tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24378081.post5383902711526911790..comments2023-08-24T04:37:47.133-07:00Comments on Cost of Discipleship: What about the Holy Spirit?Ρωμανός ~ Romanóshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00212143017939554092noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24378081.post-26183973979116970772015-02-06T06:52:45.215-08:002015-02-06T06:52:45.215-08:00Yes, even without teaching occult or overtly heret...Yes, even without teaching occult or overtly heretical ideas (pantheism, reincarnation, etc.), the premise is entirely wrong, and it could lead others right into the hands of the evil one, who likes to play prophet with any spiritual idiot (ancient meaning of this word implies 'my own') he can find.<br /><br />There is a genre of Christian literature that has been around since apostolic times wherein the author writes, often in the form of dialog, the words of Jesus. Probably the best known book written this way is <i>The Imitation of Christ</i> by the Dutch monastic Thomas à Kempis.<br /><br />There is never even a hint that the dialog is anything but a construction based on the Bible, and in my edition of that book, it is copiously footnoted with the Bible references. This is done both for dramatic effect and also to teach the Bible in the context of daily life, that is, how to apply it.<br /><br />Many authors of all Christian affiliations have written this way, including myself, for example, in my <i>Eyewitnesses</i> stories, and without having to say it explicitly, their writings are understood to be dramatic, literary, or metaphorical presentations. The presentation is fiction, but the truth conveyed is not, and the author makes no claims to be anyone special.<br /><br />'Danger! Danger!' the Spirit siren sounds, when He is being traduced and masqueraded by the likes of an Immanuel Swedenborg, or Mary Baker Eddy, or infallible Roman pope. We have no one to blame but ourselves if we don't heed His alarm and get swept away along with our sand-anchored house.<br /><br />'He who listens to My words' says the Lord Jesus, 'and follows them,' well, you know the rest. Not religious yarns and gossip, but the holy gospel, is what upholds and saves the world. 'Gossips are never interested in the truth' (http://eye-witnesses.blogspot.com/2012/08/now-i-know-for-sure.html).<br /><br />Thanks, brother, for this discussion. Ρωμανός ~ Romanóshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00212143017939554092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24378081.post-11343880782113524912015-02-06T04:00:06.798-08:002015-02-06T04:00:06.798-08:00Thank you. Jesus Calling perhaps the best-selling ...Thank you. <i>Jesus Calling</i> perhaps the best-selling "Christian" book outside the Bible in the past two years. It's the writings of a lady who says Jesus spoke them to her day by day. It doesn't seem to be teaching occultism, but I believe the whole premise is wrong. If the Lord is speaking to her, he's not giving new almost-but-not-quite-scripture to be published for everyone. Jim Swindlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13632113399696237695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24378081.post-34097090179502123812015-02-04T21:59:35.979-08:002015-02-04T21:59:35.979-08:00Yes, brother, I unreservedly agree with your comme...Yes, brother, I unreservedly agree with your comments in both paragraphs. I am rather a recluse when it comes to watching what new books are published, especially Christian ones, so I've never heard of <i>Jesus Calling</i>, but from what you've hinted at, it must be of the genre of spiritual counterfeits literature, the likes of Jeanne Dixon, or Edgar Cayce, both of whom started out as Christians (one Catholic, the other Disciples of Christ), but ended up trusting in 'spirits' rather than the Holy Spirit.<br /><br />Forgive me, but in my aged and decrepit state, I am very short on patience with anyone claiming new revelations or mystical knowledge of what Jesus was doing when the Bible doesn't tell us.<br /><br />I may not be a fundamentalist, as they are called, but I believe the Holy Bible is more than enough resource material for every good purpose: instruction, guidance, and revelation. And I believe what holy apostle John says, 'If anybody does not keep within the teaching of Christ but goes beyond it, he<br />cannot have God with him: only those who keep to what He taught can have<br />the Father and the Son with them' (2 John 1:9).<br /><br />Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and any other so-called prophets reveal nothing except the depth of depravity a man can descend to, when he abandons the fear of God, and takes it upon himself to speak as no one but Jesus Christ has authority to speak.<br /><br />Thanks as always, brother, for your comments.Ρωμανός ~ Romanóshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00212143017939554092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24378081.post-33656840540918937822015-02-04T19:38:12.587-08:002015-02-04T19:38:12.587-08:00You've spoken a lot of wisdom in this post. Th...You've spoken a lot of wisdom in this post. There have been a few times when I thought the Spirit spoke directly to me. I don't think that's because I'm extra-holy; maybe because I've been extra-stubborn. Whenever we think he or another spirit has spoken directly to us, we need to "test the spirits." We need to see whether what we think we heard matches with the scriptures and with the church. We will, of course, see in retrospect whether we interpreted any predictive messages correctly. <br /><br />I'm disturbed by the "Jesus Calling" mentality. Any new book that claims to be the very words of Jesus, or of God, is either scripture or is not. I believe the Lord can speak directly to someone, but I believe he WON'T speak hundreds of direct, word-by-word messages to someone who's supposed to have them published in a non-scripture book for distribution to people all over the world. Thus, I conclude that such books as <i>Jesus Calling</i> are a fraud. The human author may be sincere, but the messages can be safely ignored.Jim Swindlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13632113399696237695noreply@blogger.com