I Feel that @CopelandNetwork (et al.) Need to #Refine their Faith (and to Spend More Time 'Showing their Work more than -Its Fruit') | @ClimbForMemory @SalvationArmyUS @OkcWestminster @WhichGodSaves @Ecosia #Refinery #Fine #Refinement #Finest #Finer #Finery

That statement may be more of 'a conclusion after some thinking' than 'an opening statement,' so bear with me here before you decide how right/wrong I am.

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I try to stay Engaged when reading Kenneth Copeland Ministries' Believer's Voice of Victory, but I always 'Bounce' (or 'get bounced') when I read "testimonials" claiming that 'God did a miracle & gave a reader this- or that-success.'

And I'm always like, 'Nope! That's not how God works!' and I scan ahead to the next article (because–although a lot of the articles are loaded with that 'God does all the work'-fluff–there's usually at least a kernal of truth in their articles ... and it's a good opportunity to practice my speed-reading 🤓).

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And then, lately I've been 'bounced' by a few believers saying that "God told them things" (what job they should go for when they grow up, where they should open their new church, what kind of airplane to buy, etc.), and ... maybe we need to clarify something here.

Because some of us don't quite understand 'how to hear God speaking.'  That Ecosia.com-search links to a few ways to double-check your 'divinely inspired message' to make sure it's not "worldly demons" doing their best 'God'-impression ... reminds me of a reason I'm very suspicious of any 'untested' message from God—that a possible origin of 'God' is satan's original name!

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I might 'tear down' these- and other-'belief add-ons' KCM builds onto their Faith Foundation, but I 'know' they spend all their spare time refining their Faith Bedrock into pure strength on which they can build their wild imaginings.

('On a firm-enough foundation, you can build a structure that would crumble without such a strong foundation'—did God just tell me that? maybe, but that idea is just like the way President Trump is fooled into saying all sorts of inappropriate stuff when he's thrown into 'the context' where it would be appropriate.)

But–if we (their fellow believers) aren't reminded how 'drastic' their Faith-Refinement is (how constant they are with their Bible-study habits)–we'll be tempted to foolishly start building our own 'houses' without making sure we're building on a rock-foundation.

'Refine' and such words (below-hyperlinked to a post about why to "Engage" when you might want to "Bounce" past articles you read) are built on an even-deeper source ... something crucial that firms the foundation upon which our lexicon stands ...

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The word “Refine” is built on ancient words that mean Intensely (or Re-) make #Fine (or Delicate)." 

The word “Fine” is built on ancient words that mean "that which |Divides, |Boundary, |Limit, Border, |End" (see Finish, Peak, the Highest Good).

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Some 'foundation-refinement' I do:

• "The Word of God"—many regard that phrase as something of 'an official name for "The Holy Bible"' (as many public-readings of passages from it are preceded & proceeded by the announcement "The Word of God" or "-of The Lᴏʀᴅ"). And many Christian leaders encourage their followers to "Spend time in The Word of God" as they themselves do (reading/discussing/meditating-on The Bible & watching/reading/listening-to scholarship about The Bible).
  
  But I don't limit 'The Word of God' to "the pages of that Holy Book." Spring-boarding from passages like these, 'I conclude' (preachers might say "God tells me") that
  
  
  The True Word of God is Alive & Manifested by God's Heritage in The World Today!
  
  That's why many (including the pastors of Westminster Presbyterian Church) will preface their Readings with, "Listen to- and for-The Word of God"—it's not 'what they read to you' so much as 'what you hear in the reading.'
  
  There are many 'things that Christians hear as they "listen to/for The Word of God"' that–while the things might 'prove to work for the Christians most of the time'—are not 'what "they" (Our Father, Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit) say to all of us all the time!'
  
  For example: a fellow believer recently told me, "The Bible says we should pray for each other at all times!" I see how you could easily convince yourself that that's true; but that's mostly 'what preachers encourage followers to do.' (And it's kind of something Lord Jesus Christ speaks-against!)
• "Prayer"—from early in Sunday-School (the daycare-activities to which church-parents send their children (for young believers' Bible-study) while the parents visit with fellow grown-ups), we learn that 'prayer' is "talking to Our Father God."
  
  However, The Internet has amplified the related definition of "Prayers" as something like 'votes that things go well for the people to whom we send our "Prayers"' (related by the common practice of 'using our prayer-time to ask God to grant us the power/grace/patience/good-fortune to succeed in our lives').
  
  I have to remind myself that–when people ask for 'Prayers'–they typically mean 'the second kind' (votes that things go well ... essentially "encouragement," like 'words they hear from their Paraclete') and not "specific private-conversations with God."

Know anything else interesting about that? Comment!