Isaiah 55:8 (KJV)

Isaiah 55:8 (KJV)
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD."

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Both Sides of the Coin –The Problem of Believing in Miracles

I stumbled across this video today - Jesus Culture: Mickey Mouse Miracles are no Miracles at all- (beginning at 15:43).  The first part of the video I did not find particularly special, however I did have a deep emotional response to the Will Gray Video.  I mourn along with Angie, Will’s widow, and feel a tremendous amount of empathy for the pain she has experienced.   In case it is not apparent from the title of the video, Bezel333 is contrasting the sickness and subsequent death of Will Gray with the inconsequential miracles of healing allegedly coming out of Jesus Culture.

As far as miracles and the supernatural are concerned I always wonder about Jesus’ apparent lack of patience in the story of the demon-possessed child when he was told his disciples failed to cast out the demon. (Matthew 17:16-17; Mark 9:18; Luke 9:40)  Is Jesus really frustrated because his disciples could not cast out a demon?  I hope to understand exactly what is going on here.  One point Jesus makes and is particularly highlighted in Luke’s account is about how he would soon be betrayed.  (Luke 9:43,44)  Yet in the other two accounts the disciples ask him privately why they could not cast it out.  They are told it is because of their unbelief in Matthew’s account in addition to the need for prayer and or fasting also mentioned in Marks account. (Matthew 17:20,21; Mark 9:28,29)

Elsewhere Bezel333 mentions how the miracles are inconsequential compared to the ones we read about in the New Testament Scriptures.  However, to be fair most of the healings Jesus and his disciples performed were inconsequential to the writers of the New Testament Gospels.  By this I mean very few were actually detailed, the rest were mentioned only in passing. 

That being said, I sympathize with the overall point Bezel333 is making.  I have had contact with people associated with Bethel's School of Supernatural Ministry and International House of Prayer.  I have personally been troubled in the presence of “glory-tunnels”, guided visions, uncontrolled laughter for no apparent reason, and inconsequential so-called miracles of healing.   In fact this reminded me of a book review I wrote in 2011 related to this topic. 


Free-FallingFree-Falling by Chuck Parry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An Interesting read. Some incredible stories to ponder! Free-Falling is painfully optimistic. Surely in keeping with an intended purpose for the book, to highlight the miraculous wonderful aspects of a life lived following Jesus, Chuck seems to have it so easy. It is as if Chuck is always in the right place at the right time. Painful for someone such as myself that rarely experiences this. Feeling as if I'm usually at the wrong place at the wrong time and things don't seem to work out well. I believe in the miraculous and I want to have a real faith that God is in charge and believe for Him to come through and be magnified. However, there is also a lot to be said for the struggles, the hurts or pains, disappointments, tribulation, and persecution of a life lived following Jesus. Being able to bear it without giving up or completely losing heart is ever bit as miraculous as the "good" experiences we encounter. I think me not having a firm grasp on both sides of the coin has caused me to lose heart many times which in turn caused me to backslide or try to satisfy myself outside of God's will. Therefore, I am jealous that my story doesn't read as a continual tale from glory to glory to glory.

That being said, I was present for many of the events detailed in Free-Falling, regarding the Rainbow Gathering. I can attest to witnessing several of the events described. My take on a couple of these events was very different, however. Particularly, the 2009 New Mexico gathering (pg 185-189). I was there for the worship circle and saw John after he was healed. I was even there when someone else videotaped him testifying about the healing. (I asked them to send me a copy but they never did). All that seemed really awesome however I was deeply troubled in my spirit with the events involving Jason. I was impressed by his personality, I believe he is one of those "prophetic ministry type" coming out of Kansas City perhaps. Nevertheless, I felt a deep troubling unrest when he led a "guided vision" tour of heaven (pg 189) Of course it was one of those times that I wondered what was wrong with me since all these other Christians there were on board with this. However, I have since found out that I am not alone in this. It is seen by other Christians as not a legitimate Christian practice and is instead regarded as straight from esoteric (occult) or "New Age" practices. The other thing that really bothered me was Jason's "leg lengthening" practice. This had all the appearance and reality of a cheap parlor trick. The way Jason held the legs, it was an optical illusion. I don't know why the Living God would resort to such ridiculous manifestations.

