Why Do You Want Him? (part 2)

18 01 2010

Hello again readers. I hope you had a great weekend. I did my monthly volunteering at NorthChurch.tv I always enjoy doing that. Other than that, not much really happened here in Oklahoma.

Today, we are going to pick up where we left off in Francis Chan’s Forgotten God. We are in Chapter 4 for those who have just joined us.

In part 1, we were asked the question:

Why do you desire the Holy Spirit’s activity in your life?

Below, Mr. Chan explains some of the reasons why we as humans desire Him.

Attention

I like what Francis says here. I am sure you will agree with me that some Christians witness to others and use the Holy Spirit to draw attention to themselves. The Holy Spirit works to glorify Christ (John 16:14), and that is what we are supposed to be doing. We are to be glorifying Him, and not ourselves.

The Bible has a great example of this in 1 Cor. 14:23-33. The Corinthian church basically liked to draw attention to themselves. By doing this, the church became chaotic. The people in the church really weren’t concerned with the betterment of the church. They were trying to use the manifestations of the Spirit for their own glorification. They ended up all fighting for attention, which resulted in mass confusion as everyone tried to talk at once.

Miracle Hunting

Another reason we as humans desire the Holy Spirit is to witness a miracle. Mr. Chan really explains this well. Wanting to talk about supernatural things like miracles, healing or prophecy is a great thing to think about, but focusing on it too much can get us off the true path of pursuing Him. God calls us to pursue Him, not what He might do for us or even in our midst. God does miracles when He sees fit and for His own purposes.

Followers or Leaders?

Are you a follower or a leader? Many times, people try to lead the Holy Spirit instead of following Him. The Holy Spirit was given to us to direct us. I like what Mr. Chan says here. The Spirit is not a passive power that we can wield as we choose. The Spirit is God, a Being who requires that we submit ourselves to be led by Him.

The Right Reason

As Christians, we need to desire the Holy Spirit for the right reason.

The Spirit is intentional as He apportions these spiritual gifts to each person, according to His will and purposes. The most obvious and stated purpose of these manifestations is for the good and edification of the church. The Spirit desires to use us when our hearts are aligned with this vision, when we are filled with genuine love for the church, and when we desire to see the church grow in love for God and others.

Here are a few questions I want to leave you with today.

  1. Do you believe the church needs you like a body needs a mouth?
  2. Why do you desire the Holy Spirit? Is it to glorify yourself or is it to glorify Him?

Until next time readers, God Bless!

*Thanks for reading! Please take a moment and subscribe to my RSS Feed or for an email subscription click ” Subscribe To This Blog” on the right side of your page.


Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 1 Corinthians, Book, Forgotten God, John

Movie Saturday— Creation

16 01 2010

Hello readers. I know I haven’t done a post on Francis Chan’s Forgotten God in a few days, but I will get back to that soon.

I wanted to doing something fun for a change. I have been doing some pretty serious posts lately, so I thought it was needed. I think I am going to start doing a Movie Saturday on Saturdays for a little bit. I hope you don’t mind.

I was looking through some trailers in iTunes and spotted this one. It comes out this week (Jan 22) and looked kind of interesting. I will paste the synopsis below.

From director Jon Amiel (The Singing Detective, Entrapment) and writer John Collee (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) comes CREATION. A psychological, heart-wrenching love story starring Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) as Charles Darwin, the film is based on “Annie’s Box,” a biography penned by Darwin’s great-great-grandson Randal Keynes using personal letters and diaries of the Darwin family. We take a unique and inside look at Darwin, his family and his love for his deeply religious wife, played by Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Requiem for a Dream), as, torn between faith and science, Darwin struggles to finish his legendary book “On the Origin of Species,” which goes on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology. The film co-stars Toby Jones (Frost/Nixon, Infamous) and Jeremy Northam (Gosford Park, Amistad), and was produced by Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor, Sexy Beast) at Recorded Picture Company with BBC Films and Ocean Pictures.

Here is the website where you can view the trailer. Just click here .

Will this be the next controversial  movie? I guess it will make some people think. Even though the subject of the film is Charles Darwin and Evolution, I really hope that God and Creation are shown to be the real truth.

Well what do you think readers? Worth watching?

Until next time, God Bless!

*Thanks for reading! Please take a moment and subscribe to my RSS Feed or for an email subscription click ” Subscribe To This Blog” on the right side of your page.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Movie Saturday

Help for Haiti

15 01 2010

Afternoon readers. I hope today has been blessed for you so far.

