Unka Glen: Your Handy-Dandy Guide to Signs and Wonders!

unkaglen:

more-than-a-piece asked: I’ve seen people about my age talking about these experiences they have where they could not control their laughter “from the Spirit” and they were blessed by something and felt waves of the Spirit radiating off of them as they continue in this laughter. I haven’t really heard of this. What’s your view of this?

Unka Glen answered: This so called “holy laughter” movement has been around awhile, and I can give you a way of understanding not just this type of situation, but any kind of “sign or wonder” you might encounter. 

Your Handy-Dandy Guide to Signs and Wonders!

1) God is God, and He can do what He wants. God is bound to do all kinds of wild things with all kinds of people in all kinds of situations. He is not bound or limited in any way, and we should have no doubt that God does all kinds of out-of-the-ordinary things with people every day. BUT… if you want ME to believe in it, that’s another thing.

2) Is it Biblical? If you want me to believe in what’s happening to you, I’m going to look at scripture carefully for some kind of example of it. In the case of holy laughter, some would point to Acts 2:13, where the Holy Spirit came upon the early church, and others observing this thought they were “drunk on wine”. To go from there to “holy laughter” is a bit of a stretch. Is it stretching things too far? Eh. I think so, but I suppose it could be in the ballpark.

3) When, Where, and How. I’ve certainly laughed in prayer, often when I hear something from the Lord that gives me a sense of relief, where that wisdom comes in and breaks down my own foolishness. And I’ve laughed in church when I’ve experienced that same kind of breakthrough in a good sermon, and I think that this kind of laughter is fantastic, and if you dig it, I think that this breakthrough moment is a holy moment, in it’s way. 

But let me say, as someone who has presided over more worship services than any pastor I know, if you want to disrupt a service, by giggling loud enough so that we all take our focus off of the Lord, and put it all on you, then you and I are going to immediately have a very serious conversation, and it’s really not going to go your way. 

4) Signs and wonders do not point to a special status. If you read Numbers 22, you’ll hear the story of Balaam and his donkey. In that story, you’ll discover that the Lord chose to speak through a donkey (not a super-holy donkey either, as far as we know), and it wasn’t Balaam’s great status or faith that brought this about either. In fact, the Lord was quite angry with Balaam.

It’s nice if you have a mystical experience, but God doesn’t reserve His signs and wonders for the super-spiritual. Indeed, if one wants to “take it the the extreme”, remember that Paul told us to eagerly pursue gifts that “edify the church” (1 Cor. 14:4). You giggling away is nice for you, but it doesn’t do squat for the rest of us, so don’t assume that we’ll see you as the holiest one in the room all of a sudden.

5) Discern and pray. Here’s the real bottom line: does God say it’s okay to be skeptical about these things? Paul himself was put to the test in a place called Berea, and unlike the people in Thessalonica, the Bereans took everything that Paul said and examined the Old Testament to see if it fit. So what does the book of Acts say about the Bereans? 

“The Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11). They loved hearing it, they loved checking the Old Testament on it, and they loved finding out that it was all true. Putting things to the test made them more solid in their belief, and they were praised for it.

As for the Thessalonians, Paul ends his first letter to those same Thessalonians with this instruction: “Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil” (1 Thes. 5:20-22). Paul is telling them to put everything to the test, even him. Discerning true from false is not only okay, it’s good, and using prayer to test the signs and wonders you see, is something the Bible directly instructs you to do.

Discerning dem signs =)

I actually find this more in HK, maybe I just go to conservative churches in Australia xD

J.S. Park: Question: Spiritual Gifts or Demonic Rituals?

jspark3000:

Anonymous asked:

Hi, love your blog!! So i recently had the experience of “holy laughter” during a prayer group at someone’s home. Before it happened to me i had never heard of it and they told me it was from the Holy Spirit but now after some googling i’ve learned it is apparently evil and from demons which honestly has me a bit freaked out. What’s your opinion on this? And if it is evil what do i do? Should i stop associating with those people at church who support it? Thanks :)

Please allow me to cut straight to the bottom of this issue:

Is it biblical? Is it edifying? What’s the motive? What’s the purpose?