View all my reviews

Monday, March 17, 2014

"Personality Disorder"

When I presented my step one on 4-2-2013, the one criticism (if I could call it that) I received, was in my using the term “Personality Disorder”.  A guy took exception, and told me that he was tracking with me until I referred to my “personality disorder”.  It actually was in the form of a compliment because he was basically saying someone with a personality disorder would not have the kind of clarity or perspective into oneself that I was evidencing by my summary.  When he first raised the question about my use of the term I asked if “personality disorder” was a technical term I was not allowed to use.  I told him I did not mean it in a technical sense.  I had never looked into “personality disorders” in the technical sense.  I have been fond of taking all sorts of assessments for personality “type indicators” which generally put personality differences in a positive light so to speak.  If there is any criticism or negative aspects of a personality it is sandwiched between all the compliments and usually takes the form of “if you want to be different” type advise on how to improve some of ones weaknesses.  While I was working step five I wrote a counseling center and was trying to ask a generic question about how they conduct the psychological intake in dealing with a condition they call “Intimacy Anorexia” because they are dealing in a field of “treatment” for a “disorder” that is not widely accepted and therefore isn't included in the DSM-5.  To formulate my question I gave a brief summary of myself.  What was interesting and somewhat confusing was the response she gave did not answer the question I was asking,  Instead of telling me how they go about diagnosing Intimacy Anorexia, she suggested based off very limited information about me, that perhaps I had Schizoid Personality Disorder.  This got me wondering why the disparity.  How could one person with basically the same limited information about me, so readily say I could not have a personality disorder and another so easily give me a diagnosis of sorts of a personality disorder.  So I found this self test online.  Of course it is a free self test found online, so like every other assessment I have ever taken, I do not know that it proves anything.*  Nevertheless it is kind of fun.  Take it yourself, if you dare.  And as always feel free to leave me a comment.

My results:
Disorder Rating
Paranoid Personality Disorder: Moderate
Schizoid Personality Disorder: Moderate
Schizotypal Personality Disorder: High
Antisocial Personality Disorder: Moderate
Borderline Personality Disorder: Moderate
Histrionic Personality Disorder: Low
Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Moderate
Avoidant Personality Disorder: High
Dependent Personality Disorder: High
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: High

-- Take the Personality Disorder Test --
-- Personality Disorder Info --

(*and of course comes with the disclaimer that only a trained professional can actually diagnose a personality disorder.)

Saturday, March 15, 2014

“The Invitation” AKA “The Altar Call”


This cracks me up every time I watch it.  That sigh at the end says it all. 

The reason I was looking up the altar call today is because I went to a conference this weekend that employed a form of the altar call.  It wasn’t for salvation per se rather repentance for sexual sin of various kinds.  It seemed to be assumed that the people responding were already Christians.  The first invitation went out specifically to “a leader in Christian ministry that is involved in inappropriate sexual perversion.”  Of course I want people to come clean and not walk in darkness and I do not want to discount the genuineness of those that responded to such an invitation.  However, it reminded me how unmoved I am by these things personally now.  As I mentioned in the post He was Speaking to ME about My Ways, I am bothered by the method such as using the mood music to accompany the work God is allegedly doing.  I was wondering where this started.  I did a search "mood music for altar calls" and I read several articles against these practices for theological reasons.  Such as "Why We Don't Use the Altar Call", "Where's the altar call", or "The Anatomy of the altar call, anonymity is key".

There was a time I was excited about the altar call.  I wanted to celebrate every decision for Christ no matter what human method was used. I believed God could use it for his purpose.  I then began to be bothered by the unbiblical or misused scriptures such as “accept Jesus into your heart”.  I wanted to celebrate that these people were moved by the message but I worried about what they were actually getting when they raised their hands and went forward.  Now it all seems so cheap and hokey to me.  It seems to do a disservice.
I don’t want to be cold and unemotional and entirely discount both the speaker for employing such human methods and the hearer for responding.  I don’t want to sit there all smug as if I know it takes more then a emotional appeal and soft music playing in the background to live out the Christian life.  I do want to be able to rightly evaluate what is taking place whether or not it is a problem with me or a problem with the method that causes this turmoil within me.
What is your experience with the “altar call” type approach?