I want to take some time to talk about Haiti. I know it is all over the media now, but I just can’t get it out of my mind. With the suffering the Haitians are going through currently, it is hard to put it behind me. It upsets me to hear people say they are tired of hearing about it. If I lose readers over it, I don’t care.

First of all, I want to commend the people, charities, disaster relief, world government, etc. for stepping up in this time of crises. I have a few questions though.

  • Why does it take a natural disaster to spring all this support to 3rd world countries? Shouldn’t we being doing more all the time anyway?
  • All the media Haiti is getting now, will this disaster be “yesterday’s news” say, six months from now?

Granted I know there are a lot of Christian organizations that help out those less fortunate all the time. I guess people really don’t fully pay attention to those causes until something like this happens.

Another thing I want to bring up is the whole Pat Robertson controversy. If you don’t know what I am talking about, click here. For as supposed man of God to say those sort of words is very appalling. I like how Donald Miller responded to Pat’s words.

Regardless, Robertson’s comments further divide people of faith from, well, people of faith.

For the whole story, click on Donald Miller’s name above. Just as Mr. Miller said, the following is something I want to say as well.

I understand that many of you will want to comment on the theological truths you’ve found that support Robertson’s comments, and also on the good that Robertson has done. Regarding the latter, this was not a blanket dismissal on Robertson’s life or ministry, it was a response to a comment, regarding the former, it’s a debate I ask you to take somewhere else. Also, this isn’t meant to harshly judge Robertson, it’s meant to calm those who might want to throw a tomato at him, while also trying to understand why somebody could make such an insensitive comment at such a painful time.

Hopefully the above post made some sense. I just wanted to spill my heart out a little bit.

Until next time readers, God Bless!

*Thanks for reading! Please take a moment and subscribe to my RSS Feed or for an email subscription click ” Subscribe To This Blog” on the right side of your page.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Charity, Giving, Serving, World Events

Prayer Continues for Haiti

14 01 2010

Good afternoon everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the life God has given you today. I am continuing to pray for the people in Haiti. The death totals are being estimated to be up to 500,000. Please continue to pray and to give if you.

I myself donated to another charity. I donated to CARE. Here is a little bit more about them, but click the link above to find out more.

CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. We place special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. Women are at the heart of CARE’s community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives.

As I said above, please continue to pray and if you can, donate to a charity that is helping with disaster relief.

CNN has complied a list of charities that are helping out with disaster relief. Click here to find out more on how you can help.

Until next time readers, God Bless!

** This blog and myself aren’t paid by CARE to advertise for them.

*Thanks for reading! Please take a moment and subscribe to my RSS Feed or for an email subscription click ” Subscribe To This Blog” on the right side of your page.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Charity, Giving, World Events

Why Do You Want Him? (part 1)

13 01 2010

Good afternoon readers! I hope God has blessed you on this wonderful day. Currently I am feeling compassion for those in Haiti. Join me in praying for all of those lives lost in the recent earthquake. My last blog post gave you some information on what is going on and how to contribute. Go check it out here.

This post will cover  the first section of Chapter 4 of Francis Chan’s Forgotten God. So far we have  looked at why we need the Spirit, what we are afraid of, and the theology of the Holy Spirit. Taking what we have learned from those chapters, lets look into Why We Want Him.

Mr. Chan asks some thought provoking questions in this chapter.

Why do you desire the Holy Spirit’s activity in your life?

Do you want to experience more of the Holy Spirit merely for your own benefit?

In the Bible, it tells the story of Simon the magician. He tried to buy the Holy Spirit’s power from the apostles. Find out more about Simon the magician here. Peter responded in Acts 8:20:

“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!”

I highlighted the next couple sentences that Mr. Chan writes. You can find it on page 84.

The Holy Spirit is not a commodity to be bought or traded according to our individual wants, whims, or even our felt needs. We absolutely cannot have this discussion about the Holy Spirit without calling our motives into question.

We will continue Chapter 4 at a later date.

Before I leave you, here are some questions to think about till next time.

  1. Why do you want the Holy Spirit? Is it for power? Is it for your own betterment and purposes? Or is it because you want to experience all that God has for you? Is it because you love the church and desire to be a better servant to your sisters and brothers?
  2. Why do you want the Spirit? Are your needs greater than your pursuit of God?

Until next time readers, God Bless!

*Thanks for reading! Please take a moment and subscribe to my RSS Feed or for an email subscription click ” Subscribe To This Blog” on the right side of your page.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Acts, Book, Forgotten God, World Events

Prayer for Haiti

12 01 2010

If you haven’t been watching the news today, the biggest earthquake in 200 years has hit Haiti. Below is information from WorldVision which is a wonderful charity helping with disaster relief. I am donating and I ask that you do as well. If you aren’t able to donate to WorldVision, maybe you can help out some other way.

