Holy Spirit

There are many things that could and should be said about the Holy Spirit. All I know is I need Him. I need His indwelling. I need His power. I want to share what A. W. Tozer had to say about the Holy Spirit.

"We who pride our selves on our orthodoxy...have in recent years committed a costly blunder...Our blunder (or shall we say frankly our sin?) has been to neglect the doctrine of the Spirit to the point where we vertually deny Him His place in the God Head.

This denial has not been by open doctrinal statement, for we have clung closely enough to the biblical position wherever our creedal pronouncements are concerned. Our formal creed is sound; the breakdown is in our working creed.

This is not a trifling distinction. A doctrine had practical value only as far as it it prominent in our thoughts and makes a difference in our lives.

Truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit...Deity indwelling men!...No man has experienced rightly the power of Christian belief until he has known this for himself as a living reality."

Have you experienced the "power of Christian belief"? How has the Holy Spirit revealed Himself as a "living reality" to you?

Top Books of 2009

Ok here are my top 5 books that I read in 2009. I will put them in order from most influential to least.

1. Crazy Love by Frances Chan. This book made me look at my spiritual life and how "in love with Jesus" I am or not, and how my life does or doesn't reflect that love.

2. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. Some times we miss how God reveals himself in the everyday moments of life that we often see as mundane. This is a great reminder that his presence is always with us.

3. The Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. The Wild Goose is what Celtic Christians called the Holy Spirit. When it comes to following Christ we must chase after the Holy Spirit, whom doesn't usually reveal Himself in a easy to swallow manner.

4. The Dangerous Act of Worship by Mark Labberton. I expected this book to be about how we worship. Which it is, but as expressed in the second command (which is like the first) to love your neighbor as yourself. When we offer ourselves, our time, our money, our stuff to God and others this is worship.

5. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This is not a "Christian book" but a spiritual one that really encourages one to follow his dreams. It is a little gem that could easily be looked at as a parable. We must listen to the Holy Spirit's promptings and follow them. The more we listen the more He seems to speak.

Hope you enjoy and happy reading!

Hands and Feet

It's funny as my life group continues to press in to our relationship with God and being passionately involved in relationship with Him...it has begun to bring a by-product. Our group can't seem to get enough of going and serving people.

Last week before the cold hit one had the idea to go and take coats and blankets to the homeless: 8 people brought personal items to give. This week 7 or so of us were serving at the Mobil Food Pantry at Woodloch last night. On the 20th they are bringing food to church and plan to go after class time to pass out a holiday dinner to any homeless that they come across.

What's great is that this is not so that they can feel good about doing something...its so that they can be the hands and feet of Christ to the less fortunate, understanding that God has blessed us with so much. Last night numerous times I overheard people at the food bank asking if we worked for the food bank. Over and over again people said...no we go to church together and wanted to help. Then they would ask what church.

Amazing opportunities to share Christ come from us drawing deeper with him and sharing our blessing with the world around us.

RELEVANT Magazine - It's the Final Countdown

RELEVANT Magazine - It's the Final Countdown

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