16 Nov 1996
Re: Texas summer
Hi Trudy
I had to change Internet providers. My new email address is bswett@pop.dn.net
And my new website address is http://www.digitalnation.com/swett/spirit.html
I have also added an item in "Resources" that you may find interesting.
It is a brief (two-page) overview of three types of therapy by Dr. Bill
Baldwin.
>Perhaps there is no answer to my problem, as it may be that my limited
ability to determine the source of a message cannot be improved.
No, I don't think so. It's mostly experience, not any special ability.
>I will continue to work at developing this skill, but we all see
"through a mirror, darkly."
Right. Discernment improves with practice -- but practice does not make
perfect -- which means, no matter how good we get at it, we can always do
it better. I like that.
>I mentioned last message that I was going to contact a woman here
who claimed to see angels. I found her phone number and called. Fran is
a delightful, joy-filled individual who has had a close connection with
God and Christ her entire life. She is active in the healing ministry of
her church. We got together and talked at length about angels and "close
encounters" of the spirit.
She sounds like an interesting person.
>Due to various life experiences, I have deliberately avoided mainstream
religion. I chaff under formally proscribed constructs and institutionalized
language, which I believe, among other things, limit our ability to objectively
evaluate spiritual experiences.
I agree. A religion is like a box that encloses some spirituality, excludes
what it doesn't include, and tends to stifle what it does include. As a
quick-test of their self-imposed limits, I sometimes hand churchmen a copy
of my paper "Reincarnation 101" and note their reactions.
>She told me that occasionally messages will come through that are
confusing or in one way or another "don't ring true." At times
like this she says she simply asks Jesus for further clarification, and
she waits. .
"Doesn't ring true" is a type of discernment, but not an excellent
example of discernment, because it relies on a subconscious reaction rather
than a conscious decision, and dark ones can alter that subconscious reaction.
>What you know as soul rescue, she calls "generational healing."
We often find ghosts of ancestors, sometimes over several generations, but
we also find many who are not related to the subject in any way.
>She resists the words "soul rescue" and insists that it
is "healing."
Dogmatic semantics? Hmm... These are two entirely different functions. The
verb "to rescue" means to remove from a place of danger and assist
to a place of safety. "To heal" means to repair damage or injury
and restore to health, but it does not necessarily imply relocation.
>Her church does "binding prayers" for evil spirits and
commands them to "go straight to the feet of Jesus Christ, for him
to deal with as he will." Her eyes widened a little when I mentioned
that I ask God to bless them, and she made sure that I had a copy of the
binding prayer for my own use. "...We claim the protection of the shed
blood of Jesus Christ..." Ugh!
You might ask them what that claim means, and how and why it works.
>So Ben, while you have learned caution in proclaiming, "Thus
saith the Lord...," Fran insisted that the Lord told her I was to be
in the healing ministry. Well, it seemed pretty obvious she had a clearer
channel to God than I. So I told her I would meditate on it and get back
to her.
In and of itself, the proclamation is worthless, because anyone can say,
"Thus saith the Lord." That's why Jesus said "You will know
them by their fruits" in reference to those who claim to speak for
God. (Mt 7:15-16)
>So ... a sign? Or "suggestion?" I did not feel comfortable
calling Leo and asking, "How is your itch?" (smile) But I decided
that if it was a sign, I needed to follow up on it. And if it was a "suggestion"
from my subconscious, I needed to follow up on that as well. So I called
Fran and arranged to attend the next scheduled healing prayer session.
I would not label it "sign" or "suggestion" -- but "experience".
What you report is an ancient method of healing, but not the best method
of healing. After Jesus spent an evening casting out spirits and healing
all who were sick, Matthew's gospel adds: "This was to fulfill what
was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: He took our infirmities and bore our diseases"
(Mt 8:17). Olga Worrall was a great healer of our own time who learned she
didn't have to take the symptoms on herself. And I have done what you report.
For example, I inadvertently took a spot of phlebitis out of a woman's leg:
her pain stopped immediately, just as my leg felt like someone pushed a
red-hot poker into it. And it continued to hurt like hell for the next hour,
until I got rid of the pain by sending it into the earth.
>Now . . . this story meanders a little, but I must tell you about
my experience with a church not far from here. It all fits together.
Yes, unfortunately, it does all fit together. Can you imagine what Jesus
would say to the people in most churches today? Or how fast they would throw
him out -- if he didn't just walk away?
>I am very sensitive to the way Christian churches exclude all manner
of people who are different, and have felt that exclusion myself during
various times in my life. I do not tolerate bigotry, or homophobia, or churches
that relegate women to a status below men (Catholicism, Mormonism).
An interesting exercise is to look at what Jesus approved, what he was indifferent
about, and what he disapproved.
>"If you are looking for the perfect church, you will not find
it."
Looking for "the perfect church" is an impossible dream, but looking
for a tolerable spiritual atmosphere is, in my opinion, a necessity.