A strong 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck in an area about 14 miles from Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince at about 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday afternoon. The quake, which lasted about one minute, was followed by a series of aftershocks felt by World Vision staff members in the affected region.

At present, telephone lines are down and other forms of communication have been impaired, making it very difficult to obtain information from our field staff as to the extent of damage and the condition of communities in the quake zone. Media reports have indicated that numerous buildings in and around Port-au-Prince have collapsed.

World Vision is most concerned about the well-being of children and families in the affected areas. Port-au-Prince is a very densely populated city, enhancing the risk of major infrastructure damage and humanitarian crisis. Haiti is also the poorest and least-developed nation in the Western Hemisphere, where nearly 80 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day.

Three ways you can help:

Please pray for the children, families, and communities affected by this disaster, and pray for World Vision’s staff members who are assessing the needs and preparing for an emergency response.

Donate now to World Vision’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. Your gift will help our staff members rush emergency assistance to those in greatest need following the disaster — like food, clean water, blankets, tents, and more.

Sponsor a child in Haiti. Your love and support for a child in need will help provide basic essentials and help him or her be better equipped to cope with disasters like the recent earthquake.

Go here to donate.

My prayers go out to Haiti during this disaster. Please join me.

** Photo taken from here

*** WorldVision is not paying me in any form or fashion to post any sort of advertisement for them.

*Thanks for reading! Please take a moment and subscribe to my RSS Feed or for an email subscription click ” Subscribe To This Blog” on the right side of your page.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Giving, Serving, World Events

Theology of the Holy Spirit 101 (part 3)

12 01 2010

Hello again fellow classmates! Today will be the last time I can say that because this is the last posting of this series (Theology of the Holy Spirit 101).  Chapter 3 of Francis Chan’s Forgotten God has been absolutely amazing!

This post is going to cover the last few pages of Chapter 3. I really am just going type out what he highlights on pages 74-76, and then leave you with some questions to think about.

If the Holy Spirit dwells within you, a number of things should be a part of your life. Consider how each one is manifest in your life; and if it isn’t, spend some time asking God for that specific thing.

  • The Spirit helps us speak when we are in precarious situations and need to bear witness (Mark 13:11; Luke 12:12).
  • The Counselor teaches and reminds us of what we need to know and remember. He is our comforter, our adviser, our encourager, and our strength. He guides us in the way we should go (Ps. 143:10; John 14-16; Acts 9:31; 13:2; 15:28; 1 Cor. 2:9-10; 1 John 6:6-8).
  • From the Spirit we receive power to be God’s witnesses to the ends of the earth. It is the Spirit who draws people to the gospel, the Spirit who equips us with the strength we need to carry out God’s purposes. The Holy Spirit not only initially draws people to God, He also draws believers closer to Jesus (Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:26; Eph. 3:16-19).
  • By the power of the Spirit we put to death the misdeeds of the body. The Spirit sets us free from the sins we cannot get rid of on our own. This is a lifelong process we entered into, in partnership with the Spirit, when we first believed (e.g., Rom. 8:2).
  • Through the Spirit we have received a spirit of adoption as children, which leads us into intimacy with the Father, instead of a relationship based on fear and slavery. The Spirit bears witness to us tat we are His children (Rom. 8:15-16).
  • The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin. He does this both before we initially enter into right relationship with God and as we journey through this life as believers (John 16:7-11; 1 Thess. 1:5).
  • The Spirit brings us life and freedom. Where the Spirit is, there is freedom, not bondage or slavery. In our world that is plagued with death, this is a profound truth that points to real hope (Rom. 8:10-11; 2 Cor. 3:17).
  • By the power of the Holy Spirit we abound with hope because our god is a God of hope, who fills His children with all joy and peace (Rom. 15:13).
  • As members of God’s kingdom community, each of us is given a manifestation the Spirit in our lives for the purpose of the common good. We all have something to offer because of what the Spirit gives to us (1 Cor. 12:7).
  • The fruit of being led by the Spirit of God includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These attitudes and actions will characterize our lives as we allow ourselves to be grown and molded by the Spirit. The Spirit is our sanctifier (2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 5:22-23).

Hopefully reading these truths about the Holy Spirit will lead you into a deeper relationship with and a greater reverence for the Spirit.

