Thunderian
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Spirituality is our search for God. Religion is what we do when we think we've found him.
It is too vague a statement. That would apply to many false religions, The Mayans, Catholicism, LDS, JW's and a slew of other self willed religions. There is spirituality (small "s") and then there is the Holy Spirit, The Spirit of "The God". One is the imagination and self will of man , and the other is the proof of "The God" by creation itself (Rom. 1:16-32). In this Scripture is the evidence of the spirituality tied to the creation that man is born in (the worship of creation itself and the imagination of men) and also a creator that created all things who has revealed Himself, (The God) Romans Chapters 1 and 2 explain this pretty good.Spirituality is our search for God. Religion is what we do when we think we've found him.
Of course it applies to false religions. Why do you think they thrive? We are all born with the desire to seek God. When God breathed life into man, he breathed a knowledge of himself that has been passed down from Adam. His breath of life is why we have immortal spirits, and why humans have always sought God, or some version of him.It is too vague a statement. That would apply to many false religions, The Mayans, Catholicism, LDS, JW's and a slew of other self willed religions. There is spirituality (small "s") and then there is the Holy Spirit, The Spirit of "The God". One is the imagination and self will of man , and the other is the proof of "The God" by creation itself (Rom. 1:16-32). In this Scripture is the evidence of the spirituality tied to the creation that man is born in (the worship of creation itself and the imagination of men) and also a creator that created all things who has revealed Himself, (The God) Romans Chapters 1 and 2 explain this pretty good.
Agreed.Christians don't need to perform religious acts to be right with God, other than to accept his sacrifice for us and then continue to seek and maintain fellowship with him. Other faiths demand all kinds of prayers and sacrifices, postures and ceremonies, but Jesus Christ demands nothing. We are free in him, and can be wholly spiritual without ever being religious.
That's a cute story and all, but even if it is true, when you really analyze the situation it is actually a sad commentary on the state of the church and God's people. First, if the point of the story is to give evidence that God can supernaturally lead people, it doesn't bode well for the discernment of the guest pastor or your church for inviting that guest pastor. If it was truly God's will for you to preach that night, then why couldn't God just "speak" to the guest pastor or your church leadership, instead of having to intervene and cause the guest minister to loose his voice? Or does God like playing tricks to lead us?
One Sunday morning, we had a guest pastor, as ours was out of town, During the morning sermon. The Spirit kept prompting me to prepare a sermon for the evening service. I thought I might be imagining things, but nevertheless, I prepared. That evening the guest pastor came to me...no one else, but me? and said, I have lost my voice, what are we going to do.....needless to say, I preached the evening service. This is just one of a multitude of the Spiritual works of the Holy Spirit in my life.
No error can be greater than that the Lord's service requires no more than consecrated zeal and intellectual preparation. All these necessary elements of service are worthless without the divine enabling. Acceptable Christian service consist in doing that, which by Gift and enabling of the Holy Spirit Nothing being left to self will or self choosing.
He lives, and He lives in me,
Douglas Summers
“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you change and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” -- Matthew 18:3Temporary, working definition:
Spirituality is religion in its infancy, before it has matured and developed the necessary tools, both physical and metaphysical, to go forth and argue.
I like this a bit reluctantly because while I think it is a good testimony from Douglas S, yet I can relate to charismatic (mis)leading things at the same time.That's a cute story and all, but even if it is true, when you really analyze the situation it is actually a sad commentary on the state of the church and God's people. First, if the point of the story is to give evidence that God can supernaturally lead people, it doesn't bode well for the discernment of the guest pastor or your church for inviting that guest pastor. If it was truly God's will for you to preach that night, then why couldn't God just "speak" to the guest pastor or your church leadership, instead of having to intervene and cause the guest minister to loose his voice? Or does God like playing tricks to lead us?
Second, I find it amusing to even contemplate that God cares enough about who preached at your church that night, that he had to orchestrate the circumstances in such way to make sure you ended up preaching. I've been involved with Charismatic/"spirit lead" circles for over 29 years and heard countless stories about believers supposedly being led by God, in what amounts to be very trivial circumstances. Yet I've rarely heard testimonies about God actually leading a person by their Spirit to stop something truly tragic or evil from happening? Why is that? Does God really care about trivial circumstances more than truly life or death situations?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying God didn't lead you. I believe and know God can do those type of things, but unfortunately I think most Christians who claim to be "Spirit Lead" are just too superficial and focused on the wrong things to actually hear God about something that really matters. (Sorry, but who preaches at a given "church" service is rather trivial, and hardly a life or death situation)
When is the last time you heard a testimony about God leading somebody to meet an unknown need in the life of another person that actually resulted into someone coming to know God's love and grace? I have heard those type of testimonies and have some of my own. Those are the type of testimonies that mean something. However they seem too few and far between in all the "Church" circles I have experienced in the last 29 years.
“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you change and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” -- Matthew 18:3
Very smart, thanks for posting! I think it's worthy to paste the 2nd part of this piece:Just found this interesting:
Different Forms of Spirituality for Different Personalities
Mystical
Keirsey (1998) stated that people with the "intuitive feeling" personality types according to the Myers-Briggs personality model tend to be mystical in outlook. These people aspire
“to transcend the material world (and thus gain insight into the essence of things), to transcend the senses (and thus gain knowledge of the soul), to transcend the ego (and thus feel united with all creation), [and] to transcend even time (and thus feel the force of past lives and prophesies).” (Keirsey, 1998, p. 145)People with this mystical personality factor tend to feel an underlying unity in all people and all things, and to seek transcendent experiences that are direct contact with this unity. Their approach to spirituality tends to be based on personal experiences of the transcendent rather than based on institutional authority and doctrine.