>After the service, the prayer teams assembled at the rail, and I
accompanied Fran as we had arranged. I was there as a "prayer team
member -- in training." I sensed several things from individuals who
came up for healing, which were confirmed by members of the prayer team
later. What was obvious to me was that my psychic abilities were functioning.
What was not obvious to me was any connection to God. No matter how hard
I tried, I could not generate reano!
Hmm ... psychic healing with no real connection to God? It could be. The
atmosphere was apparently not conducive to the generation of reano.
>After the healing session Fran introduced me to the priest and soon
I was providing an edited version of the background description of my search
for God and a church... and in the middle of the whole thing he said in
the exact same tone of voice with the exact same inflection: "If you
are looking for the perfect church, you will not find it."
It sounds like whoever spoke to you also spoke to him. I wonder if it was
the same spirit who inspired his sermon on homosexuality. Perhaps his mentor
...
>So, I spent the next few days trying to generate reano, and Ben,
things just kept getting darker. No matter what good things I thought about,
negative thoughts pushed their way in. I kept praying, and the negativity
kept growing. So after a few days I quit trying to establish an "uplink"
with God and just concentrated on prayer and talking with God in general.
>Last week I hit a night when I could do nothing but cry. Suddenly the
feelings were achingly familiar. When I was 13, I spent a Texas summer walking
my great-Uncle's 150 acre ranch and crying to God to rescue me from a father
who was abusive in every way imaginable. The rescue did not come.
[Clear description of the symptoms generated by, and your prayer for,
an attachee apparently associated with that Texas summer.]
>What I felt next was interesting. It was a *lifting* of the oppressive
grief. In the past I have sensed things fading, and things coming, and going
away. This is the first time I've ever felt something move up and out of
me. After about an hour, I felt free enough to sleep. (The next day I read
about the concept of a spirit being *lifted* out through prayers of deliverance
in Father Francis MacNutt's book, "Healing.")
Neat! Another grief-stricken soul rescued, lifted out! Good work!
>I thought to myself, God! I'll never make it up this ladder! And
suddenly the rungs were much thicker, and I climbed the rest of the way
with no problem.
Yes, that's how it works. God doesn't climb the ladder for us -- or do our
homework for us -- but He and those who work for him do enjoy helping.
>When I told Fran about the dream she said, "Well, of course!
That fits! I'm trying to get you a scholarship to the Agnes Sanford School
of Pastoral Care." She went on to explain it is a conference on healing
taught jointly by ministers and medical doctors.
This sounds interesting -- although I wonder how spiritual it may be.
>When I was a kid, attending the Baptist Church with my Grandmother,
my stomach would feel that way every Sunday, and there'd be another whole
group of people around besides the ones in the pews. I forgot about this
entirely, until this week when it happened at the Wednesday night service.
Yes, I knew you weren't starting from "square one" when I read
your first e-mail -- I knew that you must have had rather a lot of spiritual
experience, in order to say what you did and ask the questions you asked.
>But while there were a few extra "folks" for the service,
by the time the prayer session for healing started, I sensed absolutely
nothing at all for the rest of the evening. Frustrating.
Maybe the discarnate folks didn't stay for the healing session because that
is no longer what they want or need.
>After the prayers for others were finished, I asked the prayer team
to pray for me. ... One said, "I got, 'Your parents forsook you, but
I will never forsake you.'" And Fran said, "Christ is sitting
in a garden and inviting you in, and you're hesitating, and he's saying,
'It's okay. Come in. It's okay.'" And another team member said, "You're
walking around the edge. It really is safe to come in."
I would put it somewhat differently. You have something they need in that
group. Although you may be or become a healer, you have already done soul-rescue
work. Whether they will welcome your work or insist that you conform to
them is still an open question.
>And so... here I sit in the wee hours of the morning, saying little
prayers, and afraid to try generating reano, and confused, and just generally
uncomfortable. I think the prayer team got it all wrong. I've been trying
to get in for a long time. But something is keeping me out. And all this
psychic stuff is happening more and more often. And I wonder now if I wouldn't
be better off putting the lid back on the box.
I believe you have been trying to get in for a long time, and church is
a lot of what is keeping you out. My suggestion is, work where you can --
and if you can't, leave -- but don't confuse church with the kingdom of
heaven.
If you try to put the lid back on the box, I think you'll find it doesn't
fit anymore -- because the box has expanded to include more than it did.
>A lot of years have gone by since that Texas summer. And God is still
taking His time with that rescue.
Okay, you are encountering another step -- and as usual, it looks too high
to climb and a lifetime wide. Watch me toss you a little flashlight so you
can see what this step looks like: (1) Which soul really needs to be rescued;
the victim or the victimizer? (2) Jesus said, "Love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you (Mt 5:44). And therefore, (3) I suggest
you ask God to send a team of His angels to rescue your father.
Peace, my friend, and blessings in all you do.
Ben
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