Q: How do we judge A church to be doing God's will?
A: Signs and Wonders will be present!
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, (Acts 2:42-44, New King James Version)
12 Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. (2 Corinthians 12:12, New King James Version)
PONDERING WITH THE PADRE: This is a place where I, when inspired by the Holy Spirit, can sow seeds to help each and everyone of us grow as true Christians. I believe God is Lord of all of His creation. All we can do is seek His will for our lives. We cannot please God by our own good works. The fruits of our faith are fruits of repentance, of a new heart!
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Thursday, July 30, 2009
What Gifts has God Given You?
When I ask people what gifts people have to offer to God, I get various replies from ‘hearing complaints’ to ‘gardening’ to ‘making jams‘. These are all nice things to do. But what concerns me is that Holy Scripture tells us what gifts we can have to offer to God for His service. The first list is found in Romans chapter 12:6-8: “God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.” The second list appears in I Corinthians 12:7-11: “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others. Some of us can speak with wisdom, while others can speak with knowledge, but these gifts come from the same Spirit. To others the Spirit has given great faith or the power to heal the sick or the power to work mighty miracles. Some of us are prophets, and some of us recognize when God's Spirit is present. Others can speak different kinds of languages, and still others can tell what these languages mean. But it is the Spirit who does all this and decides which gifts to give to each of us.” In summary, the gifts that come from God are serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, kindness, prophesying, words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles and the discernment between spirits.
This is a lot. But St. Paul reminds us that not everyone has all of these gifts. They are divvied up among the members of the body. It is important to note that these gifts come from God. It is what He wants us to have for us to serve Him. So why can’t we just garden or make jams? That question is best answered by what is the greatest gift God has given us? Hopefully, you will say salvation. Can we save ourselves from death? No! Likewise, can we serve God with our own gifts? No! God gives us what we need to serve Him! Our life on earth is about serving God! He knows what the world needs and has given us the tools to serve Him in the world.
Every Christian needs to pray that each and everyone of us asks that God shows us what gifts He has given us. And then we must pray that we use holy boldness to serve God by being selfless in the sharing of our gifts. Easter we received the salvation of God by Christ’s death and resurrection. Lest us receive the Holy Spirit and all the gifts he has to offer!
Fr. Allen
This is a lot. But St. Paul reminds us that not everyone has all of these gifts. They are divvied up among the members of the body. It is important to note that these gifts come from God. It is what He wants us to have for us to serve Him. So why can’t we just garden or make jams? That question is best answered by what is the greatest gift God has given us? Hopefully, you will say salvation. Can we save ourselves from death? No! Likewise, can we serve God with our own gifts? No! God gives us what we need to serve Him! Our life on earth is about serving God! He knows what the world needs and has given us the tools to serve Him in the world.
Every Christian needs to pray that each and everyone of us asks that God shows us what gifts He has given us. And then we must pray that we use holy boldness to serve God by being selfless in the sharing of our gifts. Easter we received the salvation of God by Christ’s death and resurrection. Lest us receive the Holy Spirit and all the gifts he has to offer!
Fr. Allen
Monday, July 27, 2009
Do you have the Holy Spirit
One of my favorite passages in Scripture is Acts 19:1-7 It reads:
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled across the hill country to Ephesus, where he met some of the Lord's followers. He asked them, "When you put your faith in Jesus, were you given the Holy Spirit?"
"No!" they answered. "We have never even heard of the Holy Spirit."
"Then why were you baptized?" Paul asked.
They answered, "Because of what John taught."
Paul replied, "John baptized people so that they would turn to God. But he also told them that someone else was coming, and that they should put their faith in him. Jesus is the one that John was talking about." After the people heard Paul say this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Paul placed his hands on them. The Holy Spirit was given to them, and they spoke unknown languages and prophesied. There were about twelve men in this group.
I like this account because I think it is indicative of the Church today. Many of us attending worship on Sunday know we were baptized. Many who don’t attend worship were also baptized at some point in their life at the behest of their family. Like John’s followers, it was expected the but the full meaning of the church’s teaching has been lost.
When we are baptized in a worship service, the Holy Spirit is imparted in us. But as we grow older, we may have forgotten our responsibility in allowing the Spirit of
God to make His presence known. How many of us have been in a room when someone walks in who knows us but ignores our presence? Well, for many of us, the Holy Spirit is in us, be we just ignore Him. One of God’s attributes is that He does not want us to be puppets where he pulls all of our strings. We, having been created in His image, have free will. We must on our own accord, acknowledge God’s presence in us and ask that presence become central in our life. We do that when we invite Jesus into our hearts. But we also have to let the Third Person of the Trinity fill us so that we are saturated with His being. This is what is meant by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Like water that has been tapped by a fresh dug well springs forth saturating the ground around it, so we too must open ourselves to let the Spirit rise up and saturated us.
So how do we know if the Holy Spirit is reigning supreme in our hearts? Do you talk about church or do you talk about Christ? Do you wonder what the priest is doing or are you asking what you can do for the Lord? Do you see problems or do you see solutions? After all, God is the prayer answering business! Get the hint?
So let us be like the men in Ephesus! Acknowledge that we have been baptized, but also let us be filled with Holy Spirit. After all, this is the will of God!
IHS,
Fr. Allen
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled across the hill country to Ephesus, where he met some of the Lord's followers. He asked them, "When you put your faith in Jesus, were you given the Holy Spirit?"
"No!" they answered. "We have never even heard of the Holy Spirit."
"Then why were you baptized?" Paul asked.
They answered, "Because of what John taught."
Paul replied, "John baptized people so that they would turn to God. But he also told them that someone else was coming, and that they should put their faith in him. Jesus is the one that John was talking about." After the people heard Paul say this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Paul placed his hands on them. The Holy Spirit was given to them, and they spoke unknown languages and prophesied. There were about twelve men in this group.
I like this account because I think it is indicative of the Church today. Many of us attending worship on Sunday know we were baptized. Many who don’t attend worship were also baptized at some point in their life at the behest of their family. Like John’s followers, it was expected the but the full meaning of the church’s teaching has been lost.
When we are baptized in a worship service, the Holy Spirit is imparted in us. But as we grow older, we may have forgotten our responsibility in allowing the Spirit of
God to make His presence known. How many of us have been in a room when someone walks in who knows us but ignores our presence? Well, for many of us, the Holy Spirit is in us, be we just ignore Him. One of God’s attributes is that He does not want us to be puppets where he pulls all of our strings. We, having been created in His image, have free will. We must on our own accord, acknowledge God’s presence in us and ask that presence become central in our life. We do that when we invite Jesus into our hearts. But we also have to let the Third Person of the Trinity fill us so that we are saturated with His being. This is what is meant by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Like water that has been tapped by a fresh dug well springs forth saturating the ground around it, so we too must open ourselves to let the Spirit rise up and saturated us.
So how do we know if the Holy Spirit is reigning supreme in our hearts? Do you talk about church or do you talk about Christ? Do you wonder what the priest is doing or are you asking what you can do for the Lord? Do you see problems or do you see solutions? After all, God is the prayer answering business! Get the hint?
So let us be like the men in Ephesus! Acknowledge that we have been baptized, but also let us be filled with Holy Spirit. After all, this is the will of God!
IHS,
Fr. Allen
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