Positioned for the P.O.W.E.R. of the Spirit

"If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the Church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference."

These words written by A.W. Tozer are more relevant now than when he first spoke them many years ago. Everywhere I look I see churches and pastors relying more upon the methodology of man than the unction of the Holy Spirit to move the Kingdom forward. It is not that I believe most ministers and congregations are insincere, far from it, but we have lost touch with what God has ordained as the way He will grow His Church. In our microwave mentality we expect everything yesterday and have little patience for God's timing.

How we need to hear again Jesus' words to the disciples just prior to His ascension: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 1:4,5)

Waiting is hard, but crucial. Waiting is important, but we are not to be idle. We must prepare ourselves to receive the power of the Spirit when He comes. Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 5:18 when he commands us; "Be filled with the Holy Spirit." In the Greek this is a present imperative, we must be continually be seeking to be filled; but it is also in the passive voice meaning we cannot fill ourselves. We can only position ourselves to be ready when the Spirit moves. Then and only then are ministers and churches able to gather and grow God's people for His glory. With that in mind, let me share five ways we can position ourselves for the P.O.W.E.R. of the Holy Spirit to fill us.

Prayer and Praise -
Ephesians 5:19-20 tells us: "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Obedience -
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord." (Eph. 5:8-10)
Word of God -
Ephesians 5:17: "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Also in Colossians 3:16 we read: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom..."
Exercise of Spiritual Gifts -
"We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully." (Romans 12:6-8)
Relationships with other Spirit-Filled Believers -
^"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:25-32)


If we spend our "waiting" time involved in these activities we will find that at just the right moment , God will pour out His Spirit upon us and in His strength we will do His will. Acts 2:42b should be the norm and not the exception.

"And the Lord added to their number daily
those who were being saved."

NewsMax: Australian Adult Stem Cell Breakthrough Ignored in US

Newsmax.com has the following story:

Scientists at Australia's Griffith University have engineered a breakthrough in the field of adult stem cell research that's so significant, say experts, that it could render the debate over embryonic stem cell research moot.

The results of the four year research project showed that olfactory stem cells can be turned into heart cells, brain cells, nerve cells, indeed almost any kind of cell in the body, without the problems of rejection or tumors forming, a common side effect with embryonic stem cells.

Read the rest here…

Why is it that the United States is so narrow-minded about the potential of embryonic stem cell research which has shown little success, while adult stem cells seem to hold the greatest promise? Let us be in much prayer that the eyes of the scientific community would opened.

Check It Out...

God Bless America!

O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.

A hat-tip to Joe over at God Even Loves Idiots Like Me for the picture.

Memorial Day 2005

To all who have worn the uniform of this nation proudly, to all who have given a part of themselves in the defense of our freedoms, to all who have paid the ultimate price for our country... THANK YOU!

Living By Prayer

The following is a prayer from The Valley of Vision published by The Banner of Truth Trust read by me...

Mind and Media Book Review

Jesus: An Intimate Portrait of the Man, His Land and His People by Leith Anderson is the latest entry into a crowded field of books attempting to make the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life accessible to the masses. It is an admirable attempt.

There is a danger in erring in one of two ways with biographies of Jesus. One is to stray to far from the biblical accounts and risk parody, the other is to be so slavishly devoted to the text that one loses the fact that Jesus was human as well as divine. Anderson does a fairly good job of walking the line between the two.

He is careful not to bring in a vast amount of extra-biblical material. In fact he offers what could best be described as a running paraphrase upon the Scriptures. But to avoid just parroting the Gospels he makes some reasonable assessments upon the reaction of Jesus, his disciples and those whom Jesus interacts with in the course of his ministry to various events. These personal touches help humanize the characters.

Especially helpful were the numerous sidebars that explain the history, culture, customs and atmosphere of Jesus’ time. Even a veteran minister, like myself, found several “factoids” that had escaped my studies over the years. These were nicely integrated into the text so as not to disrupt the flow to much.