I know there is tons of history, culture, and tradition behind spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues, healing, and prophetic visions, so I also know that I will offend one group of people or another. But again — what’s the bottom line here? What’s the appropriate biblical place for something like “holy laughter?” How is it being used? And why?

Even legit biblical disciplines like prayer can be abused with false motives, like competing with other Christians or praying only for health and wealth. Ascetic monks of the early church would play American Idol by praying louder and longer than everyone else. Or they’d pray in their isolated chambers but never lift a finger to help a dying stranger.

Sometimes “spiritual gifts” are just working yourself into a frenzy as if the religious experience of ecstasy somehow equates to meeting with God. While emotions play a part in worship, it’s definitely not the basis. And trying to work yourself into a fervor every week is downright exhausting. If you base your faith on how well you can shake on the floor, then you’ll hate yourself when you just don’t want to do it one day. Or you’ll go through the motions and be severely disillusioned while pretending.

Let’s take the example of speaking in tongues. I often get the feeling that when people publicly go on a tongue-rage, they’re saying, “Look at my awesome divine ability to yell holy gibberish!” If you read 1 Corinthians 14 (especially verses 18-19, 23, 27-28), you’ll see the true biblical parameters for speaking in tongues which are almost always violated. Tongues are supposed to be done away from non-believers, always with an interpreter, quietly, and it’s at the bottom of the list in significance. God’s Word is super-specific here: there’s no getting it wrong.

God is a God of order, and He knew how whacked out we could become if we over-emphasized these things. The fad of “holy laughter” has also led to animal noises and bouts of shrieking weeping. At some point, somebody needs to blow a whistle and say, “Okay man, stop being an attention whore. You’re holy, okay? We get it. Congrats bro.” If that’s harsh, I’m just saying what everyone else is already thinking.

While I’m not sure all this is demonic or evil, I’m also not entirely sure that much of it is born from a right heart. I have no idea how it could NOT distract others and break the atmosphere. I’m not sure how it connects with God, either. You’ll really have to pray about attending this church by asking: Why are they really doing this? Ask them the same thing. Be thoughtful.

It’s cool to rejoice in worship and have fun in fellowship and shout for joy, and there’s a right time to laugh too, but I think spiritual gifts do not go far enough. They’re just extras. The authentic Christian submits to the Spirit of God so He will gloriously flex the fruit of love in serving one another. Love is the priority; it is the greatest gift; it’s the bottom line. Anything else that impedes it should be tossed.

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
— 1 Corinthians 13:1, 8, 13

Also Read:

- So About The Speaking of Tongues

- The Real Miracle (by Unka Glen, on the gift of healing)

J.S. Park: Question: How To Encourage Your Pastor (They Really, Really Need It)

jspark3000:

Anonymous asked:

What can I say or do to encourage my local pastor? I know that you are a pastor yourself and I’d like to ask you, a pastor, what pastors need to hear.

Thank you so much for this question.  If I knew you, I’d buy you any coffee you want and give you a long forty second hug.  I did write a super-long post on this before, but since ministry has gotten even tougher here in the last few weeks, I’ll go at this question again.

1) Please try to understand that your pastor is a human being with the same hopes, fears, dreams, anxieties, and worries as everyone else.

You ever get that weird moment when you see your teacher at the mall?  Like you think, “Whoa, my teacher doesn’t live in a subterranean lair trying to torture us with horrible homework assignments.”  He’s a real human being, with insecurities and a childhood and a real life outside of grading your papers.

If you take the “Pastor” label off the front of your pastor’s name and remove all those preconceived cultural ideas about a holy-preacher-man, then you know: he’s just a regular guy.  He’s been given a huge divine calling, yes, but even with that he’s still way in over his head.  He’s not indestructible against criticism; he is trying to listen to everyone; he has his own life; he puts on his socks one at a time; he occasionally watches the same TV shows that you do.

At times people only seem to want to talk spiritually-related stuff with me, when really sometimes I’d just like to get some ice cream and play some cards.  People are shocked when I let out the rare curse word, or when I talk about my favorite season of 24, or when I know that Will Ferrell meme.

While not all pastors are equally accessible, they are equally frail, tempted, and human.  We don’t get it right every time.  We don’t want to be on pedestals.  Unfair expectations hurt my heart.  And behind the pulpit is a real dude with real thoughts who really wants to be real with you.

