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Prayer Breakfast - YAY!
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Truthseeker
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 Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 01:09 am

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It was really neat.  My mother bought me a crucifix and the priest said the most beautiful blessing over it and then KISSED IT!  I've been looking for one for years and bever really liked any, but this one was mine before it was cast, I think.  I just love it!

Anyway, there were two parts where they spoke in tongues, which is just strange to me.  Especially because it was like, they all sang some "Holy Spirit" song, and then slipped into tongues, and then one person continued singing and -poof - all tongues stopped and everyone was singing.  It just seemed so formulaic to me and I have a hard time with the validity of it.   Nobody interpreted and I thought that was wrong.

Johnette Bencovic is speaking for this gropur (Magnificat in Orange County), so that lends some credence, but can anyone tell me what to think about the speaking in tongues thing?

BTW - Father's conversion story was great! He spoke of BEING FORGIVING!  And we all know Jesus brought me there just because of that.  St. John's radio taped it.

Love to you all,

Laura



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susiedear
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 Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 05:12 pm

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Dear Laura, you've mentioned Johnette Bencovic before.  Who is she?  I guess I could take some initiative and do a search, but today I'm going to be lazy and ask you instead.

I'm glad that your prayer breakfast was beautiful and meaningful, even though there were moments of disquiet.  I grew up attending a pentacostal church and even went to an AG college, and I still don't understand speaking in tongues.  When it happened in Acts, they spoke in intelligible languages and their words edified the whole body.  The speaking in tongues that surrounded my youth was emotional and personal.  Sometimes it was interpreted, but most of the times it was not.  Like you, I honestly don't get it.  Maybe someone else does.

Elizabeth



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David W. Emery
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 Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 05:33 pm

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Elizabeth, Johnette has a long-running women’s interest program on EWTN. Here are the program details as featured on her website (times are Eastern). She belongs to a charismatic community in Florida.

David


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CajunRick
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 Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 05:46 pm

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Truthseeker wrote: ...can anyone tell me what to think about the speaking in tongues thing?


Many Charismatics (Catholic and Pentacostal) consider "praying in tongues" a personal prayer language which they believe allows them to communicate more directly with God.  They believe it can be taught, and anyone can activate this "Spirit gift" by choice.

This is not the way I choose to express my faith, but I do not fault them for their belief.  It does not bother me when they do it, just as it does not bother me when an older person prays the Rosary.  I believe that all expressions of faith are acceptable, as long as they do not contradict Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium, and any legitimate faith expression belongs within the confines of the Universal Church.

If what they call a Spirit language (and sounds to me like noise) is the most effective way for them to communicate with God, then I encourage them to take advantage of that gift, even if it is not my choice to do so.

By the way, this is not the same thing as speaking in tongues, which requires discernment.  Praying in tongues is a personal thing, while speaking in tongues conveys messages to the discerner which are then usually announced.  I have been in the presence of both, and have seen some rather amazing things conveyed through the speaking and discernment of tongues.  They are two different gifts, and I have no problem with either as long as they do not try to "convert" those who do not practice them (and no one I know has ever tried to convert me).

(Since I am not Charismatic and have not experienced these gifts first-hand, it is distinctly possible that I may have this totally wrong.  If so, I welcome any correction.)



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Truthseeker
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 Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 06:03 pm

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Thank you.

Another thing that happened was, they prophecied.  After the singnig, praying in tongues, singing, a few women went up to the microphone and said their things.  One spoke as if it were Christ speaking to us.  The messages were beautiful and seemed truthful, but I don't know.  Am I just new and belwidered by it all?  I just don't want to be sucked into heresy.  Do people really prophecy like that?

Love-



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CajunRick
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 Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 06:41 pm

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Truthseeker wrote: Another thing that happened was, they prophecied.  After the singnig, praying in tongues, singing, a few women went up to the microphone and said their things.  One spoke as if it were Christ speaking to us.  The messages were beautiful and seemed truthful, but I don't know.  Am I just new and belwidered by it all?  I just don't want to be sucked into heresy.  Do people really prophecy like that?

