I would argue that, there is arrogant intellectualism; there is religious fanaticism; and there is true spirituality.

True spirituality is the intellect in submission to the Holy Spirit: the head in submission to the heart. (I guess it needs to be said that true spirituality—something God desires for every man—is only attainable by someone who has genuinely been born again by the Spirit of divine love.)

Both intellectualism and fanaticism are the mind governed by the flesh. I think in this forum, we err more on the side of intellectualism, than fanaticism.

There are competing positions within Christianity, so how do we know which ones are right? How do we correctly judge the evidence? Well, I submit that WE ASK GOD to lead us, and confirm to us.

-Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5.

-Call to me, and I will answer you. Jeremiah 33:3.

-Ask and it will be given to you. Matthew 7:7.

-The Spirit of truth…will guide you into all the truth. John 16:13.

-In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:7.

-If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5.

And how does God principally lead and confirm? With his peace.

*“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” * Romans 8:6.

Christians must learn to be led by the peace of God. As we surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives, he brings us to a place where we experience his blessed peace on an ongoing basis.

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3.

So, back to North Korea, demons, and effective spiritual warfare; it appears my call to arms remains unaccepted:

Blessings.

I thought this might be interesting. Rather then share opinions and articles by “experts”…On how to solve the North Korean problem…Perhaps we should see - what it’s like - to be a tourist there:

What I learned being an American tourist in North Korea

Really, I see no EASY solution to North Korea. As long as there is an 800 Pound Gorilla - in the room named China. Actually, I like China. The language, the food, the culture, etc. But their support of North Korea…and our allies of Japan and South Korea nearby…makes it like having a bull, in a China shop. And trying NOT to break anything, as you lead the bull outside. And there is an 800 pound Gorilla in the room - watching…Who is friends with the bull

The key is SOMEHOW getting the 800 pound gorilla on board, with any proposal or plan of action.

Perhaps we all need to drink some Chinese green, oblong, or jasmine tea. And ponder this issue a bit

And start by reading this article:

Why the Chinese don’t smile at strangers | In & Out groups

And perhaps trying to understand, the oriental mindset a bit. They do things differently in Asian counties like Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and North and South Korea. We are too often coming to things, with a western mindset.

Yes, I think it is is a power tactic that many use who make such statements about God telling them what to do. If God is truly talking to them as they claim, then no once can gainsay God. I am always suspicious of those who make these claims. I ask them, “HOW did God talk to you? Did you hear an audible voice?” One of them that frequently made the claim actually answered, “Yes, I did.” But I didn’t believe him.

However, there was one person whom I did believe. Charlie was the husband of one of my cousins. I used to stay at their house for awhile. They were fine people. It was easy to see that they still loved each other deeply after years of marriage. My cousin began attending the church that I attended, and after awhile she became a Christian. Charlie and his siblings were raised to be atheists. One day when Charlie’s brother and he went into a pub, they had just sat down when Charlie heard a voice. “Charlie, what are you doing? You shouldn’t even be here.” Charlie thought his brother had spoken to him, but he couldn’t believe his brother would say that. He must not have heard him correctly. “What did you say?” he asked his brother.

“I didn’t say anything,” his brother replied.

Then Charlie said, “I thought I heard somebody say something.” The brothers hadn’t even begun to drink, but when Charlie lifted up his eyes, to his astonishment all the people sitting there looked like skeletons! Instantly, Charlie knew!

“I’m getting out of here!” shouted Charlie.

“Why?” asked his brother.

“God has spoken to me!”

"WHAT! Are you crazy? Well, I’m not going anywhere.

“I am!” declared Charlie. And he got up and walked out. His brother thought something had gone wrong with his mind, and so he went with him to make sure he got home safely.

That evening at home, after telling his wife (my cousin) what had happened, she talked to him about the Lord Jesus and what it meant to entrust oneself to Him. Then Charlie himself became a disciple of Jesus the Anointed One.

I had heard this account from someone else, but I wanted to hear it from Charlie’s own lips, and so asked him about it one time when they were visiting us. Charlie told it exactly as I had heard it. I remarked to him, “That must have been amazing to hear God speak in an audible voice. I have never heard the audible voice of God.”

Charlie replied, “Don, you don’t need it. But in my case, I would NEVER have become a Christian if God hadn’t spoken to me. In fact, before I heard the voice of God, if someone had told me that he had heard God speak, I would have called him a liar to his face!” Charlie was always very straightforward and honest.

