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Critical assessment of miracles
Critical assessment of miracles
Explaining and defining miracles
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Seeing eight of my brothers and sisters super excited made me disappointed about myself. I remeber those days when my elders were coming home with smiles on their faces which made me cry, I was really happy for them and was wishing I could share their happiness as well but, I could not. I did not had what they had. I didnt even know what it was, that they are really happy about. Finally I asked them why they were so happy about and they told me they got a gift from God himself. I couldn’t understand how that was possible. I wanted to be happy too so I just wished that I will receive that gift from God as well.
In the beginning of November 2011, my sunday school teacher Yuriy prepared a lesson for us students about Holy Spirit. He also explained that Holy Spirit is a gift from God. Also, he explained that Holy Spirit, is a gift we do not deserve, but its a free gift from God to us “As it says in the Bible that is why everyone must have it.”After that lesson I understood why my sibling were so happy about and where that strength came from. My friends and I came up to Yuriy and explained: “We really want to get that amazing gift from God, what do we have to do?” He replied “Pastors are the ones that can help you with that, come up to them and tell them everything that you just told me.” My friend and I were really excited while coming up to the pastors, but we did not know that a dissapointment was waiting for us.
The pastors tried really hard to be nice, while rejecting our wish, we were too young to get it. They probably thought that after we get it, we won’t be able to keep it, and would lose it. We left them really disappointed and really mad at ourselves for thinking we could ever get it, at first so many thoughts came, for exam...
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...rned that my cousin and her friends in South Carolina got Holy Spirit too, on the same day as we did. I was really surprised because they didn’t know we would get it, and we didn't know they wanted to get it too.March 22, 2013 came up, and five more people got it too.
We were really blessed and happy that we teenagers were not missed and got the gift from God too. Our prayers came true, even though we had some obstacles at the first try. But mostly of all I learned a lesson: Never give up on something you want, don’t feel unloved because God so love ALL the people he gave his only son, to be crucified on the cross. Everybody who wishes and has that desire to get that special gift from God. We finished that prayer thanking God that: Ivan, Natasha, Olga K., Olga T, Ilia, Yevgeniy, Angelina, Max, Maria, Vadim, Inna,Natasha S., Alina and I got the Best gift from God.
In the film “The Holy Ghost People,” right away we get individual accounts of what the “Holy Spirit” is to certain individuals. One woman says the Holy Ghost guides her and keeps her going. The people are very intense about their beliefs, which comes from the religion Pentecostalism, which has a hyper focus on personal experience with God and baptism with the Holy Spirit. We see them in their church, we hear the sermon, and see the ritualistic dances and the way the prayer overcomes them, and causes seizure like motions. We see and hear the prayers for the healing of one woman’s eyesight, and another woman’s back pain. One man, seemingly the pastor, says that “if God is not doing what they ask, people aren’t believing hard enough.” Later we get an account from a woman of how she was nursed back to health as a little girl brought her nutrients, and she believes it was
After seeing though the eyes of my pastor I’ve come to realize the importance of faith and committing to one’s beliefs. Returning to church after two massive losses has helped my mother in many ways and it has also taught me as a young man how small things that I could do would turn to have a big impact on someone’s life the same way my pastor impacted my life and the life of my siblings.
The Holy Spirit is for everyone. When the Holy Spirit came in Acts it fell on everyone who was in the room not just certain people. According to verse 17 the sign of the Holy Spirit is that you speak. When the Holy Spirit comes on falls on you the only response is to tell people about it. As the NT church today we should be cautious not to put limits on the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual direction is defined as “help that is given to another to enable him to become himself in his faith” (Davis, 266). It is an adolescent religious education model that encourages an ongoing relationship between the mentor and adolescent; involving one-on-one meetings where discussion centers on issues which are affecting the adolescent’s life in hopes to see how God may be present and working in them. Spiritual direction addresses the major concerns in each individual adolescent's life. Through this educational model, adolescents wrestle with relevant spiritual questions which may lead him or her to discern presence of God in his or her life (Davis, 268). Because adolescence is a time in which one desires to find a deeper meaning to one’s life, spiritual direction from the Church and parents is both beneficial and necessary. Adolescents develop the capability to reason and question, thus understanding the Truth in a new spiritual way. It is important for spiritual leaders to walk alongside adolescents to direct them towards the Truth. This development stage opens individuals to new capabilities for addressing a spiritual hunger, making it the prime time for conversion (Davis, 270). With spiritual direction from parents and mentors in the Church, adolescents can discover and create individual identities before God.