Many people do not understand the gift of prophecy.  Most think it involves predicting the future, while a true prophet is one who speak's God's word.

Here are the definitions of prophet from the American Heritage Dictionary:
  1. A person who speaks by divine inspiration or as the interpreter through whom the will of a god is expressed.
  2. A person gifted with profound moral insight and exceptional powers of expression.
  3. A predictor; a soothsayer
We are all prophets.  David and I function as prophets here, as do all of our us when we help one another.

The noun prophecy is defined as:
      1. A
      2. n inspired utterance of a prophet, viewed as a revelation of divine will.
      3. A prediction of the future, made under divine inspiration.
      4. Such an inspired message or prediction transmitted orally or in writing.
    1. The vocation or condition of a prophet.
    2. A prediction.
The verb prophesy has this definition:

VERB:
tr.


  1. To reveal by divine inspiration.
  2. To predict with certainty as if by divine inspiration.
  3. To prefigure; foreshow.
VERB:
intr.

  1. To reveal the will or message of God.
  2. To predict the future as if by divine inspiration.
  3. To speak as a prophet.
So yes, people really do speak as prophets all the time, whenever we carry God's word to others.  Haven't you ever had someone ask you a question or present a problem, and you just absolutely knew the perfect thing to say, even though you didn't know where it came from?  It happens to me all the time.  I got an urge to send a friend an e-card the other day, and she ended up practically in tears because she said it was exactly what she needed to hear at that moment.  I have no idea why I sent it, I just felt like it was something I should do.  I ended up being a prophet to her, letting her know that someone cared and was thinking of her when she was down (and I didn't know she was having problems).

Remember the story of the man caught in a flood.  He prayed for deliverance, and a truck came by and offered him a ride.  He declined, and said "God will save me."

A little while later, the water had risen to the point that the man was on his roof.  A boat came by and offered him a ride.  He declined, and said "God will save me."

The water continued to rise until only his head was above the water.  A helicopter hovered overhead and dropped a ladder to him, but he yelled back, "God will save me."

He drowned.  When he reached God's throne, he asked, "God, why didn't you save me?"  God replied, "I came three times, and you turned me down."

God has no hands, feet, eyes, or ears on earth except ours.  When people need help, God lets us hear their cries with our ears and sends us to help with our hands.  He sends us to carry the message with our feet, to proclaim it with our voices.

He calls us all to be prophets.  The only question is whether we are willing to answer, "Here I am, Lord.  Send me."



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MitchyMitch
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 Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 11:50 pm

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On speaking in tongues - I've attended pentacostal services where everybody just seemed to be flapping at the mouth ("clanging cymbols" is a biblical descrition that comes to mind).

But I've always been interested in the phenoma - often seeking penatcostals to explain it to me. I found some that were quite militant - a particular sect that believes in the modalistic explanation of God - God the Creator is Jesus is the Holy Spirit - also believes that one cannot be saved UNLESS one has spoken in tongues as evidence (I guess the mutes are up the creek).

I've never had what you would call an ecstatic moment of speaking in tongues in church, but I did have an experience I'd like to share. Many protestant Bibles has Romans 8:26 saying:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know
what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with
groans that words cannot express.

About 14 years ago, I was extremely sick with a fever and a whole host of other symptoms. I had collapsed in the living room of our apartment while my wife was at work, and when I came to, I was mumbling rather fast. It was nonsense what I was saying - just unintelligble strings of consonants and vowels. Now, I've heard of fevered psychosis and the like - but I was fully aware of what my mouth was doing, yet couldn't actually control it until it just tapered off. I went back to sleep and woke with my fever broken and me a sweaty mess on the floor.

There could be a host of natural explanations for the episode. But I've never quite ruled out that I was experiencing glossolalia.



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David W. Emery
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 Posted: Mon Feb 26th, 2007 12:55 am

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MitchyMitch wrote:When I came to, I was mumbling rather fast. It was nonsense what I was saying — just unintelligble strings of consonants and vowels.
I have witnessed this same phenomenon with several people who were semiconscious. It is a medical condition, not a “spiritual state,” and definitely not speaking in tongues. The medical term for it is “delirium,” and it is simply an incoherent state. Sometimes it occurs because of an illness, such as a fever or a head trauma, but it can also occur when waking from sleep.

