Why Am I Doing This?

[NB79]

Not at all. It’s a great conversation. I had intended to frame the topic with my own examples, but should have seen the direction it would go, having used my own spiritual fervor as a possible example of autistic fervor.

You view the filling of the Spirit as a critical inflection point, and it is all of that. They say every teacher and preacher has a hobby horse, and this was mine to ride. Many people who consider themselves Christians (or testify that they used to be Christians) have no experience of the Spirit living within them, don’t really have a feel for what you’re talking about, like maybe it’s some sort of theoretical construct or an analogy. But Paul made the distinction by saying that, if you do not have the Holy Spirit, you do not belong to God.

I was always quick to go a step further. If you believe these things in the Bible, then you must understand the concept of spiritual gifts. I think it’s a basic responsibility to discover and develop your own spiritual gift/gifts.

I recently read an admin say that you ‘definitely’ don’t want to be seen as telling people what to believe. While that is doubtless true in Forumworld, and is doubtless enforceable in this sphere, it obviously flies in the face of the spiritual truths revealed in the Bible. I spent twenty years in front of people who wanted help unraveling these things, so I have a real adjustment to make. I suppose we’re safe talking about it here. It does my heart good to witness your intensity on the topic.

I am passionate about this, because i lived it, i know how it is, is hard to describe, but i could say that like in the bible in pentecost, when they were waiting for the Holy spirit, and received him, we need that too, they were already believers, they were already their spirit alive with God, the disciples were born again already, i didin't meant to say christians that are not filled are not christians. Anyway i can't add much more to this, I just wish every christian could get this, because is a big blessing.

 

[The Pandector]

In the general sense there are many things i do, do not have a purpose except that I enjoy it. Many hobbies are like that. Though there may be a strong relaxation/stim motive at work.

Funny you should mention closest parking spot. I am opposite and want spot farthest from other cars, regardless of walk.

I think 'purpuse' is a very big element in Christianity but I think of God himself a bit different. As an analogy, as I am to my dogs, God is to me.

I think I can help you with that parking lot thing. You see, if we just approach this logically, ….

The moderators moved it to the Religion forum. Sorry if I hijacked it.


To me, a special interest is something I can obsess for hours. I can talk about the NT, early church writings, random facts about Paul, etc. But it is not my number one special interest, which tends to be more tech related. It doesn't mean my faith is less important than tech, it just means I can talk more about tech than I can talk about religion.

My ASD father's special interest is strongly in evangelism and politics. His way of connecting with others is to strongly turn topics towards religion and politics. He will talk about it every meal and try to convert every single service worker that comes in his house. To him, there is no more important thing than faith and government and ergo it has to be on everyone's minds constantly just as it is on his. He genuinely does not have a sense that these topics are inappropriate. I don't want to disparage him, he has used this to convert people. But that would probably be one of the more extreme cases of where special interest intersects with faith.

I don't know if this helps you, just wanted to provide perspectives of how special interest and faith can overlap.

That is useful. Your father is functionally inappropriate, but effective in his intentions. You are functional at various levels independent of your own rational assignment of priorities.

As I said, I’m pretty much stuck with the executive abilities appropriate to my interest level in a particular area. Kind of like small talk, I guess, where I am often unable to kick my own hiney into participating. In a book I’m working on, my character experiences this as a ‘debilitating and disabling disinterest’. Don’t know if that is how other autists experience it.

 

[Tom]

I think I can help you with that parking lot thing. You see, if we just approach this logically, ….

That is useful. Your father is functionally inappropriate, but effective in his intentions. You are functional at various levels independent of your own rational assignment of priorities.

As I said, I’m pretty much stuck with the executive abilities appropriate to my interest level in a particular area. Kind of like small talk, I guess, where I am often unable to kick my own hiney into participating. In a book I’m working on, my character experiences this as a ‘debilitating and disabling disinterest’. Don’t know if that is how other autists experience it.

Lol, no I am hopeless. But I do have my reasons. Autistic Isolationism, I don't like crowds, even car crowds. Easier in and out, both car and persons, and sometimes easier to find. And a intuitive sense of safety. Godzilla steps where the targets are thickest.

I worked last at a huge Army Depot and was regularly forgetting where car was parked. So I picked a spot a long walk away in the lot and always parked there. Even when working Saturdays when the lot was near empty and I was adding a 10 minute walk unecessarily. And not even closest to the buildings in the area, but out in the empty lot my car was parked alone. Mad really. But I always knew exactly where it was!

 

[jsilver256]

That is useful. Your father is functionally inappropriate, but effective in his intentions. You are functional at various levels independent of your own rational assignment of priorities.

To be fair, "being functional" is not something I can judge of myself.

