My reading of New Testament shows me that there are two differing church structures detailed: The Presbyterian and the Episcopalian.
The Episcopalian has a structure with bishops The Presbyterian has a structure more of a commune.
It is difficult to find a biblical justification for a "bishop" to be other than male.However, with the Presbyterian model the leaders are appointed by the local assembly and it is therefore a local decision, they do not have bishops and can thence be more gender inclusive.
Where I feel things get difficult is that the bible was originally translated by an Episcopal church (RC) who were "biased" towards their own traditions.Some translators are more careful to use the more the word "overseer".And some are careful not to try to mix the two structures.
So I think that if one want to be governed in church by a male hierarchy then you can choose from the variety of Episcopalians.
However, is you wish to make your own choices then there is an even wider selection based on the Presbyterian model.
We all have a choice.
Saturday, 12 April 2008
Saturday, 22 March 2008
Fire!
The Feast of Pentecost will soon be with us. This has historical and symbolic meaning to both Jew and Christian.
For the Jew it is referred to as Shavuot.
On Passover, the Jewish people were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they accepted the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.
For the Christian it is often referred to as Pentecost and is associated with God sending His Holy Spirit to the waiting believers.
I have heard it said "It cannot be for today, I have never seen tongues of fire."
Read on and I will try and explain.
Acts 2:1 ¶ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Luke 3:16 John (the Baptist) answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
So the baptism of Jesus is not one in water, it is that of Holy Spirit and Fire.
The fire, as John the Baptist explains, is like a refiners fire, it will destroy all the bad bits in ones life.
How is this achieved today I hear you ask, well a suitably believing and empowered Christian will just place his hand on the recipiants head or sholder and say "Fire" or "The Fire of the Lord be upon you".
So that is the analogy, as a person is baptised in the Fire of God you can expect to see a purification "like as of Fire" in their life.
For the Jew it is referred to as Shavuot.
On Passover, the Jewish people were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they accepted the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.
For the Christian it is often referred to as Pentecost and is associated with God sending His Holy Spirit to the waiting believers.
I have heard it said "It cannot be for today, I have never seen tongues of fire."
Read on and I will try and explain.
Acts 2:1 ¶ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Luke 3:16 John (the Baptist) answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
So the baptism of Jesus is not one in water, it is that of Holy Spirit and Fire.
The fire, as John the Baptist explains, is like a refiners fire, it will destroy all the bad bits in ones life.
How is this achieved today I hear you ask, well a suitably believing and empowered Christian will just place his hand on the recipiants head or sholder and say "Fire" or "The Fire of the Lord be upon you".
So that is the analogy, as a person is baptised in the Fire of God you can expect to see a purification "like as of Fire" in their life.
Sunday, 10 February 2008
Depressive. who me?
After my first wife died I thought that being a longstanding Christian, strong in faith, Spirit filled and any other cliché you could think of, well I thought that I would cope with the loss quiet easily.
I was under that impression until one day, whilst shopping in Debenhams, I had a stress, I sat on a step and protested that I did not need the coat that my new lady was trying to buy me.
That and other events caused my new lady to name me her grumpy gnome.
I came to realise that from the inside of my mind I was fine, but from the outside it was another story entirely.
This apparent duplicity can often be mis-understood as just being out of control, dificult and unpredictable.
Having spent time talking to folk who have Psychotic problems, I realise that from the inside of their minds they are reasonable, they are just trying to express the frustrations of their position, but from the outside they are unpredictable and explosive. They are not trying to be difficult, they are trying to be "normal".
To dope such poeple up with anger management drugs does not solve the inner frustrations, it does in some cases make them worse as they are nolonger able to "vent their anger" and move on. Drugs may correct perceived behavioural issues and in the short term aid concentration and learning, but it is storing up problems for the future.
These turns and twists of the mind need to be handled by the patient with the support of others.
As in my simple circumstances, those around tolerated my behaviour as I readjusted, but for those who are in more serious condition the answer is not that easy.
Mental health problems rarely have quick simple answers, and to rely only on drugs, I believe is very dangerous.
I was under that impression until one day, whilst shopping in Debenhams, I had a stress, I sat on a step and protested that I did not need the coat that my new lady was trying to buy me.
That and other events caused my new lady to name me her grumpy gnome.
I came to realise that from the inside of my mind I was fine, but from the outside it was another story entirely.
This apparent duplicity can often be mis-understood as just being out of control, dificult and unpredictable.