My one true complaint is that Anderson tended to quote at great length the teaching of Jesus. The sometimes tedious rendering of sermons and parables bogged down the flow of the story. I think the average reader would have been better served with a synopsis of the teachings with perhaps an appendix in the back of the book. With this same thought in mind, the book would have benefited further from some type of footnotes that would have directed the reader to the appropriate texts from the different Gospels.

On the whole however, I think that this book is a welcome addition to the market. I think it would be of the most benefit to those with little exposure to Christianity and those who perhaps are a bit daunted by the Bible itself.

[A big thank you goes out to Stacy Harp of Mind and Media, as well as to Bethany House Publishing who provided this copy of the book. If you are interested in becoming a Mind and Media reviewer please check out the website.]

Republicans No More!

Sens. Mike DeWine of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island, John McCain of Arizona, John W. Warner of Virginia and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine sold out their party, their president and most importantly – the United States Constituion last night.

By allowing the minority to rule, they have effectively given control of the Senate to Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy and the like. But should we have expected any less from John McCain? He has now gone from the Keating Five to the Spineless Seven.

Such shameful actions should not go unpunished by the Republican leadership or the voters who elected them.

You Have To Check This Site Out!

Newsweek Hates America - But Doesn't Want Us To Know

Newsweek Hates America

Forget the Quran fabrication - "NewsWEAK" shows its true colors, but only in this foreign edition. Check out this hot story here and here and here. Sadly I doubt if many Americans will take to the streets and roit to decry the desecration of our national symbol by this leftist rag.

For a translation of this Japanese cover check out this post from Rick Adams. The red text at the left just above the “Newsweek” logo says: “America forsaken.” The big white and yellow text says: “The Day America Died — The ideal of ‘freedom’ falls to the ground due to Bush continuing in office.”

Aaron over at Aaron's cc: says its "Clobbering Time" and offers his photoshopped response on what we should be doing.

When will the MSM realize they can't hide their bias from the blogosphere even when they do it overseas under the cover (or on the cover) of foreign editions. Let the firestorm begin!

Spurgeon for Sunday Reflection

“My soul, bow down under a sense of thy natural sinfulness, and worship thy God. Admire the grace which saves thee—the mercy which spares thee—the love which pardons thee!”  – CH Spurgeon

A Post Too Good To Pass Up...Read It!

The following comes from Blogcorner preacher.

The Notional Council of “Churches”

No, "notional" isn't a typo. And the scare quotes in the title are exactly right. The left-wing lobbying organization that operates in the guise of faith, the National Council of Churches, should be known to all as exactly what it is. The "churches" that are members may have individual members who are stalwart believers. Yet these churches, formerly called "Protestant mainline", have lost their way, dabbling in liberal politics and seeing only a gospel of income redistribution and welfare checks.

The latest salvo from NCC? For some reason, they believe that the Christian church, which they claim to represent in some measure, has a dog in the current fight in the Senate on judicial nominees. From their website, consider this proud statement on the filibuster brouhaha:

A historic civil rights organization has joined the NCC in warning that efforts to eliminate the Senate filibuster may dismantle the system of checks and balances that once made civil rights legislation possible

Talk about a selective memory. The filibuster, led by the same party that now wishes to again stymie the will of the majority, was infamously used to...what's your first guess?

If you guessed that the most infamous and common use of the filibuster was to kill civil rights legislation, you would get the gold star. So, one might think, that eliminating this undemocratic vestige of the "golden age" of Robert Byrd's Klan days might be something that a Christian should get behind. Should; but so-called Christians of the NCC stripe would much rather pursue a purely partisan agenda.

It is curious that the NCC, supposedly in the business of saving souls, should be so heavily invested in politics that it places such things at the top of its agenda (at least on their home page on the web). Perhaps their choice of issues is a reflection of their pretending to be a Christian organization.

