The Purest form of Christianity, was Eastern Orthodoxy, the Desert Fathers, Monks, Hermits, & Mystic

reply to post by dominicus

Surprisingly, many Pastors/PReachers/Ministers/Theologians/Authors/Speakers did not go through this!!!! Like Blind leading blind

That's because they don't follow the same spirit as you do. The Holy Spirit would not lead you into mysticism as you would like to think. God spoke out against it due to all of the past pagan worship. You have been fooled.

Being born again is a spiritual re-birth, not an "ego death" in the way that you have experienced it. You don't go through torture when you're experiencing the Holy Spirit. Other spirits do that.

Yes, Jesus performed miracles, but nowhere did he teach the things that you speak of. What miracles are you performing?

reply to post by dominicus

When you get the Holy Spirit, your heart pours out divine Bliss & Selfless Love. It is spontaneously knowing how to act according to the Spirit in any situation without having to go and read your bible to know how to act at any given time. I can sum up the whole Bible in how to act in 1 sentence" Act out of Love, selflessness, caring, generous, sharing, through Ego death, Holy Spirit, Transcendence, and without the worldly programming and filters of the ego." Boom!!!! Simple!!!!

Beware, for the Holy Spirit is NOT the only one out there who is capable of making you feel this way.

The biggest lie these spirits will teach you is that you only need to "experience" God instead of knowing your scripture, so they can fool you further.

Unfortunately, these other spirits (other than the Holy Spirit) have the ability to lead people to believe that they are on Jesus' side, lead people to believe that they've actually spoken to Jesus himself, and in another thread here on ATS, these exact same spirits have led someone else to believe that they themselves are indeed Jesus.

By the way, the person who claims that they spoke to Jesus personally, admits that he's an advocate for Lucifer.

Be careful. It's a sly game they're playing to actually draw people away from Jesus instead of towards him.

Please read your scripture and get back to the Holy Spirit.

reply to post by Deetermined

That's because they don't follow the same spirit as you do. The Holy Spirit would not lead you into mysticism as you would like to think. God spoke out against it due to all of the past pagan worship. You have been fooled.

It really saddens me to witness the Watering down of Christianity via dogma, fundamentalism, and the letter(i.e. the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life), but what also saddens me is the lack of the Holy Spirit experience in the Western Churches and individuals......to such a point that the Holy Spirit is rejected outright. When in all reality it is THE SEAL and the whole point of making life so much easier, empowering you to be victorious over Sin, and making Christ's yolk easy. Very sad......your denomination has tricked you

Being born again is a spiritual re-birth, not an "ego death" in the way that you have experienced it. You don't go through torture when you're experiencing the Holy Spirit. Other spirits do that.

If you're going to be "born-again", it means there first has to be an initial/experiential death. You've entirely missed the point.

On top of that, where did I say "tortured"? The Holy Spirit experience has been the most wonderous, joyous, most exiting moment/and highlight of my life. Nothing has ever come close to it and I wouldn't trade all the money/women/power in the world for it.

Yes, Jesus performed miracles, but nowhere did he teach the things that you speak of. What miracles are you performing?

I can support everything I teach with scripture.

Beware, for the Holy Spirit is NOT the only one out there who is capable of making you feel this way.

I have several dozen denominations that would beg to differ. Are you ready, one lonely man, to go up against several dozen denominations? All armed with apologetics, scripture, testimonies of Saints, and direct experience to back it all up

...... treading on thin ice. You're own scripture teaches not to grieve the Spirit. You're basically making a mockery of all the Saints, Desert Fathers, Monks that came before us, all of which have published testimonies of going through the exact same experience with the Holy Spirit......good luck with that.

The biggest lie these spirits will teach you is that you only need to "experience" God instead of knowing your scripture, so they can fool you further.

There are no "spirits (plural)". There is One Holy Spirit and when you get baptized by the Spirit, spiritual/divine/mystical/Godly experience are a natural by-product of that,

Your view, the one your denomination has taught you, is relative. There are thousands of other denominations and teachings other than yours...... so yours is relative and you can't say it's 100% correct when you consider all the others,

What Spirit enters a home and convinces the rest of the inhabitants to become Christians and to Love God? You make no sense

Unfortunately, these other spirits (other than the Holy Spirit) have the ability to lead people to believe that they are on Jesus' side, lead people to believe that they've actually spoken to Jesus himself, and in another thread here on ATS, these exact same spirits have led someone else to believe that they themselves are indeed Jesus.

