Knowing God's Will - Superstitions

As I continue to come to terms with my private life, I diligently search for lessons learned - things of value to me or for future classes - should I go back to teaching this fall. Yeah, a prayer item because I am being encouraged to walk away and never invest myself in youth again. Not exactly godly advice, I think.

Superstition is mentioned and we instantly think of naked pagan people running around Borneo, or maybe drunken revelers in a Haiti voodoo ritual, or think of the silly things believed amongst the uneducated. But, how many of you would think of your church?

Yes, Christians can be just as superstitious a lot as any uneducated fisherman or voodoo reveler! Let us think about this for a few minutes.

Pastors are the mini-pope of the church - God talks directly to them and why you need to seek them out for advice. Their prayers are more godly, their prayers are heard - unlike yours. The same with elders or deacons, depending upon what your church has. This is all SUPERSTITION!

God will not use you if you are un-baptized or the magic words where not said over you as you were dunked. What about the entire dunking versus sprinkling argument? Or how deep the water is. Or how about indoor versus natural body of water versus running water? Nothing here but SUPERSTITION.

Let us add the ministry of the Holy Spirit! Holy cow do we have nothing but SUPERSTITIONS here! The Holy Spirit can not use you if you are un-baptized. If you do not speak in tongues then you do not have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not have a ministry anymore. The Holy Spirit is the object of today's ministry. Etc, ad nauseum!

Yes, we Christians are a superstitious lot because we do not know our Scriptures! We lean towards other people's understandings and unfortunately I have found that most people whom write books have an agenda or are wanting something from you. Of course that is true of those whom do not write books as well. It could even be true of me, however I actually don't have an agenda.

So, what are the answers to the above superstitions?

If you are serious in your walk with the Lord, then God talks to you just the same as He talks to anyone else, pastors, elders and deacons included. Position is no guarantee that the person is walking with God..... However! NOTE an exception! "Prayer of a righteous man avails much...." Meaning that those not walking closely with God are not going to be seeing positive outcomes to their prayers. The more "stuff" you put between you and God, the less likely you are going to be finding satisfaction with your prayer life. And the more you will lean towards superstition in seeking answers (signs, wonders, etc). And yes, I believe that God listens to a righteous woman's prayers too. Hmmmmm.....

Baptism is such a touchy subject! Are there "magic words" that have to be said in order for you baptism to "take" or be "valid"? Sorry, there are no magic Christian words. Not in calling on Jesus for salvation, nor in getting dunked. Baptism is your personal testimony to the community you worship in. We are ordered to be baptized in the name of the "father, son and holy spirit" (by the way, there is nothing called "holy spirit" in the early texts, translators just do not like the terms "it", "breath", etc). The form I really do not believe is magical either. Sprinkle or dunk, you are already a Christian - through confession, what follows is your willingness to make a public statement in OBEDIENCE. Hmmmmmm.....

And for the whole Holy Spirit issue? I am satisfied IT still exists, IT is still active within the church and the lives of the individual believer, However, I am not satisfied with the arguments that Tongues is required, nor any other single gift, to prove the Spirit is in your life. There will be something, at least one gift you and everyone else might not even notice, but that is up to God what is shared with us or gives us or calls upon us to use, not us. My greatest concern is that for every aberration of the Holy Spirit there is a fake demonic one - and I see far more demonic activity than I do of the real Holy Spirit - simply because of the superstition in the church. You can not talk to anyone about this, especially if they are in the wrong. The price of human arrogance and pride. And of all of the gifts, PROPHECY I find the greatest error with. I have never seen someone with this gift, I have seen it demonstrated for real - the Holy Spirit using someone to prophesy but they are not a prophet. Generally, I find this performed by people dishing out man's logic - because in the few cases I have seen of attempts at this, it is not God's infinite wisdom being given. Sorry, I remain the supreme doubter for anyone claiming the gift of prophecy - yes, I have seen the real thing a few times and it is mind blowing, but to prove yourself before someone with discernment can be deadly to your desired career.

Yeah, superstition abounds in the modern church, I did not even have to pause to think of just three examples and there will be more forth coming, however under different discussions.....