Discernment is a term used to describe the activity of determining the value and quality of a certain subject or event. Typically, it is used to describe the activity of going past the mere perception of something, to making detailed judgments about that thing. As a virtue, a discerning individual is considered to possess wisdom, and be of good judgement; especially so with regard to subject matter often overlooked by others.

Christianity[link]

In Christianity, the word "discernment" may have several meanings. It can be used to describe the process of determining God's desire in a situation or for one's life. In large part, it describes the interior search for an answer to the question of one's vocation, namely, determining whether or not God is calling one to the married life, single life, religious life, ordained ministry or any other calling.

Discernment of spirits[link]

Discernment can also refer to the "discernment of spirits", the act of judging from what spirit (whether good or evil) the impulses of the human soul emanate. This judgment can be made in two ways. The first is by a charism or spiritual gift divinely granted to certain individuals for the discerning of spirits by intuition (1 Corinthians 12:10). The second way to discern spirits is by reflection and theological study. This second method then is an acquired human knowledge; however, it is always gained "with the assistance of grace, by the reading of the Holy Bible, of works on theology and asceticism, of autobiographies, and the correspondence of the most distinguished ascetics".^[1]

Ignatian view[link]

For St. Ignatius of Loyola, the discernment of spirits is part of everyone's spiritual journey. No one who is trying to make spiritual progress should attempt to do so alone - a spiritual director is required. A director assists a Christian in examining the motives, desires, consolations, and desolations in one's life. Objectively, one can know what is right from looking at the Ten Commandments and the Seven Deadly Sins in a thorough examination of conscience. But the broader picture of one's life is often not so clear. A Christian should, according to St. Ignatius, share everything with a director who can see things objectively, without being swayed by the emotions or passion. Discerning whether the good spirit (the influence of God, the Church, one's soul) or the bad spirit (the influence of Satan, the world, the flesh) is at work requires calm, rational reflection. The good spirit brings us to peaceful, joyful decisions. The bad spirit often brings us to make quick, emotional, conflicted decisions. A spiritual director can assist both by personal experience, listening with care, and giving an objective analysis.

Pentecostal and charismatic view[link]

Discernment of spirits is particularly important among Pentecostal and charismatic Christians because of their emphasis on the operation of all the spiritual gifts within their churches. It becomes necessary then to be able to determine whether the exercise of a spiritual gift (such as prophecy or an interpretation of tongues) comes from the Holy Spirit, an evil spirit, or merely the human spirit.^[2] They believe that every Christian is able to judge and responsible for judging whether such an occurrence is helpful and edifying to the church; however, they also believe that there are those individuals who have been given the spiritual gift of discerning of spirits by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is important to note that the discerning of spirits does not involve the judging of people. The gift of discerning of spirits is also believed to be necessary in distinguishing demonic possession from mental or physical illness.^[3]

References[link]

1. ^ Debuchy, Paul (1909). "Discernment of Spirits". The Catholic Encyclopedia. 5. Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05028b.htm. Retrieved 18 June 2011. 
2. ^ Guy P. Duffield and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave, Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, 1983, (Los Angeles: Foursquare Media, 2008), p. 340-341.
3. ^ Duffield and Van Cleave, Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, 497-501.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

External links[link]

Look up discernment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Catholic Encyclopedia article on this topic
• Discernment Leads to Good Fortune
• Vocation-Network.org information about Catholic religious communities and life as a sister, brother, or priest.
• VocationMatch.com helps those discerning a Catholic religious vocation sort through options and find the order or vocation that may be right for them.
• DigitalVocationGuide.org digital edition of VISION, the annual Catholic religious vocation discernment guide....

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Wanda Elizabeth "Beth" Moore (born Wanda Elizabeth Green on June 16, 1957) is an American evangelist, author, and teacher. Moore founded Living Proof Ministries, a biblically-based organization for women, in 1994. It is based in Houston, Texas, and it primarily focuses on aiding women who desire to model their lives on evangelical Christian principles.^[1] Women from around the world sit under Moore’s teaching at Living Proof Live conferences, sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources. Travis Cottrell leads worship at these conferences.^[2] Moore also teaches through her radio show, Living Proof with Beth Moore, and appears as a regular on the television program LIFE Today, where she hosts Wednesdays with Beth.^[1] In 2007 and 2008, Moore, along with Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer,^[3] founded Deeper Still: The Event,^[4] a LifeWay weekend conference featuring the three women.^[5]

Moore writes books based on the regular Bible studies that she conducts at the Living Proof Live conferences and at her local church, Bayou City Fellowship, Houston, Texas.^[6] Moore’s books include Breaking Free, Believing God, and When Godly People Do Ungodly Things. Through her books, the Internet, DVD, video, and audiotape, women from every denomination around the world have participated in her Bible studies, while many others have listened to her on the radio or heard her speak in person.^[7]

