Gifts of the Holy Spirit and our writing

I think the Lord is more ready to speak through our writing than we realize.

I just finished reading, Charismatic Gifts in the Early Church--An Exploration into the Gifts of the Spirit During the First Three Centuries of the Christian Church by Ronald A. N. Kydd. It's his doctoral thesis at St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Scotland.

He writes a sad conclusion: These three centuries saw dramatic changes in the Christian church. In the midst of all this, the gifts of the Spirit vanished. There came a point around A.D. 260 at which they no longer fitted in the highly-organized, well-educated, wealthy, socially powerful Christian communities. The Church did not lose its soul, but it did lose these special moments when God broke into the lives of men and women.

Well, up to a point, yes. Every congregation is different. And I know we all see God's hand in our lives.

But for the most part, the strong presence and moving of God as the first church saw it--those who walked with Jesus and the eyewitnesses--was gone.

Another point to consider: Some who study Bible prophecy look at the world's political alliances and see Ezekiel 37 & 38 looming.

If it's the case, that could put us in the last church era of the Laodicean church of Revelation 3. That's the bad news.

The good news is, that's the reason we don't see more of the Lord's hand in our world.

But however much we do see, we could see more, I think.

He is knocking at the door of this church! Revelation 3:20.

I said all that to say, Let's let Him in! LOL In His fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Missionaries today come back from foreign fields telling of the moving of the Holy Spirit in wonderful ways.

If we pray to "be (Greek--continually) filled with the Holy Spirit," Ephesians 5:18, we might be surprised at what He will do in our writing. (And in our lives.) It would be more than interesting to find out.

art and adverbs

I was just thinking about art and adverbs! Weird? Not too.

I read someone's critique about how she may or may not want to use a certain adverb.

Well, of course, adverbs are a legitimate part of the tools of our trade. But, granted, we must be careful not to overuse them.

Same as in art. An artist has tools, and can't just attack a canvas creatively without an awareness of how to mix paints. Certain shades of red and green may be dazzling side-by-side, but if they overlap and become mixed, they can become a muddy brown or gray. We have to know a little about what we're doing if we're going to be satisfied with the result.

But I can't see rejecting a certain tool like an adverb because of overuse.

I can't imagine never painting with a certain color.

Having a Daniel moment....

Praying right now a la Daniel 9:20 and 2 Chronicles 7:14.... praying & confessing my sin & the sin of my people:

In the mighty name of Jesus--Lord, this land was started as a city on a hill, by people who loved you.... We've strayed so far from their ideals--and Yours.

Please forgive our sins, our selfishness, our greed, our idolatry of ourselves and our own pleasures.

Use us to inspire others to love you and the simplicity that is in Christ, and the guidance of your living Word....

Put Your person in the White House, please don't bring us to our knees with a bad president...

We agree with you, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord"....

Please, Lord, heal our land. Thank you.

"Where two or three agree...." Matt 18:19.

www in Hebrew is--a startling visual for today...

Guess how you write www in Hebrew. 666. No kidding. I once took a class in Hebrew, for fun, and noticed this extremely interesting little detail.

Here's why: Like Roman numerals, Hebrew letters are also numbers. And unlike in English, Hebrew is read from left to right.

So, take a look at the chart and notice there is no w. If you wanted to write www.whatever etc. in Hebrew, theoretically, you would use the v.

Scroll way down to the numbers. You'll see that if you wrote vvv, you wrote the equivalent of--666.

Now, this article points out that that is not the same as six hundred and sixty and six. In Roman numerals, you wouldn't use III to write one hundred eleven.

All I know is, it's a very startling visual in these times when Jerusalem is a "burdensome stone" always in the news along with Persia, Babylon, Gog and Magog. (Iran, Iraq, and Russia.)

We live in interesting times. Knowledge increasing, people traveling, markets shuddering, sabers rattling. What all this means depends on your school of thought, and my friends are free to subscribe to their own.

And if I were ruler of the world, I would communicate with the world via the internet, wouldn't you? On the 666.

(Of course, the internet itself is neither good nor evil. It is used for much good and much evil.)

While we're not to obsess, but stay busy, still, there is the promise of a crown for those who long for His appearing.

Again, my friends are free to enjoy their own schools of thought. But I think it's too much a coincidence to be a coincidence.

What do you think?

While you're thinking, get ready!

God bless~

Total Praise When I Don't Know What to Do!

When my character, Maggie, felt like God had betrayed her, she turned to darkness in her search for help. But her mother-in-law knew a secret--the secret of praise as she prayed for Maggie.

For praising the Lord in this bailout situation, the lying lamestream press, gridlock in Congress and all the problems in the world--I just love this song:

"When I Don't Know What to Do" by Drew Bounds.

And for the goodness of God and the beauty of His earth, and the sweetness of His love and the gift of love through people, and all sorts of blessings--I adore this song! "Total Praise"

The Lord bless our writing and use us for His glory and our joy.

Psst, want to get rich?

Quoted from a favorite newsletter:

God has a prosperity theology! I'm not making this up! There are two specific things we can do and if we do them, God promises to prosper us. Are you ready?

