there are times when we probably do "feel" something, I'm so used to having to "feel" God that I look for it and am disappointed when I don't find it. I know in my mind that this isn't the right way to be, but it's a really hard habit to break. (It's taking me years)

Anyway, I'm trying more and more to be biblically sound. I've been clashing with relatives on charismatic doctrine recently and can usually "win" a debate with them using the Bible, but it's no use. Years of tradition have calloused their reason and I think that, because they've been doing it so long, it would be embarrassing to admit that JUST MAYBE some of these experiences were works of the flesh and not God.

When one looks into the history of the Amercia style church from 1900 thru till the 19980's. You will discover how around the 1940-1950 era, the healing revivalist brought showmanship pride into the church and those healing times ended. After that, 1960-1970's you have the Word of Faith movement come in with its bible magic lamp approach with a jesus genie to do thy bidding. Each of these influenced and corrupted the charismatic and Pentecostal movements.

Much of what Rob and others wrote expresses this. It is a form of pride that crept into the church cemented to a desire to control outcomes along with a hefty unbalanced human need for attention which polluted and hinders what God wants to do. We all have a need to watch that in ourselves and not toss out the baby with the bath water.
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The love doth never fail; and whether there be prophecies, they shall become useless; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it shall become useless;

zacchaeus wrote:The love doth never fail; and whether there be prophecies, they shall become useless; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it shall become useless;

WE still need to talk and our tongues to form words and yes, we still have need of knowledge so guess they have not ceased...
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for in part we know, and in part we prophecy; 10and when that which is perfect may come, then that which [is] in part shall become useless.