Thanks John Luke! As one of the stalwarts left in a declining mainline denomination, it breaks my heart to see the Gospel lost in partisan politics. It frustrates me when the “leaders” of the Church are so out of step with the people in the pews. Harsh judgement awaits us if we continue to bow before such idols!

In Defense of Pepsico's Indra Nooy

(First a personal disclaimer - I am addicted to Diet Mountain Dew. However said addiction has nothing or almost nothing to do with the following commentary)

Over the last few days the blogosphere has erupted over the commencement address of Pepsico executive Indra Nooy given at Columbia School of Business. In this address Ms. Nooy was said to have made disparaging remarks about the United States. Like many right-wingers my first response was to react with intemperate dismay. Then I decided to actually read what Ms. Nooy had said.

As as student of communication ( I preach for a living) I found the address while a bit unfocused, certainly not as "liberal" and hate-filled as many of my type had blogged. In fact, while it may pain me to admit and others to hear, she was making a valid and certainly memorable point.

She was dealing with a perception (rightly or wrongly one may argue) that the United States is seen by the world as "giving it the finger." And this is a criticism that we must take to heart. The actions of a few; be it overzealous prison guards or reckless journalists, do reflect upon how we are seen by other nations.

Stan Lee was right when he reminded Spiderman that with great powers comes great responsibility. And the need to use such power wisely. We are the greatest nation in the world and as such we are held to a higher standard by the rest of the world. And we should aspire to that standard ourselves. President Bush has realized this. He knows that might alone will not win the day. There is a time to be a cowboy and a time to be a statesman. It is a fine line to walk and sometimes we cross that line. But the mark of a great man and a great nation is to be willing to hear the critics and learn from them.

I believe that Ms. Nooy wants this to be a great and respected nation. Her counsel to these graduates is sound. We who proudly represent this nation must be aware of how we conduct not only our business affairs, but all our interactions with others. To be sensitive to others cultures and perspectives is not a sign of weakness, but of strength.

There is a time to give the finger, but there are other times when an offered hand can do more good. The wise know the times and act appropriately.

Remember This? Palestinians Used Bible as Toilet Paper

An article on WorldNet Daily reminds us of this forgotten tidbit of history.

“While Muslims have responded with deadly outrage to the now-retracted report by Newsweek of alleged Quran desecration by U.S. interrogators, there was little outcry three years ago when Islamic terrorists holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity reportedly used the Bible as toilet paper.”

And Tinkerty Tonk provides a link to the possible origin of the whole Quran flushing trend. She links a Jack Shafer's article with this information:

The earliest example I found was from an Aug. 18, 1983, Associated Press story filed in Islamabad, Pakistan. A Western traveler told the AP that Soviet soldiers and Afghan troops had used mosques as toilets and shredded the Quran for toilet paper. "My impression is that they were trying to humiliate the Afghans, but it just makes them hate (the Soviets) even more," the traveler said. The AP noted that it couldn't confirm the story.

Also she provides a link to a mythbusting expose that demonstrates that you cannot flush a Quran down a toilet using Michael Moore's book "Stupid White Men." A must see!

...And I Know He Watches Me...

"The Eye of God" - (NASA photo)

The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them.
(Psalm 11:4)

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love...
(Psalm 33:18)

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry.
(Psalm 34:15)

He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations...
(Psalm 66:7)

My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me;
he whose walk is blameless will minister to me.
(Psalm 101:6)

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
(Psalm 139:15b-16)

What should our response be?

I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven.
(Psalm 123:1)

But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge...
(Psalm 141:8)

Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.
(Psalm 119:37)

Spurgeon: On Neglect of Prayer

It is not a matter of time so much as a matter of heart; if you have the heart to pray, you will find the time.

Rick Warren - The New Jerry Garcia?

The good folks over at LarkNews.com have uncovered what might be the most under-reported evangelical story of the year...

