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The Amish Voice 15
weekly basis claims to be a Bible-based,
New Testament church. Unfortunately,
much of what we do (and the way we do
it) doesn’t even come close to emulating
the church we read about in the New
Testament. We may be better than
some, but we are just as “institutional” as
all the other non-organic churches. The
Holy Spirit is seldom in complete control
of our church and church happenings.
In his book
Reimagining Church
, Frank
Viola said, “
In the typical institutional
church, the religious machinery of the
church program is the force that fuels
and
propels
the
church
service. Consequently, if the Spirit of
God were ever to leave a typical
institutional church, His absence would
go unnoticed. The ‘business-as-usual’
program would forge ahead. The
worship would be unaffected. The
sermon would be preached, and the
doxology would be sung. The
congregation would go right along with
the religious program – not knowing
that the Lord had departed.”
Who is in control of your life and your
church? Is the Holy Spirit in control –
or are you in control? Are you afraid of
what might happen in your life and in
your church if the Holy Spirit was in
complete control? Most of us are afraid
of anything that is unfamiliar.
If we were filled with God's Holy Spirit,
we wouldn't spend much time worrying
about church buildings, church finances
and church programs. We wouldn’t
have to because the Holy Spirit would be
in control.
If we were filled with the Holy Spirit, we
would KNOW God – instead of just
knowing about God.
The Holy Spirit is real and God wants us
to be constantly filled with Him, but
there won't be any room for the Holy
Spirit until we make room. We need to
get back to the fundamental teachings
and practices of the New Testament
church. We need to put God’s Holy
Spirit in charge of our individual lives, as
well as the church we are part of.
I get goose bumps just thinking about
what might happen if I allowed myself to
become totally filled and controlled by
God's Holy Spirit. I get even more
goose bumps thinking about what might
happen if all of God's people became
filled with his Holy Spirit.
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and
be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost.
Acts 2:38
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Romans 8:9
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.
Ephesians 4:30
I encourage you to read through the book
of Acts and see all the
extraordinary
things that took place when just a few
ordinary
men and women became filled
with God’s Holy Spirit. God wants to
do the same things today. He is just
waiting on us.
Don’t just
GO
to church;
BE
the church
In the next issues, we will be looking at
the rest of these chief dangers. In the
meantime, let us look at ourselves and
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of
the flesh (2 Cor. 7:1).
Dangers—Continued
END
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The Amish
Voice
P.O. Box 128
Savannah, OH 44805
(419) 962-1515