Well, Charlie knew, since he heard God speak audibly. But in general, it’s not always easy to know what God wants. We don’t always know whether what comes into our minds has been planted by God, or whether it was merely our own thoughts. Sometimes, when we act on it, the results may indicate whether or not it was God.

There’s nothing irrational or illogical about the virgin birth of Jesus. You ask,“What is more LIKELY?” Do you define “rational” as that which is more likely? If there is a unique event, then likelihood doesn’t enter the picture. How LIKELY is the BIG BANG—that a minute particle to small to be seen by the human eye, exploded and formed the vast Universe that we see in part when we look at the sky in the countryside on a clear night? Yet this is declared as a fact by so-called “science.”

The fact that some people are able to babble gobbledygook and call it “tongues” doesn’t disprove the genuine article. Here is a true story that my sister Lorraine told me:

At the Pentecostal Church she attended in Winnipeg, a man stood up and spoke in “another tongue.” When he finished but was still standing, the pastor asked, “Is there an interpreter?” Silence. Then the pastor said, “Sit down, Brother. You are out of order!” (The pastor believed that if another tongue was spoken in a public meeting, then (if it were valid) it needed to be “interpreted” or translated by a Spirit-filled person. The man sat down, and everything continued as usual.

When the meeting was over, a man of Chinese descent came up to the pastor and asked, “Who was that man who stood up and spoke Cantonese?”

“Huh? What man?” But then the pastor realized to whom the man referred. The “tongues-speaker” had given the gospel in Cantonese, and this resulted in the conversion of the only person who understood him. The pastor apologized to the “tongues-speaker” admitting that he had made a serious error.

No, rationality transcends mere experience. There’s nothing rational about knowing how the world works or being knowledgeable about nature. According to the Oxford Dictionary, that which is “rational” is that which is “based on or in accordance with reason or logic.” Logic is not tantamount to knowledge or experience.

Sometimes God acts in our world in a way that is entirely beyond most people’s experience.

Paidion, I don’t understand your logic. That said, thanks for your perspective.

I have spent considerable time, with a Roman Catholic priest. And he claims to have the gift of healing and hearing the voice of God. It should be noted that:

I have attended his healing masses and have fallen down.
He is still a Roman Catholic priest and publicly talks about hearing God’s voice - in his homilies. Which means the Roman Catholic hierarchy, has no issue with this.

And I have also spend considerable time, with the Native American medicine men and women. Chiefly from the Lakota, Ute and Ojibwa tribes. And they also claim, to hear the voice of God - at times. And that has been a tradition, since the beginning - of Native American spirituality. See Christianity and Red Road Spirituality

But in both these cases, God doesn’t tell them anything “Outlandish”. Or to do or say anything “Outlandish”.

And neither the priest…nor the Native American medicine men and women…“advertise”, “sell tickets to see them”, go on radio and TV…or claim that they are “somehow special”.

Even the Calvinist site - Got Questions - has some input:

How can we recognize the voice of God?

If you type in “can Christians hear the voice of God” into Google, many Protestant sites believe this. And give reasons for their belief.

As an aside, here’s something I’ve shared on Twitter today. It specifically talks about Mindfulness. It complements the Contemplation tab - in my forum signature:

This Is How I Managed To Finally Squeeze Meditation Into My Busy, Distracted Life

Here is an example of a valid logical argument:

All humans are mortal.
Gabe is human.
Therefore Gabe is mortal.

And here is an example of an invalid logical argument:

All humans are mortal.
My dog is mortal.
Therefore my dog is human.

Good point Don.
I’ll just tack on this point, which you are already aware of:

All men are green
Dave is a man
Therefore Dave is green

This argument is VALID but not SOUND. The form is fine, which gives validity to the argument, but the premise is not true, rendering the conclusion unsound.

Plus, I am NOT green.

Plus, I am NOT green.

What are uguys talking about?

Thanks for pointing out what I neglected to mention, Dave. The conclusion of a valid argument has to be true, only if all the premises of that argument are true.

I think they are talking about the immigrant Martian refugees, coming to the Planet Vulcan

And speaking of Spock. I thought about online and distance learning programs. In 1858, the University of London…pioneered distance learning programs, all the way to the PhD. You would think that, by the time Mr. Spock and Mr. Data were around,…that Star Fleet Academy, would have distance and online learning programs. And we would be saying Dr. Spock and Dr. Data.

