Dr. Bernard, today's question on apostolic life in the 21st century comes to us from a frustrated pastor.

He writes, he said, we are experiencing a huge problem with people so desperate to see the supernatural

that they are practically seeing messages

in Cheerios. Now, he, I can kind of almost imagine him chuckling as he writes that. He says,

not literally, of course, but it sure feels like that. Now, he cites an example of somebody that he

knows that is associated with his congregation, that they interpret a specific number as being from God. And so anytime they see that

number, they think that it's a message from God. And he, this pastor notes that, you know, in his

opinion, this stuff is getting out of hand. And he wants to know, he wants you to explain why this

stuff is nonsense and how it's connected to the occult that's creeping into Christianity.

I think the larger question underneath his question, I appreciate where he's coming from, is how do we know if something is from God or if it's just our imagination?

That's a good question, and some of the answer is going to be subjective by the very nature of the question.

But I think it raises a very important issue.

We, as Pentecost to believers, we do believe in miracles.

We do believe God speaks directly through visions, dreams, signs, wonders.

He interacts with us.

So therefore, we can be more prone to interpret a lot of things, which may be just nature,

maybe just natural, maybe just be coincidence. And we have to understand the possibility

of sometimes there could be demonic forces at work. So we certainly need discernment.

So I think if you read the Bible as a whole, you'll get perspective, that we're

supposed to live by faith, not by signs, that we live according to the Word of God, the teaching

of the Word of God, not by random messages. So if the orientation of your life is constantly

seeking a sign or constantly seeking

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