I have also seen the exact same thing happen when a person is worked into a frenzy and becomes incoherent, such as may happen at a Pentecostal gathering with the loud music, impassioned preaching and the encouragement of personal response such as rhythmic movement. The person starts babbling for the same reason: he becomes semiconscious, perhaps even hypnotized. This is a physical frenzy, not the Holy Spirit.

Any true speaking in tongues, which according to the bible is a spiritual phenomenon guided by the Holy Spirit, would have to be something quite different from this, in my opinion. Prayer and peace, not trauma, frenzy, hypnosis or somnulence, should be in evidence, don’t you think?

David


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susiedear
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 Posted: Mon Feb 26th, 2007 02:28 pm

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David, you echo my thoughts exactly.  I was a young child when my mother converted to the Assemblies of God, and I remember being terrified at the emotional outbursts, people falling on the floor, and sobbing down at the front of the church.  Later, at my mother's urging, I went forward to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as manifested in speaking in tongues.  A group of people surrounded me and were encouraging me to open my mouth and let the sounds come forth.  To appease them, I started babbling.  For years I thought that I had committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and was doomed to hell.

This Sunday I am going to a worship service and Mass sponsored by the MN Catholic Charasmatic Renewal.  Surely the gifts of the Holy Spirit are practiced in a way far different than what I experienced in my youth. I'm eager (and just a bit nervous) to discover what the Catholic Charasmatic movement is all about.

Thanks for giving me the link to Johnette Bencovic.  I'm sure it will help me learn more.

Elizabeth



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MitchyMitch
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 Posted: Mon Feb 26th, 2007 02:51 pm

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Again, I'm reasonable to understand the natural causes, and dilerium certainly explains my situation to a tee. But I've just never really ruled out the spiritual phenomena, simply because I was otherwise coherant and cognizant of what was going on. It was otherworldy in a way, because it was if I was rather outside myself feeling my lips and tongue move, the breaths taken that produced the sounds. This could most definately go towards a state of mind in the illness, but it's quite different when one has experienced it.

Anyway, after that event, I was not particulalry moved to become a holy-roller, Ernest Angely type. I remained Baptist - at the time - and didn't put a lot of stock into the Charismatic movement. But it does help when I explain this event when talking with charismatic, pentacostal christians, about why I am walking in the faith as I am today.



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Liza
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 Posted: Tue Feb 27th, 2007 10:55 pm

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Dear Laura:  I was not an active believer or church attending Christian when I received the gift of speaking in tongues at a Charismatic meeting. I was a very needy person at that time. As a result of this experience, my life did take on new meaning and for the first time in my life I wanted to go to church to worship Jesus.  I would have walked miles to get to church after this annointing of the Holy Spirit.  I am going back to the mid 70's now.  I believe if you read 1 Cor: 14 much will be explained re tongues.  Please read the entire chapter. I believe it will explain and answer many of your questions.  In essence, tongues are more a sign for the unbeliever, not the believer.  I cannot quote the entire chapter here and much easier for you to read this powerful chapter in scripture.  Remember one thing, if the church seems to be in confusion and alot of noise going on, this is not of God for God is of peace as Paul states in this chapter. Now, 30 years past, the only time I pray in tongues is in private and when I just do not know how to pray. For me praying in tongues are more a non-thinking type prayer language...It is comforting to me but since you are already a believer, I would not trouble myself much about the least of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  God love and bless you!

Last edited on Tue Feb 27th, 2007 11:00 pm by Liza


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Truthseeker
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 Posted: Tue Feb 27th, 2007 11:13 pm

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Thank you Liza-

Do you know what your are saying?



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Liza
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 Posted: Tue Feb 27th, 2007 11:38 pm

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Laura:  Not sure I understand what you ask?  Please go into more detail.
God bless you.


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Ruthie
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 Posted: Wed Feb 28th, 2007 02:38 am

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Laura wrote:

Do you know what your are saying?

