Believe it or not, most people who attend church do not see any significant reason for knowing God. Much of this is due to their yearning to live for rational experiences. "Into the Silence" is dedicated to changing this passing familiarity into an intimate connection with God. <br><br>The Bible goes far beyond rational experiences into a world of direct spiritual encounters. "Into the Silence" features: How to distinguish between rational thinking and the voice of the spirit, How to expose the enemy when he comes as an angel of light, and How to understand that dreams can be significant messages for God.
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Dennis Psy.D. Cummins. Into the Silence
Introduction
Chapter One: Knowing About God or Knowing God?
Chapter Two: The “Me First” Philosophy
Chapter Three: Everyone Needs a Slack Tide
Chapter Four: “Have a Seat. We need to talk.”
Chapter Five: Holiness vs. “Happiness”
Chapter Six: Discovering Yadaw
Chapter Seven: It’s Time for a Doctrine Inspection
Chapter Eight: Fruit Speaks Louder than Words
Chapter Nine: Get Rid of the Compartmentalized Life
Chapter Ten: Experience an Encounter with God
Chapter Eleven: Who’s that in My Head?
Chapter Twelve: More than Just a Dream
Chapter Thirteen: Passport Please
Chapter Fourteen: Don’t Study the Bible
Chapter Fifteen: Is Meditation Taboo?
Chapter Sixteen: Time for an Encounter with God
About the Author
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In the movie, Night at the Museum, one of the characters portrayed is a tour guide for the museum. She is working on her doctorate degree and writing her thesis paper on Sacajawea, the great Indian scout. The museum has a wax figurine of Sacajawea on display, and she sits for hours staring at it and wondering what it would have been like to actually know her. She had studied for years about Sacajawea. She had exhausted every book she could find for research and historical evidence to learn about this great historic person.
It is very evident in the movie that the tour guide would trade all of her research and knowledge for just five minutes alone with the real Sacajawea. She realizes the difference between knowing about someone and truly knowing someone. You probably could have asked her any question about Sacajawea, and she could have answered it. Facts, figures, knowledge and information, yet there is one thing she lacked, that she would’ve traded anything for—a relationship with her. Did you know there’s a comprehensible difference? Because in respect to God, I believe most people do not.
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Many may question the validity of my observations of the Church, but consider these statistics from a recent study performed by the Barna Research Group. George Barna notes that only seven percent of church-goers identified spiritual wholeness and development as the factor that will produce a successful life. “The Christian faith commends sacrifice, servant hood and sharing as the means to significance,” he noted. “How is it possible to have more than 120 million adults attending Christian churches on a regular basis, but only 15 million who grasp the message that success is not about personal accomplishment or material possessions” I believe this is a direct reflection of the church today. This is why the church at large in America has become highly ineffective. Most of those who attend a church do not see any significant reason for knowing God. They feel they can get along just fine without Him. A person who believes he is basically good has no need for God. What an amazing realization about our current culture. Only seven out of every 100 people see a direct benefit of knowing God. These factors relate directly to the lack of passion and involvement in the local church, and the lack of repentance and Godly sorrow. Our American-Christian culture tends to view church as nothing more than a place to get a “pick me up” for the week or a place to instill some quality values in our children. Church has become somewhat like a retail store—only going to church when you need something. People who are not willing to serve or get involved in church are the ones who don’t see any direct benefit in knowing God. They only know of a god that somebody has told them about, but they do not know God personally.
As a Christian, we have an obligation to align our life with God’s truth which gives us an eternal perspective. We choose to live not for the now, but for what is going to last for eternity. This is in direct opposition to Church culture that is being driven by society’s patterns and not God’s patterns. If 93% of the Church sees no direct benefit in knowing God they are being driven by the moment. If they are being driven by the moment they will make knee jerk reactions and shallow decisions, leading to a foundation built on things that are temporary; a foundation that will not last in the light of eternity.