2) If something was helpful, let your pastor know.

Many pastors find themselves in a brutal, punishing culture where they only hear from their church members if something went wrong.  It’s like all those imbalanced reviews on Yelp where the restaurant was “awful, bad lighting, waiter a moron.”  It’s our human nature to write a negative review; not so much a positive one.

Sometimes, your pastor gets it right.  A single sentence in his sermon spoke to you.  That prayer he prayed over you flipped a switch.  That outreach event, while not perfectly coordinated, stirred your heart with affections you never knew.  Some blog post he wrote really hit the nail on the head.  Simple: just let him know about that. Brag about your pastor to your pastor.

The realest of us don’t do this for compliments or feels-warm-fuzzies.  We knew going in that it would be ridiculously difficult.  But when God sends someone like you along, we are just about in tears.  It also helps us immensely to know when we are steering the right direction.  A simple word of thanks or text message or email or comment on his blog will boost his engine through even the worst of storms, and we will thank God for you all day long.  In my case, all year long.

3) All that stuff the Bible says about how to treat someone?  Do that for your pastor too.

When I was still a church member finding out this whole Christianity thing, I made it a natural reflex to pray for my own pastor.  When he messed up, I forgave him.  When he was long-winded, I was patient.  When he got convicted, I tried to spur him onto good deeds. And I loved on him like crazy.

What usually happens after a sermon is that we let the Holy Spirit play out with everyone else in the church except for the pastor.  I’ve found that church people can be particularly unforgiving towards a pastor’s mistakes while at the same time forgiving that horrible father of thirty years after a powerful sermon at the revival that the pastor stayed up all night praying for. 

I am not at all criticizing the church here or “tooting my own horn.”  I don’t deserve anything from anyone; I know I must earn my respect with the church people.  I was just always curious why we treated the pastor as a separate alien entity from the rest of the church body.  If my pastor became sick, why shouldn’t I visit him too?  If my pastor makes a common human mistake, why shouldn’t I be gracious to him? 

We talk so much about “unconditional love” in the church but can be so coldly conditional with the pastor.  I understand that: some pastors just suck.  False teachers will face total wrath in the end.  Yet there are so many decent, God-fearing pastors out there who are starving for the community and for the love that the whole church is sharing with one another.

Proverbs 3:27 tells us not to withhold good from anyone if it’s in our power to act.  That includes the least-of-these, that neighbor you can’t stand, the weird kid in your class, and your awkward hit-and-miss-sermon pastor.  Please remember to pray for him, serve him, love on him.

haha, defs guilty of thinking the pastor isn’t a ‘REAL person’ and sometimes wants to talk about ‘normal’ stuff.

Lord, I will trust in You.: Why do I love God?

This post reminds me of 10,000 reasons =P

I love God because He loved me first.

I love God because He loved me first.

I love God because He cares for me 24/24 and 7/7 without getting bored.

I love God because even though I do many mistakes, He always forgives me when I tell Him sorry.

I love God because whenever I talk to Him, He is there.

I love God because He loves me even though I mess up.

I love God because He always answers my prayers, His own way.

I love God because His way is always the best.

I love God because I enjoy being with Him.

I love God because He enjoys being with me.

I love God because when He doesn’t give me what I want, He gives me better.

I love God because He is stronger than my enemy.

I love God because He can do everything.

I love God because when I travel, I don’t have to use a long distance phone to call Him.

I love God because He always has all the time for me.

I love God because I can’t pay Him back, and I don’t need to.

I love God because the things He asks me to do make my life better.

I love God because I can always ask him for help. No quota.

I love God because He doesn’t sleep, take a day off, or have a holiday.

I love God because I feel happy when I do.

I love God because when I came to Him, He made a big celebration at His place.

I love God because He wrote a great book which each time I read in, I learn something new.

I love God because He invited me home to stay forever.

I love God because He made a very beautiful garden for me to enjoy it, and called it nature.

I love God because He made many of the animals useless but beautiful to enjoy.

I love God because He gives those who oppose Him a life time chance to come to Him.

I love God because He promised me a lot to have when I am at His place, and then gives me all to enjoy now.

