Tag: power

Come Holy Spirit

Posted on by Olaf

Jesus promised he would send The Holy Spirit to bless, comfort, guide, teach and empower his followers by pouring out abundant spiritual gifts upon us. Why has there been so much division among Christians around this blessing over the years? The problem surely cannot be that of the Holy Spirit so it must point to errors in our understanding, belief or experience.  What has been your experience and expectations? Some think he is a force rather than the third person of the Trinity. Then there are ‘Cessasionists’ like John Calvin who believed that spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophecy and healing ceased with the Apostolic Age. By contrast, John Piper would be an example of a ‘Continuationist’ believing that those gifts and others are for the church today.  Christians have fallen out with each other over these things, churches have divided and denominations have been formed. Does the Holy Spirit belong to a bygone era or is he present and active today? Does it matter?

  • ‘Come Holy Spirit, God and Lord! Be all thy graces now outpoured on the believer’s mind and soul, to strengthen, save and make us whole’ – Martin Luther

a greater POWER

Posted on by Olaf

What represents the greatest power today – a president, a multinational, a nuclear bomb, gravity, the sea, the wind?  Greater than all of these was that felt by the eighth man to walk on the moon:

‘The Earth reminded us of a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space. As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart. Seeing this has to change a man, has to make a man appreciate the creation of God and the love of God. I felt the power of God as I’d never felt it before’ – James Irwin