A 23-minute vision of hell: how to handle 'wacky' Jesus-related claims
- How should Christians react to Jesus-related claims that sound wacky, like a vision of 23 minutes in hell?
A host (speaker-2) recounts playing bass at a gathering where a man described a 23-minute vision of hell (not a near-death experience): he woke at 3:00 a.m., his wife found him on the floor at 3:23, and he said God showed him hell because even God's own people don't treat it as real. The host's first reaction was 'wacky,' but he found the man credible — a successful realtor who never solicited invitations and didn't charge for the first seven years — and the teaching scripturally sound. His takeaway: keep an open mind, be a Berean and run it through scripture; what seems wacky to us (Pentecost tongues) isn't wacky to God; but bogus, manipulative 'ghost magic show' versions of the Holy Spirit exist too.
More on Discernment
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'When God is silent': what counts as hearing from the Lord?
- What does it mean to 'hear from the Lord,' and how often should we expect it?
Mike brings a question from his Bible study, whose paragraph heading was 'when God is silent': the author wrote that he experienced God's silence for a couple of weeks and freaked out, and Ben expected a relatable years-long drought story — 'Oh, two weeks.
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Mike frames the question: are more people hearing from God?
- Does it seem like more and more people are hearing from God — and is that real or a lie and a huge distraction?
Ben asks Mike for a two-sentence framing; Mike says listening to the book of Job while mowing made him furious when Bildad 'received a word from the Lord,' turning a bad human argument into an unarguable divine claim.
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
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Does God speak more now? Indwelling Spirit versus prophets
- Does God talk to people as much now as he did in the Old Testament or New Testament?
A host asks whether God talks to people as much now as in the Old and New Testaments. Ben's key distinction: the indwelling Holy Spirit means more people can have the experience…
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
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How to tell your voice from God's: the Bible test and leniency
- How can you tell the difference between you speaking and God speaking?
Ella distills the question: how do you tell the difference between you speaking and God speaking? Her first answer: we have a Bible — what God is telling you is probably already in it ('Ben's gonna have a proud papa moment').
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God