Through Our Conscience: God hardwired us with an inner awareness of what is right and wrong with an inclination to do right. George Washington said, "Labor to keep alive within your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience." -- Ben Godwin
I grouped these three together because they seem to be smaller avenues. Let me start with creation. There is no question that creation testifies to a creator. I find it sad that an atheist can look at a sunset and think of it as a random event. I am not sold on the notion of our conscience preceding our knowledge of right and wrong which is derived from the written word. I do not think a baby shows the slightest inkling or care regarding what is right or wrong. If we are raised under biblical admonishment then we will have a black and white understanding of right and wrong. If we are raised by the standards of this world it will be distorted by shades of grey. The notion of mass media as a method of God speaking is just off. We may choose to use media to spread the word about God but that is our choosing. I make this point because the vast majority of mainstream media used to spread Christianity is so compromised it is doing the work of the devil anyway. Godwin concludes:
"His Still, Small Voice: Elijah was camping in a cave on Mount Sinai when God manifested Himself. Elijah saw a powerful wind, a mighty earthquake and a fierce fire, but God wasn't in any of them. Instead, God spoke to him in a "still, small voice," also translated "a gentle whisper" (1 Kings 19:9-12). God often speaks to us by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit to our spirit (Rom. 8:14-16). God will speak to us more often as we learn to recognize His voice. We expect to hear from Him at church, but God doesn't just speak on Sundays. He wants to speak to us all through the week. Jesus indicated, "My sheep hear My voice" (John 10:27). God is still speaking; are we listening?" -- Ben Godwin
Ahh, the mystical still small voice false theology. This occurred one single time in 6000 years and now all Charismatics want to pretend it is a primary way God communicates with us. The point God was making to Elijah is that there need not be pomp and circumstance every time God speaks. There were other times God spoke through a whirlwind or through a fire. He is not limited by the earth or our finite thinking. To take this one time happenstance and trump it up to be a normative event that requires us to also listen for that still small voice is hermeneutically criminal. Now it is true that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth but nowhere in Scripture does it say the Holy Spirit speaks to us in a still small voice either. Here is today's hard lesson. When we shut everything out and meditate, which is taught at places like Bethel and IHOP, that still small voice we eventually here is not God beloved. It is the devil.
I do not know Ben Godwin so I will give him the benefit of the doubt that there is no malicious intent. It matters not because this teaching reveals how poorly pastors are being taught within Charismania. How everything subjective is embraced and the objective Word of God is relegated to 1/12th importance, sixth down on the list. Everything becomes super-spiritual, supernatural, and downright spooky. Bill Johnson actually teaches personal experience is more reliable than Scripture! Beloved, God does speak to us today and every day if we are willing to open His Holy Word and seek Him with all of our being. Leave the devil's schemes of experiential Christianity behind and hear what truly sayeth the Lord.