I also hope that these last three posts have made you think about your relationship with God and the Spirit. If you believe something isn’t right with it, do your best to fix it.

The questions I want to leave you with today are this:

  1. On a scale of 0-10, how much do you trust God in your daily life? If not God, who or what are you trusting?
  2. In what way can you change your relationship with God for the better?

Until next time readers, God Bless!

*Thanks for reading! Please take a moment and subscribe to my RSS Feed or for an email subscription click ” Subscribe To This Blog” on the right side of your page.


Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 1 Corinthians, 1 John, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Corinthians, Acts, Book, Ephesians, Forgotten God, Galatians, John, Luke, Mark, Psalms, Romans

Theology of the Holy Spirit 101 (part 2)

11 01 2010

Good morning again class. I promise I will stop calling you that after this chapter is finished. Today’s post is going to continue where we left off in Chapter 3 of Francis Chan’s Forgotten God.

Before we continue though, I want to recap what we learned from the last post.

The Holy Spirit is a Person, is God, and has His own mind and prays. I don’t know about you, but that was a lot to think about. Did you come away a different person? If you would like, stop here and read the last post.

Here is some more about the Holy Spirit that will make you think as well.

The Holy Spirit has Emotions.

In the Bible, it tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Isa. 63:10; Eph. 4:30). But what does that really mean?  God has feelings? When is the Spirit grieved?

God Himself created feelings. Feelings can be misused and abused, but the purpose of feelings came from God. Mr Chan poses a great question here. Since He created emotions, why is it difficult to believe that He Himself has emotions?

The Holy Spirit is grieved when there is a  break in relationship, whether it be relationship with God or relationship with other people. When we are dis-unified, unloving, hateful, jealous, etc., that is when we grieve the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit has His own desires and will.

In 1 Corinthians we read that the gifts of the Spirit are “empowered by one and and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (12:11) This reminds us that God is in control. It also should tell us that we don’t get to choose which gifts we are given, and we don’t get to choose what He intends for us or for the church. The Spirit is the one that has a plan for our lives, and a plan for the church. The church would include the one we attend and the worldwide body of Christ.

The Holy Spirit is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.

What does that actually mean? Basically it means that the Spirit is all-powerful, present everywhere, and all-knowing. Examples of the above can be found in Zech. 4:6, Ps. 139:7-8, and 1 Cor. 2:10b

We are going to stop right there and let what I previously wrote sink in. This chapter is such and important chapter that I don’t want anything to be passed over. The next post will finish Chapter 3. It should be exciting so stay tuned.

Again, I want to leave you with some questions.

  1. Have you grieved the Holy Spirit lately? If so, how do you plan on making that situation better?
  2. Do you trust that the Holy Spirit is in control of your life? If not, why not?

Until next time readers, God Bless!

*Thanks for reading! Please take a moment and subscribe to my RSS Feed or for an email subscription click ” Subscribe To This Blog” on the right side of your page.


Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 1 Corinthians, Book, Ephesians, Forgotten God, Isaiah, Psalms, Zechariah

Theology of the Holy Spirit 101 (part 1)

9 01 2010

Good afternoon class! Are you ready for today’s lesson? Just kidding everyone. I thought with a title like “Theology of the Holy Spirit 101“, I would just throw that in there.Well I hope you have been enjoying the study of Francis Chan’s Forgotten God. It has really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I want to point out to you that I am not an educated man in the ways of the Bible. The following post is strictly what I am taking from the Bible and Mr. Chan’s book.

Today’s post is going to cover Chapter 3 of Forgotten God. In this chapter, Mr. Chan helps us understand the Holy Spirit by looking at who He is and what He does.

I like the way Mr. Chan says the following statement.

“The Bible says we cannot fully understand God, and I am certainly not the exception to that rule. There are things about God that are mysterious and secret, things we will never know about Him. But there also are things revealed, and those belong to us (Deut. 29:29)”.

Along with what I mentioned before, Mr. Chan also helps us see some of the things that have been revealed about the Holy Spirit.

Several times in the Bible, we see the Holy Spirit enter people and change their lives. Below are a few examples. By clicking on their name, you can read more about them.

  • Stephen, the first martyr
  • Peter was changed and became a courageous man
  • Saul turned from killing Christians to Paul (one of the most famous Christian leaders)

Now that we have seen some examples on the changes the Holy Spirit can do in people’s lives, let’s focus on who the Spirit is and what He does in our lives.

The Spirit is several different things.

The Holy Spirit is a Person.

