Supernatural

Written by cycleguy on May 5th, 2015

thefi5thgospel

 

Disclaimer: this post is for Christ-followers. (Just a warning)

There are a lot of things which “scare” people. I could name them but what is the purpose in that? I just want to write about one in this post. Ready?

HOLY SPIRIT!!

That doesn’t bring the beads of sweat it used to bring out on people, self included. I was so naive about the Holy Spirit years ago that the first time I was in a worship where people raised their hands I literally broke out in a cold sweat! It was so new to me, and I had heard such horror stories I thought for sure chaos was going to break out.

Now…I are one of those people.  🙂  Don’t get me wrong. I believe in decency and order. But I raise my hands when it is appropriate. Appropriate to me is when I am worshiping and praising God for who He is. For comic relief, check out this video by Tim Hawkins.

There are actually two sides to this equation. There is the side I described: fear. There is also the other side: complete disrespect. IMHO the whole “slain in the Spirit” thing borders on this, as does the working the emotions into a lather.

Surely the Holy Spirit doesn’t work depending on our lack of or over emotion. He works as He wills. But I guess the first thing we need to do is figure out who the Holy Spirit is to start with. I’m going to capsulize Bobby’s thoughts:

The Holy Spirit is a Person. Not a flesh and blood person but He is not an “It” either. He is described as having characteristics of a person.

The Holy Spirit is Fully God. No one understands the Trinity. I certainly don’t. I do believe the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity-Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit possesses Divine Attributes. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, holy, all-present.

The Holy Spirit works within the hearts of people. Jesus tells us He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement. (John 16:8-11)

As you can imagine, I have only touched the hem of the garment, so to speak, when it comes to talking about the Holy Spirit. My purpose is not to offend you if you believe differently. I simply gave a wrap-up of this final chapter of Bobby’s book. What is your view? (Be kind if you disagree).

I went a tad longer because this is the last post about Bobby’s book. I do hope you might find the time to pick the book up for yourself and read it. It will challenge you. Thanks for tuning in each week. Next up is a more than a-once-a-week series of posts about 46 Stones. Hope you will join me.

 

13 Comments so far ↓

  1. Daniel says:

    The whole “I am your brother’s father’s sister Luke” think has never really sunk in all that deeply into my Christianity. 3-in-one, co-equal, trinity? I’m not sure why we can’t have just one omnipotent, ever-present God and be done with it.

  2. Jeff says:

    I bet all of the hand raisers, in their opinion, only raise their hand when it is appropriate. And only flop in the aisle and speak in tongues when they think it is appropriate. I’m guessing the Spirit only moves when it is appropriate. I can’t imagine the spirit would ever move when it is inappropriate.
    I like a good Ghost story.

    • cycleguy says:

      I’m not an aisle-flopper or a tongue speaker Jeff. So that is beyond me. However, the old King James did call Him the Holy Ghost. It meant invited guest.

      • Jeff says:

        I am not an aisle-flopper or a tongue speaker either. They tell me that is the holy spirit at work tho. He must just work different from church to church. If Ghost means guest why didn’t they just translate it as guest. Guest means something a whole lot different to any English speaking people I know. Seems like just another poor translation.

  3. One of the things that becomes easier for me as I get older is the mystery and paradoxes of our faith. We have one God who is a trinity? Ok. I understand it less than I did ten years ago and love it more. I kind of look at it as an egg. If I hold it in my hand, it’s one egg. If I crack it, I have a shell, yolk and white. It’s still one egg, but each has it’s part to play. Not a perfect analogy, but the best I can do.

  4. Betty Draper says:

    I am glad I do not have to understand all about the Holy Spirit for Him to work. Grateful God saw fit to sent His Spirit to do the work in our wicked hearts.

  5. Ceil says:

    Hi Bill! I am 100% in the Holy Spirit’s camp. I believe in the three persons in One God, although I am far from understanding how it would all work. But that’s okay, I don’t have to.

    I remember the first time I went to a service, and people started speaking in tongues. Zow. Never had seen anything like that before. It can be jarring, but there are different gifts. It was quite an education!
    Blessings,
    Ceil

  6. I am rolling, rolling, rolling after watching the Tim Hawkins video! This made my evening, Bill.
    And the Holy Spirit? We’ve really come to know one another through the process of writing. Yes, you heard me right. I feel His presence as I’m creating and definitely feel His inspiration, too. It is a gift I treasure and cherish; He always reminds me how much I am loved by God.
    I don’t understand the Trinity, but I don’t think I have to . . .
    Blessings, Bill!

  7. Deb Wolf says:

    This is a perfect example of why it is always about faith. I don’t have to understand to have complete acceptance of Three Persons/One God. So thankful for the gift of faith and the blessings it gives. As someone who lived with inner turmoil most of her life, the blessing of peace gives me full awareness of the Holy Spirit in my life.

    I’ve been to churches and small groups with people who are very expressive when it comes to the Spirit. I’ve yet to understand the benefit . . . especially when “order” is lost. Great post Bill.