Recent content by Berserk

I have often tried praying for intercession from Mary and other saints and the experience leaves me frustrated and empty. But I'm not a debunker; I'd love to believe they hear my prayers and intercede for me. I guess I just need some sort of verifcation experience.

Q: What is an epistle? A: The wife of an apostle.

Overall, the case for the possibility of universal release from Hell has survived significant challenge in this lengthy thread. Ah-nd so has the eloquent and pithily profound maxim of famed evangelical apologist, C. S. Lewis; "The gates of Hell are locked from the inside."

(16) My next experience of "the word of knowledge" happened while I was a Theology professor at a Western NY university, I was playing bridge with professors from the School of Education. It was a raucous time, full of laughter and humor. At one point I suggested we invite Ellie the next time...

This post is inspired by my feelings of futility as I explore prayers to specific saints with no conviction that I'm being heard or that my new practice makes any difference. I don't want to prematurely give this new practice up. EXTERNAL AIDS TO PETITIONARY PRAYER Why should we believe that...

How should a newbie explore praying to saints, when it is utterly alien to his theological background? How do you pick saint to ask for intercession?

The flat earth offers the ideal vacation. You fly to the closest island to the edge of the flat earth. Then you take a helicopter ride to the edge and marvel at the mother of all waterfalls, as the ocean plummets over the edge into outer space. It's a real hoot!

Billy Graham famously observed, "Theological understanding is the booby prize because many Christians have just enough spirituality to inoculate them against the real thing." By "real thing" Billy meant an actual life-changing relationship with Christ that produces marvelous experiences and...

@StuartB (15) THE DEAD TRUCK DRIVER: Now I'll share the most spectacularly supernatural experience I've ever encountered. Leonard, a member of my UMC church, was a wealth retired real estate baron. As his pastor, I got to know him very well and visited his sick brother in a hospital. Leonard...

@StuartB ANOTHER GUARDIAN ANGEL EXPERIENCE: (14) Roger B. is a retired top federal executive at HUD (Housing and Urban Development). We became friendly through our interactions on a New Age website and I eventually visited him from Buffalo, NY at his summer cottage along Lake Ontario. Roger...

I attribute these experiences to the atmosphere of the Pentecostal church, in which I was reared that encouraged us to expect supernatural experiences and prompted me to spend long periods on my knees seeking God's face. My next 2 posts in my Life Journey thread will describe (1) the angelic...

(14) Today I had lunch with my friend Mike, a retired Boeing engineer. He shared this testimony experienced by a leader in his church. This man was driving in the country with 2 other people when he lost control of his large car and it overturned on its side. Thankfully, none of the 3 was...

You can't try to believe; expectation of inevitable failure is unconsciously built into the concept of "trying to believe." Effective faith must "ambush" you through a change of your assumption matrix shaped by years of disillusionment and depression. But core assumptions can only change by...

Stuart, As a retired theology professor, I can tackle all these questions--if you agree to my proposed pact and show evidence of this.

Stuart, (1) You seem to assume that petitionary prayer must work even if the various biblical principles for effective prayer are not satisfied. These principles could be discussed in detail, if you are interested. For example, do you know the difference between praying in the Spirit and...