I, too, received this gift at a charismatic meeting in the early '70s (before I was Catholic). Like Liza, I use it only personally in prayer, usually when I've run out of words - either in supplication or praise.

I do not know what I'm saying when I pray in tongues. But GoFisher has written on this forum that she does understand what she is saying when she prays in tongues.

Usually, the gift of interpretation is given to another person when in a group. One person will speak in tongues (not understanding what he is saying) while everyone else is silent, and another interprets.

At the parish I go to, they are having a Life in the Spirit seminar one weekend in March. There will be an explanation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned by St. Paul with talks and testimonies. I think there will also be prayer and laying on of hands to receive the gifts if one wishes.

I've met a person who is a Christian, though non-Catholic, who has the gift of prophecy. He never knows what he is going to say. God gives him the words at the appropriate time. This only happens to him at a prayer meeting, never at any other time. It seems to be loving counsel or correction or encouragement, sometimes directed to the group, sometimes directed to a particular person. He cannot summon it at will.

But tongues can be used any time you want to. Though as St. Paul says, it should be used in an orderly way in church or at home by yourself.

In a prayer meeting, what I find really beautiful is singing in tongues. A harmonious, beautiful song is raised in praise to God by everyone all together at the same time. It is beautiful to the ears, and sends one's soul soaring. It seems to come and go spontaneously. It seems miraculous to me that there can be such harmony in such a spontaneous way.

Don't be afraid of these gifts. As Liza says, read I Corinthians 14. The chapters before are a good preface so read those too. And also as Paul says, it is not good to seek these gifts for their own value.

As others have said, it is not necessary to have these gifts to live a beautiful life of faith.

Ruthie

Last edited on Wed Feb 28th, 2007 02:46 am by Ruthie



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Liza
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 Posted: Wed Feb 28th, 2007 03:05 am

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Ruthie:  I remember singing in tongues and I agree with you,  it is a beautiful event.  It has been many years since hearing this.  We have charismatic prayer meetings at our church but have not been able to attend as it is at the same time of our RCIA meetings and go there instead. Ruthie, I thank you for your post and understanding.


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 Posted: Wed Feb 28th, 2007 03:32 am

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Laura,

If you would like to know more, check out Life-in-the-Spirit Seminar online. Just Google it. The URL was way too long to post here. It is completely Catholic so don't feel uneasy about it.

I plan to go to the seminar at my parish March 18 which I'm really looking forward to.

Ruthie

Last edited on Wed Feb 28th, 2007 03:35 am by Ruthie



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 Posted: Wed Feb 28th, 2007 04:17 am

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Hi, Laura! Well, all I can say is that ya can't spend four years at Franciscan U. in Steubenville and not have any experience with the gifts of the Holy Spirit! If nothing else, at least as an observer, though my very first observation of the use of these kinds of gifts was when I was in high school. Though I went to a Catholic high school, my art teacher was a "born-again Christian" (not Catholic). I hung out with a small group of girls and we were kind of teachers' pets. She asked us to her church once, and the four of us went. It was my first experience at seeing an altar call (which I got caught up in because of peer pressure. Oh well. No harm done, really. I knew I was never going to be anything but Catholic). But it was weird seeing people speak in tongues.

I mean, I never thought it was wrong or completely off base like some people did. One of my high school religion teachers once asked a couple of guests to come and speak to the class about the Charismatic renewal (this was in the late 70's when the "charismatic renewal" was fairly new to Catholics). I remember afterward my teacher expressing that she didn't know what to think for sure; she felt it was odd. Strangely, I did not. Made sense to me.

Skip a couple of years ahead and my parents and a brother went to a Life in the Spirit seminar. It really seemed to make a change in their lives (at least for a little while). Then my mom and my brother and I found ourselves in a local Catholic charismatic prayer group for a couple of years. I never really felt like I "received" the gifts. I don't recall ever feeling like I was "born again". It used to make me feel bad, like God had forgotten me or something, but over time I've come to realize that God knows what we need and the" Spirit blows where the Spirit wills." There is a tendency in some people who have the "gifts" to fall into a sort of spiritual pride. It can be a very real problem.

