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n/a
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 218

Posted 5/25/2002 12:43 PM (GMT -6)

My friend Mike felt moved to pray the gifts of wisdom, prophecy, and teaching into me today, and during the prayer I felt like I wanted to fall and started laughing uncontrollably...and no, I was not drunk. (tee hee) I experienced the spirit in me for the first time. Hallelujah!

God Bless,
Paul

"Remember, education is MORE about confronting views you don't hold than absorbing views you already hold.
"~Gregory A Boyd

GregBoyd
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 1818

Posted 5/27/2002 3:35 PM (GMT -6)

I've had that happen too, very unexpectedly. The holy laughter thing can be for real. Its just so sad that some try to market it, which casts a shadow, for many, on all of it.

Enjoy the blessing

Doc

"In Christ...the ONLY THING that matters is faith energized by love." Galatians 5:6

Electra
Registered Member

Date Joined Feb 2002
Total Posts : 611

Posted 5/27/2002 6:37 PM (GMT -6)

quote:
Whatever makes you feel good MUST be godly...

Writerdad, if you have a point, by all means make it, but please raise the bar above pot shots like this. It comes off as mockery. Is that your intention?

Peace,
Electra

~·•·~·•·~·•·~·•·~
He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?”
I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
Ezekiel 37:3

shell
Registered Member

Date Joined Mar 2002
Total Posts : 280

Posted 5/28/2002 7:22 AM (GMT -6)

I think comparing an experience like Faithfull had to the trivialness of God being on the side of an athletic team is way off base(no pun intended

)I didn't get the impression at all that Faithfull was exalting the holy laughter experience in and of itself. I felt instead that he was glorifying God for the moving of the Spirit.

I had a holy laughter experience for the first time myself about 3 months ago. It came at a very unexpected moment. I was praying with someone, and I won't go into detail, but for me initially what was happening with this person was frightening to me. I felt the Lord specifically directing me to continue praying with this person. Then I was flooded with an amazing peace(one that definitely passed understanding!), and at that moment I experienced overflowing joy that resulted in laughter, peace and strength. He led me in the truth of His perfect love casting out all fear, and filled me with his joy and peace. It was a fortifying and strengthening experience that changed me, and is a testimony to God's amazing love for each of us on a very personal level and through His power it enabled me to minister His love to the person standing in front of me.

I don't think that the manifestations of the Holy Spirit are at all just feel good experiences. I'm not trying to read too much into Faithfull's post..but it seems to me that some growth took place in his life because of this experience that goes above and beyond a feel good experience.

Also...writerdad you mentioned something along the lines that Satan can do the same thing...so we shouldn't be so quick to attribute those experiences to God. Well my experience has been that these moving experiences have brought me closer to the Lord, have deepened my faith and have strengthened the ministry the Lord has called me to do. So...instead of just blatantly doubting one's experience shouldn't we first ask questions about how the Lord used that circumstance in the persons life and in the lives of those around him/her?

Matt. 12:25-26 "...Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste: and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself: how then will his kingdom stand?"

If the Lord wasn't behind those experiences in my life(or in Faithfull's) the enemy sure defeated his purpose because the Lord got all the glory, and brought me closer to him.

Blessings,
Shell

Edited by - shell on 05/28/2002 2:01:45 PM

Edited by - shell on 05/28/2002 2:17:22 PM

pouringagape
Registered Member

Date Joined May 2002
Total Posts : 28

Posted 5/28/2002 8:48 AM (GMT -6)

Faithful,

Thanks so much for sharing that with us! I appreciate that you felt comfortable telling about your experience. I do not think it was wrong, in fact, I think the opposite. Maybe your boldness confirms something that has happened to another brother or sister in Christ and you just helped them along in their walk?!?! Maybe it just testifies to all of us that God is alive and active...thus Glorifying God?!?! Or just maybe it gives us a chance to rejoice with you in something that only benefits you--thereby giving you the love and worth you so much deserve.

Exceeding Blessings,
pouring

might-be-don
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2001
Total Posts : 830

Posted 5/28/2002 9:04 AM (GMT -6)

What about all that "rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep" .

Faithfullservent, I rejoice in your rejoicing. Tell Mike to keep praying.

peace and love, don

"It's time to wipe the tears from our eyes time to stop questioning why, 'cos every clipped birds gonna fly the Healing has begun" T.S Taylor

Tom
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353

Posted 5/28/2002 9:22 AM (GMT -6)

Paul-

I know a lot of Christians who haven’t really laughed—as an expression of overwhelming joy—in years who desperate need to. God wants all of what and who we are to come in contact with him, emotions included--to the full. We’re made for that! Just wanted to encourage you. Press in and seek God. There will be a time later to engage folks like writerdad on stuff like this, but for now I encourage you to totally blow him off.

Sorry writerdad, but you’re wide of the mark on this one.

