Two Classes of Christians

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being born again, discerning the spirits, discipleship, experience, eyes of the heart, following Jesus, illumination, knowing God, revelation, T.A. Sparks, Tradition

Following Jesus directly as our only guide and trying to follow Him through the guidance of human beings, which is commonly known as doing church, is not only not the same, it is indeed the exact opposite. From hence it is clear that someone who receives a command instantly through the Holy Spirit – whenever God sees fit – and someone who needs to wait on God telling them something until men tell them about it at an appointed time, this cannot be the same kind of Christianity, right?  🙄

Endurance… despite it all

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authority, discerning the spirits, dying to self, exhortation, experience, faith, glory, John of the Cross, resurrection power, self-will power, spiritual power, suffering, surrender, T.A. Sparks, the dark night of the soul, the dark night of the spirit

Germany’s highest church: Wendelstein Church/Upper Bavaria
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

I recall that someone once told me that they would continue to write and publish when they were through with their trials and everything was clearer to them. Well, as much as I have been tempted to share this point of view, more and more it appears to me that there ist no end of trials in this life, or is it? Sometimes God keeps us covered by His both unseen and unfelt protection in a deeply dark condition where all good things seem to have come to their very end. The stage of testing where mere and naked faith in God puts us through may last for a few days, for some weeks, for several months or even for many, many years. The length of that period is dependent on what God has in mind regarding our personal spiritual growth. It was John of the Cross who realized that the deeper the night, the higher the glory and divine authority we will be able to share afterwards (whenever afterwards is experienced).

Putting Christianity to the Acid Test

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discerning the spirits, dying to self, exhortation, false spirits, false teachers, God's love, Michael Clark, movements, peace, psychology, soul-life, Spiritual Life, T.A. Sparks, the cross, Truth in Love

Putting our Christian views to the test
(Picture credits http://i0.wp.com/mrvitaminsnews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/acid-alkaline.png)

This is another joint blog post Michael Clark and I wrote together. As always, it needs to be seen against the backdrop of our own religious history. We both have had many years of experience in different church groups that were not founded on Christ and see why Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Cor 2:2 ASV)

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Imagine you hear or read about a new branch of Christianity and you, of course, want to know whether what those people believe might be the truth or not. How can we quickly discern if we are dealing with real or only fake Christianity? To come straight to the point, without spiritual discernment received by God’s Spirit, the firmness of our conviction will be shaken again and again, depending on our moods, feelings, thoughts, and reasoning. T. Austin Sparks wrote the following about spiritual understanding.