I love God because He can’t get broke.

I love God because I don’t have to pay to see Him.

I love God because the only songs that are 100% truthful are those sang to Him.

I love God because I don’t have to worry that He might do something to hurt me.

I love God because even when I forget Him, He keeps me on His mind.

I love God because He gave me time to work and time to relax.

I love God because He loved me without putting any conditions to His love.

I love God because He knows how things go over here, because He made here.

I love God because He always understands me.

I love God because I don’t have to be in my best condition to be able to talk to Him.

I love God because to do what He wants me to costs no money.

I love God because He asks me to give from His own pocket.

I love God because He placed me on earth in the best place that I can ever be.

I love God because He thinks that I am worth saving, and paid so much for it.

I love God because whenever I find a best practice in life, I find that it is already written in His book.

I love God because He is the author of the best seller of all languages and all times.

I love God because He placed me on the only live planet among billions of dead ones.

I love God because He made me unique among billions of others.

I love God because I don’t have to take an appointment to meet Him.

I love God because there is nothing He can’t do, and He is someone who knows me.

I love God because He made the earth in 6 days to show me some things need time to be done … correctly.

I love God because He doesn’t give me all what I ask.

(Source: iwilltrustinyou, via iwilltrustinyou)

Lord, I will trust in You.: Is it acceptable to repeatedly pray for the same thing, or should we only ask once?

iwilltrustinyou:

In Luke 18:1-7, Jesus uses a parable to illustrate the importance of persevering in prayer. He tells the story of a widow who came to an unjust judge seeking justice against her adversary. Because of her persistence in prayer, the judge relented. Jesus’ point is that if an unjust judge will grant the petition of someone who perseveres in a request for justice, how much more will the God who loves us—“his chosen ones” (v. 7)—answer our prayer when we keep praying? The parable does not teach, as is mistakenly thought, that if we pray for something over and over, God is obligated to give it to us. Rather, God promises to avenge His own, to vindicate them, right their wrongs, do them justice, and deliver them from their adversaries. He does this because of His justice, His holiness, and His hatred of sin; in answering prayer, He keeps His promises and displays His power.

Jesus gives another illustration of prayer in Luke 11:5-12. Similar to the parable of the unjust judge, Jesus’ message in this passage is that if a man will inconvenience himself to provide for a needy friend, God will provide for our needs far more, since no request is an inconvenience to Him. Here again, the promise is not that we will receive whatever we ask if we just keep asking. God’s promise to His children is a promise to meet our needs, not our wants. And He knows our needs better than we do. The same promise is reiterated in Matthew 7:7-11 and in Luke 11:13, where the “good gift” is further explained to be the Holy Spirit. 

Both of these passages encourage us to pray and to keep praying. There is nothing wrong with repeatedly asking for the same thing. As long as what you are praying for is within the will of God (1 John 5:14-15), keep asking until God grants your request or removes the desire from your heart. Sometimes God forces us to wait for an answer to our prayers in order to teach us patience and perseverance. Sometimes we ask for something when granting it is not yet in God’s timing for our lives. Sometimes we ask for something that is not God’s will for us, and He says “no.” Prayer is not only our presenting requests to God; it is God’s presenting His will to our hearts. Keep on asking, keep on knocking, and keep on seeking until God grants your request or convinces you that your request is not His will for you.

(Source: gotquestions.org, via iwilltrustinyou)

Unka Glen: Seize your chance at greatness

and give God all the glory =)

unkaglen:

What do you want them to write on your tombstone? “Here lies someone who followed all the rules and was responsible and made good grades and never offended anyone”. Believe me, in that case, they won’t bother writing anything at all. If you know how you want to be remembered, even if it’s just a…

the little world of little vince: Letter to Future Vince #1

little-vince:

Dear Vince,

Today you missed out on seeing SNSD live. SNSD’s next concert sold out in minutes and that’s in Singapore.
There was a concert that is happening 3 hours away and the tickets never sold out.

What if this opportunity never arises again? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity!!…

Dear Lil V, That’s great encouragement right there!

< Check out his post ppl!! [click above or here] >

Thank you God for all good things including brothers and sisters (and mums/uncles/aunties) who encourage us, build us up and spur us on to love and good deeds. =)