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Good question/ for clarity ---- what is "mystical" for this thread.What experiences in Christianity do you consider "mystical?"
Mystical can be anything that seems "supernatural" in nature. I am not looking for labels here, I want people to post in their own words what their experience was like.Good question/ for clarity ---- what is "mystical" for this thread.
Most experiences of most people world wide are of demons, so as noted earlier, it is best to avoid them and to know , if the experiences happen where they come from, or just to ignore them simply, when they are not from Yahweh.
Lately, I've begun to think slightly differently. The purpose of miracles and mystical experiences is to convey guidance. It is the meaning of the experience that determines its value. The experiences usually aren't designed to prove the existence of God (or whatever); they are designed to communicate information to a specific person or group.this is a really important principle. we must be able to rule out when something is truly of God and not just in our minds.
Yahweh does not say to respect things of the world, especially of he enemy (mystical events of the devil)Mystical can be anything that seems "supernatural" in nature. I am not looking for labels here, I want people to post in their own words what their experience was like.
Let me be clear to everyone, this thread is not to judge or label anything, it is to listen and discuss. If you can not handle that, then this thread is not for you. If you feel, at anytime, like you must label someone's experience or judge the experience in any way, then this thread is not for you and I ask politely that you do not respond and cause turmoil. please respect what others post here.
Yahweh does not say to respect things of the world, especially of he enemy (mystical events of the devil)
but to test everything,
but as this is the kitchen sink, and not a Christian part of the forum,
and I guess under forum site rules, there's not much choice, eh.....
please stay on topic, if you wish to discuss why I have that under my name, my inbox is open."punish the darkness" ?? (under username)
Why not SHINE THE LIGHT to bring people out of the darkness, who-so-ever is willing ?
whoa, that's intenseHere is another experience that fits the typical Christian mode.
About 25 years ago, I was hoping for some confirmation that God exists. I had grown-up as a Christian, but I had mostly lost my faith about 5 years earlier in college.
Each week I visited a different church. I went into a non-denominational church that was renting space in a strip mall. There were lots of empty chairs, so I picked an empty row. A few minutes later, a guy came in and sat in the chair beside me - even though 90% of the chairs were empty. That made me uncomfortable, but I didn't want to be rude and move away. The service wasn't very memorable.
At the end of the service this guy beside me followed me out the door to the parking lot. He said that he had never been to this church, but the Holy Spirit told him to go to there and pray for me. He seemed to know my issues which was a little uncanny, and he implored me to let him pray for me.
The whole thing made me uncomfortable, so I didn't let him pray for me, and I hurried across the parking lot and drove home LOL. But in retrospect, I suspect that this guy was being led by the Holy Spirit, and I may have missed an opportunity. IDK
Here is another experience that fits the typical Christian mode.
About 25 years ago, I was hoping for some confirmation that God exists. I had grown-up as a Christian, but I had mostly lost my faith about 5 years earlier in college.
Each week I visited a different church. I went into a non-denominational church that was renting space in a strip mall. There were lots of empty chairs, so I picked an empty row. A few minutes later, a guy came in and sat in the chair beside me - even though 90% of the chairs were empty. That made me uncomfortable, but I didn't want to be rude and move away. The service wasn't very memorable.
At the end of the service this guy beside me followed me out the door to the parking lot. He said that he had never been to this church, but the Holy Spirit told him to go to there and pray for me. He seemed to know my issues which was a little uncanny, and he implored me to let him pray for me.
The whole thing made me uncomfortable, so I didn't let him pray for me, and I hurried across the parking lot and drove home LOL. But in retrospect, I suspect that this guy was being led by the Holy Spirit, and I may have missed an opportunity. IDK
Yeah, I suspect that I should have allowed that guy to pray for me (assuming we actually have freewill - maybe I did the only thing that I could do).Have you ever seriously considered maybe he was right?
Someone who has the types of spiritual experiences you have ,and yet resists their obvious meaning, is in need of prayer and guidance.
I wasn't aware that Episcopal churches had healing services. I grew up in the Episcopal church, but that was 1970s. That is a neat experience - especially that the woman was cured.I had an experience once that was sort of like that, but ended differently:
One time years ago I was going through a dark period. I just came out of the Orthodox church and I went to an Episcopal Church a few weeks ,and an elderly woman came up to me during coffee hour and gave me a book, the Ragamuffin Gospel, by Brennan Manning. She told me I needed to read it.
We became friends and we sat together during church. This older, middle aged woman also talked about her devotion to the virgin Mary, which was also something I could identify with due to my background. I found out this woman had been homeless alot, she had cancer and used a walker, and I encouraged her to go to the healing service.
She went to the healing service one week as I saw her there, and a few weeks later she was no longer using the walker and she said her cancer was gone. Then she got involved in the cathedral's homeless ministry. But I lost track of her as she started going to a different service time and she just as quickly was out of my life.
I have had more of these types of experiences in Episcopal and Lutheran churches than I ever did in the Orthodox church. In fact I can't recall anything like that in the Orthodox Church happening. Orthodox like to believe they have some kind of unique relationship to God, but it just isn't confirmed in my experience.
I wouldn't worry too much about that. Frankly, if he wanted to pray for you, he could -- and probably did. Nothing is stopping us from praying for anyone.Yeah, I suspect that I should have allowed that guy to pray for me (assuming we actually have freewill - maybe I did the only thing that I could do).
Most experiences I have had that I would consider mystical have beenI wanted this thread to be a place where people of all faiths speak about their various kinds of mystical experiences. mostly, I am curious to see what others experience outside of the Christian faith but Christian experiences are welcome too. Please limit your responses to ONLY mystical experiences and discussions about said experiences. I'm not looking for this to be a debate but more of a discussion.
Supernatural is also welcome here. I would like to hear some of your stories as well, sounds interesting.Most experiences I have had that I would consider mystical have been
synchronistic in nature. While coincidences happen all the time, when they
involve things which have personal meaning to the observer, that’s the part
that gives me pause and places them firmly into the supernatural category.
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But I don't think the meaning is necessarily obvious. There are lots of reasons to be skeptical of Christianity and the Judaism that spawned it. I wonder if there is a generic God who uses Christianity as a sock puppet to reach people in Christian cultures while using Islam for people in Islamic cultures and Hinduism for people in Hindu cultures etc.
Also there are more weird experiences in my life besides these I've described. For my psychological health it seems that I need to keep some distance from them.
Honestly, just remembering these two made me start feeling shaky and drained and depressed. I keep these memories at a distance by trying to be a critical-thinking atheist, but I know I am not facing-up to all the data.
I wasn't aware that Episcopal churches had healing services. I grew up in the Episcopal church, but that was 1970s. That is a neat experience - especially that the woman was cured.
Why do you think Christians are so reluctant to discuss these types of experiences? Maybe they make people uncomfortable just as my own experiences make me uncomfortable?
every church has different views on it. frankly, any church that is against things of this nature, I am against. Jesus put it plainly, only a Pharisaical heart rejects these things and prevents others from experiencing those things as well.(Matthew 23:13) The church needs to be careful when dealing with spiritual things, it's not just about shunning the evil things so that we walk in truth, its also about accepting the good spiritual experiences and not judging God when he gives them. the moment we do, we operate in hypocrisy, to which Jesus issued a strong woe against. I think many have fallen into this same hypocrisy and have forgotten where they came from.Why do you think Christians are so reluctant to discuss these types of experiences? Maybe they make people uncomfortable just as my own experiences make me uncomfortable?
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