Category: Holy Spirit

  • The not-so-popular side of Passion Week

    Palm Sunday. It’s a great day of celebration. And examination. The King has come into his Temple and it’s not a pretty trip. Part of the reading of Holy Week can really grate on a person! 7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,    against the man who is close to me!”    declares the Lord Almighty.“Strike the shepherd,    and the sheep will be scattered,    and I will turn my hand…

  • Love that will not let us go

    I am preaching on Jacob this morning in a series called “Anchored in God.” The anchor I have observed in the life of Jacob is we see a love that will not let us go. We need to understand the pursuit of a holy God. It’s not the holy pursuit of God on our part I think about when it comes to…

  • It’s not a “harvest” problem, it’s a “worker” problem

    When Jesus commissioned the 72 to go proclaim the Kingdom, he made an interesting observation. The harvest is huge. “It’s bigger than you can imagine.” His command isn’t to go “find” harvest. It’s to pray for more workers. This isn’t such a hard thing for believers in other countries to understand. In many countries where their faith puts a spotlight on…

  • Being the prophetic voice

    There was a comedian I heard one time that said, “That person ministered in the pathetic.” Not prophetic, but pathetic. Too many times people think they have something to say and it turns out they’re saying nothing. To develop a prophetic voice, we need to develop a listening ear. To be the voice of God we need to hear the…

  • Failing to live in the river

    There are statements from time to time that come right to the heart and do some hard surgery. Today was one of those times when I was listening to a clip from Jack Hayford. He was addressing a Vineyard conference and had a word from the Lord that was encouraging them to stay humble and hungry for the activity of…

  • Filled with the Spirit and Speaking in Tongues

    I speak in tongues, but I know when I’m not full of the Spirit. We have to keep those two things separated. The realization hits me as I read through Acts again, preparing for my fall class. The Church knew the fullness of the Spirit. What I realized is this: I know I’m not filled with the Spirit when the miraculous is…

  • Prayer and Speaking in Tongues

    T. M. Luhrmann, author of “When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship With God,” has a great piece in the New York Times today on praying and speaking in tongues. Let me repeat that: the New York Times.  And it’s positive.  Go figure. Her research may help lead to a better understanding of things that just can’t be explained. At an American charismatic evangelical…

  • Book Review — “Miracle Work” by Jordan Seng

    The sub-title of this book is “A Down-to-Earth Guide to Supernatural Ministries.” And that it is. Seng gives a very brief overview of how the miraculous and “power gifts” were viewed through the centuries in Church history, but mainly his goal is to stir a hunger to get into the flow of the power of the Spirit. In a very…

  • The Power of the Spirit

    The point of being filled with the manifest power and presence of the Spirit is to become more fruitful. — Jordan Seng, Miracle Work

  • Day of Pentecost

    When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to…