All posts tagged: Holy Spirit

Modern Day Manifestation of the Spirit – Intro.

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Misunderstanding and controversy have swirled around the happenings in every revival since New Testament times. When the divine manifestation of tongues was heard on the Day of Pentecost, skeptics declared the Spirit-filled believers drunk (Acts 2:13). In similar fashion, in the early days of 20th century Pentecost, many skeptics in mainline churches also misunderstood the Spirit’s outpouring and declared the Spirit-filled believers to be demon possessed. Such criticism and controversy, however, are not limited to attacks from non-Pentecostals. Some who have been reared in Pentecostal churches also disagree over which manifestations of the Spirit are biblical and therefore appropriate. Critics of extra-biblical manifestations declare them to be inappropriate because the exact same manifestations cannot be found in the Bible. Proponents of such manifestations counter, also citing scripture to justify their experiences, but remote passages used for support are often extremely distant or unrelated to the modern-day manifestation. Yet in spite of the lack of strong scriptural support, the Assemblies of God recognizes those instances in Scripture where individuals were in an abnormal physical and spiritual …

You Inherited your freedom; now it is time to fight for it

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Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ’s hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law. I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love. Galatian 5:1-7 (The Message Translation) ___________________________ Photo Via _ Boxing WallPaper

Dancing in the Spirit

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Is it Biblical? Dancing in the Spirit must be clearly distinguished from social dancing and from choreographed or orchestrated dancing, even if the latter were to take place in the church sanctuary. Instances of dancing in the Spirit, as seen in the 20th century Pentecostal revival, have generally involved a single participant spontaneously “dancing” with eyes closed without bumping into nearby persons or objects, obviously under the power and guidance of the Spirit. But again, this manifestation by itself is not an indication of greater spirituality, or a pattern that all worshippers are to seek. If the experience happens, it is because the worshipper has become so enraptured with God’s presence that the Spirit takes control of physical motions as well as the spiritual and emotional being. The biblical account of David dancing before the Lord is not an example of dancing in the Spirit. Scripture says “David danced before the LORD with all his might (2 Sam. 6:14), thus describing the personal joy and thanksgiving that David consciously expressed to the Lord. Based on …

Baptism: The triple portion

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I heard the story about a bunch of guys who used to gather together to read their bible every day on their lunch break. They were all from different denominations, so they agreed that they will not make it the goal to change each other’s theological point of view, but will allow the Word of God to do the speaking. One day while reading, they stumbled across a very controversial subject and each man found himself drawn into a deep discussion. But there was one guy in the group who was not an active participant in the discussions. So, he was asked to share his opinion. He sat up , cleared his thought and said, “I really don’t care about what is written in there, I am going to stick with what I’ve been told.” Could it be, that what you have been told about the Holy Spirit does not measure up with what is written about Him in God’s book? In this study post, I encourage you open the book for yourself and explore. …

That which looks, sounds, smell, Spirit filled is not necessarily Spirit Filled

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As a pastor and spiritual head of both my church and my family, I usually get the following questions either by leaders in my congregation or most certainly by my wife: “Is the Holy Spirit leading you? Did you hear from God for the direction you are taking this church or family? Did you get a word from God about this project, plan or path you are taking us on?” I must confess that sometimes I am tempted to clothe my speech, my plan, and projects with an emphatic yes , “the Lord told me, the Spirit has spoken, the Lord is leading.” But anointing our plans as God’s will, or the Spirit’s leading doesn’t mean that they actually are Spirit led. In the the same way, claiming to be filled with the Spirit, sounding like we are Spirit filled or acting like we are spirit filled does not mean we actually are. It is crystal clear in the the Bible that we should be Spirit Filled. Ephesians 5:18 commands, And do not get drunk …

Which Jesus do you Serve?

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The Mormons call him the polygamist half-brother of lucifer… The Jehovah Witnesses call him the created arch angel Michael… The Metropolitan Tabernacle Churches claim that he endorses homosexuality and is somewhat of that tendency… The New Spirituality contents that he is part of the Christ consciousness and the cosmic divinity… Islam insist that he is not God… The Jesus I believe in is: one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; being of one essence with the Father; by Whom all things were made; Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from the Heavens, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man; And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; And arose again on the third day according to the Scriptures; And ascended into the Heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father; And shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the …

Kindle Fire

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God has given you a gift Every once in a while when I bump into a friend with whom I grew up or went to school with, they are surprised to find out that I’m a pastor. Well, not because I was a bad guy, even though I was, but because I was very shy. The first time I stood before a group of people to speak I shook like a leaf from start to finish. Before I entered full-time ministry, I painfully lead worship at my home church, and reluctantly preached or shared in different group settings until 2 Tim. 1:6 actually came alive in me. God had place a gift in me, but I was too shy to step out and use that gift for his glory. I was almost incapacitated by the power of fear. Timothy was a naturally shy guy as well, and was probably in his twenties when he was called into the ministry (1 Tim. 4:12). But thank God he had somebody like Paul who recognized that he had a gift – that God had deposited something …

Taming the Tongue

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The case for Taming the Tongue A man working in the produce department was asked by a lady if she could buy half a head of lettuce. He replied, “Half a head? Are you serious? God grows these in whole heads and that’s how we sell them!” “You mean,” she persisted, “that after all the years I’ve shopped here, you won’t sell me half-a-head of lettuce?” “Look,” he said, “If you like I’ll ask the manager.” She indicated that would be appreciated, so the young man marched to the front of the store. “You won’t believe this, but there’s a lame-braided idiot of a lady back there who wants to know if she can buy half-a-head of lettuce.” He noticed the manager gesturing, and turned around to see the lady standing behind him, obviously having followed him to the front of the store. “And this nice lady was wondering if she could buy the other half” he concluded. Later in the day the manager cornered the young man and said, “That was the finest example …

I still haven’t found what I’m looking for! In Jesus?

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I grew up listening, singing and jamming to music from groups like U2, UB40 and Boyz II Men etc… My musical taste was quite interesting. I listened to everything. When I turned 18 I got saved and I fell in love with Jesus. In my corner of Christendom listening to what they called ‘worldly music’ wasn’t a sin but it was something you just didn’t do as a believer. I quickly embrace that tradition and stop listening to ‘worldly music’. I still don’t listen to worldly music and this post is not an argument about whether you should or should not. But, as I was responding to comments made on a post from yesterday. I heard a melody in my head and I realized that it was a U2 song. So I said myself, this is a good one to put a spin on. You know, a quick easy post that talks about a U2 song – “I still haven’t found what I am looking for” – with a simple question – what are you looking for? Than the answer – “look to Jesus.” So I went to YouTube and there it was …