(June 14, 2014 at 6:22 pm)fr0d0 Wrote: I think that's a thread on its own. I think you could find other 'simple' instructions that can be hard to accomplish. What we're talking about here is being open to the possibility. How do you make yourself open? Depending on your frame of mind, that might be impossible right now, or very possible. No matter how much you want it, you're not going to get it if you don't really want to.
How would you know that I wasn't? I went to Christianity on my own as a young not-quite-adult, sought it out - over the concerns of my mother (my guardian at the time).
(June 14, 2014 at 6:22 pm)fr0d0 Wrote: What the bible is doing with the a/s/k perquisite is establishing an open mind as a necessity.
Did that. I could not in good conscience identify as an ex-Christian if I did not earnestly have belief and faith at the time.
The subtle point that I was making is this: The criteria for "doing it right" appears to be success (where at the time, I would define as "being filled with the holy spirit", which is what everyone told me would happen). An observer can't tell if it happens, nor can they tell another how it's done, but somehow, they know that it was my efforts that led to an inability to feel the holy spirit.
In the end, it all smacked of self-delusion and wish-thinking.
