Hullo
, surprise. Hope you're alright.
Know what you mean about Anchor but,
(
It is understood that the following will mean nothing to non-believers, indeed they will consider it nonsense so interjections saying as much are unnecessarily disuptive)
Anchor, you keep going on about submitting to church elders. It is written in the Bible:
Hebrews 13:17 (NIV)
"17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you."
However I've not come across anyone who takes that so literally as to bang on about it because church leaders are human beings.The insistence in to their authority is somewhat strong. It can be dangerous.
If they are wise and good one will listen or ask for advice. What Nick said about charismatic people feeding off the energy of their audience (my words) was spot on. I can't help feeling Paul, as a leader, was flexing his muscles & laying down the law. We've moved on since then.
Nicholas what you said about harnessing the inner strength of our own persona (you said similar in one of your previous posts & Trippy asked if it just applied to Christians), corresponds to the belief that God is to be found inside each one of us; that belief is common to many traditions, not just Christian. Maybe that is for another thread on the Faith Sharing area.
Nice to see you not posting about signs in the sky at night on this occasion Nicholas :-).