the work of the Spirit

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." (Romans 8:14-17 ESV)

I'm reading the letters of Jack Miller, former professor at Westminster, pastor, and director of World Harvest Mission. In one letter he writes about "why our hearts resist the work of the Holy Spirit"...

"Why, then, is the Holy Spirit not leading more of us into a maximum Christian life? The answer is that we are letting Him have only a minimal control of our life choices, both as individuals and families. We do not want Him to lead us too far along the paths of righteousness for fear that we may get hurt or someone we love may get hurt. But the concern of the Holy Spirit is contrary to our self-protective agendas. He has a holy passion for glorifying Christ. He wishes to honor Christ for His compete self-giving in His suffering. He also wishes to bring us into partnership with the Lord's work of filling up His sufferings in His disciples.... It is supremely a call to abandon self-protective strategies and awake to the truth that Christ's ascension now defines us and defines our whole universe. Look up, dear brothers and sisters, to Jesus upon the throne. Christ has ascended and in the process taken total control over human history, the world, and our lives. Believe it! Act on it! ... The Holy Spirit has been sent to act as the executive presence of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:20). He is the primary means for Jesus' conquest of ourselves and the universe." (C. John Miller, The Heart of a Servant Leader: Letters from Jack Miller, p. 91-92)

Our unbelief does not hinder God from working in us -- nothing in actuality hinders God -- but this unbelief does in fact become a reason for God to withold the blessing of his power and presence. The Lord honors faith, and specifically a faith which is manifested in what Miller calls "the abandonment of self-protective strategies." This is the kind of faith so clearly demonstrated in Hebrews 11. It is also the ongoing struggle of all Christians, including myself.

clement quotes hebrews

Clement of Rome wrote to the church in Corinth around AD 90. This is perhaps the same Clement, companion of Paul, mentioned in Philippians 4:3. Many hold him to be the first bishop / pope in Rome, aka St. Clement I. Clement quotes from the letter to the Hebrews. Origin suggested that Clement was in fact the writer (as transcriber or amanuensis) of Hebrews. Perhaps this letter began as a "word of exhortation" given by Paul at the synagogue (Heb 13:22; cf Acts 13:15) which then became a circular letter for the churches. Other possible authors of Hebrews include Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos. The theology is Pauline, but the transcriber is obviously second-generation (Heb. 2:3-4). At any rate, this early church leader in Rome, is already quoting Hebrews in his letter in AD 90: CHAPTER 36 ALL BLESSINGS ARE GIVEN TO US THROUGH CHRIST This is the way, beloved, in which we find our Savior, even Jesus Christ, the High Prie...

Howard Hendricks on OT books chronology

When I was in seminary, Howard Hendricks (aka "Prof") gave us a little card with the books of the OT chronologically arranged. The scanned copy I have was a bit blurry and I wanted to make something like this available for our church class in OT theology ("Story of Redemption"). A few minor edits and here it is...

a brief history of bcf

Blacksburg Christian Fellowship, or BCF as it is popularly known, was founded in November 1969. Prior to this time several families had been meeting for Bible study and prayer, with a particular concern that the Lord raise up an effective biblical ministry to the students of the Virginia Tech campus. Growing from these meetings, the Lord led them to begin a public ministry on Sunday mornings. The Wesley Foundation agreed to the rental of their facilities, and the first meeting was held in November 1969, with about 30 people in attendance. Since the first meeting BCF has been greatly blessed by the Lord and has seen a steady growth in ministry and in numbers. Two other local churches were formed in part from BCF. In 1974 the Lord led Houston Couch, who at that time was an Elder in BCF, to leave and start Dayspring Christian Fellowship. In 1980 Max Harris, who was a regular attender at BCF, was encouraged by the Elders and members to start a ministry which has now become Grace Cov...

my burg

Search This Blog