I like how Mr. Chan describes the Holy Spirit here. He is not an indistinct “power” or “thing.” Many people refer to the Spirit s an “it,” as if the Spirit is a thing or force that we can control or use. John 14:17 (The Message) states:

This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!

The Spirit has a personal relationship with not only believers, but also with the Father and the Son. He works together with them (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14)

The Holy Spirit is God.

Again, Mr. Chan does a brilliant job describing the Holy Spirit. He is not a lessor or different kind of Being than God the Father or God the Son. The Spirit is God. When we forget about the Spirit, we really are forgetting about God.

The Holy Spirit is Eternal and Holy.

I really love what Mr. Chan says in this section. The Spirit is not just a flighty, whimsical spirit who comes and goes like the wind. He is an eternal being. The Spirit is also holy. Obviously, we commonly call Him the “Holy Spirit,” and this is reinforced throughout the New Testament (Romans 1:4 and 5:5)

The Holy Spirit has His own mind, and He prays for us.

Romans 8:27: “He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

One word here… AWESOME!

Well readers, this has turned into a long post. Stay tuned for part 2 where we will continue with Chapter 3.

Right now I want to leave you with some questions to think about.

  1. What is the Holy Spirit doing in your life currently?
  2. Do you trust the path that the Holy Spirit is taking you on?

Until next time readers, God Bless!

*Thanks for reading! Please take a moment and subscribe to my RSS Feed or for an email subscription click ” Subscribe To This Blog” on the right side of your page.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 2 Corinthians, Book, Deuteronomy, Forgotten God, John, Matthew, Romans

What Are You Afraid Of?

7 01 2010

” Snakes… Why did it have to be Snakes?” — Indiana Jones from Raiders of the Lost Ark.  I myself, as you probably, guessed, am afraid of snakes. This is called Ophidiophobia.

Even though a discussion over fear and phobias would be pretty interesting, this post for today with discuss Chapter 2 of Francis Chan’s Forgotten God.

For Francis Chan, his biggest fear is the fear of rejection. Many of us have the fear of what other people think of us; I know I do. I am learning though to let the Holy Spirit guide me, and to release that fear.

A lot of us may share another fear as well. The fear I am talking about is the fear of God failing us. When you pray and pray and pray, and nothing happens. As Mr. Chan states, the fear of God failing us leads us to “cover for God.” This means we ask for less, expect less, and are satisfied with less because we are afraid to ask for or expect more. But the Bible says something different.

Matthew 7:7 (NIV)

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

God promised to give us His Spirit if we ask for it. We have to repent and be baptized. It really is up to us to believe Him and act upon that promise.

Well friends, there is a flip side to the fear of God failing us. Francis Chan describes this fear as the fear of the “follow through/show up” God. What if God does show up and asks us to go somewhere or do something that is out of your comfort zone? Mr. Chan believes that more people have this fear than the fear of having God ignore them.

What I highlighted out of this chapter:

  • p. 46 Though this fear is natural, it’s not right. We are called to pattern our lives after the Way described in the Bible. We are not called to fear what following the Way of Jesus may require of us, but that doesn’t mean those fears won’t crop up. A life of following Christ requires relinquishing those fears when they do come. It means refusing to let your fears of what others think, your fears of rejection, keep you from pursuing the truth about the Holy Spirit and whatever else God is reaching you and calling you to.
  • p. 47 Open u our mind and our life to the leading of the Spirit, regardless of what others may think or assume about you.
  • p. 49 Ultimately, you need to stake your faith in God alone, not in the gifts (good as they may be) that He gives.
  • p. 50 The truth is that the Spirit of the living God is guaranteed to ask ou to go somewhere or do something you wouldn’t normally want or choose to do. The Spirit will lead you to the way of the cross, as He led Jesus to the cross, and that is definitely not a safe or pretty or comfortable place to be. The Holy Spirit of God will mold you into the person you were made to be.
  • p. 56 We need the Spirit in order to live faithfully. Be we also need one another as we work out our faith.

Let me leave you with these closing questions:

  1. What are you afraid of? What fear is keeping you from connecting with the Holy Spirit and becoming closer to God?
  2. Do you care about what people think when they see you, or do you actually want to serve and please God in everything? Are you afraid of getting “too much” of the Holy Spirit and what that might mean for your life? Are you honestly open to being led by Him?

Until next time readers, God Bless!

*Thanks for reading! Please take a moment and subscribe to my RSS Feed or for an email subscription click ” Subscribe To This Blog” on the right side of your page.


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Book, Fear, Forgotten God, Matthew, Rejection

« Previous Entries Next Entries »


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 61 other followers