The Holy Spirit was not a subject I heard much about in the small New Mexico church in which I was raised. The only time "IT" was mentioned was when comments were made about "Holy Rollers" who, it was said, beat themselves with cactus and rolled around on the floor. There were also ideas shared that people who believed in the Holy Spirit were primarily looking for miracles and the ones they found were not anything like the immediate indisputable ones that Jesus performed. The Spirit was not a subject which aroused much interest in my world.
As time went by, in my College years (68-72), the Spirit began to be talked about more often. Mostly the subject came up in the context of the miraculous. During this time I had a discussion with a "Pentocostal" who said he could heal and I just happened to have a sprained ankle which was covered by my "bell bottom" pants (it was 1973). He prayed over me and I can honestly say I prayed too. My ankle remained sprained.
So the Holy Spirit, His purpose and His work,remained to me a mystery and honestly I avoided conversations about the subject. In about 1985- I had been preaching for 13 years - I decided my fears about the Spirit needed to be addressed. I began my own study of the topic. I decided not to read any books written by others and to begin in Matthew and read through the New Testament writing down everything the Book had to say about the Spirit. Needless to say my mind was opened - as open I suppose any human's mind can be - and I was happy to learn about the Spirit and to and see how He had worked and was working in my life.
For the next few (or many) BLOGS I will seek to share what I have learned. I hope it is beneficial for those who might choose to read. I solicite comments and even argument although my purpose is not to turn this space or my time into an arena for a debate.
Please know that I am on a spiritual journey and since I have been called to preach I try and share what I have learned with others. My only desire is to know the Father, the Incarnate Word and the Spirit left by Jesus when he left this earth. Foree
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1 comment:
thank you for your thoughts - i look forward to reading. I still remember the first thing I was challenged to do was go through and underline the verbs that were in sentences with the Spirit. I saw the "activity" of the Spirit more clearly!! peace.
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