49 Religious Lies Jesus Told Me to Stop Believing - #10 Do Not Trust Experiences

Summary

Mark Virkler describes how learning to listen for God’s voice changed his understanding of Scripture and challenged a belief he calls “Do not trust experiences.” He says he once treated personal experiences as potentially misleading and tested them only against theology. He later came to believe that theology can also lead people astray, pointing to disagreements among Christian denominations as an example.

Virkler’s central distinction is that experiences can be meaningful sources of insight, but people may not know how to interpret them on their own. He says God, through the Holy Spirit, can help someone discern whether a difficult circumstance is something to endure or resist. He illustrates this with biblical examples: Jeremiah’s account of the Israelites’ captivity and Elisha’s response to a besieging army.

He also argues that biblical narratives—not only passages that teach directly—can convey truth. He encourages people to listen to the stories of others’ lives as well as study Scripture.

Virkler shares personal and counseling anecdotes in which he believes emotional distress preceded physical problems. He says that reflecting and praying about these events helped people process them and, in his own case, coincided with relief from arthritis. These are his interpretations and anecdotes, not established medical guidance.

Method and Practical Suggestions

• Treat experiences as worth examining. Don’t automatically dismiss them as unreliable or assume they explain themselves.
• Ask God for help interpreting them. Virkler suggests asking questions such as:
  • What happened before this difficulty began?
  • Is this a situation to endure, or should I resist it?
  • What might God be accomplishing, and how should I respond?
• Notice what comes to mind without forcing an answer. In counseling, he says he invites people to recall what happened before a problem arose and encourages them to relax rather than overthink.
• Bring the experience into prayer or journaling. Ask God to illuminate what it means and how to respond.
• Learn from biblical narratives as well as direct teaching. Virkler recommends reading the Gospels and other story-based passages, not relying only on doctrinal or instructional texts.
• Reflect on the “fruit” of an interpretation. He cites the idea that a matter can be tested by its fruit, while maintaining that God enables proper interpretation.
• Seek a direct relationship with Jesus. He encourages viewers to study relevant Scripture, journal about it, and pursue understanding through prayer rather than relying solely on a teacher, church tradition, or inherited theology.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Mark Virkler — The video’s speaker, sharing his beliefs, personal experiences, and counseling anecdotes.
• God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit — Presented through Virkler’s account of what he received in prayer and journaling; they are not independently audible speakers in the subtitles.
• Biblical sources referenced by Virkler:
  • Jeremiah 25:8–9, concerning Israel’s captivity.
  • 2 Kings 6:16–18, concerning Elisha and the surrounding army.
  • The Emmaus road story and the Gospels, discussed more generally.