Well then we'll just have to part ways, since you believe your right because you lack the direct experiences that I've gone through. That's been the case with everyone I met.

They either:
A.) Knock it and talk smack because they have no clue about it and don't believe in it, or
B.) Completely agree because they have also gone through the same experience.

You are most def A. By the way, believing you are Jesus, is some sort of mental breakdown.....

By the way, the person who claims that they spoke to Jesus personally, admits that he's an advocate for Lucifer.

I never sad that. Jesus has come to me in dreams, but it's always after I have baptized someone, he comes and takes them in the dreams, in a tunnel of light. No lucifer here....

Be careful. It's a sly game they're playing to actually draw people away from Jesus instead of towards him. Please read your scripture and get back to the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:3 "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."

It's written on my heart, and the Holy Spirit I've experienced is the one from the Bible. I have a few hundred Abbotts, Priests, Pastors, Ministers, Preachers that will vouch for me......

If you have not gone through Spiritual ego death by the Holy Spirit, you should pray that God send you the Holy Spirit to also slay your false ego, the one that is the cause of all sin, evil, division, hatred, separation...

reply to post by dominicus

On top of that, where did I say "tortured"? The Holy Spirit experience has been the most wonderous, joyous, most exiting moment/and highlight of my life.

Anyone who's read your past posts knows that you're experience of "ego death" was one that made you think you were going to die. That is NOT how the Holy Spirit works.

Originally posted by Deetermined
reply to post by dominicus

 

On top of that, where did I say "tortured"? The Holy Spirit experience has been the most wonderous, joyous, most exiting moment/and highlight of my life.

Anyone who's read your past posts knows that you're experience of "ego death" was one that made you think you were going to die. That is NOT how the Holy Spirit works.

How can you possibly know how the Holy Spirit works if you haven't even experienced the direct experience of being Indwelled by the Spirit and having your ego destroyed and replaced with transcendent Love, Bliss, Gifts of the Spirit, Higher Spiritual faculties, having your consciousness Illuminated, and having to start all over again like a new born baby......

You have not the slightest idea...... It is the Ego that fears Ego death ...but the Ego is ot who you are and you don't understand that.

This is what Western Christianity lacks, is a deep understanding of Philosophy, Psychology, the Inner workings of Man, how the ego operates, how it is created, etc......Jesus knew all this stuff and taught Ego Death trough Grace and the Spirit.

This lack of understanding is why you see priests molesting kids. It is why you see when there are surveys taken on divorce, stealing, lying, morals, ethics, etc ...that it shows that in the West, "Christians" show no difference than Non-Christians......its the watering down, letter killeth, lack of the Holy Spirit experiences.

You have completely missed the entire point. Read the perspectives of all the denominations, experiences, philosophies, psychologies of the world before you come back here and try to debate what you don't understand and wrongly accuse.....

By the way, I love you. For I know the real that is in there prior to the ego.

reply to post by dominicus


It's not about a lack of understanding. I have experienced the Holy Spirit, but what you're doing is not the same.

I know exactly what you're talking about and it's no different than any other church trying to incorporate pagan practices into Christianity, much like the International House of Prayer.

I advise people to read a blog written by a former member of that church.

gospelmasquerade.wordpress.com...

So you had a panic attack and you think that's the Holy Spirit?

That's a new one.

Originally posted by lonewolf19792000
So you had a panic attack and you think that's the Holy Spirit?

That's a new one.

What the heck is a panic attack?

Getting the Holy Spirit, one which moved throughout my house hold and convinced other family members that it was there shortly after my re-baptism, causing them to convert to Christianity, and having my experiences substantiated, justified, & solidified by E.O, Southern Baptists, Pentecostal, & Charismatics......among many others.......

.......I find this another sad day when those who should be my Brothers in Christ, the Father, and the Spirit .....doubt the Spirit, grieve the Spirit, and assume it to be mere panic attacks and evil......