Having spent time talking to folk who have Psychotic problems, I realise that from the inside of their minds they are reasonable, they are just trying to express the frustrations of their position, but from the outside they are unpredictable and explosive. They are not trying to be difficult, they are trying to be "normal".
To dope such poeple up with anger management drugs does not solve the inner frustrations, it does in some cases make them worse as they are nolonger able to "vent their anger" and move on. Drugs may correct perceived behavioural issues and in the short term aid concentration and learning, but it is storing up problems for the future.
These turns and twists of the mind need to be handled by the patient with the support of others.
As in my simple circumstances, those around tolerated my behaviour as I readjusted, but for those who are in more serious condition the answer is not that easy.
Mental health problems rarely have quick simple answers, and to rely only on drugs, I believe is very dangerous.
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
Spirituality, mysticism and me.
People have often asked me, "what do you believe?"
So in an attempt to answer this and put my stake in the ground as it were, here are some thoughts.
Looking back over my life I can remember one evening having a floating feeling, floating up to the ceiling and looking down at my room, I had not been near any hallucinogenic drugs, but I do
recall that this was following having "hands laid on me" during a service at our Methodist Chapel. The church had very little teaching on such things, so I was left to ponder.
The laying on of hands for a Christian is the way in which a gifted person spiritually imparts to another. More on this later.
At I grew older I began to have the feeling that my life was being guided, rather than myself consciously choosing a path, it became clear that there was a kind of leading.
Being a Christian I chose to prayed, inquiring; "why?" The answer was like a parent to a young child, "because".
Now for the tricky bit, how does one receive an answer to prayer?
We have to make the assumption that if one is praying to a spiritual entity then you believe there will a reply and you are looking for a reply.
I have found that responses come in many forms, here are a few:
An overheard word, not just once and from diferent sources.
A word or sentence seems to have an unusual promenance on a page.
Or maybe a visual incidence than appears out of context.
These and other co-incidences begin to build a picture or impression as to what the reply might be. Sometime further clarification is needed.
This is where one can start to build up a relationship, in a similar manner to that which one builds with a lover, you pick up on little signs, you seem to develop your own special ways, your own special language, you know your lover deeper and deeper.
So in an attempt to answer this and put my stake in the ground as it were, here are some thoughts.
Looking back over my life I can remember one evening having a floating feeling, floating up to the ceiling and looking down at my room, I had not been near any hallucinogenic drugs, but I do
recall that this was following having "hands laid on me" during a service at our Methodist Chapel. The church had very little teaching on such things, so I was left to ponder.
The laying on of hands for a Christian is the way in which a gifted person spiritually imparts to another. More on this later.
At I grew older I began to have the feeling that my life was being guided, rather than myself consciously choosing a path, it became clear that there was a kind of leading.
Being a Christian I chose to prayed, inquiring; "why?" The answer was like a parent to a young child, "because".
Now for the tricky bit, how does one receive an answer to prayer?
We have to make the assumption that if one is praying to a spiritual entity then you believe there will a reply and you are looking for a reply.
I have found that responses come in many forms, here are a few:
An overheard word, not just once and from diferent sources.
A word or sentence seems to have an unusual promenance on a page.
Or maybe a visual incidence than appears out of context.
These and other co-incidences begin to build a picture or impression as to what the reply might be. Sometime further clarification is needed.
This is where one can start to build up a relationship, in a similar manner to that which one builds with a lover, you pick up on little signs, you seem to develop your own special ways, your own special language, you know your lover deeper and deeper.
Sunday, 13 January 2008
Soul and Spirit
When my first wife died, I felt that her spirit remained nearby until I had the closure of burying her ashes.
I now have my memories.
That got me thinking of things spiritual.
Soul and spirit, the Greeks regarded them as separate.
"psuche" for soul and "pneuma" for spirit.
The Christian bible talks of the the soul and spirit being separable like joint and marrow.
I believe we can host many spirits, but only have the one soul.
And the Christian baptism of Holy Spirit and Fire is like sorting out the undesirable bits.
It is all a bit guess work, we may find out the truth one day.
Some Christians use what they call: tongues and interpretation of what the bible calls an enigma, a mystery of our relationship with things spiritual.
But a puzzle it is, and some put a lot of effort into trying to understand, maybe one day all will be revealed.
As for relationships on this earth, some still has difficulty accepting my first wifes death after 10+years and that rubs off on others, comes across as being distant and difficult and getting the hump.
Sometimes such are called psychotic behaviour, but it is just folk wrestling with their inner emotions, emotions that they do not understand, emotions they would love to resolve.
