personal religious expieriences

[Mr. Sauerkraut]

Hi,

i like to ask you which personal religious expieriences you did have in your live. Did you see any miracles? Did a wonder happen to you? Have you heard a holy voice? I mean this serious. I´m really curois about your reports.

 

[uscitizen]

No, no and no.

 

[Mr. H.]

You first, Mr. S.

 

[Mr. Sauerkraut]

You first, Mr. S.

OK.

I´m a confirmend lutheran christian and i never had any doubts that there is a god who´s good to me and loves me. I did have a very hard childhood but praying, believing and keeping my faith saved me to take the wrong way. In 1987 i did have an reborn expierience at a evangelical church but i did not stay at them because i refuse to denie the science in general.

But sometimes young men do stupid things.

In 1988 I invested 100 DM in a pyramid game or chain letter. To make any money I had to make some people to invest in this too but there i got a conflict with my conscience. As a reborn christian my order was to tell the people from god and jesus and not about a bogus system where unavoidably many people will lose their money for nothing. So I accepted the loss of these 100 DM and forgot this whole thing.

One year later I took my father´s car even it wasn´t allowed to and did a little scratch on it. My father wasn´t very lucky about this but after i promised that i´ll pay the repair it was ok for him. I regretted deeply what i did and prayed for forgiveness.

On the next day two letters laid in the box. The first one was the bill from the workshop: 240 DM. Ouch, in this time that was money for me. But the other letter came from this chain letter system which I already had forgotten. In it was a bank cheque for me of 220 DM.

This is the way god handles me. THings like these happen very often to me, that an unexpected help comes from heaven.

 

[Mr. H.]

There was a time in my life that was particularly challenging to the point where I prayed for strength. Went to church, received the sacraments, prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary for strength to make the right decisions facing me.

A few weeks into it, I would smell roses. In the dead of winter, everywhere I went. Not all the time, but often. It was a sign. I made my decision, did what I had to do, and things turned out for the best.

Next: the near-drowning.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I am a confirmed atheist and if I ever heard voices, I'd be getting to a neurologist right quick.

 

[uscitizen]

God gets credit for the good stuff and satan is blamed for all the bad stuff.
Much of much we bring on ourselves, such as banging up a car.

 

[Mr Natural]

Not without the aid of psychedelics.

 

[Ernie S.]

23 years ago, I was drinking 2 cases of beer and a quart of Jack Daniels every day. My life was a shambles and I was dying of malnutrition. For whatever reason, I suspect, pride, I checked myself into a rehab. Some 3 days later, when I was healthy enough to get out of bed, I made my way to the chapel where I prayed that the compulsion to drink alcohol be lifted from me.
From that moment on, I have not had the desire to drink.
Call that what you want. I call it a spiritual experience.

 

[Mr. Sauerkraut]

I am a confirmed atheist and if I ever heard voices, I'd be getting to a neurologist right quick.

Have you read "Eat Pray Love"? The Author describes in it very good an expierience of hearing voices and that this isn´t unusal for searchers.

Several years ago nothing seemed to make any sense in my life. I worried and cried and sendet one big question to heaven: "Why me?" And I recieved this answer:

"Because you have the ability to make the best of all."

Whoops. In fact, these were been 2 messages: The first was the spoken words, which are delphic and cryptical for me til today. The other message was the voice itself: This was peace, love, solace, care, hope and spirit in a way that´s undescrible. This was god, touching me directly for two seconds and it concussed me. I didn´t hear it again til them but that doesn´t mind. Expieriencing this once is enough for a whole life.

Don´t wonder if you hear something when your down enough. It needn´t to be christian faith to get a contact to the higher power. Once you heard it you´ll understand that all religions are the medias to keep in touch to god. That´s my conviction.

