God Stopped Talking?

Maybe you've seen the excellent 80s movie "Oh God, Part II" with George Burns, in which he
plays God recruiting a little girl to start an advertisement campaign for Him. She even winds up
being expelled from school for having the audacity to claim that God actually talks to her, but
manages to persuade her fellow-students to join her in a world-wide "Think God!" campaign...

Well, it's a little bit like that, although perhaps not always quite as Hollywoodish (in fact, it's been
a common theme for the Lord, during our convertations, to expound on how much better real life
is than Hollywood).
He does talk a lot about getting His message across to the world, which, after all, is supposedly a
Christian's (or let's say true believer's) full-time job, and I've got tons of pages of instructions from
Him on how to do a better job at that, a lot of which you'll find reflected in my songs (for more on
getting the job done for God, see my treatize on "Bible verses most Christians ignore").

But then He also tells me to do crazy little things, like earlier this year, when He told me that I
should let my wife drive more often, rather than always insisting on driving myself & getting upset
& impatient with other drivers on the road. He said it's good for my humility level (which - by the
way, did you know - is synonymous with love?), and the level of trust in our relationship, not to
mention the way it has reduced the amount of inappropriate language coming from my lips!

One thing I want to clarify is that the reason why I'm telling the world (= you) that God talks to me
is not to show off what a spiritual dude I am, but to encourage you to let Him to talk to you, too!
It's wonderfully beneficial, and a whole new way of life once you fulfill life's purpose by living
according to the tune of your very Creator.
I must give credit where credit is due, though, and admit here that it was by no means my own
idea that I should do that, but it's just an important part of our Family's way of life and practices,
(as so wonderfully described by Gary Shepherd, who has been studying our group among
others), which had been stressed by our late founder, David Berg (or "Dad," for short) for
decades before I ever got the point. He said, "The most important thing each new generation has
to learn is to hear from God, personally, for themselves, and get His instructions directly from
Him, daily...." Well, something to that extent, anyway. And I've got to thank his wife and current
leader of our Family, Maria, for making this "hearing from God" a part of our daily reality by
stressing it as one of the most important habits in our lives, comparable to the importance of
eating, brushing your teeth or taking a shower...

Another thing He (the Lord) has been stressing, and urging me to pass on to others is the fact
that He needs you. Often I forget the things He tells me, so I've made it a habit to condense my
converstations with Him, have the condos printed out and go over them, which recently led me
across a heavenly message from about a year ago, resulting in the song "God Needs You," which
I'll hopefully be able to record soon & post in my songs folder for you to download.
This message was slightly touched on in the movie "Oh God, Pt.2" as well, but the fact can't be
stressed enough that God actually needs us. He needs us to love Him (which means to first allow
Him to love us), and that includes just about all the things you do with a flesh & blood person you
love: you talk to Him, listen to Him, you think of Him, you tell others about Him...
It all depends on how real you believe He is. Most people have no problems talking to Him (which
they call prayer), but as Dad used to say, "Prayer is not just speaking your piece, but letting God
speak His, too."
Unfortunately, the churches (and the teaching of Evolution) have made God look so distant from
us, that not everybody has the faith for an intimate, personal relationship with Him. By referring to
"Him", by the way, I'm mostly referring to Jesus, the "mediator between God and men" as the
Bible says (1.Timothy 2:5), and you can get about just as intimate with Him, as you like, because,
after all, He calls those who believe in Him His bride... (See Matthew 25:6; Revelation 18:23, 21:9
& 22:17).
Oh, and one other thing: He can talk to you through just about anyone or anything! He can talk to
you through another person (even one you hardly know, or don't like, and it doesn't have to be
the Pope, either), through a song, through a movie, through a book, you've just got to be open
enough. After all, the Devil screams at us all day, through hundreds of different outlets, why not
give God a chance to speak His piece to you as well, so you can decide which is the better voice
to follow?
The safest place to find His voice, naturally, is His Word, the Bible, but don't let anybody kid you
that He stopped talking 2000 years ago. Have a listen & find out what He's got to say to you
today. Do me and Him, and especially yourself the favor!