It's exactly why I left the Evangelicals. I would ask around others if they have had the Holy Spirit experience, and out of 100(including Pastors/Theologians/Authors/Elders), there was only one old man who knew about it.

Then I began to visit various denominations and found the Holy Spirit moving through almost entire congregations, slaying their ego's and replacing them with Mystical divine Love and bliss.


reply to post by Deetermined

It's not about a lack of understanding. I have experienced the Holy Spirit, but what you're doing is not the same.

Please do share your experience then. How was it? Did your ego die? Were you spiritually reborn? Did all your judgments of others fall away and allow you to love unconditionally? Bliss? Transcendent Love?

I know exactly what you're talking about and it's no different than any other church trying to incorporate pagan practices into Christianity

All I did, was accept Christ as my personal Savior, studied the Bible intensely for 14 months with a seminary Pastor, and then got re-baptized.

Then, 2 weeks after the Re-baptism, I was visited and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. That's the day the old me died and it made dealing with Sin and the ways of the world sooooo easy. It's impossible to conform to the ways of Christ, unless you directly get the Holy Spirit...... and many don't have it, and that's why many leave, or still deal with lust, porn, cheating, staling, drugs....

...after you get the Holy Spirit, your ego is literally DEAD to the old ways. A complete system reboot. That's what Jesus meant when he said that "You must be born of Water and of Spirit, To be Reborn."

And I literally have 100's of others who have experienced this and will back my testimony. It's in the Bible even, and it's like you are blind to this fact and only want to hear, what you want to hear.....

much like the International House of Prayer.

Never heard of em and why should I care? Christianity is not a denomination, or a label, or a name. Its "A Way." That's what they called themselves, "Followers of the Way." The Way that Jesus taught to go back to God and have access to God.

I look at people and see Souls inhabiting bodies. I don't see atheist, agnostic, catholic, protestant, etc.

When I go to services, I visit various services. Some times even the Catholic Churches to just "Be" and sit in silence.

I advise people to read a blog written by a former member of that church.

I checked out your blog, and assumed or pretended she was intending those posts for me, and you know what? I got each and everyone covered, with scriptural backing. I'll cover a few here for you just as examples:

Post 1: "Why I believe IHOP is a cult"
Doesn't apply. I move freely amongst denominations and urge people themselves to be re-baptised and pray for the Holy Spirit experience in the solitude of their own homes. BAsically saying, "Don't take my word for it, but see for yourself."

Post 2: "Kissing God & Emulating Saints" She goes off on various rants not realizing that various Saints of the past are individuals who have successfully been transformed into Union w/ God (Not I, but Christ in me, and I and the Father are One) Like Christ, they are examples

Post 3: "Truth is truth, period. The Scriptures speak for themselves.Those who truly study scripture for WHAT IT SAYS"

This one would require a whole new post because the response is lengthy and deals with what a Book says about God, and then God himself prior to any books. Scripture is only 1 small fragment of the whole. There is also you, there's others, there's life, there's death, access to God, knowing thyself, knowing another, seeing what is and isn't relative......I got her locked on this one too, but I need more space.

Just examples. My whole point is, without the Holy Spirit experience, you're going to have a hard time in life trying to live up to expectations. What happens for the most part, is Xtians replace the old ego, with a holier-than-thou-I'm-right-your-wrong and everyone else is going to hell ego.

Missing the point entirely

reply to post by dominicus

All I did, was accept Christ as my personal Savior, studied the Bible intensely for 14 months with a seminary Pastor, and then got re-baptized.

Why do you mislead people?

You've admitted in one of your earlier threads that you were not grounded in the Christian faith and went looking elsewhere and studying other religions either during that 14 month period or shortly thereafter. The pastor who baptized you even rejects what you're doing and what you've told him, yet you make it sound like you were a Christian from the beginning, and we both know that's not the truth.

Why should we believe you now? Why should we believe that you're grounded in the Christian faith now when you practice what you do? The very things that God told people not to do.

reply to post by dominicus

And I literally have 100's of others who have experienced this and will back my testimony. It's in the Bible even, and it's like you are blind to this fact and only want to hear, what you want to hear.....

I don't doubt what you've experienced. What I doubt is where these experiences originate from.

Give me scripture that shows that Jesus taught such things and allowed such practices in order to reach him. We're supposed to talk to God through well thought out prayer, not self hypnosis.

