God, Aliens, and Other Stuff

Why does the Holy Spirit call this person or that to a particular ministry and empower them with spiritual gifts?    A midrash is an ancient Jewish term for a fictional/historical/interpretive literary expansion of an Old Testament passage. They don’t add or take away from the actual Scripture, but they pad around it with “imaginative liberties,” stories that bring it home and make it real, like learning about the War of Independence through a romantic novel. The OT is full of reversals that are counter-intuitive to us. For example, 1 Samuel 2:5 is a liturgical song by Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel: “Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry are hungry no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away.” It’s about attitude. Having 7 kids doesn’t mean you’ll automatically pine away. Having 7 kids and tormenting your husband’s other wife who cannot bear children could get you a big ...