Through the years American missionaries and expatriates have taken the Bible studies overseas, resulting in Beth Moore Bible study groups all over the world.^{[citation needed]} Moore's Living Proof Live conferences have taken her to thirty-nine states since 1994 and have been attended by more than 421,000 women.^[8] She has also taught conferences for women in numerous countries, including Ireland, England, Singapore, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and India.^[1]

Living Proof Ministries vision[link]

Living Proof is devoted to investing in the Spiritual lives of people of every color and denomination through sound Biblical teaching and uplifting praise and worship.^[9]

Early life[link]

Born on an army base in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and raised in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where her father owned a cinema house, Beth is the fourth of five children, all of whom worked at the cinema from a young age.

Education[link]

Moore holds a degree in political science from Southwest Texas State University, where she pledged and was initiated into Chi Omega, and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Howard Payne University.

Family[link]

She married Keith Moore in 1978.^[1] They have two grown daughters, Amanda and Melissa.^[10] Both daughters, along with son-in-law Curtis Jones, work with their mother at Living Proof Ministries.^[11]

Ministry[link]

Moore committed her life to vocational Christian ministry at the age of 18. But years later, when she was volunteering as a Sunday school teacher, Moore realized she needed to learn more about the Bible. She went to a biblical doctrine class that gave her a deep yearning to know the Bible, and she began sharing her expanding knowledge through a weekly Bible study class. By the mid-1990s that class had grown to 2,000 women and she was speaking at churches throughout South Texas. It was then that LifeWay Christian Resources' publishing arm Broadman & Holman (later B&H) began publishing her Bible studies, leading to a national speaking ministry for Moore. With the help of a worship band she assembled, she began holding weekend conferences around the country. As a base for her national speaking ministry, she founded Living Proof Ministries.^[12]

Works[link]

• Who Will You Trust? - audio/video series (2007)
• Get Out Of That Pit - book (2007), ISBN 978-1-59145-552-3
• Songs of Deliverance - CD (2006)
• Fully Alive: Audio/video series with Beth Moore, James and Betty Robison (2006)
• So Long Insecurity: You've been a bad friend to us - book (2010), ISBN 978-1-4143-3472-1

Bible studies[link]

• "Here and Now - There and Then" (Study of Revelation)
• Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman (2008), ISBN 1-4158-5289-8
• When Godly People Do Ungodly Things: Arming Yourself in the Age of Seduction (2002), ISBN 0-8054-2465-2
• Jesus: The One and Only (2002), ISBN 0-8054-2489-X
• The Beloved Disciple: Following John to the Heart of Jesus (2003), ISBN 0-8054-2753-8
• Believing God (2004), ISBN 0-8054-3189-6
• The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (2005), ISBN 0-633-09906-6
• Daniel: Lives of Integrity, words of prophecy (2006), ISBN 978-1-4158-2588-4
• Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit
• Stepping Up
• To Live is Christ: The Life & Ministry of Paul
• Stepping Up: Psalms of Ascent
• A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place
• Loving Well
• Breaking Free
• "James: Mercy Triumphs"

References[link]

Justin Peters
Peters with the Toronto St. Michael's Majors in 2005.
Born	(1986-08-30) August 30, 1986 (age 25) Blyth, ON, CAN
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	213 lb (97 kg; 15 st 3 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Shoots	Right
NHL team (P) Cur. team	Carolina Hurricanes Charlotte Checkers (AHL)
NHL Draft	38th overall, 2004 Carolina Hurricanes
Playing career	2006–present

Justin Peters (born August 30, 1986) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL).^[1]

Playing career[link]

After playing Junior A hockey with the Vaughan Vipers of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (OPJHL), Peters began a four-season Ontario Hockey League (OHL) career with the Toronto St. Michael's Majors and Plymouth Whalers. He was drafted in the second round, 38th overall, by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, then began his professional career in 2006–07 with the Hurricanes' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Albany River Rats. He was demoted to the ECHL for parts of the 2007–08 season, but returned to the River Rats in 2008–09.

On February 5, 2010, the Carolina Hurricanes recalled Justin Peters from the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League after Cam Ward suffered an upper body injury.^[2] He made his NHL debut for the Carolina Hurricanes on February 6, 2010, starting against the New York Islanders. He had 34 saves in a 3-1 victory.

He has a brother Alex playing for the Huron Perth Lakers AAA (1996 DOB) and a brother Anthony playing for the Listowel Cyclones Junior B.