I posted this 13 months ago in WildTimes' "Gnostic" thread but I think it bears repeating since I think it is right on topic for this thread. Here goes:

I ran across something which may be of interest to some people who are reaching out for ancient sources of spirituality. I was searching titles on Amazon for books relating to early Egyptian Christianity and found something I was unfamiliar with, so did a little checking, and found where you can get the four volumes (put into a single file) of the Philokalia for free, at archive where you can read it on-line, or do what I did, which is download the PDF version to read on your PC, and also download the Kindle version, to put on your Kindle device. You can also buy the Kindle version on Amazon, where you can have them load it on your Kindle device by wifi.
What the Philokalia is, are the ancient writings of the desert fathers, who were the original monks who lived in monasteries, or were recluses, or hermits, out in the North African or Palestinian deserts, back in the second, through the sixth centuries, originally written in Greek, these being monks of the Eastern Orthodox variety, and now translated for the first time in English, seeing how probably previously anyone who was interested in this sort of thing would already be reading Greek and did not really need a translation. But the draw for these books is that this is very old, authentic Christianity, and by reading enough of it, you get the same sort of understanding as you may have gotten by being a Gnostic initiate back in very ancient times, as in the first century AD.
The literal translation of the word used to describe these books, Philokalia, is the love of what is beautiful.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by jmdewey60

But the draw for these books is that this is very old, authentic Christianity, and by reading enough of it, you get the same sort of understanding as you may have gotten by being a Gnostic initiate back in very ancient times, as in the first century AD.

What do you mean by "authentic Christianity"?

These books were written between the 4th - 15th centuries.

reply to post by Deetermined

Why do you mislead people? You've admitted in one of your earlier threads that you were not grounded in the Christian faith and went looking elsewhere and studying other religions either during that 14 month period

Before I was ever an Xtian, when I started college and took philosophy 101-105, religions of the world courses, I always thought to myself that anyone who would enter into a cave, spend all day going within, de-programming, and conquering self ...was going to walk out of there knowing things that we can hardly grasp regardless of religion

However for those 14 months, I was STRICTLY Xtian. Years after that too. I never doubted Christ, Spirit, Jesus. I only ever began to doubt the SYSTEM around it, led by people. The denominations (all different), the lack of the Holy Spirit experience in various Authors/theologians/Pastors that are on nation-wide Xtian radio and tour the world....

....that's when I saw that the system is, or can be false. So I began to visit other denominations, and in them found large percentages of people who went through the Holy Spirit experience. That is when I found home ....to be wandering traveler like Christ was.....

The pastor who baptized you even rejects what you're doing and what you've told him, yet you make it sound like you were a Christian from the beginning, and we both know that's not the truth.

He rejected me because I began to ask questions, began to doubt the nicea & other counsels based on political motivations, based on Eastern Orthodoxy not having a say in various aspects. Began to discuss who is/isn't an Xtian and that who are we to question. Began to discuss the Gnostics, Esseenes, the fact that the Apocalypse of Peter was being considered for the last book of the Bible(and was more popular at the time) than Revelations was. The fact that Saints who have been deeply under the influence of Holy Spirit, their writings can be considered extensions of the Bible due to their content & influence ....all possibilities and he couldn't handle them.

The nail in the coffin for him, was that as an Xtian during that time, and under no other influences, in my subconscious, I remembered pre-existing prior to being born here. Something that was discussed by Origen and various well respected historic Theologians as a possibility. He couldn't handle that and cut me off....and then I knew what Jesus felt like when some of his Disciples denied and rejected him.....

or shortly thereafter.

Years later I came across a Zen Koan, and found that it did not belong to Zen, or Buddhism, or any other religion. It was a true logical statement, based on reason, timeless. one that Jesus would approve of:

"Just like the thought of a rock, is not an actual rock. So too, who you think you are, is not who you are."

This brought me back to something I began to ask myself under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Who am I really? The Spirit was purging me of myself, of the I from (not I, but Christ in me) .....and I was already transcending all labels, ideas, positions in exchange for being deeply rooted in the Spirit.

