NT Wright on the power of the Holy Spirit and the sign of speaking in tongues: Some people try to sweep ‘tongues’ aside as if it was a peculiar thing which happened early on and which, fortunately, doesn’t need to happen any more. Sometimes this is combined with a sense of the need to controlContinue reading “The power of Pentecost — the sign of tongues”
Tag Archives: Holy Spirit
The power of Pentecost
Pentecost Sunday is coming. Some thoughts from NT Wright: …when it comes to Pentecost it’s far more important that you’re out there in the wind, letting it sweep through your life, your heart, your imagination, your powers of speech, and transform you from a listless or lifeless believer into someone whose heart is on fireContinue reading “The power of Pentecost”
The Spirit is at work because WE are there
We are called to be people who stand at the place of pain — in the cancer ward, at the asylum-seeker’s court hearing, by the graveyard full of memorials to small children or to families whose homes have been bombed by ward — so as to be those within whose own painful perplexity the HolyContinue reading “The Spirit is at work because WE are there”
Pentecost Sunday
Almighty God, on this day, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of eternal life to every race and nation: Pour out this gift anew, that by the preaching of the Gospel your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reignsContinue reading “Pentecost Sunday”
What happens after Easter
I am choosing to learn more about the discipline of celebration. We have cycles of feasting and fasting. I tend to learn more about the “fasting” part… the “giving up”, the “hard work,” etc. I honestly don’t do as good with the celebrating. I am walking through Eastertide with a listening ear and a willingContinue reading “What happens after Easter”
Divine appointments
I had a friend who loved the opportunities he found along the way. He called them “divine appointments.” He would meet someone on a trip and a conversation would spark and after awhile it was clear the Holy Spirit had set something up. What was special about this friend was he didn’t run on aContinue reading “Divine appointments”
Living in the power of the Spirit
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. — Acts 1:8 The POWER has always been about “experience” in Pentecostal terms. But power is so much more. It is powerContinue reading “Living in the power of the Spirit”
Why we are still so LOST as an American church
I am re-reading a classic in my life: The Dynamics of Spiritual Life by Richard Lovelace. I found a used copy online and have begun a fresh journey through these pages. Lovelace, writing decades ago, gets at why we are in such a mess in our current spiritual state in the white conservative American church.Continue reading “Why we are still so LOST as an American church”
My goal for 2022: Create more mess
I’ve spent the last 4 years in flux and transition. I had been in ministry all my adult life and even in that role I was always in flux. Urban ministry was my context and the shifts I had in how I view ministry and being the Body of Christ in that context was aContinue reading “My goal for 2022: Create more mess”
In the (current) age of deconstruction, a cry of my heart
“Whatever version of Christianity we way we’re over is not the true Christian faith. I still long for a place where God reigns, and I still need the Spirit’s power.” — Mandy Smith, Unfettered
Apprentice 2 Jesus 