u my awesome friends, it is nice to be back. well life is going on well here in chicago and i am getting rid off "aussi home sick". dr. sindu and sunil r taking care of me very well, recently i had the privillage of meeting some of the real faces from the cyber world of joy net. they r from the eastern side of usa. any way it was big fun... well coming back to suresh's question of eldering, pastering and counselling, eldering: in catholic charismatic environment and in jesus youth terms an elder is a spiritually mature person who takes the responsibility for your spiritual growth with you. it can be attained by spending quality time with the elder in prayer and sharing.though it is not a must that the elder should be older to you in age , itis better if the elders are little older to u in age. also same sex policy is encouraged to make it more functional and practical. but i hav also seen opposite sex elders doing wonderful works.the duty of the elder is to make sure that u r moving in the right direction in your spiritual journey and also to warn u the pitt falls and the unseen dangers in the spiritual rehelm.but here one should not make a commmon mistake that elders r there to fix your problems and to make decisions for you. i think one should be responsible for ones action and accountable for it. it is always advised that before u choose an elder ask the opinion of your prayer group leader or some one senior in your groups.so that u may be able to make a right selection.since the spiritual growth is an on going process it is better not to change your elder frequently unless situation demands it very badly.
pastering: in catholic environment pastering is given by a catholic priest. here u choose a catholic priest to guide u and help u in your spiritual journey.normally this priest can be your confessoer too. as i mentioned earlier ask and seek the help of your prayer group leader or some one senior befeore selecting your paster. it is always advisable to go for a priest who is familiar with charismatic movement as he will be able to understand the situations better.(again it is not absolute and compulsary) some people take their pastors as their elders and counselors. there is nothing wrong in doing that if u r convinced that the priest is capable of doing all the jobs. Counselling: (i think what suresh here means is spiritual counselling as there r variety of counselling) in charimatic terms counselling means seeking the help of a person who is gifted with gifts and the charisams of the holy spirit. people may go for this counselling in order to seek the will of God over certain problems or situations. people may also seek counselling when they r in crisis or want to experience and feel the guidence of the Lord in a special way. one should not make the mistake here that a charimatic counsellor is a fortune teller telling u what is going to happen in the future.the gift of counselling should be used for building the kingdom of God in individuals and in communities.one shold be care ful in selecting the counsellor. also he/she is not there to make decisions on behalf of u. many people take their elders as their counsellor due to practical reasons. well all what i said is from my last 10 yeras of experience in charismatic and jesus youth movement. i do not claim that what i hav written is absolute and perfect. u r all encouraged to add more to it if u hav some thing more to say. also u hav the right to disagree with any thing i hav mentioned. lov u all heaps smile jesus loves u jos mathew chicago ________________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to this mailing list, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