When I read this Koan, I had a direct experience that brought me back into one of the Higher Transcendent faculties that was years earlier instilled by the Holy Spirit. ......seeing that the Ego is not me. I am that original Awareness that was there as a Child, the same one I remember pre-existing prior to all this.

Why should we believe you now?

It don't matter at this point. I have in my sig a thread that shows how you can find the original you that is prior to the Ego, that the Holy Spirit revealed to me, that Jesus talks about all throughout the Bible, that's ripe in various denominations.

Why should we believe that you're grounded in the Christian faith now when you practice what you do? The very things that God told people not to do.

Please do quote where in the NT it says not to go within yourself, to know yourself, to deny the ego, to experience the Holy Spirit, to gain gifts of the Spirit, to experience being One w/ God in Union ......I'll wait here.

reply to post by Deetermined

I don't doubt what you've experienced. What I doubt is where these experiences originate from.

I can never doubt where the Holy Spirit experience came from, because it sparked Love and Bliss in my heart. Visited 12-14 days after getting re-baptised. Quantified for me in the writings of other Saints who went through this. Having met E.O, Catholic, Trappist, Monks/hermits/abbotts all who have gone through this. Having met pentacostals and baptists who have gone through this ....and in them is serious genuine Love & Grace. You can feel it and see it when you meet them.

It is impossible for me to ever deny Christ, or God, or Spirit since then. I am so deeply rooted in Loving God that there is no other possibility for me. I no longer fear death, but see it as a friend that will visit when it's time to go back home. No longer judging, I love an accept all, gay, lame, sick, black, white, dwarfs, etc

Give me scripture that shows that Jesus taught such things and allowed such practices in order to reach him.

Luke 17:21 "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
Which is an invitation to go within and find it, see for yourself if it is there......

Matt 6:22 "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."
Jesus is referencing a single eye here. If you ask yourself, what is the eye that is single and sees, it's awareness. Because your own awareness is single and it is aware of the two physical eyes that see the outside world, aware of ears hearing, of the nose smelling, of the mind/ego thinking.

Prior to everything else, is Awareness. If you focus on this and find this within yourself (which you use daily, and are it), your Awareness will light up like a candle. I've experienced this many times in deep prayer.....as an Xtian.

2 Corin 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth such an one caught up to the third heaven.
I too have popped out of the body, know of various others who have, and this is a regular occurrence in the Monasteries where Monks are praying hard core all day long.

Ecc 12:6 Remember him - Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
When you as Awareness exit the body, you will find there is a silver cord that keeps it attached to the body. The few times I "popped out", it was not of my accord. I was deeply in prayer, or meditation, or once while washing dishes.....

1 Corinth 12:7 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Spiritual Gifts in Christianity via wiki

In Christianity, spiritual gifts (or charismata) are endowments given by the Holy Spirit.[1] These are the supernatural graces which individual Christians need to fulfill the mission of the church.[2][3] They are described in the New Testament, primarily in 1 Corinthians 12,[4] Romans 12,[5] and Ephesians 4.[6] 1 Peter 4[7] also touches on the spiritual gifts.[1] The gifts are related to both seemingly "natural" abilities and seemingly more "miraculous" abilities, but all spiritual gifts are empowered by the Holy Spirit.[3] The two major opposing theological positions on the nature of the charismata are cessationism and continuationism (see also Cessationism versus Continuationism). Spiritual gifts are distinguished from other graces of the Holy Spirit, such as the fruit of the Spirit and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, in that the charismata are to be used for the benefit of others while the fruit of the Spirit and other gifts result in personal sanctification.[8]

Keep those last 2 words in mind (Personal Sanctification), because I'll be bringing that up in other discussions, since that is what a Christian is supposed to go through.

What gifts did I get? Transcendence, Timelessness, Ever present Now, becoming Unmovable by what the world throws at me, Bliss, Divine non-judgmental Love of others, Child-like Awareness, end of Fear, Peace, Contentment, Detachment from the world, completeness, wholeness, and a Longing for Union.

reply to post by Deetermined

What do you mean by "authentic Christianity"?

I mean original, as in not the homogenized version that was forced by people like Athanasius in the fourth century.

These books were written between the 4th - 15th centuries.

