Leadership Blog

15 Nov Today is the Day of the Holy Ghost!

One Sunday morning while Vickie and I were children’s pastors in South Florida, we had an incredible time of praise and worship with our children. God’s presence was evident and the children were responding. At the conclusion of the time of worship, I stepped onto the platform to segue into the next part of the service and turned to Vickie and said these words, “Vickie, I see the day coming where we will have to force the boys and girls to stop worshiping God.” I then turned my attention back to the segue and afterwards left the platform.

If the story ended right there, it would be a great testimony. But, there’s more to this story. Just a few minutes later, I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “Don’t ever say that again.” This totally caught me off guard. I had no idea what the “that” was He was referring to. He continued by saying, “Don’t ever say the words ‘I see the day coming’ again. Instead, from now on, declare that today is the day of the Holy Ghost. Too many live in the past when I moved in days gone bye. And others look at the future which is always beyond their reach. Instead, declare that today is the day of the Holy Ghost and you will see me show up.”

That encounter forever changed my life. He was so spot on. You and I both know of people and churches that constantly look at moves of God from the past and park their bus there. There isn’t and can’t be a fresh wind of the Spirit in their lives and ministries. Others, keep referring to the future and say that they see a move of God in the days ahead. Reality shows that the future is always beyond where you are right now. By declaring “TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost”, He begins to reveal His presence and power in the here and now.

So, be forewarned. If you attend one of our Holy Spirit Rallies or Ignite & Unite Conferences, get ready to hear “TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost”. In fact, you might hear this declaration over and over again. Be ready to witness this declaration opening up the door for the Holy Spirit to move as only He can.

There is much more that I can share about this subject. I will save it for some future blog posts. But, I will share this one thought in closing. I challenge you to begin making this declaration and making it often each and every day. Don’t make this just a statement reserved for just your church services. In fact, go ahead right now and declare OUT LOUD “TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost”. Your life will never ever be the same again!

12 Nov When All of Hell Breaks Loose

In a day when what can be shaken is being shaken and it is so evident that we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but ” … against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12), I have great news for you. God has not left you defenseless.

For those of you in the heat of the battle in your personal life or family or ministry or job and it seems as though all of hell has broken loose, let me remind you about your weapons.

• We have been given the Name that is above every name. At the mention of the name of Jesus, “… every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)
• We have been given His Word. The Psalmist David tells us that God has “… magnified thy word above all thy name.” (Psalm 138:2) This Word is “… quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword …”. (Hebrews 4:12)
• We have been given the blood of Jesus. His blood continually “… cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7) and allows us to boldly “… enter into the holiest …” (Hebrews 10:19). In the heat of battle,”They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb …” (Revelation 12:11)
• We have been given angels. “For He will command His angels in regard to you, to protect and defend and guard you in all your ways [of obedience and service].” (Psalm 91:11, Amplified Bible)
• We have been given God’s blessed Holy Spirit. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever”. (John 14:16). “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you …” (Acts 1:8)

All of hell might be raging right now. Hope may seem all but gone. But, you can’t be shaken. Victory is guaranteed as you unwaveringly “… stand strong in the Lord …” (Ephesians 6:10) and use these weapons that are “… mighty through God. …” (2 Corinthians 10:14). “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57) Hallelujah!!!

09 Nov A Holy Spirit Reminder

I find that sometimes, or more accurately, often, I need to be reminded about things that I already know. The information isn’t something that I need to learn all over again. It is just that I haven’t thought about it in a while and I need a reminder to bring the information to the forefront of my mind.

In all likelihood, what I am about to share with you isn’t anything new. Many of this blog’s readership have known these truths forever. But, I believe that bringing these thoughts to the forefront of your mind and spirit will allow the Holy Spirit to do a fresh work in you.

Here we go. While the Holy Spirit …

• has existed since before time was time, He is as current and relevant today as ever.
• fully knows the mind of the Father, He is capable of taking what He receives from the infinite mind of God and optimizing it for our finite mind to comprehend.
• knows what is to come, He can give you here-and-now insights into your future.
• is 100% aware of your status and situation, He isn’t afraid to take on your mess and bring into realization the victory already won in Christ.
• loves to interact and dialogue with men and women, He specializes in communicating with even the youngest child.
• is sent by the Father to the entire body of Christ, the Sent One is assigned to and specializes in y-o-u.
• was at full strength capacity in the earthly life and ministry of Jesus, two thousand years hasn’t reduced His strength or abilities.
• knows every detail about you and what makes you uniquely you, He is capable of moving you beyond those restrictions and making you into a different person.

