QUESTIONS REGARDING RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY:-- ALONG WITH MY ANSWERS:
1. What is the background of your grandparents, parents, and yourself in religion/spirituality ?
i.e. in particular, not just which you settled on, but also which you went thru to get there.
We were brought up country Baptist & some Pentecostal.
Grandfather led singing for a while & helped out preacher with secret funds.
I was raised such Baptist, was cured of depression via participation in Methodist choir,
broadened exposure via Key Club in h.s., world religion courses, & Buddhist wisdom sayings at beliefnet.com
When Southern Baptists split, I went with the moderates.
When I had "mystical moments" I found Catholics to have the best explanations.
I like "small groups" with no segregation --except for youth -- in regard to age, gender, & marital status -- at least have a mixed group available.
I prefer, but it is difficult, for church to have entertaining music.
I have studied the ENNEAGRAM which I consider a psychology, although many consider it a religion.
It seems like 1/2 truths, but enough to show me who I am psychologically.
I have studied Abraham Masloww's writings -- 2 of his books seem to be objective prophetic religious visionary, although he never made any such claims.
Both ENNEAGRAM & goodwill preferences Myers-Briggs psychology show you "places to go" psychologically" to become a mature person, to the extent possible.
2. Are you familiar with any of the following religious websites:
www.beliefnet.com
cgg.org -- for theberean.org
finishers.org
shalomplace.com/seed
bible.crosswalk.com
www.biblegateway.com
www.christianbook.com
www.asa3.com
Long ago I subscribed to beliefnet dating site --no longer available -- they use yahoo personals now,to their religious daily joke, & their daily Buddhist wisdom saying.
I recently revisited site and discovered it had changed quite a bit. I joined some "groups" & established two groups of my own -- ditzymysticalromance & ditzymysticalspirituality.
I subscribed to theberean.org daily Bible verse with commentary.
I have reviewed & considered finishers.org, which is a way to participate in voluntary work overseas -- you & your church must raise the funds for this. Some day...
Shalomplace has a mystical daily discussion on various & sundry to which I subscribe.
Biblegateway is my main source other than written Bibles for looking up Bible verses, based on either of -- verse number, keyword/phrase, or something else. You can restrict search to certain sections of the
Bible. You must also specify which of numerous translations to use.
Crossway is similar to biblegateway, but I haven't used it.
Christianbook is a long-standing good reputation book seller of Christian books, who I have done business with many times in the past. They are the "last one left standing".
American Scientific Affiliation (asa3 ) costs $70 yearly to be a member -- UNLESS you are
a student, so I quit after a while.
3. How about the following religious yahoo groups:
SpiritualWings
sharegifts
talentscareersgifting
mysticaljourney
I subscribe to the daily cute sayings of SpiritualWings.
Sharefgifts & talentscareersgifting are mine, but I haven't done much on them.
I participate in mysticaljourney, or USED to. Jean S. Horn is the moderator. & contributes numerous poems.
4. What translation(s) of the Bible do you use ?
NIV, NRSV, NKJV, Living Bible.
I prefer a Bible with various additional study facilities.
I could not understand the archaic words of KJV.
I currently due to eye weakness use large-print NIV mostly to carry around, which has minor amount of in-line references & small concordance.
I also have large-print NKJV with center-column references & small concordance.
Both of these large-print have words of Jesus in RED.
I also have "The NIV Complete Concordance" by Goodrick & Kohlenbeger, but print is so small that is difficult to use now.I highly recommend it..
I have 2 pages of crib-sheets of favorite Bible verses to share as deemed appropriate.
I used to use also RSV ( in high school ), New English Bible, & New American Standard Bible.
At one time I had a collection of 50 Bibles, but had to downsize when I moved into smaller dwelling.
5. What are 5 of your favorite Bible verses ?
Philippians 4:8 -- think positive
Hebrews 11:6 -- earnestness has it's reward.
2 Tim 2:15 in NKJV -- rightly DIVIDE the word of truth, into appropriate compartments
Isaiah 5:20 -- good/evil keep straight
James 1:27 -- paying my dues to widows & orphans top priority
Eccles 7:16-18 -- avoiding breakdown
Prov 28:9 -- AT LEAST do this
These are all from my crib-sheet list.
6. Do you use "Biblical" stuff from other religions than Christianity, and if so, what are they ?
daily Buddhist wisdom saying from beliefnet.com
7. If Christian, what denomination etc. ?
If I had to say, I would say Free Methodist, but I currently, when I do attend, attend Baptist.
Due to my lack of energy & pain of sitting in uncomfortable chairs, cannot stand being anywhere
anyplace other than on a couch, for longer than 1 to 1/2 hours. This goes for non-church
activities as well as church stuff. REALLY, I need the couch after 1 one hour.
8. In what way do you "regularly" practise your religion ?
A. study the Bible in fits & spirts, taking notes / diagrams in my journal
B. read numerous religious literature -- & recommend it at amazon.com
C. write essays/poems -- tried to get published but no success yet
D. as above certain activities
E. prayer -- but not in a prayer circle
F. volunteered as tutor at a jail, but was not accepted.
9. What is your attitude about spiritual gifts in the church ?
Spiritual gifts development is inadequate, due to control desires and emotional upheaval possibilities and $ needs to support variety.
In numerous churches, spiritual gifts = ( i.e. requires all of the following to be acked & nurtured )
talent
+ willing to tow party line
+ willing to spend many many hours on church activities
+ don't butt in where not wanted, e.g. don't grab the pastor's job!
+ don't embarrass
+ needed to fulfill our particular voted & designated local church mission which priortizes $ on what efforts to develop
+ willing to be mentored and/or to mentor others
+ not mentally unstable in any way
+ concerning emotions -- LOTS of it if Pentacostal, otherwise very little except only in suitable occasions
+ abide by any denominational guidelines of which gifts exist & are approved to practise UNLESS church bucks the system.
+ don't have a felony conviction, even a DWI ( driving while intoxicated ), which makes persona non grata
-- UNLESS have such gift of gab flair that you become a total celebrity world wide.
10. Who are some of your favorite religious/spiritual writers ?
Jacques Ellul
F.F. Bruce
R.A. Torrey
Bernard Ramm
11. Who are some of your favorite religious/spiritual singers ?
Larry Norman
Timothy Meany
Steve Green
12. Who are some of your favorite religious/spiritual painters -- contemporary ones ?
None so far.
13. Have you or a close friend/family experienced a "peak experience" in any of the categories listed below, which I consider to be getting into sync/async with reality?
A. recurring "2nd wind" in athletics -- NEVER, unfortunately
B. heavenly visions -- yes, in mania & when inspired writing poetry/essays
C. situations of peak grounded experience -- probably not ?
D. altered states of consciousness -- mania I guess
E. the unconscious becoming conscious -- definitely
F. states of exhilaration -- ditzy twiggster, ditzy doodlebug007
G. moments of astounding insight -- studying Bible and also B above.
H. mystical emotional upheaval. -- starting at age 42 when decided needed to get right/light,
in order to enjoy living. Encountered the "heavenly realms" gradually as a result.
NOTE that: Some of these things we experience even in our throes of sickness, but can be inspired of God. Also, one man’s garbage is another man’s gems of delight.