Maybe the spirit trying to resolve its new relationship now something is missing.
Maybe the soul and spirit do understand, I wish they would let us all in on the secret sometimes.
Meanwhile I can only ponder the mysteries, is this a battle between soul and spirit, or within the spiritual realm?
If we accept that soul and spirit can be separated, then we can assume that this separation could lead an out of body experience.
The spirit being the higher levels of "intellect" would lead to an experience away from the confines of poorly functioning bits.
The Christian bible uses the allegory of "joint and marrow", to our modern understanding this would intricate that the spirit is within the soul, but if we consider the knowledge of anatomy available during the first centry we get a diferent picture.
In the first centry the body was bones and everything else, bone being a support structure and "muelos" being everything else.
This gives us the parallel that the soul is a support structure and the spirit is the life giving entity.
If we accept this analogy, then without spirit then the soul is, well, I don't know, I think I will come back to that.
If we then consider the re-joining, perhaps any errors in the union could be corrected at this point.
This would add credence to the practice of the spiritual healer.
But to have a too narrower definition of such things is dangerous and a gross underestimation of the complexities of the human makeup.
Now moving to communication betwix earthly life and spiritual entity.
The Christian bible gives examples of such communication, it just warns against witchcraft, some Christian belive that if the spirit of a deceased person instigate communication, rather than communication being saught from us then that is OK. But none the less such paths are viable.
I must admit I have not been directly used in that way.
Looking at the whole Christian bible, there are lots of examples of communications between man and the spirit world, some which G-d approves of and some that come with a warning. And continuing today communication continues.
My own experiences as a Christian are through what we call the prophetic gifts. Explaining the
past, helping in the present, and preparing one for the future. Maybe I will include some examples in a later blog.
Enough, I think for the first bit of blog, a little flavour of a side of me.
I now have my memories.
That got me thinking of things spiritual.
Soul and spirit, the Greeks regarded them as separate.
"psuche" for soul and "pneuma" for spirit.
The Christian bible talks of the the soul and spirit being separable like joint and marrow.
I believe we can host many spirits, but only have the one soul.
And the Christian baptism of Holy Spirit and Fire is like sorting out the undesirable bits.
It is all a bit guess work, we may find out the truth one day.
Some Christians use what they call: tongues and interpretation of what the bible calls an enigma, a mystery of our relationship with things spiritual.
But a puzzle it is, and some put a lot of effort into trying to understand, maybe one day all will be revealed.
As for relationships on this earth, some still has difficulty accepting my first wifes death after 10+years and that rubs off on others, comes across as being distant and difficult and getting the hump.
Sometimes such are called psychotic behaviour, but it is just folk wrestling with their inner emotions, emotions that they do not understand, emotions they would love to resolve.
Maybe the spirit trying to resolve its new relationship now something is missing.
Maybe the soul and spirit do understand, I wish they would let us all in on the secret sometimes.
Meanwhile I can only ponder the mysteries, is this a battle between soul and spirit, or within the spiritual realm?
If we accept that soul and spirit can be separated, then we can assume that this separation could lead an out of body experience.
The spirit being the higher levels of "intellect" would lead to an experience away from the confines of poorly functioning bits.
The Christian bible uses the allegory of "joint and marrow", to our modern understanding this would intricate that the spirit is within the soul, but if we consider the knowledge of anatomy available during the first centry we get a diferent picture.
In the first centry the body was bones and everything else, bone being a support structure and "muelos" being everything else.
This gives us the parallel that the soul is a support structure and the spirit is the life giving entity.
If we accept this analogy, then without spirit then the soul is, well, I don't know, I think I will come back to that.
If we then consider the re-joining, perhaps any errors in the union could be corrected at this point.
This would add credence to the practice of the spiritual healer.
But to have a too narrower definition of such things is dangerous and a gross underestimation of the complexities of the human makeup.
Now moving to communication betwix earthly life and spiritual entity.
The Christian bible gives examples of such communication, it just warns against witchcraft, some Christian belive that if the spirit of a deceased person instigate communication, rather than communication being saught from us then that is OK. But none the less such paths are viable.
I must admit I have not been directly used in that way.
Looking at the whole Christian bible, there are lots of examples of communications between man and the spirit world, some which G-d approves of and some that come with a warning. And continuing today communication continues.
My own experiences as a Christian are through what we call the prophetic gifts. Explaining the
past, helping in the present, and preparing one for the future. Maybe I will include some examples in a later blog.
Enough, I think for the first bit of blog, a little flavour of a side of me.
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