But anyway, fast forward a few more years. I found myself in one of the most famous Catholic universities in the world, less than an hour from home. Kinda funny. I lived there, breathed the air (or tried to - if you've ever been there you'll know what I mean! :D), had some famous people as professors, a few of my fellow students have gone on to greatness in many areas. Yet it's a nothing kind of a town, mostly only famous as a river town (it's right on the Ohio River) and for its steel mills and the fact that Dean Martin grew up there and used to run moonshine.

But the gifts... in Steubenville the very air you breathed on that hill (well, aside from the pollution, that is) was spiritual. Everything we did, everything we spoke of was God-related. It was so easy to slip into tongues. Though I have to confess something. Looking back, I think speaking in tongues, for me, wasn't purely natural. It was sort of something that one tended to slip into because everyone else was doing it. Unlike most schools, there was a lot of peer pressure to be "holy." That's not to say that the use of the gifts wasn't real. Let's just say that the use of tongues and other Charismatic gifts were a great way to get people started on a wonderful spiritual journey. Not long after I graduated from there, I met a woman who had used to go there years before. She said that to me: that it was good for "baby Christians," so to speak. I was offended at the time, but now I understand what she meant. (Please, that's not to say that people who use the gifts as adults aren't mature! Just that using the gifts is a wonderful way to help one's spirituality to grow.)

We used to have "Festivals of Praise" one Saturday a month (I believe they still do). The chapel was always crammed with students. We sang songs and praised and worshipped, spoke and sang in tongues, there were healings and prophecies and "falling down in the Spirit" - that happened to me, once. Only once, but it was an experience.

One good thing about Steubenville: there were -and still are - some darn good priests there. We had leadership and authority. They were very careful to warn us not to fall into too much - what's the word?... well, one priest put it this way: "It's OK to have your head in the clouds as long as your feet are on the ground." Any time there were occasions for the use of gifts, such as prophetic words, there was a discernment team. Anyone who felt they had a "prophecy" had to go through the discernment team first. Some would be turned away after the team prayed because they would discern that it was either a personal prophecy or not the right timing or wasn't from God or whatever. But sometimes there were some powerful prophetic words that really touched people's lives, not to mention healings.

Since I brought it up, I have a question for all you ex and/or still Protestants. I know many Protestants are Charismatic-oriented. Do you, in your churches, have discernment teams? Because in my experience with Protestants, I don't recall there being much discernment going on in the use of the Charismatic gifts. I think this can be dangerous - and can lead one into grand delusions (I'm thinking of someone specifically who I was very close to once).

But back to my experience of the Charismatic spirituality as a Catholic... Do I think of myself as a Charismatic? Yes, in the sense that I believe in the gifts and I'm open to them. Whether or not I will ever have occasion to use them is up to the Holy Spirit. Now, I seldom speak in tongues - not publicly, anyway. And it's very rare when I do. On the rare occasion when I find myself "speaking" in tongues, it's usually when I am alone in the church in front of the tabernacle. When this happens something very powerful comes over me that I can't even describe and I don't have the words. Then I will cry out in tongues. I have no idea what I'm saying. I'm only aware of something deep and usually - I can't really describe it - but some deep yearning and soulful feeling, and it's as if the Holy Spirit is using me as an instrument to cry out something that must be voiced somehow. I don't know how else to describe it.

Well, that's my experience with the gifts in a nutshell. I can't tell you what to think about speaking in tongues. I don't believe that it's wrong, though. However, like any gift, one must use it responsibly. I think I would agree with an old Professor of mine from Steubie U, Mark Miravalle, who didn't think of himself as a Charismatic. But he told us that he felt that the use of the Charisms is just one of many spiritualities.  He used to say "There is beauty in diversity. Unity in the big things and diversity in the little things." I agree. As Liza says, read Corinthians. It explains it all right there. We are many members of the one body. Each of us has our own gifts and we all contribute to the Body through the use of them.

OK, I'll shut up now. My, how I do carry on, eh? Sorry.

JMJ
- Cheri



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Truthseeker
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 Posted: Wed Feb 28th, 2007 08:51 pm

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Talithacumi wrote:
Well, that's my experience with the gifts in a nutshell. .........
OK, I'll shut up now. My, how I do carry on, eh? Sorry.

