Does not a trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit reflect how the will of the Father is that all of humankind is to be taught as Jesus was mortally taught, to know what Jesus mortally knew, to see things as Jesus mortally saw them, and to act as Jesus mortally acted?
"Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized?
And they said, Unto John's baptism.
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. "-Acts-
I was not raised in a church where the Holy Spirit was defined by momentary flashes of tongues and prophecy although I am aware that many congregations enjoy such an experience frequently if not regularly.
Furthermore, it is my perception that in those charismatic congregations we are more apt to find more of that emotionally vital and mystical experience of Christ that is needful to move Christian practice away from moralizing and into the more important basis of hope and faith. Charismatic churches perhaps practice a more outward manifestation of spiritual experience but they by no means possess a monopoly of the Spirit.
During the holidays, I accepted an invitation from my son to attend a candle lighting service at the City Bible Church in Portland, Oregon. I was struck by the vitality and power of that congregation which has experienced spectacular growth in the Portland community over the past 15 years.
City Bible Church is one of those healthy evangelizing and congregation-sustaining churches that impress me as doing a marvelous work in our day and age along the lines I discussed in at least three previous articles: MYSTERIUM TREMENDUM OR SOCIAL CLUB?, my book review of "RE-PITCHING THE TENT" by Richard Giles, and CHRISTIAN EVANGELISM AS AN INFLUENCE FOR GOOD.
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