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...