Authoritarian
For people with an authoritarian personality, establishing and conforming to authority is the main purpose of life. These people tend to form hierarchical organizations that emphasize setting and following rules. In some cases, authoritarian groups tend to have hostile conflicts with those who do not follow their rules or share their values.
In Eastern approaches to spirituality, the relationships between the gurus or spiritual Masters and their disciples often have authoritarian characteristics.
Altemyer (1996) argues that fundamentalist religions are religious manifestations of the authoritarian personality. Fundamentalists exist for most of the worlds major religions and believe that their particular set of beliefs and values are the only true religion. They believe that those who follow the rules of their religion have a special relationship with God and that God will punish those do not follow the rules. The Christian Fundamentalist's firm belief in the inerrant authority of the Bible is a typical expression of the authoritarian personality.
Religious terrorists are an extreme form of fundamentalism. It is a small step from believing that God will punish those who do not follow the rules to believing that God wants the select true believers to punish nonbelievers (Stern, 2003).
Intellectual
Some people are attracted to knowledge in the form of memorizing and analyzing writings, history, and theories. This intellectual approach can result in religious pundits with extensive knowledge of the details of religious beliefs and religious history.
Service
Service to others is a common form of spiritual expression in many religions. This is a central theme in the New Testament. Some people are more attracted to this form of spirituality.
Social
Participation in a religious group or spiritual community is a social activity that has great appeal for some people. Extroversion is a well established personality factor that reflects a person's desire to be involved with groups of people. The scientific study of religion tends to focus on the social aspects. Social support and connections from participation in a religious or spiritual group are frequently discussed as an important aspect of spirituality.
(source)
Thanks and you’re welcome.Very smart, thanks for posting! I think it's worthy to paste the 2nd part of this piece:
Diversity and Conflicts
"The most successful religious organizations will appeal to all these personality factors. The Catholic Church is one of the most conspicuous examples that incorporate mystical, authoritarian, intellectual, service, and social aspects. Many people find that they are drawn to more than one aspect of spirituality.
However, some people place greater emphasis on one form of spirituality and are not attracted to others. In fact, conflicts are common among people with different personality types and different approaches to spirituality.
Conflicts between people with mystical and authoritarian dispositions have occurred throughout history. For example, Christian Fundamentalists often consider the transcendent or miraculous experiences of mystics as delusions or the work of the devil that distracts people from recognizing and obeying the authority of the Bible and church. They consider such experiences to have been necessary in Biblical times to establish the Page 4 of 5 authority of the Bible, but such experiences are a threat to the established authority in post-Biblical times.
These controversies go back to the beginning of Christianity. The texts selected for inclusion in the New Testament emphasized the authority of the church and its leaders, and were chosen when Christianity was becoming a state religion. Texts that gave greater emphasis to personal spiritual insight and experiences were rejected. The conflicts between Quakers and Puritans were another example of tensions between those who focused on personal spiritual insight and experience versus those who focused on religion as an external source of authority and rules.
Tensions between those who focus on transcendent experiences and those who focus on knowledge of and adherence to doctrine are also apparent in the history of Islam and Buddhism.
As discussed in later sections, spirituality is sometimes distorted by deep-seated human motivations for aggression and to feel superior. These distortions of spirituality can produce evil and extreme violence, but do not indicate the basic nature of spirituality.
The sense of meaning and purpose in life appears to be the common denominator for spirituality. However, the diversity of spiritual perspectives and values makes it difficult to define and describe spirituality."
This description is useful in gauging the way our personality expresses itself within the quest for spirituality, and explains a lot of our disagreements.
I've been thinking lately I'd like to see a study of shared experiences among religious followers... like the progression of faith. For example the seeker finds an answer and is humbled. Then they are filled with judgement, that the world must conform to their truth or perish. Next maybe sadness is felt in realizing we are alone in our understanding, which eventually leads to deeper patience and acceptance for all. There must be similar patterns we exhibit as going from a child to mature, awakened persons.
Those are some powerful words by Lauryn! It's no wonder the music industry treated her the way they did. She knows exactly what it's all about, kudos to her.Why You Don't Know Real Love | Lauryn Hill
She brings some relevant thoughts:
Who are you an agent for? God or the other side?
To add.
(Are you part of the world's problems or part of the solution? Do we show up as loving and forgiving beings or hateful and divisive beings?)
It means you must be born again (John 3:1-21)Hi all! Hope you are well.
(Warning this might sound very silly)
To me Religion and Spirituality is like the most Thai people say: "same same but different.." (not only Thai people)
To me Religion is instructions before leaving earth
and Spirituality is when you try to get in touch with that spirit within you (or spirits.. - It happens)
It's not silly at all. It's as though religion is an instruction manual for our life here on earth. The thing is, we weren't born with them so if we look deep within, we can find those intrinsic instructions ourselves if we're willing to look.Hi all! Hope you are well.
(Warning this might sound very silly)
To me Religion and Spirituality is like the most Thai people say: "same same but different.." (not only Thai people)
To me Religion is instructions before leaving earth
and Spirituality is when you try to get in touch with that spirit within you (or spirits.. - It happens)