As I said, I’m pretty much stuck with the executive abilities appropriate to my interest level in a particular area. Kind of like small talk, I guess, where I am often unable to kick my own hiney into participating. In a book I’m working on, my character experiences this as a ‘debilitating and disabling disinterest’. Don’t know if that is how other autists experience it.

Definitely is how I experience it. If it's not a special interest, it feels like the most monumental effort ever. Your book sounds interesting.

 

[The Pandector]

I am passionate about this, because i lived it, i know how it is, is hard to describe, but i could say that like in the bible in pentecost, when they were waiting for the Holy spirit, and received him, we need that too, they were already believers, they were already their spirit alive with God, the disciples were born again already, i didin't meant to say christians that are not filled are not christians. Anyway i can't add much more to this, I just wish every christian could get this, because is a big blessing.

Oops. I guess that’s why we have to discuss this stuff behind closed doors.

You didn’t mean to say that people who consider themselves Christians but don’t have the indwelling Holy Spirit are not ‘Christian’. What I meant to do was point out that Paul said as much; I myself would never have the temerity to put forth such a statement on my own. In this era of enlightened inclusiveness, it seems sacrilegious, right?

I’m open to other understandings of Romans 8:9, but am always impressed when something in the Scriptures is stated so plainly and emphatically. If any person does not have the Spirit, then he does not belong to God. And let’s face it, belonging to God is what it’s all about.

As uncomfortable a doctrine as this is, I feel better when I consider all the confusion that might be avoided if people took it to heart. Jesus was not about inclusion. He taught plainly that the masses were headed to hell but that those who trusted God would escape that fate. Yup, sounded as yucky back then as it does now, so they killed him. Not a majority, not all who called him ‘Lord, Lord’, but instead a remnant, comparatively few, the end of the bolt, the bottom of the barrel. I get kweezy too, but don’t get paid to edit the material.

 

[The Pandector]

Lol, no I am hopeless. But I do have my reasons. Autistic Isolationism, I don't like crowds, even car crowds. Easier in and out, both car and persons, and sometimes easier to find. And a intuitive sense of safety. Godzilla steps where the targets are thickest.

I worked last at a huge Army Depot and was regularly forgetting where car was parked. So I picked a spot a long walk away in the lot and always parked there. Even when working Saturdays when the lot was near empty and I was adding a 10 minute walk unecessarily. And not even closest to the buildings in the area, but out in the empty lot my car was parked alone. Mad really. But I always knew exactly where it was!

What are you doing, man? Now I’m going to be all freaked out about the Godzilla thing!

 

[The Pandector]

The New Testament is a minor special interest of mine - not necessarily in the pious way but more in timelines, historical context, dating, early church writings, trying to understand the philosophy, etc. This is what I understand of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is physically within Christians - 1 Corinthians 6



The Holy Spirit manifests differently in each person - 1 Corinthians 12



Many people believe they experience the Holy Spirit solely as an intermittent feeling of peace/warmth. This is not what the New Testament teaches. It teaches that Holy Spirit is always working within. Romans 8

I agree completely. Thanks for laying out an effective foundation.

 

[The Pandector]

I am passionate about this, because i lived it, i know how it is, is hard to describe, but i could say that like in the bible in pentecost, when they were waiting for the Holy spirit, and received him, we need that too, they were already believers, they were already their spirit alive with God, the disciples were born again already, i didin't meant to say christians that are not filled are not christians. Anyway i can't add much more to this, I just wish every christian could get this, because is a big blessing.

I know, right? It’s almost impossible to contain sometimes. Like, it doesn’t seem friendly to not let others in on the secret. I guess it’s comforting to consider that this is true for NT and ND alike.

 

[NB79]

I know, right? It’s almost impossible to contain sometimes. Like, it doesn’t seem friendly to not let others in on the secret. I guess it’s comforting to consider that this is true for NT and ND alike.

I am just trying to help, because this can be life changing imo. And bad interpretations of the bible can make people not seek this, of course that's just my recommendation and i can't grab someone and force to do it.

 

[Tom]

What are you doing, man? Now I’m going to be all freaked out about the Godzilla thing!

Well, I don't mean an actual Godzilla of course. That would be silly. Unless you live in Toyko. Godzilla as a metaphor for everything.

 

[Tom]

But on the Holy Spirit. Although an avid daily reader of the Bible and after going thru it close to a dozen times, the Holy Spirit is the aspect of God I least understand or relate to in a specific way. For example I can have Jesus or God the father in mind in prayers but I never direct them to the Holy Spirit. I guess I think of the Spirit as a conduit and not the destination so much. When I feel unusally close to God I wonder, is the feeling the Holy Spirit?

