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Are the "gifts of the spirit" the same as psychic powers?
No. Psychic powers are innate, in about 5% of the population, not counting the mentally ill who think they have them.
Biblically one may have them but one is not supposed to seek to try to use them or to increase their strength.
They can be enhanced by practice and psychic exercizes, but most religions won't teach these exercizes to laypeople and wise teachers/gurus only teach them carefully, because they recognize that when the door opens, it also opens to diabolic activity.
In psychological terms, it opens you to delusion, psychological problems, and the "demons of the id".
The modern day emphasis on pentecostal/charismatic gifts is common in third world christian churches, but I'm not sure that this is a good idea. On the other hand, if you are a catholic in Brazil and bored with the liberation theology that fills them, it might be healthier to join the local pentecostal church than to join the openly demonic "folk religions" that are very popular there, or for the elite, get enthusiastic about new age egotism (which is popular among the Manila elite here...just ignore the street kids while you evolve to a higher power, better health, and wealth).
But either way, the danger is rejection of reason and replacing it with magical thinking. In Catholicism, from the earliest church fathers, logic was considered an attribute of God, (the platonian concept of Logos) and compatible with faith. Magic and miracles so beloved by poor people was tolerated, but theologically suspect when it went too far.
And no, religion and magic is not the same thing. Professor Raia of UCLA has a good course on this at youtube. LINK
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and yes, the Pope seems to think that the death and typhoon damage here was due to "global warming". It wasn't. It was due to poverty and corruption.
Yes, and photo ops with charity are more popular than actually preventing deaths by evacuation etc.
Now if he will only tell the good "catholic" politicians here to stop shooting their rivals and stealing funds maybe I'll be impressed.
Ah, but the Manila elites love "global warming" and "green" issues, so will promote the pope's new "green" agenda.
It's nicer to blame "global warming" than to admit taking bribes to let people illegally log/build in dangerous areas, or that they are diverting money meant to repair the irrigation dams/ build adequate sewer drainage.
And the elites will feel self righteous when they stop GM food being grown here. Of course, this will allow them to make money importing rice etc. or taking bribes to smuggle in onions etc. The imports will be chemical filled and/or GM, but again a small bribe will stop any problem.
and when those "evil"western countries send reparations to make up for their damage, why that's just justice (and another scam to fill their pockets).
Ordinary folk, in the meanwhile, will continue to become protestants, where Jesus, not green politics, is promoted, along with honesty and morality that enables them to lift themselves out of poverty.
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UN Going Bananas.
One problem is that all bananas are genetically related, so that the threat of disease causing a die-off is big.
Bananas help feed people, but are rarely the only source of calories, but if they are destroyed by disease, the danger is malnutrition. But in places with monoculture, like the banana plantations in Mindanao that export bananas, the danger is economic, to the owners and those who work there.
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Today is Rizal day, so a holiday.
Banks won't reopen until Friday. Long line at the bank yesterday: Luckily I am over 65 and they have a senior citizen preference, so I jumped the line after only 30 minute wait.
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Tropical storm hits the Visayas again. South of here, we aren't affected.
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the global warming meme headline says "rising seas" will destroy 7000 homes, but a look inside the story admits it is coastal erosion and storms which are not quite the same thing.
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