SALEM, Ore. — A new breed of Purpose-Driven Life fanatics is traveling from city to city to attend 40 Days of Purpose programs, temporarily swelling the sizes of local churches and overwhelming parks and neighborhoods.
"They were like locusts," says Ben Smythe, pastor of First Nazarene church which held a 40 Days program in tiny Winslow, Ariz., but stopped when the church's small groups were overrun by thousands of visitors.
The roving group of 10,000 people is made up of Baby Boomers seeking new life direction, young college students opting out of traditional career channels, and street vendors making a buck off it all.
"We live for this stuff," says Don Radke, 51, who left his job in financial services in February to hopscotch from one 40 Days program to another. "It's a great vibe to always be around people discovering their life meaning."
Self-described "purps" and "PDL-heads" (pronounced "puddleheads") say they enjoy the process of finding their purpose so much that it has become their ultimate goal.
"I'm on my 400th day of purpose and I still feel invigorated," says Wendy Sotter, 44, a "proud purp" from Omaha. "My purpose in life is to find my purpose. It's like a constant high."
Purps use the Internet to map out 40 Days programs across the country.
Dewey and Marsha Williams of Salem, Ore., made the mistake of holding a 40 Days Bible study in their home. Two weeks before the first meeting they received a mysterious call from a man who asked if they had enough portable toilets, and was there a field nearby to set up tents?
"I thought it was a crank call," Dewey says, but one day he awoke to see his street transformed into a carnival. A registration table was set up in his driveway. Five thousand people signed up to participate in the program.
"We only had room for 50 in the house," he says. "The rest stood out on the lawn."
"PDL-head" Lanny Brecht was one of them. He went through eight different 40 Days campaigns last year, camping out in church parking lots, partying through the night in small group meetings and talking endlessly about his destiny.
"I dig turning people on to the purpose-driven lifestyle," Brecht says. "It charges me up."
He shrugs off questions about his own purpose.
"My purpose is here, it's now," he says. "It's the journey, not the destination."
Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., had no comment on the phenomenon, though the church has quietly designated part of its parking lot as "purp alley" for followers who want to camp there between programs.

All content © 2005 LarkNews.com, Joel Kilpatrick

(Disclaimer: If you have read this far and not gotten the joke, surprise! Go check out more great "stories" on the LarkNews.com website. Thanks you guys (and gals) for letting us laugh at ourselves.

Great New Spurgeon Site

This looks to be another great addition to the revival in interest in the "Prince of Preachers". A great collection of quotes with more goodies coming soon. Highly reccommended!

More Spurgeon Gold

I am a Calvinist, and a lover of that grand man’s memory and doctrine; but I believe nothing merely because Calvin taught it, but because I have found his teaching in the Word of God.

– CH Spurgeon

Chance to Win Two Great DVDs!

Challies.com is having their May Giveaway! Here is a chance for you to get two great Christian DVDs.

The first is:

Amazing Grace: The History & Theology of CALVINISM (DVD)

Description: Rich in graphics, dramatic vignettes, and biblical analogies, Amazing Grace — The History and Theology of Calvinism features many of the finest reformed thinkers and pastors of our time: Dr. R.C. Sproul, Dr. D. James Kennedy, Dr. George Grant, Dr. Stephen Mansfield, Dr. Thomas Ascol, Dr. Thomas Nettles, Dr. Roger Schultz, Pastor Walt Chantry, Dr. Joe Morecraft, Dr. Ken Talbot, Pastor Walter Bowie and Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr..

What is Calvinism? Does this teaching make man a robot and God the author of sin? What about free will? If the church accepts Calvinism won’t evangelism be stifled, perhaps extinguished? How can we balance God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility? What are the differences between historic Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism? Why did men like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Edward’s and a host of evangelists deny the Arminian definition of free will and label it heresy? Why did the Roman Catholic Church condemn the Reformed teaching of predestination and election and embrace free will theology? And why do so many Protestants, perhaps unwittingly, agree with Rome on this issue?

