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I have an update regarding something I posted here about a year ago.  I said that in Iowa, even though the law says that in the case of a married woman giving birth both spouses should be on the birth certificate, when a woman is married to another woman, the other spouse is not listed on the birth certificate.  The Iowa Supreme Court recently ruled that in the case of a woman who is married to another woman giving birth, the spouse should be listed on the birth certificate.  I see this as an instance of the court telling the state that they have to follow the law.

This grows out of a continuing conversation I've had with James Rix that spans several thread topics as I review them going backwards.

All are welcome to share their experiences & insights, or not. 

2 or 3 Questions: 
1. How do I, (Steven) hear God speaking?
2. How does Scripture talk about God speaking?
3. How do others experience and/or discern God speaking?

Sub-questions abound regarding effective & reliable discernment of which I'll suggest these as openers.
"How do you know that its really God?"
"How do we balance healthy skepticism and faith?"
"How do we avoid self-deception or deceiving others or being deceived, wittingly or unwittingly!

My short, life story: I was once quite sure of myself & what God says. Then, I fell into confusion. Then, God saved me. Things were fine for a while. Then, I got too sure of myself & eventually became confused, lost, bewildered, befuddled, bespeckled and flabbergasted. I cried out & God saved me, again.  This cycle has recurred several times.

Currently, I'm in a phase of recovery having lost all confidence in myself, God & life following my wife's passing. Each of you in this group are partners in the Lord's continuing efforts to bring me to the next chapter of my life. Thank you! 

James quoted:
Me:
“Nope! Often, God overrules my gut feelings! That’s one of the ways I know its God/Jesus/Holy Spirit & not me!”
James:Could you expand on this some?  I’m having trouble seeing how you can tell the difference.  I know you suggested a new thread for this and there are currently lots of them active right now, so I hate to ask.  But I’d like to know how you hear God’s spirit.

Sure!

Here's an example from current life, fresh & hot off the press:

Yesterday I needed to write a letter of reference for a friend applying to be a life coach.  I had 1 or two shallow sentences in mind & didn't feel right about even those. Then, I just started typing & ended up with a page of very readable content. I emailed my friend who was quite humbled by my words of praise. I double-checked & concluded I could give specific examples for each of my comments. IOW, what I wrote was empirically based, not exaggerated or excessive.  Nor was it the result of a clear conscious  analytical thinking process as I was initially surprised at the whole thing. 

My friend replied that it is exactly what is needed even though she had failed to give me clear instructions in those regards. Thus, I could not have rationally determined what the organization needed due to my information deficit.

IMNSHO, hitting the mark that well is beyond human ability & represents "God speaking" in some fashion. & even if it is not "God", I'll take the humble route & give God the credit either for inspiring me or making me smart enough to be a good guesser. 


But, I don't ascribe such things to the Lord until subsequent evidence suggests high praise & I hit the mark well beyond my human ability.

That is one example & one type of "God speaking."

To make a formal study, I'd suggest reviewing a couple of New Testament passages for background:
(Or check out the current issue of Charisma magazine on The Holy Spirit)

I Corinthians 2
I Corinthians 12-14
Romans 8 and 12

go to
http://www.biblegateway.com/

& do a phrase search on the following:

"Word of the Lord"   223
"Word of God"          40
Prophet                  224
Prophecy                 20
Prophe*                 582
"God spoke"              6
"God said"              54 (28 times in Genesis!)
"The Lord says"     184 (all in the Old Testament!)
"The Lord said"      299, all but 11 in the Old Testament
"Holy Spirit"            93  (with 69 being in the Book of Acts!)
"God's Word"            6

Don't try to look through all of them! Skim & skip.
I've done that & written long research papers that are getting old & dusty!  My study of "Spirit" in the Book of Acts dealt directly & critically with the Greek text.  My research paper on Spiritual Gifts ran well over 50 pages & could have been much longer but time ran out.

Formally put, my experience parallels that found in the Book of Acts, Romans 8 discussion of the Spirit as well as I Corinthians 12-14 (as a unit!) 

But, I quote I Cor 12:

1Co 12:1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

 1Co 12:4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

 1Co 12:7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

Whatever else this passage may mean, God is spirit & we dare not neglect paying attention to the spiritual side of life which is different from emotions, feelings, reason & intellect. 

