Does God really speak? Explanation begins.

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Does God really speak?

You may have heard people say: "I heard God tell me ..." and wondered how they knew it was God? You, like me, may hear people saying they've heard "God" speak and then watch them do aweful things, like the terrorists of 9-11? This issue of hearing God speak, hearing accurately, and deciding whether God speaks - today - may be gnawing at you. It gnaws at me - especially some days.

There are several "questions" around this subject. I'll talk through my thoughts in several posts here. First question: When we say "God speaks" what do we mean? Do we hear voices? Is it a feeling? Is it our imagination? Do we make guesses? Is it tangible or imagination?

I asked a question among "church leaders" lately, "Where have you seen Christ this week?" There was a long, long, long silence. One person offered up: "Well, if you mean where have I seen people do things like Christ, then I can answer that. But if you mean, where did I see Christ, with my eyes, then I can't answer that question."

What do we mean when we ask: Where have I seen - where have I heard Christ speak this week? Some people become strangely silent, while others jump in with all sorts of information - from "clues" to Christ's presence to actually hearing voices to feelings felt that gave special knowledge of Christ's presence and movement in the world.

I want to make three distinctions here about what I mean.

First, God speaking means there must be some identifiable means by which God speaks - "the modality." And second, God speaking means there's a receiving end - that it's heard by someone.

Third, God speaking means fundamentally, that it is direct communication - like you or I speaking with one another over coffee - rather than indirect/non-specific/possible communication. The next three posts will deal with each of those questions, one at a time.

Send me your questions about "God speaking" by "comment" here. I can't wait to hear!