 

[Mr. Sauerkraut]

God gets credit for the good stuff and satan is blamed for all the bad stuff.
Much of much we bring on ourselves, such as banging up a car.

oh yes, the satan is another thing. I think his role is deeply misunderstood. Anne Rice describes in her book "Memnoch the devil" an alternative watch on this. But this is another discussion. But i like to agree to you that we can´t put any misbehaviour of ourselves on any "satanic intervention". Learning and accepting our self-responsibility is one of the central goals and senses in life.

Scratching the car was absolutely my fault. No satan or anybody else le me do this, it was just the lust of a young boy to drive a car. But bringing me out of the troble just in time i needed...well, faith is always not proofable and you can reduce everything to a fluke. But meanwhile i´m accustomed that god always have the better and best solutions for my life.

 

[manifold]

I would argue that this thread is titled incorrectly given the content of the op.

It should read: personal spiritual experiences.

A hair worth splitting IMO.

 

[Mr. Sauerkraut]

I would argue that this thread is titled incorrectly given the content of the op.

It should read: personal spiritual experiences.

A hair worth splitting IMO.

I agree. But i don´t know how to edit a title.

 

[cduebelhoer]

No, no, no.

My personal experience was growing up in a Church of Chirst full of extreme conservatism, with a preacher and (more in my case) a youth minister who spewed Bush political propaganda in trying to mold the thoughts of the congregation and youth group.

Also, how could I forget that the same preacher chastised the congregation one Sunday because the last Sunday's collection wasn't enough to cover the large renovation bill he had racked up trying to have the biggest and best church building in our town (~4500 people).

Ironic how the love for money (supposedly a devilish temptation), was God's work. Hmmm...

 

[Mr. H.]

Ok- spiritual experience #2:

Went for a swim to a waterfall w/my brother. He turned back but I figured I could make it. Never was a good swimmer. I got tired, cramped up, went under. I thought for sure I bought the farm. My life "passed before me" more as a feeling, not a vision. But it was all there and it was really neat. Said a prayer on the way underwater. Saw the "bright light" and figured it w/be like going to sleep.

Well, under my foot out of nowhere was a rock just big enough to support me on one foot. Got my nose above the water, caught my breath and rested- then swam to shore. Puked my guts out and broke down crying.

The end.

 

[cduebelhoer]

Ok- spiritual experience #2:

Went for a swim to a waterfall w/my brother. He turned back but I figured I could make it. Never was a good swimmer. I got tired, cramped up, went under. I thought for sure I bought the farm. My life "passed before me" more as a feeling, not a vision. But it was all there and it was really neat. Said a prayer on the way underwater. Saw the "bright light" and figured it w/be like going to sleep.

Well, under my foot out of nowhere was a rock just big enough to support me on one foot. Got my nose above the water, caught my breath and rested- then swam to shore. Puked my guts out and broke down crying.

The end.

Not trying to belittle what I'm sure was a traumatizing experience, but the rock being there seems like coincidence to me.

Too often 'miracles' just seem like coincidences. Coincidence happen to all of us, everyday, but when they are a little bigger than finding change in the couch, all of a sudden, it's God's work.

 

[Mr. H.]

LOL yeah I know what you're saying. Hell, if I only tested the bottom when I started out it wouldn't have been a big deal. But smelling those roses was the real thing.

 

[uscitizen]

Ohh and yes there are atheists in foxholes. I was one.

 

[Mr. H.]

Was?

 

[Mr. Sauerkraut]

Ok- spiritual experience #2:

Went for a swim to a waterfall w/my brother. He turned back but I figured I could make it. Never was a good swimmer. I got tired, cramped up, went under. I thought for sure I bought the farm. My life "passed before me" more as a feeling, not a vision. But it was all there and it was really neat. Said a prayer on the way underwater. Saw the "bright light" and figured it w/be like going to sleep.

Well, under my foot out of nowhere was a rock just big enough to support me on one foot. Got my nose above the water, caught my breath and rested- then swam to shore. Puked my guts out and broke down crying.

The end.

impressive