But what is the truth about experiencing God? I did a turn upside down overcome the Bible and found that neither the Ruler James nor the New Ruler James clone use the expression "incident God" at all. The English word "incident" appears three time in the New Ruler James and three time in the Ruler James. None of these scriptures consign to experiencing God in any way.
The demur of experiencing God is spartanly not based on the Bible. It finds its lucky in ancient occultic and pagan practices, and the modern diversion sloping world wherever the consequence is on experiences to the balance that many mood use any cremation, even narcotics and witchcraft, fair-minded to keep some gentle of an incident. The whole diversion commerce is built about the demur of giving populace an incident. Total shopping is alleged to be a carefree incident which, it seems, austerely the fairer sex are upright of enjoying.
State is fair-minded no scripture that enjoins us to incident God, or that Jesus died that we warrant keep an incident with (or of) God. Is God seeing that a movie or a area of interest synchronize or a bungee spring that has to be experienced? Is He the top thrill? I presumption to some populace He is fair-minded that. A currency in South Africa hand-me-down to run a full page, full color, classified ad in a in vogue magazine show the derri`ere of a curvaceous young girl clad in jeans. The stakeout words were blown up on the procure of the jeans: "You've tried it all, now try Jesus". No event the senior and founder of the currency was afire for combination adulteries.
Did Abraham, Moses, Paul or everybody exceedingly in the Bible "incident" God? What was the incident like? What did they elegance so the complete Him? No, none of these men (or any others) complete God. A few saw some aspect of Him and others heard him "speak" but none of the saints of the old or New Testaments "complete" Him. The close any one came to experiencing Him was John and the other disciples, who wrote "That which was from the beginning, which we keep heard, which we keep seen with our eyes, which we keep looked upon, and our hands keep handled..." (1John 1:1). But that was extraordinary to nation who saw Jesus in the flesh and even they did not "incident" Him in the mystic way which is now existence promoted.
If we were to incident Him, what would that incident elegance like? Is it seeing that the goose bumps we elegance so they seem the kingdom anthem or the hair standing running on our necks on an uncanny night? Or is it seeing that the incident of test a be real stripe seem a alert spin of music, or for some, the bagpipes or so the vessel affiliate hits nation low things that makes your very foundation reverberate? First-rate, it seems that at all incident some may handhold to keep, the world is authoritative to manufacture factually the exceptionally feelings, and even director.
How do we get to "incident God"? One bard says: "Heaps keep never had a person incident of God's attendance with images as the chief medium". So God's attendance is in pictures? Yea right! Others mood insist we can incident God overcome music, be in love with and meditation. None of these fabric keep any biblical ignoble. Can you see Jesus on the collection looking at a DVD so He could "incident" His Birth, or Paul attending a display Christian music functioning so he could "elegance" God?
And what are these experiences alleged to do? They are alleged to combination us. Wilson and Moore speak about "...the power of digital media to boon transformative experiences of God". First-rate, they keep that in part appropriate. These experiences are transformative and inconsistent. But for example the scriptures decide us to be changed in the field of the resemblance of Jesus (Rom 12:2), these experiences mood combination us in the field of the image of the world. And no, it is not God you incident in the functioning hall, at the brace or on a dark and hysterical night and it is not God you incident so looking at the lithe (recurrently imaginary) pictures of the PowerPoint presentation; neither is He in that remarkable minster with the powerful vessel affiliate. Oh, and was current not something about not making an image of God and worshipping it? (Exodus 20:4). (Corrupt, I forgot that was Old Testament - modern Christians are far to enjoyable to be be frightened by such ancient rules!)
Paul had this to say "we necessary not to think about that the Forecast Natural world is seeing that gold or silver or stone, something fashioned by art and man's devising" (Acts 17:29). This gentle of idolatry, for that is what it is, is factually what Paul had in scrutinize so he wrote about nation who, "Professing to be gentle... became fools, and misrepresented the turmoil of the incorruptible God in the field of an image..." (Romans 1:22,23).
Acclaim God, He can be frequent, heard and seen but not with natural purpose and not overcome the use of tackle and techniques. "The natural man does not admit the items of the Enthusiasm of God, for they are inanity to him; nor can he know them, when they are morally discerned." (1Cor 2:14). God is buried from natural eyes, ears and emotions. State is austerely one way to the Birth and that is overcome Jesus Christ. No service, multimedia dowry, picture, music or substitute can bring you in the field of His attendance - it is austerely by the storage place blood and broken association of His Son that we are authoritative to stratagem close to God. (Heb 10:19-22)
Gen 30:27, Ecc 8:5, 1Pet 5:9.
Gen 30:27, Ecc 1:16, Rom 5:4.
Len Wilson and Jason Moore. Help! My High priest Won't Train Tightly. Technologies for Devotion. October 2005. p15. (The convey deals with how to get the minister to allow the "media cleric" expert accredit to trip blue-collar emotions overcome the use of media)
