Recovering H,

Roger. Will wait for any further questions for you. I bumped it because I was afraid I left you with some open ended questions. Did not want to do that.

CHackler,

How about my homework assignment? Are you going to stretch and try the television fast? Very interested to hear how that goes.

NCWalker

ncw: Looking back over the three posts, I can at least make sense of them now. Not that I think that I could actually carry on a conversation about them though.

First post analogy was understandable, 2nd post about the fruits was not as smooth flowing and understandable to me, but I think the 3rd post kind of brought them both together. I must be a little thick the last couple of days.

Thanks Professor Fish <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

RH

Dear sweet RH!

You are NOT thick (in the head <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="images/icons/wink.gif" /> )....you are one of the brightest people I know, ok? You aren't used to the lingo, if you want to call it that, and as much as I think about spiritual things, as much as I've gone to Bible studies and read on my own, this stuff he's talking about still sounds foreign to me! It's very different from how we were brought up and it sounds so radical, and that doesn't mean it's all hogswash, but you can't expect to understand it right away, and even after you think you understand it, you might not agree with it anyway....and....well, I'm rambling.

I love you, Mr. Onlywords!

Julie

Recovering H,

Listen to your wife, she is right on.

Let me quote the song again:

It's just a Spirit thing, it's like a holy nudge,
It's like a circuit judge in the brain.

It's just a Spirit thing, it's here to guide my heart,
IT'S JUST A LITTLE HARD TO EXPLAIN

I can only tell you what it is LIKE. You have to experience it to know what it IS. (Just like pretty much everything in life <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" /> )

I CAN tell you that it is REAL, or real to me.

I CAN tell you that it has, bar none, made the HUGEST difference in my life.

Onlywords,

Hogwash? HOGWASH? Well I'll show YOU hogwash li'l lady!! ROFL. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

I too was once a doubter. But you got me one better, I was actively rejecting the idea and poor RAP was being driven nuts. And look at me now! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" /> You are being opened minded. MUCH more mature than I was.

You guys are both great and you need to believe however you want to. Hear that? Want. You need to believe how you are LED to believe. If you are afraid or uncomfortable, at least give it a chance. Have RH show is friend my posts and get his take. If and when you choose to experience the presence, it WILL be as real for you as it is for me. And I am a logical man of science, remember?

Enough beating you about the head and shoulders. I'll like you two no matter what. Just don't want you to miss out on something great.

NCWalker

Okay, here is what I did. I invited the holy spirit into my life. I prayed for comfort and guidance. Then it happened WHAM. It was not gradual, it was sudden.

I had been an alcoholic, and smoker. Overnight I quit both. I had no desire anymore. No one that knew me in my partying days could believe it.

I was sober and a non smoker for 12 years, until D-day. Then Satan got the better of me. But not for long. I have reinvited the Spirit into my life, and fully expect things to change rapidly.

Jiminy Crickets! NOW who is the THICK one. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="images/icons/rolleyes.gif" />

believer,

Here I am spending all this time on what it is and didn't even tell them how I did it...

And you come along and just lay it on out.

My "fire baptism" was just like believer's. I invited the Spirit in. At the same time, I was also accepting JC as my Savior. Did both at once. And it WAS like this Wham! I mean I didn't fall over and pass out or anything, but I could FEEL it. It was much more than a "feeling." It was a "something."

I know plenty of people that the Spirit EASED into, though. I haven't seen a formula. It is different from person to person.

I have some theories on the phenomena (science part of me talking now) and they are reasonable. I just can't prove it to you.

One thing though, RAP and her friends were PRAYING PRAYING PRAYING for me to receive. Probably had something to do with it.

I do know that the "infilling of the Spirit" is truly becoming a movement. Have now heard of Spirit filled Catholics! (Had to roll grandma back over in the grave again <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" /> )

NCWalker

BTW,

I am getting a bit steamed here. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="images/icons/mad.gif" />

Here I give CHackler this neat idea for a one week TV fast as a homework assignment and she doesn't even ACKNOWLEDGE me. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="images/icons/wink.gif" /> I mean, not even a "What are you NCW, some kind of lunatic?" Or even a "What a neat idea, we are trying it next week."

Will someone step up to the plate and try that? I guarantee you will be pleased with the results. Give us the testimony when you are done.

NCW

NC -

No TV for a week? Maybe just the thought of it made chackler's migraine worse. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" />

No tv???? Ugh, I feel my blood racing and my heart pounding, ahhhhhh - I think I am having a heart attack.

Sorry about not doing my homework NC. The headache knocked me on my butt for 4 1/2 days and my work sent me to one of their outside branches to get them in order. My drive home has been a lot longer.

Good news though, I might be able to transfer out here which would remove me from the place where the A happened. I mean we didn't work together but everything happened at work. This would be a new start! I'm so very excited!!

NC, without having to re-read everything can you give me my homework assignment again?

I know, I am a terrible student!

CH,

I was talking about idolatry. How immoderate attachment to something gets in the way of attachment to God.

Here is a cut & paste from above
====================================
I know I have been going on a bit here, but let me say one more thing. A warning, really. A warning about the insidiousness of the enemy. I will pull a piece from the quote above and repeat it here:
quote:

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Galatians 5
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Obviously a list of what NOT to do. But I want you to consider idolatry. What exactly is idolatry? You ought to do a study on idolatry. We tend to think of people dancing before the golden calf in the old “Ten Commandments” flick or perhaps leis and grass skirts and a Hawaiian Tiki god. Here is the definition from Webster’s

Main Entry: idol•a•try
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -tries
1 : the worship of a physical object as a god
2 : immoderate attachment or devotion to something

Take a look at definition 2 REAL close. Then ask yourself, CHackler? What are YOUR idols? What do YOU choose over time with God?
- How about this board?
- How about television?
- Books?
- Video games?
When you ESCAPE, where do you ESCAPE? Be very careful about your idols. I’m not saying live like a hermit, I am saying be AWARE of what your idols are.

Try something for me, and tell me how it goes. I want you to go on a television fast for ONE WEEK. Get your family on board. Explain to them about idolatry and say you want to try something for only ONE WEEK. Then UNPLUG the TVs and put them in the garage. REMOVE the temptation to vegetate. Leaving them off is not good enough, the temptation to watch for just a bit is strong. Years ago, I got MOST of my church to do this in the same week. It was amazing. You would not believe how much time you devote to the “one-eyed demon” and how much time it takes away from each other until you try this.

Throw a Frisbee. Take a walk. Play cards or a board game. Work on a puzzle. Talk to each other. Replace that idol with your family. Try it for one week and let me know what happens. I’ll smack you with another fish if you don’t.
====================================
End of cut and paste.

Homework assignment is to get your family together and agree to NO TV, ABSOLUTELY NONE, for ONE WEEK. Then come back and tell us what you did and what it was like.

NCW

PS - the fish is in the freezer, so watch out. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />