A Year In Review: Book Reading List 2024

The year 2024 came with its own surprising twists and unexpected events. Early on, I transitioned from one job to a series of consulting roles until I landed what seemed to be a stable position—but only time will tell. Throughout this major professional shift, my family grew as my wife and I welcomed our fourth son. This new addition to our family brought unexpected demands on our time, more than I had bargained for. Raising four boys is no easy feat, especially when two of them have strong-willed personalities.

Despite the increased family responsibilities, I managed to continue some of my usual activities. I attended some of our weekly Bible Study with the Living Word Association (LWA) and made an effort, though limited, to fulfill my role as a Catechist for confirmation classes at my parish. Though these two commitments took a backseat, two other activities took center stage throughout the year. First, I continued joining Father Raphael and Tigana in offering a monthly Bible Study in our local parishes focused on the Gospel of St. Mark. Second, we launched a series of spiritual journeys for an ecumenical audience (both Catholics and Protestants) with a special emphasis on Charismatic gifts. This latter initiative gained remarkable momentum, growing from an initial 21 participants in 2023 to a regular gathering of 40+ attendees each month.

In addition to the monthly spiritual journey, which began in July 2024, two major retreats were conducted with guest speakers from South Africa: Br. Nesbert, Sr. Olivia, and Dr. Thierry L. Both retreats, one in June and the other in November, provided profound spiritual experiences. Unlike the 2023 event, where we played a supporting role while our guest speakers led the prayers for healing and the in-filling of the Holy Spirit (a term used in Charismatic circles to describe a profound encounter with God's love, often accompanied by physical manifestations in those receiving prayer), this time, we actively involved the participants in praying for one another. Many powerful testimonies emerged from these spiritual gatherings. People shared stories of physical healing, emotional liberation, and spiritual renewal. Some close friends who had embarked on this journey with me, seeking a greater manifestation of the Holy Spirit, were overjoyed to witness the Lord answering their longing in unexpected way.

As I do each year, I am sharing my reading list of books I was able to complete. However, I noticed a significant drop in my reading this year due to my increasingly demanding schedule. This year, and possibly going forward, I will drop the scaling I used to give to my readings:

Catholic Authors:

1. The Signs of His Coming: An Examination of the Olivet Discourse from a Preterist Perspective by David J. Palm

2. Healing - Revised and Expanded (The Bestselling Classic) by Francis MacNutt

3. Hostile Witnesses: How the Historic Enemies of the Church Prove Christianity by Gary Michuta

Protestant Authors:

1. The Quest for the Radical Middle: A History of the Vineyard by Dr. Bill Jackson

2. Nine O'Clock in the Morning by Dennis J. Bennett

3. Angels Are for Real: Inspiring, True Stories and Biblical Answers by Judith MacNutt

4. Understanding Spiritual Gifts: A Comprehensive Guide by Sam Storm

Miscellaneous Books:

1. Testing Prayer: Science and Healing by Candy Gunther Brown (Harvard University Press)

As I look forward to the new year 2025, I do so with hope, praying that it will be better than the last, all for the glory of God the Father.

"I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:6 (NABRE)

The Future of Christianity: Charismatic Unity and Doctrinal-Moral Dis-Unity

 

1) "what do you think Christianity will look like in the future?"

Christianity is growing and spreading across continents and cultures. We can also note that Christianity in its different facets is fast becoming more charismatic in its expression regardless of which theological obedience a particular Church tradition falls in, Catholic, Protestants, and Orthodox. The statistics shared in the book section 'The New Shape of World Christianity' by Mark Noll bears witness to it, Pentecostals & Charismatics are the fastest growing section of Christianity, far surpassing Evangelicals in all continents in numeric numbers (Millions : Mio) except in Oceania where Evangelicals accounts for 4.4 Million and Pentecostals / charismatic, 4.3 Million (see page 22). In all other continents, traditional Evangelicals Churches are being surpassed by Pentecostals/Charismatic Churches, Africa (69.6 Mio vs 126 Mio); North America (43.2 Mio vs 79.6 Mio); South America (40.3 Mio vs 141.4 Mio); Asia (31.5 Mio vs 134.9 Mio); and Europe (21.5 Mio vs 37.6 Mio).

All protestant's denominations are being swept by the Charismatic phenomenon which was once reserved to the Pentecostal denominations and Catholicism. Even Catholicism that has always had room for the miraculous and supernatural in its doctrinal grid, has undergone a popularization of the Charismatic phenomenon since the 1960's. I therefore think that the Church as a whole will grow more in tune with its historical Charismatic nature. One can only hope that it will also grow closer in unity with each others too.

2) "What will be the major issues and challenges?"

The major issue that Christianity face is division. And this is accentuated by the fact that a growing segment of the Church population is considered to be independent and hence disconnected to their historical origin within the Holy Catholic Church and hence freeing themselves from the bounds of normative doctrinal orthodoxy. This will make dialogue and understanding of each others more difficult as each groups develop their own language to express their faith. Misunderstandings are bound to abound in Christian dialogues if the trend continues and is not rectified.

A typical example is found in the book, "Testing Prayer" by Dr. Candy Brown, (Harvard University Press), in which she noted the following, reflecting a continuous suspicion between Christians which maintain alive the division, even within the pentecostal-charismatic system: 

"Certain Protestant respondents acknowledged that they were healed through the prayers of Catholics while simultaneously revealing an anti- Catholic bias. A woman from Imperatriz noted that “I had a balance disorder from an ear infection. I was very dizzy and could not stand on my feet for too long. I would fall from side to side. One day a Catholic sister prayed for me. I had a lot of faith and independent of her religion I was cured.” From this woman’s perspective, healing did not validate the beliefs of the person praying but instead reflected God’s compassionate response to the faith of the person seeking intercession." (Page 189)

Another issue I see is in the realm of morality. As different ideological influences search to make their peculiar morals or ethical practices enshrines within denominational systems, this will create more factions and defections within the protestants churches and orthodox churches. As for the Catholic Church, having a central head, the Pope, and a living teaching authority (the magisterium of the Church) that preserve the unity of the faith, morals and the revealed tradition, stability is expected to remain within its corridors. Nevertheless, dissenting voices within will continue to trouble the faithful by obscuring the authoritative position of the Church on questions related to morals and else. And this will continue to create discontent among uninformed Catholics and be the cause of possible schismatic behaviors if not formal schismatic acts.

Hence unity is the biggest challenge of Christianity in all its current expression now and in the foreseeable future.

My personal healing testimony

Couple of week ago, Michael Lofton from Reason & Theology had requested to his audience to send what they consider credible testimonies of the supernatural they have themselves witnessed not something that was reported to them. I found the invitation attractive and I decided to send him my testimony. I thank him for having given me the opportunity to share my story.  See below what I sent him, I hope you find it encouraging to your faith too and may the Lord Jesus be glorified for it.

......

Dear Lofton,

Greetings. As you requested in your show, please see one of my recent testimonies which I attribute to God's intervention.

 

Recent Testimony:

On the morning of April 7, 2020 - I received instant healing from my left shoulder sharp pain. I had spent the whole night in personal prayer and spiritual education. I watched a lot of Damian Stayne youtube videos and practiced on my shoulder each time he asked people in his audience to check if anything changed. Nothing happened. So I went from videos to videos, watching all the practical healing ministries including videos from the renown Catholic apostolate, Encounter ministries. By the time I reached the morning hours, I was tired and still in pain but not frustrated though. I had already learned about God's sovereignty so I didn't wonder why it didn't happen to me. I thought, maybe it would be for another day. As I was ending my personal night prayers, I decided to watch one more video, however, this time not a video on healing or miracles. Just something simple that I could relate with, maybe some apologetics. 

There was a video by Father Mathias Thelen titled, 'The Power of the Word of God'. I clicked on it expecting the usual reassuring doctrine about the importance of Holy scriptures or Bible study. I was playing a video game on my phone as I was listening to the 6 month old video by Father Thelen's expository preaching (I do not know if the preaching happened 6 months prior to my listening to it or was it posted on youtube 6 months earlier). 

Very quickly I realized that the video was about the Word of God being spoken through the 'word of knowledge' and the power it carries. Midway through his message, Father Thelen announced that 'Encounter ministries' has received an unusual 'anointing' to pray for people who have among other issues, pain in the left shoulder. When I heard that, my ear peaked. I paused my phone's game and became more attentive. Then he added, 'and people almost always get healed'. That's where he got my undivided attention. So he stopped his sermon and asked people in the audience to pray for each other by following his instruction. Since I was alone (my young family was still asleep), I laid my right hand on my left shoulder and followed the instruction. After the prayer, he asked the audience to test if the pain had either gone totally or alleviated to an 80% level. I tested, and my pain was still there! I thought, 'nice try, but I should have known, I tried it all night nothing happened'. So I went back to my phone's game while still listening to the first wave of testimonies from the audience. 

After the testimonies, he asked again that the audience repeat the exercise. I was happy to oblige. I stopped the video game, stood up in front of my laptop, and repeated every word of command he gave, just like the first time. Then he asked the audience to test if their pains were gone. That's when it happened. I moved my arm slowly as usual due to my acquaintance with the pain, but it was there I felt NO pain. I moved it again the second time to do a complete rotation and I felt NOTHING. I stopped, shocked but not sure if I did my rotation incorrectly. I did it again. NO PAIN. Then I kept rotating my arm in all directions searching for that sensation of pain I had become so accustomed to for the past 1 year due to a series of bad decisions I had made when I was doing weightlifting. Still NO PAIN. 

My pain used to be at about level 70% hurt and it was gone leaving me maybe with a level 5% pain. It wasn't a 100% pain removal. But a 5% pain was almost unnoticeable to me given that I was living with a 70% level of pain for a year.

That is how I got healed of my sharp pain on my left shoulder. I have testified it all around me here in Rwanda and some of my Christian friends in the USA and I also tried to pray for other people so that the Lord may heal them. I didn't encounter the same level of success at each turn though but I am glad the Lord was merciful to me. It was my first healing ever. At least one that I can testify without second guessing myself of its authenticity. 

Note: For me this counts as supernatural pain relief. I have maintained my healing since then and I have returned to some level of intense muscle building, but I am more careful now not to make the same bad decision as the first time. 

Holy Spirit controversy?

Long time ago, I responded to an email request about a discussion that arose on the popular discussion about the meaning of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I was younger and more aggressive, allowing little patience to statements that I considered misguided. I hope I have changed over time by being more patient now. In any case, I was surprised to read this old piece and see that my views have barely changed over the years as I keep learning about the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy this read of a zealous young man.
................................

Hello J.C friends*,

A friends of mine has sent me a long email from a friend/ acquaintance of her that kind of mocked the current teaching and doctrinal standings on baptism of the Holy Spirit and many other things. Well, I share my views in brief of that letter and I thought sharing that with you too. Hope you like it. If you disagree with me, it is ok. You have the right to disagree with me. :)

Have a nice weekend in Jesus' name.

Eric G.

H.R.Mod.

P.S: Jeunnesse Chretiènne (JC)*

...

Hello dear xxxxxx,

Thank you for sharing with me the letter of your friend. Reading it has just reinforced in me the necessity of writing my new book, 'BETRAYAL - The consequences of forsaking the teaching ministry'.

 It is just shocking and astonishing what people can write and say. And all this while they really think they even know or understand what they are talking about. It is sad.

Bon, i came late and as you can imagine i am a bit sleepy hence i can't go through a point by point refutation, correction and clarification of the biblical doctrine that he abused. However let me just touch few points here and there and i am sure that you can find the remaining one's or if there are some specifics you want me to deal with - please let me know i'll be delighted to respond to them when I'll be fully awake. :)

Let start with the first point.

I. He is right when he said we need the holy Spirit to live the Christian life. That is quite correct. This is pretty much all i can wholly agree with him with few exception here and there though.

II. " 1. Being born again and 2. Being baptized in the holy spirit. Now most church say this, but when you study the scriptures, you find out this is not what the bible says. And those who put it this way,are the ones who are seeking more power all the time from God. They're are the ones who are praying and fasting and crying for power. Because they have their Theology mixed up.In no where in the scriptures, does it make the baptism of the holy spirit a 2nd experience!"

Well, let me correct this. After Jesus resurrection and before the Jewish feast of the Pentecost, Jesus gave the Spirit to the disciples by breathing to them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" John 20:22. So according to the account in the gospel of john the disciples received the Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed on them. This was the first experience. However, before Jesus left the disciples in order to be assumed in Heaven, he said to them, 

“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 ...  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:4-5, 8. 

If you look at this portion of Acts 1, Jesus is no longer talking about receiving the Holy Spirit, for that was already done in John 20:22, but he is talking about receiving the promise of the Father. What is the promise of the Father? The baptismal with the Holy Spirit in few days. But is the baptism with the Holy Spirit? It is the reception of power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Not the reception of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22) but the reception of Power (Acts 1:8).

(NB: I emphasis this distinction now because later on i'll use verses where this distinction is not recognized by the author of Acts. Matter of fact it will become clear that 'receiving the Holy Spirit' may mean more than one thing. It may mean receiving Jesus' spirit as at the conversion, or it may mean receiving the power).  

Is the distinction I am making real or just artificial? Maybe the book of Luke can shade some lights, " I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24: 49. Again what was the promise of the father? The clothing with power! Again, the purpose of the promised of the Father, also called the baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5), is the reception of power or the clothing with power.

 On Pentecost day, which is believed to have been after 10 days after Jesus' ascension to heaven -which reminds us what Jesus said, 'in few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit ...' (Acts 1:5) - it was reported in Acts 2:4 that the disciples, " All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.". Here we see that the word baptized with the Holy Spirit is not used but rather the word filled with the Holy Spirit. This context suggest that the two words are a description of the same even. Which event? The event of the reception of power. In this situation, the first power that was manifested was their experiences with the speaking in other tongues to the amazement of those who heard them (Acts 2:12).

The story of the disciple denies the assertion that, "no where in the scriptures, does it make the baptism of the holy spirit a 2nd experience!". On the contrary, it was well a different experience with the Holy Spirit than the one they had when Jesus breathed on them. The book of revelation speaks of the seven spirit of God (Rev 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6), which can well mean that the Spirit can manifest itself in more than one way on earth. Matter of fact, even Jesus experienced the presence of the Spirit on him differently twice. 

Here is an example, 

1. "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness," (Luke 4:1) and 

2. " Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside" (Luke 4:14). 

An attentive read will realize that when Jesus was baptized on the Jordan river he received the Holy Spirit and he was full of the Holy Spirit (verse 1). However when he left his 40 days of fasting and temptation victoriously, he had then the power of the Spirit (verse 14). 

Is there other text that can help us understand this distinction? Yes, there are. Philip preach to the Samaritan (Acts 8). They believed the message Philip was preaching. They got baptized with water (Acts 8:12). However they received the power (here again the Tongues as the primary manifestation) through the laying of hands of Peter and James (Acts 8: 15-18) when they came from Jerusalem to witness the fact that the Samaritans had already received the word of God and converted. It is clear here that their conversion (via Philip) was different from their experience of the new power (via Peter and James). Certainly they received the Holy Spirit at their conversion when Philip brought them to the obedience of the Gospel. So in one sense they received the Holy Spirit for without the Spirit there can not be a new birth and a regeneration. But in another sense they had not yet received the Holy Spirit for they still had no power yet.

Remember the biblical illustration of the seven Spirit of God. This may mean a diversity in the way the Spirit manifest himself. When Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as a counselor in John 14 he used a masculine pronoun as if he was a person. But when Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1 he used a neutral pronoun as if he talked about a thing (the power). The Jehovah witness prefer the Acts 1 usage of the Holy Spirit when they discuss about him. In a sense they are right. In another sense they are wrong. They are right when they emphasize his power, but wrong when they ignore his personality. We can't apply just one criteria especially when the context prevent us to do that. Because the same word is used doesn't mean that it is talking about the same thing. The context will teach us to recognize what is going on here/there.

III. "The baptism of the holy spirit is actually what is meant by the NEW BIRTH. Now for several people,this will completely kick their theology and they'll be like: oooohh what am I hearing??? And you found out all the people who say this never really studied the subject concerning the Holy Spirit."

I have already shown that this is an non careful way to read the scripture. Actually these verses in Acts 8 will show that this is not true:

"12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 

13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 

15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them;they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit."

The Samaritans were new believers for the accepted the word of God (verse 14-15) but the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them yet! This is a biblical example that shows that this really happened, and i see no reason why it can't happen again in our century. The context inform us that the Holy Spirit they had not yet received is in fact the power of the Holy Spirit, for when they received the Holy Spirit there were a visible things that was happening to the people as witnessed by even Simon when the disciple placed their hands on them (verse 18).

And in the incident of the disciples in Ephesus that Paul met, contrary to what we were told, the reason Paul might have asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" in Acts 19:2, when the disciples said to him, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." it is because It appears that during the Christian baptism the name of the Holy Spirit is pronounce as recorded in Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," So even if they never heard of a teaching on the Holy Spirit, at least we know they should have heard at least once in their lives that there is such a thing or such a person as the Holy Spirit on the day of their baptism if their baptism followed Jesus model and teaching. So saying they 'never even heard of the Holy Spirit' was really astonishing. Hence Paul wondered what kind of baptism did they receive?

However this is not even the most troubling aspect of this story. The aspect that is really revealing is the fact that Paul asked this question when he first met these disciples for the first time, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" (Acts 19:2) -- It is as if Paul is assuming that it is even possible for someone to believe without receiving the Holy Spirit at the same time. We have to grant this point when reading the text, otherwise this would have made Paul question nonsensical if that was not possible in any case to believe and not receive the Holy Spirit! So we also have to learn from this apostolic experience to assume that we can meet with Christians who have not yet received the Holy Spirit. 

And here again, the expression is used not with regards to receiving the Holy Spirit as part of the conversion but receiving it as part of the power that was promised. The context show that they received the ability to prophesy (verse 6) when they received the Holy Spirit indicating by this that Paul meant by receiving the Holy Spirit - the experience of receiving some power as promised by the Father - namely the baptism of the Holy Spirit (remember the discussion on Acts1 above). 

The rest of his discussion is at best tangential to this issue of the timing of the baptism of the Holy Spirit when he converts or at worst irrelevant to the issue. All this shows is that your friends confuses things and do not understand the elementary issues of Christian doctrines, particularly this one, 

"Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.3 And this we will[a] do if God permits." (Hebrews 6:1-3)

Notice that the point 3 in the elementary principles is the doctrine of baptisms (in plural). The New Testament speaks of different form of baptisms namely, a. water baptism (Acts 8: 36-37), b. baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5), c. baptism in body (1 Corinthians 12:13), d. baptism of suffering (Luke 12:50), e. baptism of fire (Matthew 3:11). Your friends seem to have a real hard time to distinguish between some of them. And this is just the elementary stuffs of Christian principles. How can you expect him to have a developed theology on systematic theology? Impossible. It is clear by his writing that he is just a novice thinker of biblical doctrines who hasn't taken the time sharpen his views notwithstanding his self-congratulating pose. He is just thinking higher about himself than he should have. He still have a long way to go before he start presenting a mature pneumatology or even a coherent soteriology.

But at least he is trying to think out of the box. Pas mal. I am curious to read what he is going to send you again. :)

I hope my small reaction will help you frame the debate in a more fruitful context with him.

GBU

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

By W. Frank Walton

Christians are commanded, "be filled with the Spirit" (Eph 5:18). The phrase "filled with the Holy Spirit" is found several times in Acts (Acts 2:4, 4:8, 6:3, 7:55, 9:17, 13:9, 52), as well as other parts of Scripture (Ex 31:3, Lk 1:15). How this applies is an exercise in contextual Bible study, since there are various manifestations of the Spirit's work, either miraculous or non-miraculous, by influencing men.

In the Bible, various individuals being "filled" with: anger (Acts 19:28), jealously (Act 5:17), unrighteousness (Rom 1:29), joy (Acts 13:52), knowledge (Rom 15:14) or comfort (2 Cor 7:4). This "filling" is being overcome, controlled, or strongly influenced by the aforesaid responses to various external sources. It was a self-chosen reaction to allow oneself to be so controlled. Ananias' heart was "filled" by Satan when he gave into temptation to lie and deceive (Acts 5:3-4). This "filling" was nothing miraculous but a free-will choice to be overcome by an external inducement.

In the Spirit's filling (controlling, influencing) someone, the Spirit acts either (1) miraculously or (2) providentially. This means He acts either (1) immediately (directly) by miraculous power or (2) mediatorily (indirectly through a medium) by providence. God has always chosen various methods or means in order to do His work, but it is not less powerful because God is acting either directly or indirectly.

1. Miraculous Power and Direct Guidance From the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, artisans on the tabernacle where given direct, divine aid to perfectly craft the tabernacle (Ex 31:3; 35:31,35). They were said to be "filled with the Spirit and wisdom." In the NT, prophesying (miraculous direct revelation from the Holy Spirit) is called being "filled with the Spirit" (Lk 1:67, Acts 13:9). The Spirit, as part of process of "inspiration," controlled the very words they spoke (2 Pet 1:21).

The apostles particularly were promised this guidance "into all truth" by the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:13-15). This was fulfilled in the preaching of Peter (Acts 4:8) and Paul (Acts 9:17). Also, this "filling" of the Spirit is the miraculous gift of tongue-speaking given to the apostles to speak "the mighty deeds of God" in foreign languages (Acts 2:4,6,8). The miraculous "filling" of the Holy, either by the direct baptism of the Spirit power on the apostles or the miraculous gifts bestowed the apostles' hands, was predicted by the Holy Spirit to cease after the passing of the apostolic age (Zech 13:1-2, Jn 16:13, 1 Cor 13:8-13). One should not expect to be miraculously filled by the Spirit today. The Spirit's revelation in the NT is complete and stands confirmed without the need of further miraculous attestation (2 Pet 1:3, Ju 3, Mk 16:20).

2. Direction by the Holy Spirit's Written Revelation. All Christians receive a common or ordinary measure of the Holy Spirit at baptism (Acts 5:32, Jn 7:37-39). This simply is a close, spiritual relationship with the Spirit, which by metonymy stands for all blessings and privileges as a child of God. This "gift of the Holy Spirit," by parallel construction in the blessing of conversion, is also called "times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 2:38, 3:19).

The Spirit is the "seal" (mark of divine ownership) and "earnest" (down payment to insure future blessings) of our salvation (Eph 1:13-14). Stephen, before he began performing miracles from the apostles' laying their hands on him, was already "full of faith and of the Spirit" (Acts 6:5). He was "full of the Spirit
and of wisdom" (Acts 6:3), which indicates practical application of spiritual truth. The Gentile believers, upon receiving the gospel revealed by the Spirit, were "filled with joy and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 13:52). This was their response to the Spirit's revelation through the preaching of Paul and Barnabas (Acts
13:46-49).

Instead of being controlled by alcohol or drunkenness (Eph 5:18), Christians for all time are commanded to "be filled with the Spirit." How is this done? Paul explains that is by engaging in the spiritual exercise of "singing...and making melody in our hearts unto the Lord" (Eph 5:19). The parallel passage in Col 3:16
makes clear that "be filled with the Spirit" is the same thing as "let the word of Christ dwell in your richly." Hence, as the Word revealed by the Spirit "dwells" in or influences our life, then we are being filled or controlled by the Spirit. This is the same thing as being "filled with knowledge of the will of God" ( Col 1:9). The disciples were filled with the "comfort of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:31), which is the comfort and strength from the Spirit's revealed promises and direction (Acts 16:4-5). The person of the Spirit dwells
in us (has a close, personal relationship), in conjunction with how His revelation influences and controls us. The Spirit's sword or instrument by which He works in the conviction, conversion and sanctification of people is by the medium of "the word of God" (Eph 6:17).

3. Spiritual Dedication to the Holy Spirit's Work. Interestingly, we note that John the Baptist was "filled with the Holy Spirit," while in his mother's womb (Lk 1:15). This was before he could speak or act, but he was marked for dedication to a divine work. Although this prophet and forerunner of Christ was "filled with the Spirit," he did not perform miraculous signs (Jn 10:41). This to mean he was "dedicated" or controlled from birth by the Spirit in doing his God-ordained work. The Holy Spirit's main work is to point men to God's will and to glorify Jesus' saving work (Jn 16:13-15).

Practically, we have the Spirit's divine revelation in Scripture, which was first given to men miraculously by the Spirit's filling them with prophetic oracles. Also, we can be "filled with the Spirit," as well as "worship in the Spirit" (Phil 3:3) and be "led by the Spirit" (Rom 8:14), as we are guided by the means or instrument of the Spirit's revelation of truth through the apostles (Jn 16:13, 14:17). "God has chosen you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth" (2 Thess 2:13). Here the Spirit works in our growth in holiness, in conjunction with our belief in His truth revealed. Carnal, shallow, worldly-minded Christians are "devoid of the Spirit" (Jude 19). Deeply spiritual Christians follow the Spirit's leading through His Word, which how we "walk by the Spirit." Therein, we wondrously bear "the fruit of the Spirit…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…" (Gal 5:22-25).
.....

P.S: Don't forget to check out my book - Help Me Understand Jesus. Check My Book by clicking here or more here.

A Response To A Cessationist - Part I

Last year, i wrote a series of post on a yahoo forum (JC) as a response to some views that i have always found difficult that some intelligent christian who dearly love the lord still uphold those views. Hear it is:
..........                                                         ......                                                        ........             
A good friend of mine sent me a letter from a christian christian who seem to believe that the miraculous act of God through the Spirit has stopped when the Bible was completed. So as i read it, it made me laugh and i thought since it doesn't take any effort whatsoever to refute his view i decided to take a break from my busy schedule and relax in responding to his letters. I want as a disclaimer to mention that i do have a healthy respect of the Bible and that i do use the scripture for my personal life quite intensively and i do also use it when i exhort, teach or evangelize. So whatever you may think while reading my numerous intervention, i am not denigrating the value of the scripture, i am just attacking in deconstructing the evangelical cessationist argument advanced in the letter i read.

 I like evangelical and i learnt a lot from them in the past and i am still learning. But when they come against the move of the Holy Spirit as conceived in the pentecostal/charismatic theology, we depart company. And i have to say that not all evangelical churches have that discomforting view on the Holy Spirit move. Some are quite indistinguishable from their distant cousin: the Pentecostal/charismatic church. I was in such evangelical church this morning. So this ain't an attack to any church but to a view that i guess need to be confronted merely because though it claims to be pro- biblical, they argument is far from it. Sadly!

So enjoy. It comes in three part ... so relax and take it slowly. If any question arises, i'll be delighted to try to comment on them to the best of my ability when i have time.

Cheers and have a great and blessed week in Jesus name, 


A) "As I said to being the study, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for Paul to be telling us when these things are going to stop (1 Cor 13) if they are going to stop at the end of the world “ that would go without saying, all things stop then."

Incorrect! the argument we made was not that all the spiritual gifts will stop at the end of the world but when their ultimate purpose in the body of Christ will be fulfilled, meaning at the perfection of the church, which is not yet the case! Unless, some proof is advanced and shown that the church is already perfect at the perfect stature of Christ (without blemish). (Eph 5:25-27) there are no logical reason to believe that the spiritual gifts such as prophecy and else are no longer active nowadays.

B) "Remember that God's word (the Bible) is called "the perfect law of liberty" in James 1:25.  Thinking about how we knew yesterday the "part" refers to part of the body in Luke 11:36 (because the part and whole will be of the same nature in such a contrast), then by that same reasoning we know the perfect of I Cor 13:10 must refer to the means by which God gives his complete New Testament revelation/law, since the "part" is referring to the means by which God gives his New Testament revelation/law in parts.  A part of a cherry pie comes from a whole cherry pie.  And the means by which God gives his complete New Testament law is the Bible, the written New Testament “as we have it today in our hands."