The Mishnah states, “Heedfulness leads to cleanliness, and cleanliness leads to purity and purity to abstinence, and abstinence leads to holiness, and holiness leads to humility, and humility leads to the shunning of sin, and the shunning of sin leads to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit leads to the resurrection of the dead” (Sotah 9:15). The Holy Spirit appeared to be given those who were in right standings with God. This is further seen in the t. Sotah 13: 2-4, where the Holy Spirit was present in Israel only because of a righteous follower named Hillel. The spirit of God was not given to those who did wrong in the eyes of the Lord, but shown their self faithful and righteous before
The Church as a whole debates many concepts that are in the Bible, in both theology and in practice. One of these debates surrounds the gifts that are spoken of in the Bible. In one corner are those who believe that charismatic gifts are alive and well in the church today. The Continuationist view believes that the gifts have continued on through Biblical times and are still relevant for today. In the other corner are those who believe that particular gifts have ceased to be used in the modern church and that they were only given for a particular reason in Biblical times. This view is called the Cessationist. Today each view, and other views in between, and the practice of the gifts in the current culture will be examined for truth, validity, and application by searching through each view and holding fast to the scripture as the final word of authority.
Many years ago, a friend and pastor whom I dearly loved and respected told me that there are three areas of responsibility in sharing the gospel. They are ours, the Holy Spirits, and the one that hears the gospel. Our responsibility is to go where we are called. That is it, to go and allow our self to be used. The Holy Spirit’s
It was August 8th of 2013 when my dad got a call from my Aunt Theresa. She urged him to come over to her house because she had devastating news. The car ride to her house was quiet. The weather was gloomy, the sky was filled with dark cumulus clouds.When we pulled up to my Aunt’s house, the adults were organized into a small circle. My uncles were supporting my grandma, however, I thought nothing of it. My parents had told me to go inside because they had a matter to attend to. I went inside to hang out with my cousins. I saw them a couple days before, but the feeling of happiness never subsides when I see them.
The Charismatic debate on whether the gifts of the Spirit have ceased or continue to be used in modern times divides the Christian church. There have been some extremes on both sides of the fence. One view believes that, if a person speaks tongues, the person is under some demonic control and the other says that, if a person does not speaks tongues as evidence of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he or she is not saved. Both views use Scripture to defend their positions. The Scripture was not written to divide, but to bring us closer to God. The Apostle Paul states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV). He also reminds Christians that, if “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind” (Romans 14:5). Two views dominate the debate, on one side you have the Cessationists who believes the charismatic gift were intended to cease after the New Testament was completed and on the other side, you have the Continuationsts who believes the Charismatic gift were intended to continue throughout the church. Consider some of the central questions that will be answered in this paper. Are the gifts for today or have they ceased? What is the purpose of the sign gifts, and if they are being practiced today, are they being practiced in a biblical manner?
Seventeen years ago, I came bounding into a world of love and laughter. I was the first child, the first grandchild, the first niece, and the primary focus of my entire extended family. Although they were not married, my parents were young and energetic and had every good intention for their new baby girl. I grew up with opportunities for intellectual and spiritual growth, secure in the knowledge that I was loved, free from fear, and confident that my world was close to perfect. And I was the center of a world that had meaning only in terms of its effect on me-- what I could see from a height of three feet and what I could comprehend with the intellect and emotions of a child. This state of innocence persisted through my early teens, but changed dramatically in the spring of my sophomore year of high school. My beloved father was dying of AIDS.
Biblical witness centers on the Spirits activity of “binding believers to Christ, incorporation them into the church as the body of Christ and equipping the church for mission.” Despite the best effort of the Church to be the hands and feet of Christ it is reassuring to know that the Spirit is still present and working in the hearts of people outside of the church’s work. Without the work of the Spirit in the hearts of believers and throughout the word, humanity would not know the love of God. The Holy Spirit gives liberates and brings new life it unites, encourages and brings hope to a world pledged by darkness.
At one point or another in one’s life you are faced with God, eye to eye and you know it. You can feel the Holy Spirit’s presence, like a humming sound that’s too low to hear, but it’s there and you can feel it, a feeling that you are not alone. For some, this feeling lasts for eternity, and for others God works within them again and again because the Lord’s love is persistent. The feeling I had came and went, for it was not strong enough as a child. But now, I am the strongest I have ever been.
I called Cornelia the following day and she asked me out on a date – it was to attend a prayer group that following Friday. It was then when I encountered and started to get involved with a Church ministry named “La Nueva Alianza” (“New Covenant”). I was encouraged to allow the Holy Spirit to be more active in my life. Because of God 's merciful Spirit, I proceeded to develop—through prayer, Scripture reading, and the Sacraments—a closer relationship with the Lord and a stronger appreciation and adherence to the teachings of the Church. Since then, I have had a passionate desire that God’s people come to know Him and love Him more fully. This desire is not only what has driven me to serve His people, but what made me receptive to becoming Director of La Nueva Alianza Ministry
When one fully gives himself to God, but has not receive the Holy Spirit, he must just keep trusting God that His word is true and that He will do the work. Also one can expect temptation just like Jesus did. When the Holy Spirit comes, He does not leave quickly. When one seeks the Holy Spirit when He is already there, it grieves Him. One should be prayerfully watchful and seek to be an open channel instead of seeking for more power.3
The Holy Spirit gives us power to make things possible. Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The power enabled the apostles to heal the sick (3:1-10, 5:15-16, 9:32-35) and raise people from the dead (9:36-43). The power also enabled them to speak the truth boldly (4:1-14, 7:1-53,