You misunderstood what I wrote.
I said that what is in the books reflects first century gnosticism.
I didn't say that they were written in the first century.

reply to post by dominicus

Luke 17:21 "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

If you keep reading the next three verses, Jesus says that his second coming will be unmistakable. He told them not to listen to the Pharisees false predictions of Christ's return, but that his will return will light up the heavens and the earth when he does.

22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.

23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

Matt 6:22 "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

This is not about awareness. It's about focusing ALL of your attention on God and not the world. Stay focused on one, not both.

2 Corin 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth such an one caught up to the third heaven.

This was done at God's will, not each individual's will whenever they feel like it.

Ecc 12:6 Remember him - Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

You're trying to make something mystical that wasn't meant to be...

1. The silver cord - The medulla oblongata or spinal marrow, from which all the nerves proceed, as itself does from the brain. This is termed a cord, from its exact similitude to one; and a silver cord, from its color, as it strikingly exhibits the silver gray; and from its preciousness. This is said to be loosed; as the nervous system became a little before, and at the article of death, wholly debilitated. The last loosing being the fall of the under jaw, the invariable and never-failing evidence of immediate death; a few struggles more, and the soul is dismissed from its clay tenement.

2. The golden bowl be broken - The brain contained in the cranium, or skull, and enveloped with the membranes called the dura and pia mater; here called a bowl, from its resemblance to such a vessel, the container being put for the contained; and golden because of its color, and because of its exceeding preciousness as has been noticed in the former case. Broken - be rendered unfit to perform its functions, neither supplying nor distributing any nervous energy.

3. Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain - The vena cava, which brings back the blood to the right ventricle of the heart, here called the fountain, המבוע hammabbua, the spring whence the water gushes up; properly applied here to the heart, which by its systole and diastole (contraction and expansion) sends out, and afterwards receives back, the blood; for all the blood flows from, and returns back to, the heart.

4. The wheel broken at the cistern - The great aorta, which receives the blood from the cistern, the left ventricle of the heart, and distributes it to the different parts of the system. These may be said, as in the case of the brain above, to bo broken, i.e., rendered useless; when, through the loosening of the silver cord, the total relaxation of the nervous system, the heart becomes incapable of dilatation and contraction, so that the blood, on its return to the right ventricle of the heart, is not recessed, nor that already contained in the ventricles propelled into the great aorta. The wheel is used in allusion to the Asiatic wheels, by which they raise water from their wells and tanks, and deep cisterns, for domestic purposes, or to irrigate the grounds. Thus, then, the blood becomes stagnate; the lungs cease to respire; the blood is no longer oxidized, all motion, voluntary and involuntary, ceases; the body, the house of the immortal spirit, is no longer tenantable, and the soul takes its flight into the eternal world. The man D-I-E-S! This is expressed in the following verse: -

www.godvine.com...

reply to post by Deetermined

If you keep reading the next three verses, Jesus says that his second coming will be unmistakable. He told them not to listen to the Pharisees false predictions of Christ's return, but that his will return will light up the heavens and the earth when he does.

While I do understand "WHY" you would think that within that context, let me broaden the horizon with more context:

Matt 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

He's referring to treasure, as one that is hidden deep within you, and it's up to you to become a deep sea diver and find it. And when you do find, you'll see it is the point with which you have access to God, Love, Bliss within you. And it's better than anything else the world has to offer. That's why so many who experience this go into Monasteries, because its better than women, money, material wealth, power, etc.

Matt 13:45 ...the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,46and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Same thing, there is a point within, the spark of the Soul.

Mark 4:30 30And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?31“It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil,32yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches;

Same thing. There's a soul spark within you. It is within the heart, tiny like a mustard seed. When you enter it however, then it is Union w/ God, Infinitely everywhere all at once.

Then we can look at Beattitudes, especially:
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God

This One alone, I can write whole book on.
1. He's saying this because it is possible to do so. To purify your heart to such an extent that you will see God
2. If you're going to see God, it will be a direct experience. Transcendent & Mystical one beyond anything you can possibly imagine.
3. He's preaching this to a crowd filled with Non-Christians lacking the Holy Spirit. There are Jews there, possibly Agnostic, Curious, maybe some Atheists, Pagan Roman types......its a Universal message that anyone can do and does not create division amongst groups or people
4. If you go within & begin to see what's there, you will find that the Ego arises from the heart upon waking in the morning, & descends back into it when falling asleep. If you put your attention there, you can cut the ego off at the root & you will eventually "see God"

I'll quote one my favorite Christian Mystics Meister Eckhart, who experienced Union w/ God, but I believe it will fly above your head. I'll try anyway: “The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”

This is not about awareness. It's about focusing ALL of your attention on God and not the world. Stay focused on one, not both.