Number one: Meditate on God's WordJoshua 1:8. God commanded Joshua, as he was leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land, to meditate on the Word of God day and night and promised him that if he did so, God would make his way prosperous and successful! Who knew? (Me: This is the only place success is used in the King James Version.)

Psalm 1:1-3. If our delight is in God's Word and we meditate on it day and night, then God says whatever we do will prosper!

Number two: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem
Psalm 122:6. God commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and then promises that those who love Jerusalem (a signpost for Israel and her people) will prosper! Another aha! moment.

Do you pray for Israel? She's in sore need of our prayers today. She's surrounded on all sides by those who would like to see her people obliterated.
Do you understand that Israel is still the apple of God's eye and that He won't abide those who do her harm? ... By Heidi Sandler

******

One of my characters, David, goes to Israel to find his Jewish roots. He finds that and more in that beautiful, troubled land.

I want as much prosperity as God knows I can handle without getting distracted from Him. See

Proverbs 30:7-9.


Jan Markell wrote Gone the Golden Dream, which I enjoyed long ago and far away. So I was happy to find her website a few years later, and receive her newsletters. Check'em out.

Jan Markell's Olive Tree Ministries.

So, didn't God listen? "If MY people..."

So, we rebuked the storm and spoke to the storm, (see below) and prayed it would go away, and still, we were hit with the storm. It could have been a lot worse. But we were hit.

Are we in a terrible weather cycle? Or part of the birth pangs of (click here:) Luke 21 with the sea roaring?

Or is God judging this country?

Because, not just those in the path of the storm, but the whole country suffers economically and many, emotionally, when we see this misery and destruction.

What is the answer? I'm not sure, but I'm surely paying attention to this:

"If *my people,* which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked, ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.

One other possibility:

Joel 3
The Nations Judged 1 "In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. [a]
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning my inheritance, my people Israel,
for they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land.

May God forgive us.

Speaking TO the storms

Praise because Gustav slowed down and didn't do much wind damage. Some cool air came in--the cool wind of the Spirit, perhaps? The whole RNC and millions of viewers prayed against that storm! (Not being partisan here, just Christian!)

Praise for a wonderful time, a week with cousins in my home. We really had fun, then they had a long drive home. Some got their AC back only today. And lost it again while the power company fixed light poles for a while.

Now, they wonder if they must leave again. So do Houstonians!

Beth Moore teaches that praying aloud exercises and results in more faith:

2 Corinthians 4:13--"We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak."

Let's do what Jesus did in Mark 4:39 and say out loud to the storms, "Peace, be still," in His powerful name.

Because He said in John 14:12, "Greater things
than I do, you can do, because I go to the Father."

It's probably, usually, about unity--imagine if every Spirit-filled Christian in the world spoke aloud to the storms! That's a lot of prayer power. Let's do it!

Let's say it aloud, right now, and every time we hear a weather report--and then, don't turn around and speak against our prayers, saying, "Oh, it's headed toward wherever."

Let's say it and believe for it in the mighty name of Jesus.

To the storm: "In the mighty name of Jesus, I say,
'Peace, be still!'"

Soaring on a song

Last night we kicked off the new choir season. We invited new people, and our little church had 80in the choir loft. What a way to start the week.

My character, Maggie, marries a Navy pilot who sings. But when tragedy strikes, she wants to make her own kind of music before she can ever sing songs like these....

Click here and enjoy: More than Enough and Total Praise.

Three Kings in this city!

In a different direction this weekend, went to Memphis, Tennessee, with my church choir, to tour Graceland and sing concerts in two churches.

Graceland was amazing. I have blogged about Elvis before, (click here )--a kind and ultra-talented man who took kind of an, um, distracted side trip from his Christian roots. But he always eschewed the title, "The King," saying, "There is only one King--Jesus."

We also visited the site of the assassination of Martin Luther King. There had been a strike of sanitation workers. The basic issue had been lack of timely paychecks, as I understand it. And you know the rest of the terrible story.

Then, the reason for the trip: We sang in two churches, in Memphis and Brownsville.

The response ministered back to us. The first church we sang in stood up during one of our songs, "Something Happens." Click here for an online performance I found.

Well, something happens with that song, all right, it'll knock your socks off, but it's the first time I sang in a choir that got that response and it was awesome to know I was part of something the Lord was using to really bless people.

And did they bless us back, with lasagne, Southern fried chicken, fresh vegetables, chocolate chip pecan pie, and so on.

Before the second service, we had prayer time and I asked that the Lord minister to us through His people again--with their response to the songs, I mean.

And they did. The second church stood and clapped during a third of the songs!

I mean, right in the middle of a song, if they liked its message, they'd stand up and clap. Like for "How Great Thou Art."

And click on "When I Don't Know What to Do." The solo in our version was sung by a young woman who came out of a very rough background, mom and sibs in jail, to graduate with honors and attend college now. She has never sung in a choir or anywhere else before. And in "Cry Holy," "Grace," and again in "Something Happens."

The pastor made us sing the fun "Hallelujah Anyhow" twice.

It was exhilarating in the spirit. And such freedom for the Spirit.

Makes you think the Lord meant every word in Psalm 149 and Psalm 150.