And this interesting article, came from the Protestant site Pathaos today:

How to Disprove Any Christian in 10 Easy Steps

Notice a rule of marketing here. If you have an “eye catching headline”, it will prompt folks to read farther.

-Are Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump morally equivalent?
-And what about a Christian’s authority in spiritual warfare?

From a Fox News story today, North Korea: How Christians survive in the world’s most anti-Christian nation:

Blessings.

Regarding pastor Robert Jeffress, "Trump’s evangelical adviser: God’s OK with U.S. bombing North Korea,” Tim Swarens, the opinion editor of The Indianapolis Star, writes,

Today North Korea fired an unidentified missile into the Sea of Japan, South Korean media said.

South Korea’s military said the missile was fired from Pyongyang and that it passed over Japan.

“The Pentagon is investigating.”

From Fox News today.

From [size=110]Putin[/size]: U.S. and North Korea Are ‘Balanced on the Verge of a Large-Scale Conflict’:

From today at CNN, Trump says appeasement ‘will not work’ after NK nuclear test:

From today at Fox, Trump hints at ending US trade with all North Korea partners, after Mnuchin vows more sanctions:

From 2010 at CBN, North Korea Spiritual Warfare: Insights from Carl Moeller:

Regarding possible war with North Korea, could it be justified morally? Who judges what is moral?

Is morality even the right focal point for Christians? Or should it be knowing Jesus more intimately?

I would suggest that one of the two trees in the Garden—the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—could have been called “The Morality Tree.” And the other—The Tree of Life—could have been called “The Jesus Tree.”

I would further suggest that The Morality Tree would include a fruit called the “Just War Theory,” and The Jesus Tree would include a fruit known as “Spiritual Warfare.”

Just war theory (Latin: jus bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics studied by theologians, ethicists, policy makers, and military leaders. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just.

vs.

Spiritual warfare is the Christian concept of taking a stand against preternatural evil forces. It is based on the belief in evil spirits which are able to intervene in human affairs. Various Christian groups have adopted practices to repel such forces, as based on their doctrine of Christian demonology….Christian practices of spiritual warfare vary throughout Christianity.

Foundational to a correct understanding and practice of spiritual warfare, I offer you a refutation of the primacy of morality (from Richard Murray’s book, God vs. Evil):

From the foregoing, allow me to offer another, possibly more accurate, name for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil:

[size=120]The Tree of Greater and Lesser Evil.[/size]

After all, it was a forbidden tree. So how could it offer anything genuinely “good”?

I"ll pass over the serious understatement of the effects of that EMP (below) - it would be much worse - and say that this Christian’s response (mine) to North Korea’s ability is - scared.

“the regime appears to be closer than ever to presenting a credible nuclear threat to the United States mainland. It still has one problem to solve in order to successfully launch direct nuclear strikes on U.S. cities - missile re-entry into the atmosphere. However, without even bothering about re-entry, North Korea may already have the capability today to detonate a nuclear bomb in the upper atmosphere, generating an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that could virtually destroy the US.'s electrical grid and communications systems. An EMP attack would affect transportation as well as critical food, water and medical supplies. Millions of people could die as a result. North Korea has in fact threatened just such an attack.”

I’m aware of the arguments re: responses to North Korea. I"m aware of the teaching of Providence. Still, there is a visceral response that I cannot ignore - to take care of family and friends, preserve the local community, preserve the culture at any cost. I’m not saying that our visceral responses should dictate national policy ; but to act in a self-preservation mode against an aggressor is a natural response and I feel it acutely.
I’m not making an argument - just a statement.

but to act in a self-preservation mode against an aggressor is a natural response and I feel it acutely.
I’m not making an argument - just a statement.

I agree since it appears NK is headed toward becoming an imminent threat to the USA and Kim appears to be truly insane. NK seems to be daring us to attack it, truly strange and tragic situation. A secular leader of this country has an obligation to protect it’s residents.China could bring NK to it’s knees by cutting off oil shipments but so far they won’t do it.

Are good things never forbiddenl? Is it not a good thing for a young person to learn to drive a car? But a good father may forbid his 9-year old son from doing so. It is necessary for the child to mature first.

I see the same thing with the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It is a good thing to be able to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Why did God place the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden? Did he want to tempt Adam and Eve with evil? I don’t think so. They were newly created. I think He wanted them first to mature—perhaps to eat first from the tree of life (He never forbade them from eating from that tree.)
After maturity, they would be ready to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But Satan tempted them to do things in reverse. Satan often give a twist to God’s commands in a way that they will not be properly carried out.