Samson's Jawbone

Recently I had a friend call me for counsel about a problem at their work. A few days later they called me to tell me that God had told them how to handle the matter, which was different from my biblically based counsel. I said to them, "Oh really, tell me about that." The person then described a restless night full of dreams, through which they said that God had redirected them. This is an experience all too common in pastoral counseling. People believe that God directs them through an encounter  rather than through conforming their lives to God's Word. How do we hear the voice of God? Does God speak to us today? The scripture is clear that God directs and often redirects our experience:           [3] He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness. for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3ESV) [9] The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9ESV) [7] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, a...

A friend of mine once told me how God told her whom she was to marry. When her car broke down on a traffic-circle near the Chrisian college campus she attended, she knew that a man, a fellow student, who had romantic interests in her would likely be following the same route on his way to work. She "put out a fleece" asking God to confirm whether she should pursue a relationship and marriage with the man. She prayed that God would lead him to pass her, stop, and rescue her from her distress, if he was the man, she was supposed to marry. In this way God would speak to her about his purpose for the relationship. Within minutes of her prayer the young man did pass, saw her, stopped, started her car and went on to work. Nearly a year later they were married in the college chapel. It was hardly a "happily ever after" story. The marriage was troubled from the start. The young man had substance abuse issues, practiced criminal activity and was involved in multiple extra-mar...

  Just before Labor Day of 2012 my wife, youngest son, and I completed our move from Vestal, NY to Indianapolis IN. After a long day of unloading a truck and unpacking things I sat down to watch our first local news broadcast. The first complete news item we saw was of a raging house fire where a young mother and her infant had been trapped. A neighbor walking the street saw the fire, knowing that both mother and child were in the house, she rushed into the inferno to rescue the victims. She successfully saved the infant, but the blaze was too intense for her to return to aid the mother. The local media focused their story on her heroic action. The correspondent asked, "What caused you to rush into that blazing fire?"  The woman responded, "I was walking down the street and God said, 'You run in there and rescue that baby!' I'm a Christian, and Christians need to hear God when he speaks. People die when we don't obey God's voice."  While I agree ...

Have you ever had someone tell you that God had given them a message for you? Have you ever had someone tell you that God had told them to do something that seemed questionable or at odds with scripture (such as cohabitate with a member of the opposite sex)? Or have you ever had someone justify something that seemed to be blatantly unbiblical (like divorcing a spouse on unbiblical grounds) with the claim "God gave me a peace about it." When I was a college student the staff member of one of the Christian organizations on campus would often counsel students saying, "God impressed me today." If you ask questions or raise challenges, you were admonished for challenging God. Oh.  certainly, these folk would say that God speaks to us through his Word, the Bible, but they would say that we should also expect him to give us individual private revelation (or at least confirmation) through experiences and impressions. Having a relationship with God implies that we have an on...