 

[The Pandector]

I am just trying to help, because this can be life changing imo. And bad interpretations of the bible can make people not seek this, of course that's just my recommendation and i can't grab someone and force to do it.

For fun, I will contradict you. The receipt of the Holy Spirit is not life changing, it it life beginning. They don’t call it being born again for nothing.

Maybe it’s just me, @NB79 , but it seems you are apologetic about your input. I started the thread in the wrong place, which doesn’t affect the value of your input one bit. I was wondering how to fix my mistake when admin did it for me. Please don’t apologize for sharing your faith, which lifts me up.

 

[Levitator]

But on the Holy Spirit. Although an avid daily reader of the Bible and after going thru it close to a dozen times, the Holy Spirit is the aspect of God I least understand or relate to in a specific way. For example I can have Jesus or God the father in mind in prayers but I never direct them to the Holy Spirit. I guess I think of the Spirit as a conduit and not the destination so much. When I feel unusally close to God I wonder, is the feeling the Holy Spirit?

I think the Holy Spirit is light, it's images, it's intuitions, and intimations. It's that feeling that makes you laugh at a meme with the vague suspicion it carries a lot more meaning than face value, or that feeling that attaches you to a piece of music for life, so that it always feels new again no matter how many times you're heard it.

 

[The Pandector]

But on the Holy Spirit. Although an avid daily reader of the Bible and after going thru it close to a dozen times, the Holy Spirit is the aspect of God I least understand or relate to in a specific way. For example I can have Jesus or God the father in mind in prayers but I never direct them to the Holy Spirit. I guess I think of the Spirit as a conduit and not the destination so much. When I feel unusally close to God I wonder, is the feeling the Holy Spirit?

Assuming that isn’t a rhetorical question…

Like many, I read the Bible to say that each of the three in the godhead is literally a person. But I suspect what you’re saying is common. The Spirit operates in between, a conduit as you say. I’ve heard it taught that we should speak directly with the Spirit, as with the father and son, but I’m not often moved in that direction unless I feel I’ve grieved the Spirit.

Of course, I wouldn’t want to be quoted as agreeing that ‘that feeling is the Holy Spirit’. You know, how God wasn’t in the fire or earthquake, but in the still, small voice. But, I suspect you know that. The Holy Spirit isn’t the feeling, but can use feelings just like using an earthquake or fire to communicate with us.

 

[NB79]

For fun, I will contradict you. The receipt of the Holy Spirit is not life changing, it it life beginning. They don’t call it being born again for nothing.

Maybe it’s just me, @NB79 , but it seems you are apologetic about your input. I started the thread in the wrong place, which doesn’t affect the value of your input one bit. I was wondering how to fix my mistake when admin did it for me. Please don’t apologize for sharing your faith, which lifts me up.

Ok, yes i was thinking i was being innapropiate or something, but i have problems detecting 'boundaries' or stuff, i could post in the most innapropiate places i think sometimes if i have something to say.

Ok, i understand your position. I can't recommend this enough though, having our own personal 'pentecost'.

 

[The Pandector]

I think the Holy Spirit is light, it's images, it's intuitions, and intimations. It's that feeling that makes you laugh at a meme with the vague suspicion it carries a lot more meaning than face value, or that feeling that attaches you to a piece of music for life, so that it always feels new again no matter how many times you're heard it.

There’s a whole meal’s worth of food for thought. No doubt, it’s risky to assume that the Spirit deals with us all in the same way, yet yours is a very articulate snapshot.

 

[The Pandector]

Ok, yes i was thinking i was being innapropiate or something, but i have problems detecting 'boundaries' or stuff, i could post in the most innapropiate places i think sometimes if i have something to say.

Ok, i understand your position. I can't recommend this enough though, having our own personal 'pentecost'.

Heh heh. Religion aside, I wonder what the world would look like if it weren’t for autists like Bill Gates and Elon Musk being inappropriate in relation to boundaries. You go, girl, just try to keep it between the ditches.

 

[NB79]

Heh heh. Religion aside, I wonder what the world would look like if it weren’t for autists like Bill Gates and Elon Musk being inappropriate in relation to boundaries. You go, girl, just try to keep it between the ditches.

I don't like that the forum removed the gender in the user description. i'm a dude.

 

[Levitator]

I don't like that the forum removed the gender in the user description. i'm a dude.

You can always pick an avatar you like. Come to think of it, I might be channeling Bjarne Stroustrup a bit too much.

 

[NB79]

You can always pick an avatar you like. Come to think of it, I might be channeling Bjarne Stroustrup a bit too much.

Yes, i was thinking in putting some picture, it seems you can't change the color.