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?...
Limiting the Holy Spirit
One of the greatest mistakes that we can make as Christians is to limit the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. We can be honest, right? We all are guilty of doing this ... including us as ministers ... or, more accurately, especially us as ministers. To lessen the pain of honesty, I will go beyond those who stand behind a pulpit and include anyone and everyone involved in some type of leadership in the church, be it in the children's ministry or youth ministry or Sunday school classroom or senior adult ministry or music ministry or ... you can add to the list. This isn't a new problem. We...
Filled And Enjoying the Benefits
While I was still in high school, I had a part-time job at a local grocery store, Farmer's Market. After working there for a while, I went to my boss and said, "Mr. Beal, the law says that if an employee works so many hours in a day, the employee is required to get the benefit of a break." In asking this, I was asking for a law-mandated 10 or 15 minute break somewhere in my work day. Without blinking an eye, he turned to me and said, "Burns, I gave you a break the day that I hired you." I know, or at least I think that I know, that he was joking with me. On second thought, maybe he wasn't...
Here’s What God Said …
I know that the following statement will challenge some people's theology but I'll share it anyways. While Vickie and I lived in South Florida, I remember a time when God clearly spoke to me while we were sitting in a movie theater (some people will stop reading after that statement) watching the seemingly endless coming attraction previews. I will never forget Him telling me that I was to start announcing at the opening of our services the coming attractions for that service. When I heard this directive, I had been in the ministry at least 25 years and had never, ever heard anything like...
Win the Battle Before the Fight Begins!
Before I share a single thought, let me go old school (whatever that means) and tell you to put on your shouting clothes. You're gonna' need them because this blog post, if applied, is guaranteed to bring about a time of shouting and rejoicing. Here's the thought ... Student ministry leader, Sunday school teacher, children's church leader/worker, mid-week Bible club leader BEFORE you walk into your ministry opportunity (also known as the battle against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places ... Ephesians 6:12), spend time preparing...
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