Cultivating Character

For several years, I have shared my thoughts on various topics particularly commentary on   Bible texts. I significantly reduced the number of posts of this kind in self-imposed censorship, the motivation for which I am not very clear about. I still have a lot of thoughts about life and living, science and religion, and the sacred nature of knowledge itself that I would love to share but hesitate to do so and here is what I think are the reasons: They still call me an elder.   An elder is the highest office of spiritual leadership in my former denomination. Elders are responsible for leading their churches into a deeper and fuller Christian experience. The position is well respected and the words and teachings of the elders are given some authority.  I was ordained an elder and have a reputation, I believe to be well earned, as a circumspect Bible teacher. What I have discovered, however, is despite the denomination's admonition to members to study the scripture for them...

  I was listening to the worship song “Holy Spirit,” which has the reframe                 “Holy Spirit, You are welcome here;                 Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere;                 Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for;                 To be overcome by Your presence, Lord, “  and thought about its use in worship services as an invocation. How does someone invite the presence of something that is already present? The Psalmists in Psalm 139 makes clear his belief that there is absolutely nowhere that he can be that is absent from God’s spirit. “If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.” Psalms‬ ‭139:8‬. ‭ So what is the experience worshippers feel in the moment? Its a change in their awareness and the emotional response to that change in a...

Stages of Character Development A 6 stage cycle for character development is revealed when the parable of the sower is combined with other farming or planting metaphors and similes found in the Bible that are used to explain spiritual development. This blog post briefly summarizes the process by breaking down the combined metaphors and similes into 3 components: the vehicle in Figure 1 is the biological life cycle of a plant,  the tenor or topic in Figure 2 are corresponding Biblical symbols  and Figure 3 the practical application.   Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Stage 1: Soil Biological: Soil provides anchorage for plant roots and holds water and nutrients essential for plant growth. Soil condition is important to the growth of healthy plants, therefore cultivators make sure that the soil is suitable before sowing seeds. Biblical: Soil represents the heart. In the parable of the sower, found in Matthew 13, four types of soil conditions are described: roadside, thorny,...

I am a Christian but not in the traditional understanding of the word. I am a follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ. The ways that my thoughts differ from traditional Christianity are many but the most significant deviation is my understanding of God. This blog post is an explanation of my view of God not because I am interested in converting people to my views, because I am not. I am concerned about people not fully understanding my perspective as I continue to write and share commentary on biblical themes.   I want to be transparent as possible as I share my thoughts on practical or dare I say secular Christianity. The intent is not to deceive any of my readers so I am explaining in this post how I understand God. In Part 3 I redefined my relationship with God as a covenant relationship in which God agrees to provide guidance for life, in this post I explore the entity with whom that agreement is made. The Ask “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock,...

    How  would you describe the relationship you have with God? Is God your benevolent father, a cosmic sovereign, or your eternal judge? Is God distant and unknowable or intimate and personal to you? If you are like me the question can not be answered in a simple sentence.   The relationship isn’t complicated but it is difficult to explain. Nevertheless I will try and do so in this part 3 of my blog series on my de-conversion, deprogramming, reconversion and awakening.      For the majority of my life I had a very particular view of how God, in the Christian context, relates to humanity.   What I mean by this is that I had a very particular notion of God’s personality and attributes. I personified God as a man who created everything and had a very particular way that he desired things to be done. He communicated his will to His creation through his prophets after sin put a wedge between God and humanity. The story goes that a wedge was created wh...