Amazing Grace — The History and Theology of Calvinism is the first video documentary that answers these and other related questions. Hosted by Eric Holmberg (Hell’s Bells 1 & 2; The Massacre of Innocence) this fascinating three-part, four-hour presentation is detailed enough so as to not gloss over the controversy. At the same time, it is broken up into ten “Sunday-school-sized” sections so as to make the rich content manageable and accessible for the average viewer.

Part One explores the history of the debate. It begins with the pivotal dispute between Augustine and Pelagius and continues through the semi-pelagian controversy; focusing particularly on the debate between Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus. Many viewers will be shocked to discover that free-will theology was NOT the doctrine of the Reformation but instead the teaching of an increasingly apostate Roman Catholic Church. The history section ends with a definitive historical explanation of the issues that arose during the Calvinist/Arminian controversy. By examining the five points of Arminianism and the Synod of Dort’s response, the viewer will clearly see that the Protestant Church understood how the Gospel would be compromised if Arminianism prevailed.

Part Two opens the Word of God, our ultimate authority for life and faith. The five points of Arminianism are put on trial as what would later come to be known as the “five points of Calvinism” are clearly and forcefully presented.

Part Three asks and answers the provocative question: If Calvinism is true, if God is absolutely sovereign; then why should we evangelize? It also explores the vital issue of how to and to whom the gospel should be presented so as to be faithful to the great doctrines of God’s sovereignty, man’s depravity, and the miracle of amazing grace.

Come learn what the great Baptist preacher C.H. Spurgeon meant when he said, “…to deny Calvinism is to deny the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The second is: Luther

Luther is the story of a spiritual leader, German monk Martin Luther (Joseph Fiennes), in opposition to the religious orthodoxy of the time (in his case, the 1600s). His goal--to bring God to the people and to take money, fear, and shame out of the equation--made him a reformer to some, a heretic to others.

Click on the above graphic to register to win. Register before May 19th to have a chance to win!

Mind And Media - My First Book

It's finally here! As an exclusive reviewer for Mind and Media I have been eagerly awaiting the new book: Jesus (An Intimate Portrait of the Man, His Land and His People) by Leith Anderson.

For those who have not yet heard Mind and Media is the brainchild of Stacy Harp who has linked the power of Christian Publishers with the power of bloggers to create an new way to let people know where to find good Christian books.

So this morning my postman brought a little manilla package stamped media mail and therein I found my first book for review. I have already begun to read and will be posting a full review here soon.

If you are interested in learning more - Check out Stacy at Mind and Media and get on board with this great concept!

616 - The Real Mark of the Beast?

Satanists, apocalypse watchers and heavy metal guitarists may have to adjust their demonic numerology after a recently deciphered ancient biblical text revealed that 666 is not the fabled Number of the Beast after all. A fragment from the oldest surviving copy of the New Testament, dating to the Third century, gives the more mundane 616 as the mark of the Antichrist.

Ellen Aitken, a professor of early Christian history at McGill University, said the discovery appears to spell the end of 666 as the devil's prime number.

"This is a very nice piece to find," Dr. Aitken said. "Scholars have argued for a long time over this, and it now seems that 616 was the original number of the beast."

The tiny fragment of 1,500-year-old papyrus is written in Greek, the original language of the New Testament, and contains a key passage from the Book of Revelation.

Where more conventional versions of the Bible give 666 as the "number of the beast," or the sign of the anti-Christ whose coming is predicted in the book's apocalyptic verses, the older version uses the Greek letters signifying 616.

"This is very early confirmation of that number, earlier than any other text we've found of that passage," Dr. Aitken said. "It's probably about 100 years before any other version."

Read the rest of the story here.

Today's Waste of Time

Random Responses is a Giant Lizard that drinks Human Blood, breathes Fire, and has Four Sets of Teeth and X-Ray Vision. Strength: 8 Agility: 5 Intelligence: 3 To see if your Giant Battle Monster can defeat Random Responses, enter your name and choose an attack: fights Random Responses using Strength Agility Intelligence

Found While Wandering the Blogsphere

The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."

- Soren Kierkegaard