teisipäev, veebruar 21, 2006
"That Holy Thing" by Captain Stephen Court
[The full article is at http://www.armybarmy.com/article13.html]
"That Holy Thing"
by Captain Stephen Court
"And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Do you get it?
That holy thing is all about Jesus.
But the angel Gabriel explained the process here. Holy Spirit comes on you. He overshadows you. And there is fruit (that’s our Jesus- ‘that holy thing’).
You Knew All Along?
Too easy.
You know the story, don’t you? Mary, teenaged virgin fiancée, gets a surprise visit from an archangel who twice asserts that she is highly favoured. God likes her a lot!
The language here is pretty sanitized. I mean, it’s like when Catherine Booth complains,
"Many more of God’s people might have (this experience)... but they are not willing to be wrapped in His arms; they are not willing to be pressed to His bosom; they are not willing to know Him in a Scriptural sense; they are not willing to be given up and consumed by God."
Now, Catherine sounds conventional until you realize she’s using a little King James lingo when she grumbles that we aren’t willing to know God in a Scriptural sense. You may remember the Old Testament observation, “Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived” (Genesis 4:1 AV).
Get it, now? Adam ‘knew’ Eve, and she got pregnant. And Holy Spirit ‘overshadowed’ Mary, and she got pregnant. And Catherine exhorts us to get wrapped up in His arms, to ‘know’ Him, and get pregnant.
Scandalous.
That holy thing is a scandalous issue.
Too many Christians, people like you, meander aimlessly through a sinfully boring existence, because they aren’t up to some supernatural intimacy. Or, if they do engage in it, it’s all about your pleasure; you don’t want to produce any fruit!
As John Wesley said, “The Gospel of Christ knows… no holiness but social holiness.”
Embrace your Partner.
There will be fruit. That holy thing will be conceived in your life. And that will infect a lot of other people’s lives.
Not Your Grandmother’s Holiness.
I hope you’re convinced by now that this is not your grandmother’s holiness we’re pitching here. This is not a bunch of impositions and limitations. You can go to movies. You can dance. All of that. And we’re convinced, that holy thing is ridiculously contagious once you catch it yourself. We’re exhorting you to embrace the outrageous.
Don’t dabble. Plunge.
"That Holy Thing"
by Captain Stephen Court
"And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Do you get it?
That holy thing is all about Jesus.
But the angel Gabriel explained the process here. Holy Spirit comes on you. He overshadows you. And there is fruit (that’s our Jesus- ‘that holy thing’).
You Knew All Along?
Too easy.
You know the story, don’t you? Mary, teenaged virgin fiancée, gets a surprise visit from an archangel who twice asserts that she is highly favoured. God likes her a lot!
The language here is pretty sanitized. I mean, it’s like when Catherine Booth complains,
"Many more of God’s people might have (this experience)... but they are not willing to be wrapped in His arms; they are not willing to be pressed to His bosom; they are not willing to know Him in a Scriptural sense; they are not willing to be given up and consumed by God."
Now, Catherine sounds conventional until you realize she’s using a little King James lingo when she grumbles that we aren’t willing to know God in a Scriptural sense. You may remember the Old Testament observation, “Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived” (Genesis 4:1 AV).
Get it, now? Adam ‘knew’ Eve, and she got pregnant. And Holy Spirit ‘overshadowed’ Mary, and she got pregnant. And Catherine exhorts us to get wrapped up in His arms, to ‘know’ Him, and get pregnant.
Scandalous.
That holy thing is a scandalous issue.
Too many Christians, people like you, meander aimlessly through a sinfully boring existence, because they aren’t up to some supernatural intimacy. Or, if they do engage in it, it’s all about your pleasure; you don’t want to produce any fruit!
As John Wesley said, “The Gospel of Christ knows… no holiness but social holiness.”
Embrace your Partner.
There will be fruit. That holy thing will be conceived in your life. And that will infect a lot of other people’s lives.
Not Your Grandmother’s Holiness.
I hope you’re convinced by now that this is not your grandmother’s holiness we’re pitching here. This is not a bunch of impositions and limitations. You can go to movies. You can dance. All of that. And we’re convinced, that holy thing is ridiculously contagious once you catch it yourself. We’re exhorting you to embrace the outrageous.
Don’t dabble. Plunge.
