None of these reasons listed below are unique to me, but I thought I would collect and restate them here for you. One of the best writers on this subject is Wayne Grudem, and though I have not gone back to his writing in producing this, I am sure that his influence will be seen in this list. For more on the outworking of all this practically, please see my series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. To be provoked to pursue God wholeheartedly for all that he has for us, watch Tope's recent sermon … [Read more...]
John Piper on healing
January 30, 2013 By 5 Comments
John Piper has been getting us all in the mood for his pastor's conference next week by speaking about the gifts of the Spirit in short videos shared online. Today I want to share the one on healing. Here are some excerpts from it: "I dont see any reason that any [of the gifts] should in principle be eliminated from present experience, at least the possibility of God giving it at any time. So I would say, yes there is a gift of healing . . . the Holy Spirit gives them according to his … [Read more...]
50 Things the Holy Spirit Does
December 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Frank Viola lists 50 Things the Holy Spirit Does. "The Holy Spirit unites us to Jesus Christ and to His body. The Spirit reveals Christ to us, gives us His life, and makes Christ alive in us. The Spirit takes the experiences of Jesus . . . His incarnation, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension . . . and brings them into our own experience. Because of the Holy Spirit, the history of Jesus Christ becomes our story and experience Please don't let Franks's cheap shots at both … [Read more...]
Reformed support for Baptism with the Spirit
November 10, 2012 By 4 Comments
A friend of mine has recently published a free short e-book “The Promise of the Spirit: A Reformed View” by Peter Garner. This is available to download now. It is a very helpful read, and contains such gems as these: "To be born of the Spirit is one thing; to be baptized in the spirit is quite another. Moreover we should notice that the new birth is described in terms which mark out the Spirit as the Author leading to Jesus as the object of faith, whereas Spirit-baptism is by Jesus … [Read more...]
A readers experience of God – seeking God with hunger is the key
June 19, 2012 By 2 Comments
Tanya Marlow was kind enough to allow me to post this email she sent me in response to my post about experiencing God. If you don't already, follow her on Twitter. OH wow. I don't really know where to begin... I was so moved by this post. I think you're right - at least in the Christian circle that I move in - we rarely speak of our experiences of God. It is safe and easy to talk of our thoughts about God and teach others of His Word - sharing our relationship with God is more vulnerable. … [Read more...]
I don't just believe in God, I met with him this morning
June 15, 2012 By 2 Comments
We Christians today don't often talk about our spiritual experiences. There are all kinds of valid reasons for that. However, as the following section of my book Raised With Christ shows, Packer and the Puritans disagree with us. Now when Packer and the Puritans would seek to correct us, we should sit up and at least take note: It is remarkable how infrequently experiences such as those described below are mentioned, either during preaching or in modern Christian books. Unfortunately, many … [Read more...]
Is writing "God can heal today" on this website now illegal in the UK?
February 4, 2012 By 6 Comments
This week, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint against a Christian group who's leaflet claimed God can heal today. To be fair, their adjudications do not represent a legal judgement as such, and nobody is going to be sent to prison. But they apparently do have the power not only to stop people advertising in the printed press, but to command someone to take down a website advert. I suppose potentially, even, they could criticize this post. If they do, my defense would be … [Read more...]
God really does want to bless you!
February 2, 2012 By 3 Comments
I know, some of my readers will have read a headline like that and panicked. Has Warnie slipped into "Health wealth and prosperity" or "Word of Faith" ? Nope, not at all. But I do feel that it is so easy for us to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I remember at one point a few years ago I even began to wonder if we would be better off to stop talking about faith. Perhaps, I argued, we should simply talk about "trust" in God. Trust is a much more passive thing, and it is a component of … [Read more...]
Terry Virgo preaches for Josh Harris at Covenant Life Church on the presence of God
December 19, 2011 By 3 Comments
Terry Virgo recently preached for a weekend at Covenant Life Church, the church previously lead by C.J. Mahaney. Virgo preached his heart out about the Spirit-Filled church to a strong response. Virgo is no merely aspirational charismatic, and reports are that many received a touch from the Spirit after these sermons. … [Read more...]
How Charismatic are YOU? A Spectrum of belief and practice
December 1, 2011 By 28 Comments
Today, in the tradition of my previous Arminocalvinist Spectrum, Evolution vs Creationism Spectrum and Spectrum of belief on hell and salvation I present a "Charismatic-cessationist spectrum." For some more background on this issue, and a fairly typical charismatic perspective see my series of posts on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. As usual this may be a bit of a living document for a couple of days as I welcome suggestions for improvement from others. Intriguingly this spectrum … [Read more...]
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