JMJ
- Cheri


I'm sorry, but can it get any funnier than that? ;););)

 

Thanks everyone.  I'm just trying to wrap my arms around this whole idea and see how safe it is to tread these new uncharted waters.  I was "born again" in my teens and remember the people fainting and speaking "gibberish" and cryng and such - it seems so the opposite of where I am, now.

Much love-



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Liza
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 Posted: Thu Mar 1st, 2007 01:33 am

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Tell me Laura, did you read 1 Cor:14?  Let me know.  Sorry, but you seem to be vague and not answering our posts in a real sense. I am not sure where you are at with this.  You posted the question and we are giving our honest opinions.  What are your thoughts?


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Truthseeker
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Joined: Wed Oct 4th, 2006
Location: Costa Mesa, California USA
Posts: 340
First Name: Laura
Gender: Female
Faith History: lapsed and returned CATHOLIC!!!!!!
Status:  Offline
 Posted: Thu Mar 1st, 2007 08:57 pm

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Liza wrote: Tell me Laura, did you read 1 Cor:14?  Let me know.  Sorry, but you seem to be vague and not answering our posts in a real sense. I am not sure where you are at with this.  You posted the question and we are giving our honest opinions.  What are your thoughts?


Liza - No, I haven't read it yet.  Hard to express my thoughts, because they are somewhat contradictory of each other.  I have been so very busy the last couple days - I could add so much to my "daughter" posts - I just haven't been able to reall DELVE into this issue, yet.  I am at the very surface, just scratching at it. 

Sometimes, I let things go, but I will really ponder on this when I have the time.  I promise to get back to you when I can post something substantive.

Thanks for the nudge.  Sometimes, it's easy to let thing slip, isn't it?  My love to you sister.

Laura



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Lord, please make my will your Will!

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Talithacumi
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Joined: Sat Sep 30th, 2006
Location: Eastern Ohio, USA
Posts: 248
First Name: Cheri
Gender: Female
Faith History: Cradle Catholic - Latin Rite
Status:  Offline
 Posted: Fri Mar 2nd, 2007 02:54 am

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Truthseeker wrote: Talithacumi wrote:
Well, that's my experience with the gifts in a nutshell. .........
OK, I'll shut up now. My, how I do carry on, eh? Sorry.

JMJ
- Cheri


I'm sorry, but can it get any funnier than that? ;););)

Laura,

Uh... sorry. :"> (that's supposed to mean "blushing" - we really need one of those icons...), but... well? Did you notice the time of my post? :D Lately I seem to have insomnia so I'm up 'til REEEAAALLY late sometimes (like tonight - again). And after Midnight I refuse to accept responsibility for what I write. :P Hey, just kidding. But, darn it, I have to have some excuse! :P ;) I'll try to behave and not write so much, but shoot! That's a hard one for me! In school a lot of kids had a hard time with finding enough to write for essay assignments. With me it was always the other way around. I had a hard time condensing them (sigh... some things don't change much, eh?). But I'll try to behave...

JMJ
- Cheri



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“We do not want a Church that will move with the world; we want a Church that will move the world.”
- G.K. Chesterton

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CajunRick
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Joined: Fri Sep 29th, 2006
Location: Houma, Louisiana USA
Posts: 4983
First Name: Rick (& Kermie)
Gender: Male
Faith History: Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite
Status:  Online
 Posted: Fri Mar 2nd, 2007 03:14 pm

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Talithacumi wrote: Truthseeker wrote: Talithacumi wrote:
Well, that's my experience with the gifts in a nutshell. .........
OK, I'll shut up now. My, how I do carry on, eh? Sorry.

JMJ
- Cheri


I'm sorry, but can it get any funnier than that? ;););)

Laura,

Uh... sorry. :"> (that's supposed to mean "blushing" - we really need one of those icons...),

You can copy them from somewhere else and put them in your message, but I can't add to the emoties.  Not that I don't want to, but I don't have the capability to upload files to the server.  Sorry!

 



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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine

Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane

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