I will stop with just listing eight reminders. There are so many more that I could share. If allowed, the Holy Spirit will continue this list with truth number nine and then truth number ten and then … I challenge you to read these truths and read them over again and again. Allow them to grow within your mind and spirit. It is through you meditating (bringing to the forefront) that the Holy Spirit will become more real to you and then through you.

05 Nov Totally Dependent Upon the Holy Spirit

In reading A.W. Tozer’s The Counselor yesterday, I found this powerful statement …

“There are churches so completely out of the hands of God
that if the Holy Spirit withdrew from them,
they wouldn’t find it out for many months.”
~ A.W. Tozer

It is an honest assessment, isn’t it. Sadly, it is true, painfully true. It is easy for churches to become such a well-oiled machine that they have absolutely no need for the Helper to do His job.  Total reliance upon formulas and current trends can cause pastors to ignore His presence and directives.

But wait. I can take Tozer’s statement one step further by changing it to read “There are ministries so completely …” Have we become so good at the teaching/preaching in Sunday school classrooms or children’s church gatherings or student ministry services that the Holy Spirit is pushed to the side? Is His presence really a necessity or have we become satisfied with what the flesh can produce?

And now, the biggie. “There are Christians so completely …”. It is so, so easy to get involved with day-to-day life that, at best, the One who has been sent by the Father to abide with you forever (John 14:16), the One who is assigned to communicate to you the Father’s thoughts (John 16:13), the One who is strategically directed to be your teacher (John 14:26), the One who is (should I keep going?) becomes an after-thought. We can become so good at getting through life that we wouldn’t notice His absence.

How dependent are you Pastor upon the Holy Spirit? Sunday school teacher, children’s pastor, mid-week Bible club leader, student ministry pastor, can you go through a service without His presence and power? And finally, you, the one sitting in your chair and looking at the computer or smart device screen reading these words, are you helplessly dependent upon the Holy Spirit to enable you to make it through your day?

Present or absent? Speaking or muted? Active or restrained? My prayer for you is that you glean from the wisdom of my pastor, B.B. Hankins when he said, “I wouldn’t want to cross the street without the Holy Spirit”.  Let’s become totally dependent upon Him.

01 Nov You Said “It”? Are You Kidding Me?

Can I please use you to vent to for two to three minutes? It happened to me some eight hours ago and I am still shaking my head in disbelief. Here’s what happened … someone messaged me and, in mentioning the Holy Spirit, they typed the word “it”. I couldn’t believe what I had just read. They referred to the Holy Spirit as an “it”. Were they kidding me? If I could have reached my hands through my computer screen and used the internet to get to this person, I would have put a few holy slaps all over their face. (I’m just kidding about the slaps … or kinda’ kidding.)

So what’s the problem? Surely the “it” isn’t that big of a deal, right?

Big deal? YES! A Texas-size YES!!! Here is what I know to be true. Rather than knowing the “Personhood” (is that really a word?) of the Holy Spirit, the “it” reduces the Holy Spirit into being some force or mystical heavenly question mark that no one can understand. The “it” causes the third PERSON of the Godhead to be mistakenly identified as a dove, fire, wind, or vapor rather than God the Holy Spirit.

“Personhood”? Where do we see this in the Word? Jesus totally obliterated what I call the “it” factor and removed any cause for misunderstanding when He introduced the Holy Spirit to His disciples in John 14-16 identifying the Holy Spirit nineteen times with personal pronouns like He, Him, and Himself. There wasn’t a single “it” mentioned. These pronouns show that, as a Person, the Holy Spirit is One that you can know and enjoy a relationship. Knowing His “Personhood” allows:

• You to dialogue with the Holy Spirit. You can speak to Him and hear Him speak back to you.
• Him to be the Helper that Jesus promised.
• Him to connect you with the heart of the Father in ways not previously known.
• Him to be real to you so that He can be real through you.

I’ll close with one of the most powerful statements that I have ever read about the “Personhood” of the Holy Spirit. The late Kathryn Kuhlman said it best, “The Holy Spirit is more real to me than you are.”

Is He? If not, allow me to take this opportunity to introduce to you the Person named the Holy Spirit. I’ll quit writing so that you two can start dialoguing.