First of all, James wasn't writing his letter after the completion of the New Testament (N.T). He was writing the christian scripture himself when he wrote about the perfect law of liberty to his audience in his epistle. Hence, he was N0T speaking about the Bible since the New Testament wasn't even completed, nor was the rest of the chapter in his epistle that followed the first chapter were the term 'perfect law' was written. He was speaking of something else than the Bible as we know it today to his readers who apparently knew what that perfect law of liberty was all about, even thought they may have not been able to apply the principle. Secondly, it is just bad scholarship to say that 1 Co 13:10 refers to the mean by which God gives his complete N.T, since the text doesn't even refer to a mean or a mechanism of the NT writings.

C) "First let's look at John chapters 14-16.  Examine 15:16a, 27b, 17:6, 12, 18, 20 and see if you don't agree with me that Jesus is talking about the apostles being guided into all the truth (16:13), not every Christian.  This guiding into all the truth is referring to the inspiration of the New Testament books.  So they would be guided into all the truth in their lifetime; the revealing of God's New Testament law is not an ongoing thing."

Fascinating and hilarious! No, Jesus wasn't just saying that the Holy Spirit was the helper and teacher of the Apostles only and not the rest of the Christian community during the generations to come. And second, it refers to the inspiration of the future scriptures also certainly but not only that. See it this way, there were 12 disciples who received this message from Jesus, but we only have the writings of only three of them, namely, Mathew, Peter and John. So were are the other revelations that came to the other 8 remaining apostles (i left Judas Iscariot out)? If that was just to the 12 apostles before Christ crucifictions, then where is the other truths and revelation from the others? or do we have to assume that they recorded them and it got lost? if that is the case, we certainly have an incomplete revelation of the truth then? Unless one want to argue that only three of them received the Holy Spirit privy teachings, there is no way we can explain the absence of the other apostles writings. And that makes it again weird since the new testament have other writers who weren't from the original 12. So why is their writings part of the NT? Paul, Luc, Jude, Mark, the author of Hebrew and probably James. What on earth were they writing in the New Testament (NT) and why was their writings in the NT?

James who might be another James, not the one of Acts hence not an apostles - but i'll concede and grants him as an apostle just to have fun, which makes the writings of the original apostles of Jesus of John 15-17 on the ratio of 4 to 7 - if James is added! Still not the majority!

D) " The scriptures (written word of God) is intended to make the man of God perfect (complete), throughly furnished unto all good works.  Not the Scripture is given that the man of God may be almost perfect, partially furnished unto most good works (so we need our feelings and extra Biblical revelation)."

Unnecessarily pedantic! This verse of 1 Tim 4:17 doesn't explain how the scripture will make the man of God perfect. The mechanism is explained in Ephesian 4  where it is clearly said that it is those who have the gifts who are the ones who will be used to make the Body of Christ perfect. Simply said, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,  the teachers and the Pastors uses the word of God through their respective gifting to perfect the Church of Christ. The scripture can be at time a milk for babies and a solid food for spiritual adults. So it is not self learned! It is learned under the supervision of those who have been called in the ministry! So he missed the point of 1 Tim 4. It is not a counter argument, but a supporting argument to Ephesians 4 and to Ephesian 5:25-27

E) "Consider that Rev 20:12 teaches we are going to be judged by the things written in the books (of the Bible), not by our feelings or supposed modern day revelations."

Incorrect commentary! Judgement will be done in many ways: "Mat 7:2  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." .. Even Jesus said that 'by your words you will be judged!' Moreover the book of Revelation did not speak of the Bible since the Bible wasn't even canonized at that time! It happened few centuries later (4th century)! It refers to "the book of this prophecy" (Rev 22:19) meaning the book of Revelation itself, it is in the singular. As for Rev 20:12, one has just to read it to realize that someone has been misreading the scripture. 

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in THE BOOKS, according to their works.

This verse talks of Books in the plural. And it says that there was one book of life, so among all the 66 books of the bible, which one is the book of life according to your theology? Is it the Gospel of John? or the epistle of Jude? or is it the book or Ruth?


This is why i find this view wanting.

More on that in the next part. Check My Book here or more here.