Yeah o.k. Good luck with that one. You go ahead and try that and write back here when you experience your whole body being filled with light.

On the other hand, I have focused only on Awareness and it did become bright, and my whole body was filled entirely with light. It's called Spiritual illumination and I know many others who have experienced this.

This was done at God's will, not each individual's will whenever they feel like it.

I have popped out once of my own will, and all the other time's it was not of my own. Is there not free will for the soul? Considering I pre-existed prior to the body (we all did) its perfectly natural to pop out, which we will eventually anyway when the body dies.

You're trying to make something mystical that wasn't meant to be...

Every single person who has ever popped out of the body regardless of religious background, has seen the silver cord that connects Awareness to the body.

Do you know thyself? Do you know why you do the things you do? Do you remember how you were prior to ego being formed in you? Do you know your mind/ego and how it operates, where it comes from, and where it hides? .......these are the things that Christ taught. When you go within yourself and start to deep sea dive, you will find things in yourself that Jesus talked about.

If you don't know thyself and don't go deep within to see for yourself what is there.....then all you have to go by is what others tell you. A mere window shopper.

The mystical experiences are part of Personal Sanctification. Everyone should ask for them cause then its easy to fulfill what Christ taught. Else one become like the thief on the cross, w/ last minute hope....

reply to post by Deetermined

Luke 17:21 "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

If you keep reading the next three verses, Jesus says that his second coming will be unmistakable. He told them not to listen to the Pharisees false predictions of Christ's return, but that his will return will light up the heavens and the earth when he does.

There is a saying (idiom) that goes something like, "quick as lightning".
In the minds of people back in the time and culture of the writer of Luke, the world was a disk with a dome over it of the heavens, so when they saw lightening go across from one horizon to the other, they may have imagined that it just went from one end of the world to the other in like three seconds, which would be ridiculously fast.
There is nowhere in the Bible where you find the word "second" followed directly by the word "coming".
That includes the passage which you are speaking of and arguing its interpretation from theory rather than fact.
The Roman Empire at the time of Jerusalem's destruction had quick reaction forces spread about strategically to be able to rush forth to quash any uprising which may occur. When news of the rebellion in Jerusalem went out, there were immediatly five legions that started out from five different bases, to converge on that spot.
Also lightning is an apt word to throw in there because the rebellion started right when there was a tremendous storm the like of which had never been experienced before at that city, while the Idumeans waited at the gates to be allowed admittance into the city.
Jesus is quoted here talking of the Son of Man in the third person as if he was this other character, even if essentially it was the same person as himself, and it has to do with this strange thing that he does, as he says, once this generation who mistreated him had passed, which would have been 37 years which may have been the average life expectancy at that time. As the people in Noah's day went about their lives as usual, right up to when they were destroyed, the same thing happened to the people in Jerusalem, never imagining that in a few weeks, their lives would be ended along with the city itself.

Originally posted by dominicus
The Eastern Orthodox Churches actually have the best claim to have the purest forms of Christianity based on Jesus and the Disciples.

OP, are you aware that Eastern Orthodox churches have been infiltrated just like all other mainline denominations?

Masonry symbolism such as triangle and horus eye symbols are found plastered all over Orthodox buildings.

"The Black Pope’s ubiquitous Society of Jesus completely controls the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople. Clearly, Bartholomew I was groomed by the Jesuit Papacy to be its agent in the east. According to his wikipedia entry here, his treason to the Eastern Orthodox peoples is obvious" LINK

"Patriarch Bartholomew was seen on a jet airliner in his going to meeting attire, wearing his “Mason Suit” complete with necktie (Freemasons are required to wear a suit and tie to their meetings, but Orthodox rules forbid clergy to do this). Neckties are noted as being a noose, something that Judas (who betrayed Christ with a kiss) was know for using." Source