Career statistics[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Justin Peters's NHL player profile
• Justin Peters's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Patricia King (born June 26, 1951) is an evangelist, TV presenter, author and entrepreneur. She has served as president of Christian Services Association (CSA) since 1990, and hosts a weekly television program on the God TV network.

Early life[link]

King was born Patricia Anne Kennedy in Vancouver, British Columbia. She trained first as a nurse, later specialising in cardiovascular nursing after postgraduate training, and worked in nursing until 1980. She married in 1973.

Evangelism[link]

According to King, a formative experience occurred in April 1976, when she suffered complications during the birth of her younger son and had a religious experience. She subsequently embraced religion, and the family studied with and later worked for the Youth With A Mission organisation in Hawaii and Belize. She and her husband also did ministry work in Ghana and Nigeria. King then was offered a staff position as Director of Evangelism and Missions with Christian Services Association (CSA), and became president of CSA in 1990.

Work with Christian Services Association[link]

CSA was founded in Canada in 1973 and in the USA in 1994. The head office is based in Maricopa, Arizona and also hosts offices in Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Belize, and Thailand.

King's work with CSA has involved her in work in Tijuana, Mexico, the Philippines, Albania and other European countries. She founded "Operation Extreme Love", a training and outreach program for victims of the sex trade which works with other Thai ministries, in response to a visit to Thailand in 2007. She also partners with ministries in Cambodia, Africa, and Burma who rescue children at risk.

Through CSA King hosts schools that provide Christian media training in acting, voice-overs, screenwriting, social media, producing, directing as well as other aspects of media. In August 2010 she hosted "The New-Media Fest", a Christian film festival.

Extreme Prophetic[link]

In 2003 King began hosting a weekly television program, Extreme Prophetic. Evangelism courses under that name had launched previously in 1999. The philosophy was to take God’s extreme love message into extreme places such as streets, bars, restaurants, new age book stores, etc.). Extreme Prophetic became known to many as “XP”.

In 2005, XPmedia became the name of the media department of CSA. Following that, other departments took on the XP brand: XPwebchurch.com, XPmissions, XPpublishing, XPacting, XPmediatraining, etc.

In 2010 the program was renamed Patricia King, Everlasting Love. It airs on God TV in many countries, and on other television and web-networks.

Entrepreneur[link]

As an entrepreneur, King co-founded a production company, Doxa 512, a web-network called XPmedia.com Inc, along with other smaller enterprises.

Books[link]

• The Bride Makes Herself Ready
• Sacred Time, Sacred Place
• Decree
• Extreme Decrees For Extreme Time
• Dream Big
• Eyes That See
• Ears That Hear
• God Loves You With an Everlasting Love
• The Good Life
• In The Zone
• Light Belongs in the Darkness
• Overcoming the Spirit of Narcissism
• Spiritual Revolution
• Help God, I'm Broke!
• For Their Tears I Died
• Stop The Bully

References[link]

• Patricia King short Biography from Chicago Hub Bless Fest Promo
• Preparing for A New Season in Your Life 2007 -Patricia King, Elijah List, 2007
• Be Fruitful and Multiply -Steve Schultz & Patricia King 2010
• Prophetic TV
• Prophetic Ministry Training
• Patricia King
• From the Desk of Steve Schultz
• Steve Shultz: Media People RUSH to Phoenix, August 23-28
• Interview on Prophetic.tv

External links[link]

• PatriciaKing.com

Timothy M. Gallagher is the Boston-based author of 6 bestselling books on the theology and spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola. A former head (provincial) of the Catholic religious community Oblates of the Virgin Mary, Gallagher earned his doctorate from The Pontifical Gregorian University, became a spiritual director and retreat leader, and since 2003 has written a series of books on core topics in Ignatian spirituality, including contemplation and meditation. The Examen Prayer, honored by the Catholic Press Association, was the first to appear on the national Catholic bestseller list.^[1]The Discernment of Spirits was later made into a 26-part CatholicTV series.^[2]

Bibliography[link]

• The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide to Everyday Life. (2005) ISBN 978-0-8245-2291-9
• The Examen Prayer: Ignatian Wisdom for Our Lives Today. (2006) ISBN 978-0-8245-2367-1
• An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer: Spiritual Reflections According to the Spiritual Exercises. (2007) ISBN 978-0-8245-2487-6
• Meditation and Contemplation: An Ignatian Guide to Prayer with Scripture. (2008) ISBN 978-0-8245-2488-3
• Spiritual Consolation: An Ignatian Guide to Greater Discernment. (2007) ISBN 978-0-8245-2429-6
• Discerning the Will of God: An Ignatian Guide to Christian Decision Making. (2009) ISBN 978-0-8245-2489-0

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website