1 00:00:10,567 --> 00:00:13,901 What I want to talk about this morning is remarkable phenomenon 2 00:00:14,031 --> 00:00:16,833 that people not only talk to God 3 00:00:16,853 --> 00:00:20,553 but they learn to experience God is talking back 4 00:00:22,012 --> 00:00:25,862 Many many Americans are involved, and many other people 5 00:00:25,884 --> 00:00:29,334 are involved, as you may call, in a renewalist spirituality - 6 00:00:29,866 --> 00:00:33,187 a kind of spirituality which they want to experience God 7 00:00:33,187 --> 00:00:36,497 intimately, personally and interactively; 8 00:00:36,781 --> 00:00:40,151 they want to reach out, touch the Divine here on earth 9 00:00:40,566 --> 00:00:43,186 I want to find out how they did that. 10 00:00:44,368 --> 00:00:45,688 I am anthropologist, 11 00:00:46,368 --> 00:00:49,788 my job is to immerse myself in the world I come to study, 12 00:00:50,168 --> 00:00:51,938 and to keep observing 13 00:00:52,105 --> 00:00:55,557 so that at some degree, I got a sense of what it take to 14 00:00:55,557 --> 00:00:57,407 become a Native in that world. 15 00:00:57,937 --> 00:01:00,127 Unlike Margret Mead & Rev. Gregory Bateson 16 00:01:00,127 --> 00:01:02,276 were pictured here in Papua New Guinea. 17 00:01:02,366 --> 00:01:03,976 I did this work in America. 18 00:01:04,383 --> 00:01:07,673 I spent two years in the renewalist church in Chicago, 19 00:01:07,985 --> 00:01:11,265 another two years in one of the Bay area. 20 00:01:11,387 --> 00:01:13,119 I went to Sunday Morning services. 21 00:01:13,119 --> 00:01:16,292 I was a member of House Group. I was in the prayer's circle. 22 00:01:16,292 --> 00:01:17,622 I hang out with people. 23 00:01:17,622 --> 00:01:18,812 I prayed with people. 24 00:01:18,812 --> 00:01:22,272 I really want to know how their God became real to them. 25 00:01:23,472 --> 00:01:25,502 So let me begin by asking, 26 00:01:25,502 --> 00:01:27,812 who is the God in the church like this? 27 00:01:27,832 --> 00:01:31,332 God is God, God is big, God is mighty, and holy and beyond, 28 00:01:32,532 --> 00:01:34,572 but God is also a person among people, 29 00:01:35,252 --> 00:01:39,222 The Pastor in this kind of church want you to experience God 30 00:01:39,222 --> 00:01:42,072 the way the earliest cycle of experience Jesus, 31 00:01:42,154 --> 00:01:43,454 They walked with Jesus. 32 00:01:43,454 --> 00:01:44,644 They ate with Jesus. 33 00:01:44,644 --> 00:01:46,024 They talked with Jesus, 34 00:01:46,024 --> 00:01:47,104 He was their friend, 35 00:01:47,766 --> 00:01:50,296 And these pastors will tell you that 36 00:01:51,456 --> 00:01:53,816 You should put out a cup of coffee for God, 37 00:01:53,967 --> 00:01:55,787 You should have a beer with God 38 00:01:55,787 --> 00:01:57,697 Go for a walk with God, hang out. 39 00:01:57,697 --> 00:01:59,397 Do the kind of thing with God 40 00:01:59,397 --> 00:02:03,207 that you get do with anyone who you want to know as a person. 41 00:02:03,226 --> 00:02:05,746 He cares about all the stuff in your life. 42 00:02:06,113 --> 00:02:08,953 the little stuff, where you want to go in your summer vacation; 43 00:02:08,953 --> 00:02:11,067 what shirt you want to wear tomorrow morning; 44 00:02:11,067 --> 00:02:12,907 you can talk to him about that. 45 00:02:14,573 --> 00:02:18,403 So I wanted to know how people learn to interact with God 46 00:02:18,403 --> 00:02:20,223 and how they felt God speaking back. 47 00:02:20,223 --> 00:02:23,803 I knew they have learnt because the newcomers came to this church, 48 00:02:23,803 --> 00:02:25,653 and they would say things like: 49 00:02:25,653 --> 00:02:27,133 "God does talk to me." 50 00:02:27,193 --> 00:02:29,723 and then six or eight months later they would say : 51 00:02:29,793 --> 00:02:34,393 "I recognize God's voice the way I recognize my mum's voice on the phone . " 52 00:02:36,078 --> 00:02:37,918 But I thought the church teach 53 00:02:38,368 --> 00:02:40,523 what you should think about your mind 54 00:02:40,523 --> 00:02:42,933 is not a fortress full of your own self-generated 55 00:02:42,933 --> 00:02:45,341 thoughts, feelings and images; 56 00:02:45,361 --> 00:02:49,001 you should think your mind is the place where you will be going to meet the God. 57 00:02:49,001 --> 00:02:52,681 and then some of thoughts you might think that was yours, 58 00:02:52,690 --> 00:02:56,280 They were really God's thoughts being given to you 59 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,760 and your job is to figure out who is God. 60 00:02:59,782 --> 00:03:04,722 And in fact, people did talk in the way suggested they would have 61 00:03:06,276 --> 00:03:09,766 as they had experiences that weren't their own. 62 00:03:09,766 --> 00:03:12,736 A woman said to me as I start to pray in this church: 63 00:03:12,789 --> 00:03:17,569 "I feels like my mind is a screen that images were projected on. 64 00:03:18,079 --> 00:03:20,859 Somebody else is controlling that clicker." 65 00:03:20,972 --> 00:03:25,661 And of course, not all the thoughts would be good candidate 66 00:03:25,661 --> 00:03:27,501 for the kind of things God would say. 67 00:03:28,381 --> 00:03:30,840 People would look for thoughts that stood out, 68 00:03:30,970 --> 00:03:33,370 that was more spontaneous than another thoughts; 69 00:03:33,370 --> 00:03:36,270 thoughts were louder and captured your attention. 70 00:03:37,470 --> 00:03:42,380 one women was explaining to me how she learnt to discern God's speaking, 71 00:03:42,816 --> 00:03:45,476 so the people were praying over her one day, 72 00:03:45,476 --> 00:03:49,226 and the phrase "go to Kansas" flashed into her mind. 73 00:03:50,143 --> 00:03:54,143 her parents was living in Kansas, so she was kind of idly thinking about visiting them. 74 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but when this thought captured her attention, 75 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it made her say ,you know, made her want to say, where that come from. 76 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so you could imagine there will be risks for this style of discerning God's voice.