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The Supernatural Life of the Believer
I had a former student complain to me recently that the problem with ‘some charismatics’ is that they see a demon behind every tree as if every event was somehow supernatural. The real problem is, of course, that every event is supernatural, at least if we are doing it right and really, even if we aren’t. But I understand the sentiment because, after all, the supernatural appears to us as vague and indistinct. Our bacon and eggs in the morning; those are real. The gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit, maybe not so much. But all of Christianity hinges on a supernatural reality that leads to another supernatural reality. After…
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Rejection vs Abandonment: Soul and Spirit Wounds
Over the course of my prayer ministry, I have noticed a thing or two about rejection and abandonment. Both are immensely painful, but the struggles that surround each differ somewhat. I have noticed that while rejection is a wound in the soul, abandonment is a wound of the spirit. As I look at Jesus’ road to Calvary, I find that He had to encounter both. However, while He endured rejection with a certain amount of stoicism, abandonment caused Him to cry out. He died immediately after. In case you are not completely sure about the difference between the two; the spirit is our power source. When we die, our spirits…
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How Testimony is Power in the Bible
What makes the testimony of the disciples so believable in the days after the resurrection of Jesus is that their experience of God left them transformed. In the three days preceding Christ’s rising from the dead, the eleven sat cowering in their homes, sure of their imminent arrest. A little over a month later, and they were proclaiming Christ’s resurrection from the streets of Jerusalem in tongues they did not know. Thousands of Jews came to know their Messiah through the power of their testimony. And their testimony had power because it was not merely intellectual assent but transformative body, soul, and spirit. We live in a world that values…