What I want to talk about this morning is remarkable phenomenon
that people not only talk to God
but they learn to experience God is talking back
Many many Americans are involved, and many other people
are involved, as you may call, in a renewalist spirituality -
a kind of spirituality which they want to experience God
intimately, personally and interactive;
they want to reach out, touch the Divine here on earth
I want to find out how they did that.
I am anthropologist,
my job is to immerse myself in the world I come to study,
and to keep observing
so that at some degree, I got a sense of what it take to
become a Native in that world.
Unlike Margret Mead & Rev. Gregory Bateson
were pictured here in Papua New Guinea.
I did this work in America.
I spent two years in the renewalist church in Chicago,
another two years in one of the Bay area.
I went to Sunday Morning services.
I was a member of House Group. I was in the prayer's circle.
I hang out with people.
I prayed with people.
I really want to know how their God became real to them.
So let me begin by asking,
who is the God in the church like this?
God is God, God is big, God is mighty, and holy and beyond.
God is also a person among people,
The Pastor in this kind of church want you to experience God
the way the earliest cycle of experience Jesus,
They walked with Jesus.
They ate with Jesus.
They talked with Jesus,
He was their friend,
And these pastors will tell you that
You should put out a cup of coffee for God,
You should have a beer with God
Go for a walk with God, hang out.
Do the kind of thing with God
that you get do with anyone who you want to know as a person.
He cares about all the stuff in your life.
the little stuff, where you want to go in your summer vacation.
what shirt you want to wear tomorrow morning.
you can talk to him about that.
So I wanted to know how people learn to interact with God
and how they felt God speaking back to them.
I knew they have learnt because the newcomers came to this church,
and they would say things like:
"God does talk to me."
and then six or eight months later they would say :
"I recognize God's voice the way I recognize my mum's voice on the phone . "
But I thought the church teach
think your mind is not the sort of fortress for your own generated thoughts, feelings and energies.
it is usual you thought is for your own generated thoughts,feelings and
you should think your mind is the place where you will be going to meet the God.
and then some of thoughts you might think that was yours,
They are really God's thoughts being given to you
and your job is to figure out who is God.
people did talk in the way suggested they would have
as they had experience they are not their own.
as a woman suggested to me when i was in the church,
i feel my mind was a screen, the image was projected on.
somebody else was in control that clicker.
of course, not all the thoughts would be good candidate that God would say.
people would look out thoughts that would be stood out.
that was more spontaneous than another thoughts.
thoughts would be louder and catch your attention.
one women was explaining to me how she learnt to discern God's speaking,
so people were praying over her one day,
and the phrase "go to Kansas" flashed in her mind.
her parents was in Kansas, so she thinking about visiting them.
this thought just captured her attention,]
this made her say ,what that come from.
so you could imagine there will be risks for this style of discerning God's voice.