Blessings,
Tom

"Every saint has a history and every sinner a future." Oscar Wilde

n/a
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 218

Posted 5/28/2002 9:53 AM (GMT -6)

Thank you tim, Doc, shell, electra pouringagape, might-be-don, and tgb. Like shell said, this has been a life changing experience for me. I realized that I don't experience these feelings often, nor am I looking for them to justify my faith in what God can do, feelings are fickle, and that if God were to speak to me, this would be an opportune moment--this spirit thingy was accompanied by a prayer I had prayed with Mike and some friends where I asked God to take over every aspect of my life;since then, I have been trying to focus on God's voice and what how he wants me to use my gifts.

I thank all of my brothers and sisters for their encouragemnt and faith that this was of God, which I totally believe was;and I hope that this testimony was the encouragment I hope it to be.

Peace,
Paul

Whatever makes you feel good MUST be godly...

~Harold (a.k.a. writerdad)

Edited by - faithfullservent on 05/28/2002 2:58:22 PM

Electra
Registered Member

Date Joined Feb 2002
Total Posts : 611

Posted 5/28/2002 10:03 AM (GMT -6)

quote:
I know a lot of Christians who haven’t really laughed—as an expression of overwhelming joy—in years who desperate need to.

Hehe. I can think of a few.

Personally, I have never experienced “holy laughter,” but I have experienced overwhelming, wordless weeping and sorrow during prayer. Quite intense. That’s about the extent of my “charismatic” résumé. And that’s why I’m not that eager to receive any more signs and wonders.… But I think I could handle a little holy laughter, or at least a giggle.

Electra

~·•·~·•·~·•·~·•·~
He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?”
I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
Ezekiel 37:3

Electra
Registered Member

Date Joined Feb 2002
Total Posts : 611

Posted 5/28/2002 11:40 AM (GMT -6)

quote:
Hehe, Electra, I can think of a few, do you mean me?

Actually I was thinking of myself—how myopic of me!

Peace, Electra

Edited by - Electra on 05/28/2002 4:42:19 PM

shell
Registered Member

Date Joined Mar 2002
Total Posts : 280

Posted 5/28/2002 11:52 AM (GMT -6)

Faithfull,

Praise the Lord!

Electra, actually it WAS more of a giggle for me! Can you imagine if I had burst out laughing in front of the person I was praying with

Talk about creating confusion!
Anyway...you really should start working on that charasmatic resume of yours! You are making me laugh...thanks!

Edited by - shell on 05/28/2002 5:01:09 PM

GregBoyd
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 1818

Posted 5/28/2002 12:24 PM (GMT -6)

I think we should all pray for writerdad to get blessed with an outrageous side-splitting gut-busting love-intoxicated spirit of laughter. Despite himself, he'd love it.

If you have extra prayer time left over, pray this one for me. I'll take it. It hasn't happened for a while.

Thanks again Faithful, Shell and others for sharing.

Doc

"In Christ...the ONLY THING that matters is faith energized by love." Galatians 5:6

Tom
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353

Posted 5/28/2002 12:26 PM (GMT -6)

Brother Harold, relax. Stand up, stretch a bit. Put a worship tape on and just focus. Rom 14.17--The Kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Take a deep breath and drink it in, then come back and try again.

Blessings,
Tom

"Every saint has a history and every sinner a future." Oscar Wilde

Springs
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 636

Posted 5/30/2002 2:47 AM (GMT -6)

Hey Faithful,
That's great news. What a marvelous thing it is when God touches us in that way. Like Kierkegaard says, we are still living contemporaneously with Christ. The miraculous still either increases faith or causes offense.

I guess this means God likes you as much as we do!

Springs

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Ps. 19:1

GregBoyd
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 1818

Posted 5/30/2002 7:34 PM (GMT -6)

Ever see that Sean Connery movie... what's it called... Color of the Rose (I think). Its a decent 80's film about some monks who thought laughter was of the devil. They poisoned a book in their monastary library (I think it was on Aristotle) that had to do with comedy.

Cool flick. One pretty explicit scene (yeh, I remember THAT), but good over all film. Kind of relevant here.

Doc

"In Christ...the ONLY THING that matters is faith energized by love." Galatians 5:6

BJS
Registered Member

Date Joined Dec 2001
Total Posts : 587

Posted 6/3/2002 11:53 AM (GMT -6)

The movie is "Name of the Rose" and is one of my favorite suspense/mystery films. It's hard to get your hands on these days, but well worth it if you can find it.

Brett

"Siste viator et memento mori."

Terry_Baxter
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2002
Total Posts : 187

Posted 6/17/2002 1:15 PM (GMT -6)

The Name of the Rose is based on a book by a 20th century semiologist named Umberto Eco. He's one of the most interesting post-modern thinkers around.

Many readers on this board would be interested in his most recent (?) books The Island of the Day Before which has to do with late-medieval theological speculation about the International date line and whether the future is settled. It has a simply wonderful section where the 'hero' speculates on how many Jesus's there would need to be to save all the races on the planets in existence (Eco is sort of a post-modern Catholic). I'm still haunted by it.

The book is also post-modern. You know, the type of read where after the first 200 pages the author writes "but none of that ever happened..."

Terry

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