Are any of you ordained clergy? Confirmed laity?
had to deal with such a cheeky question . . . . and his reply was that Holy Spirit had fallen on the folks concerned and he saw no reason to restrict the rest of the Christian experiences from those whom Holy Spirit had anointed, ordained, blessed etc.
I'll take Holy Spirit's anointing, ordaining, blessing, flowing through
compared to ANY laying on of hands and ceremonies from/by ALL the Cardinals, Popes and Bishops of ALL Christian sects from the last 2,000 years, COMBINED.
This is not rocket science. It is not that hard to wrap one's understanding around
. . . unless unScriptural, unGodly biases are barring the door.
Acts 19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
In the situation as in the above verse, one wants HOLY SPIRIT to be anointing and leading one, not some certificate from some dry, dead, hollow, fleshly focused, tradition bound hierarchy, bureaucracy, structure.
As this verse illustrates . . .
Romans 2:29
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
As that verse illustrates . . . it is again HOLY SPIRIT that is key, crucial, critical, essential--not the praise, sanction, rubber stamp of men.
Is there some higher calling than this?
Romans 8:14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
And this:
Romans 8:16
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And here, Peter himself is affirming the priesthood of all Believers:
1 Peter 2:5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
BTW, I've administered the wine and the bread as The Lord's Supper to a Mary Knoll nun with her priest's blessing as she was considering it merely a memmento [Oh dear! How Scriptural!] of His death vs the real flesh and blood. Interesting, that.
If any of those are missing (Matt 7, good tree/good fruit) - then by all means, ignore me.
Truly if a person says "listen to me because I am ordained or confirmed or whatever" he is changing the focus from God to himself - and that can never end well.