Paul's words in I Co 2 have left me intrigued & wrestling with these words for decades as the implications appear profound:

1Co 2:6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
        “No eye has seen, no ear has heard,  no mind has conceived
         what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
        The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

I encourage great care & drawing conclusions slowly, befitting my conservative style. 

Suffice it to say, I follow a Christ that is alive & is neither deaf nor mute!
The Lord I serve is 3 persons in one God, the Creator of all who is always speaking if our hearts are open to hearing.
He turns a deaf ear towards no one. But speaks reluctantly to those not inclined to listen.

Blessings!

James:

Thanks! 

Yeah, wedding & marriage planning might be descriptive.  Making the sessions 'required" made sure no one abused my position or the church.  But, those are more formalities than obstacles. 

But, the church is not like the county courthouse.
Non-members do not have the right to demand the church perform a wedding whenever & however they wish under any & all circumstances. Each church & pastor will set limits as befits their own conscience, some more wisely than others. 

So, if a couple wants to get married & says, "We joined the church & lied when we took the membership vows just so you would marry us. We don't believe in Jesus, we're not sure about God either. We don't think prayer does anything but we want you to pray for us & do the wedding to keep our families' happy."

I'm going to say, "Fantastic! Let's throw a party!"  ??  Nope!      Nor am I just going to say, "Nope."  I'm going to let them talk it out, get the full story before making any decisions.

To be fair, most couples I worked with were still figuring out their faith & relationship with God from lots of angles. I worked with those couples to navigate through the seas of their lives to be honest to their faith, each other, their families & friends. 

If they just wanted to live together, then why go through the motions of something they didn't believe in just to make parents happy & end up miserable? I wouldn't do that. Hence, the need to interview the couple & help them to have confidence in their decisions.  & some couples would decide to "just" keep on living together. Was that moral? That wasn't mine to say. It would have been immoral for them to do a wedding "just" to please others.  & so I hope I helped them make a faithful decision.

Rather, I bore witness that God joins, not a state granted marriage license.  If they felt God had joined them, then, by all means celebrate with their friends & give thanks to God in  public.  But, if that wasn't their cup of tea, then fine! Hindus & Muslims seem to have decent marriages without a Christian wedding, so go figure. Or maybe they don't, I can't say.  Thus, I would pray to set them free to hear & follow the Lord & not what societal pressure was bringing to them.

Of course, I'd have some couples who were Catholic & in a few cases, I helped them decide to go back to their priest & go through those insanities if that was being true to their faith.  I mean, if you really are Catholic & believe marriage is a sacrament, then, follow your heart.  If they didn't have a priest to call, I did, being the ecumenist that I am. 

But, most couples opted for short & simple. The better I knew the couples, the better I could advise on what options might best suit their styles & sensibilities. 

What did I deal with more often? These kind of things:
"Do you want a soloist. If so, how many? If you have special music, the organist will need to make sure she can play them. If you have your own organist, ours will have to brief them on our organ & say "OK". "

"Oh, you are sending out 300 invitations? Our church can only seat 100 or so." 

I'll address the "Hearing God" later, as I'm out of time.   

Blessings!

TULIP,

Thanks for sharing the post. I certainly couldn't conclude that Subjectivity is Truth.  Subjectivity is not an absolute and as such contains an element of faith. Faith relies on un-verifyable ideas which may or may not be truth.  Someone's belief system is subjective, this does not result in truth.  The paradox is that two beliefs which are not the same cannot both be true.

While we agree that God is beyond time, I believe he is aware of time and in fact created time as a construct of creating our universe.

Steven,
Einstein's link between space & time has been proven.  Voyager has now escaped the solar system and all influences of gravity, yet it is perceving to be slowing down.  All the Big Bang theories utilize the relationship between time and space.  There in no such thing as before the Big Bang because time didn't exist.  Hence the idea that God created time with the universe as part of our reality.

Tulip:


Thanks!


"time is non objectively recoverable except as a metacognitive construct "

I have no idea what a "meta-cognitive construct" might be.
If you've reviewed the prior posts you will find  all here seem to agree God is beyond time. [/size]

No one seems to consider God's character to be mutable in a meaningful sense.

I do know UCC clergy who disagree but none seem to be a part of this ragtag group.  Those I've known would be outside of Reformed theology & seem to deem the authors you've mentioned outdated, to put it gently.

Blessings!