The ulitmate sin: blasphemy against the Holy Ghost

There is no such thing as an ex-born again Christian. Once you have actually "met" someone you cannot deny that they ever existed unless you actually only imagined that you met them.An individual who has truly met God will know. They will know because they will undeniably experience the encounter. It is a spiritual experience.If after having had such an experience one were to honestly question their own sanity and opt out of the belief, they would be judged by their own internal honesty. The scribes with Jesus could not honestly deny that they were experiencing a spiritual encounter so they blasphemed by lying concerning which spirit it was. They resisted the Holy Spirit.Many of you have never actually had such an experience.Many others have had certain experience yet have chosen to define and label the encounter which they have had. Are they blasphemers? I am not the judge of that one. Only God knows for sure.One thing that I believe and conclude. The Holy Spirit changes you when you meet Him. You do not have the option of assigning a value and belief on Him. You either accept Him, postphone judgement while you get more information, or reject Him.

I can only speak for myself, but the encounter was a lasting change as opposed to a weird aberration. The encounter was not a visual one and I have had additional verifications that this Holy Spirit is a real presence. I can't say. In retrospect, I was free to disbelieve what I had experienced, and I think that one may have several encounters before they accept the reality of the Spirit. Everyone will have several encounters with the Holy Spirit in their lives. I can't say that most will reject Him. The Bible DOES say that few find the narrow path, but I can in no way assume that God chooses a minority of people. He desires salvation for ALL. God is not a religious concept. He is the article of our faith. He is, perhaps, more abstract for some than for others. His character, however, is not vague and undefineable. We may never fully understand Him, yet we will most certainly know Him. IMHO, anyway.

You have described your scientific worldview very well. It makes good sense and it is backed by verification in many controlled experiences.I guess that I am insane or brainwashed then, because I
honestly have not concluded that my experience can be easily explained away so concisely. G.K. Chesterson commented that original sin is one biblical concept that can be easily verified by observation of the species.As for demons and angels, I cannot prove that they are not real without allowing scientific logic (human wisdom) to dominate my mind. I will not do it.This proves that some believers are irrational based on the scientific definition of rationality. Human wisdom will never displace God in my mind.I don't think like you do. I do not lump my God with a human definition of gods and goddesses throughout history. To me, He is much different. Truth is an absolute, yet everyone cannot be forced to see this.This message has been edited by Phatboy, 03-04-2005 00:03 AM

Hi, Linear Ag and Gilgamesh! You guys simply do not understand the depth of belief within a believer; either that or you do not care. You seem to think that a believer can step outside of themselves and critically analyze why they think the way that they do with no emotion attached.To explain better, lets take two hypothetical 9 year olds. One is being told that Santa Claus is not real. He or she may be a bit depressed but more than likely will be given confirmation to what they already suspected. After all, there were never any footprints on the roof, the chimney was even closed one Christmas, and the cookies that he/she left out were found back in the cookie jar! They never saw Santa except for the phonies at the Mall, and some of their friends laughed at them for sticking to this obvious myth.Our second 9 year old had two parents who divorced. His Dad was a Navy pilot. He never remembers exactly what his Dad looks like, and his Mom has no pictures, yet he DID meet his Dad once when he was younger. He can remember the day perfectly and while he does not remember what his father looked like on that day, he does remember that his Father told him that he loved him very much! Now, however, his Mom wants to break off all contact with this man and keep her son from what she feels is an eventual letdown. She tells her son that his Dad never really was his Dad and that he was brainwashed by a man who did not care for her or the family and who they need not associate with any more. Do you think that this kid will let go so easily? Only if he blots the fact that he had a Dad out of his mind.
It won't happen easily.This is how I feel about God. God is not some vague fairytale concept that gives me comfort. God is always there to listen and I believe that He speaks into my life. For you to tell me that This may be how you explained it to yourself, but not to me!And then you inform me that How do expect me to respond? I am sad that you do not know God as well as I do. I am puzzled as to how to get you to see Him as I do. You may be equally frustrated at getting me to know reality as you know it. Understand where I am coming from? And if you have experienced knowing a character rather than a concept you would not want to prove that the character was a figment of your imagination. You indeed would not allow yourself to deny what to you was obvious. A believer has allowed God to be over their human wisdom. You are asking us to trust our human wisdom and reject the fact that we allowed anything or anyone to lord over it. For us, it is too late because we have verified the character of God to our own belief and reconciled our human wisdom as subservient to this fact.This message has been edited by Phatboy, 03-04-2005 08:27 AM