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Added for You - Holy Spirit - His Effect: Uniting or Dividing?
Online currency trading in increasing in popularity and with it comes the good, the bad and the “you know what.” Like any business venture there are people out there waiting to take advantage of you and people who genuinely want to help.Some people hocking learn to trade packages are internet marketers riding the wave of a hot market in search of profits, while others are season professionals looking to create a win-win scenario for you.So what do you do?Here are 5 simple thoughts to keep in mind as your search for your Forex education online:1. The Forex Education Program ItselfYou want to make an assessment of the Forex education program’s approach to learning and ensure it matches your style. Some people can learn by reading a book (very few!), while other require a more structured hand holding approach. Some like a classroom environment, while others want to learn live and online.Make sure you have access to live instructors, this will be your life-line when things get tough. Bottom line; If it resonates with you, then it most likely will fit and you will learn.2. Guarantee Needs to be RealMake sure the Forex education program you consider offers an adequate guarantee. Some programs out there offer only a 2-week trial for big dollar training packages. The refund period should be appropriate for the cost and 30-days at a minimum. The guarantee should provide adequate time to evaluate the product or service and then some.On th
We need three things for this unity to occur. First, we need to recognize our common ground: all the spiritual blessings accomplished for all sinners in Jesus Christ and applied to each obedient believer by the Spirit. Second, we must accept our responsibility to maintain this unity with the attitudes of humility and mutual respect that the Spirit prompts in our hearts. Third, we need to gain a deeper understanding of the Spirit by careful Bible study.
Choices about the Holy Spirit
I believe that a great proportion of the biblical doctrine of the Spirit can be summarized into a series of either-or questions. Searching for and finding the answers to these questions will result in a significant gain in clarity regarding the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which in turn should lead to fundamental progress in how we all can harness the Spirit to accomplish His purpose to bring believers together and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of these questions are:
- What is the Spirit’s effect: uniting or dividing? (this essay)
- What is the Spirit’s identity: person or force?
- What is the Spirit’s contact with our world: active or passive?
- Is the Spirit’s outpouring exceptional or usual?
- The Spirit’s conduit: mind or feelings?
- Does the Spirit’s leading involve developing wisdom or "fleecing" God?
- Does the Spirit come to each believer by grace or by works?
- Is the Spirit’s main work His fruit or His gifts?
- Was the Spirit’s proof the tongues of men or the tongues of angels?
- Is the Spirit’s focus Christ or the Spirit Himself?
- Is the Spirit’s lifestyle to be satisfied or to be thirsty?
- Are the Spirit’s people spiritual or carnal?
- Is the Spirit’s deposit a present blessing or a future hope?
Series on Holy Spirit Choices
In future essays, we will seek answers each of these questions. To
Are you a homeowner who lives in the Chula Vista area? If you are, have you ever had your home inspected for mold? If you have yet to do so, you may want to think about doing so, as there are a number of different things that hiring the services of a professional Chula Vista mold inspector can do for you.One of the many things that a Chula Vista mold inspector can do for you is let you know if you have mold in your home. Although some molds are easy to spot, there are other molds that are not so easy to see. Also, it tends to depend where the mold in your home, if you have any, is located. For instance, mold commonly grows in bathrooms and in basements. Due to lighting and more traffic, it is often easier to spot mold in a bathroom than it is to spot in a basement and other hard to see locations. A Chula Vista mold inspector knows this; therefore, they are more likely to find mold, even if you can’t find it or see it yourself.In addition to letting you know whether or not your home has mold growth, a Chula Vista mold inspector can also let you know what type of mold your home has. This is extremely important. Once a Chula Vista mold inspector has determined what type of mold you have, it will be easier for them to go about treating and removing the mold. Knowing what type of mold is in your home, if any is at all, will make it easier to properly treat and remove the mold, making it less likely for a reoccurrence to develop. Also, if it is found that your home has dangerous amounts of d
According to the Apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit was supposed to be a blessing from the Father to unify His children. Consider three of the apostle’s exhortations.
To the Corinthians – In his characteristic way of starting with truths he shares with his readers, Paul reminds the Corinthians that the possession of the Holy Spirit is one of the main things all of the Christians have in common. The Spirit’s divine presence should pull them together, not tear them apart. Paul observes:
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by [or in] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. —1 Corinthians 12:12–13
Note the alls in these verses. Despite all of their differences, the Corinthian Christians had one thing in common, the Holy Spirit. All of them were soaked in the Spirit at their baptism and at that time, all of them received the Spirit as if drinking Him in like a desert wanderer gulps water at an oasis well. As far as God is concerned, there is no such thing as a distinction between a "Christian" and a "Spirit-filled Christian." All true Christians are Spirit filled according to this passage. He is what they all have in common.
To the Ephesians – Paul urges the Ephesians to maintain the unity God has achieved for them. He writes:
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. —Ephesians 4:3–6
The seven ones that the apostle lists, including the one Spirit, constitute once more what all Christians have in common. All of them, by the way, are gifts from God, not human achievements. Paul urges us to hold on to what God has already done for us. That's what he means by "keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." His charge is not for us to achieve unity, but to hang on to what God has already achieved for us through Christ.
To the Philippians – Following a similar line of argument, Paul insists that the Philippians recognize what they have in Christ and avoid disrupting or destroying their oneness because of a desire for personal recognition or advancement. Based on the common ground they share (expressed by the ifs), Paul offers some practical wisdom:
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. —Philippians 2:1–5
We could turn each of those conditions in the opening sentence into a question: Is there any encouragement from being united with Christ? Do we find any comfort from His love? Do we share in the Spirit? Do we experience as a result tenderness and compassion? The answer to all of these questions is a resounding, joyful YES! Given all of those gifts we share from God, Paul calls on us to have the attitudes and make the effort to maintain the unity we ought to have as a logical consequence of our redemption.
Unity of Primitive Church
The Book of Acts indicates that the primitive church experienced this kind of unity. For example:
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. —Acts 2:42–48
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. —Acts 4:32–35
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. —Acts 9:31
The final passage in this series of quotations explicitly connects the unity of the early disciples with the Spirit, but the other two do so implicitly (see Acts 2:38-39; 4:31).
"What God Hath Wrought"
We could summarize all of this quite simply:
- Christ died to redeem sinners, all sinners!
- He calls them to submit to Him as Savior and Lord.
- To all who respond in obedient faith He gives the same gifts:
- Cleansing from sins
- His own righteousness to wear.
- His Holy Spirit as a divine presence in the heart.
- Membership in God’s family and kingdom.
- Purpose for living: to bring praise to God through Christ
- Assurance for eternity: resurrection and inheritance.
- Because everyone whom Christ has redeemed possesses the same gifts, they should be united.
None of us is better than anyone else, since everything we have and are we have received from God (see 1 Corinthians 4:7). God’s Unity Agenda has divine power to accomplish His purpose “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1:10).
Fractured, Splintered, Fragmented
Yet the religious world has never been more divided than it is today. A website that tracks statistics for the religions of the world, Adherents.com, divides the churches of Christendom into Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Latter-day Saints, and each one of these broad categories can be divided and subdivided again and again. Some estimate as many as 40,000 denominations and sects that all claim connection to Christ and Christianity.
Nor has the rise of the Pentecostal movement (starting around 1900) and the Charismatic movement (also called the Neo-Pentecostal movement and arising in the 1960s) brought about unity. Pentecostals themselves have divided into Assemblies of God, the Church of God (Cleveland), apostolic churches, and United Pentecostal Church, among many others (Wikipedia lists 37 groups under “Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America"). In addition are hundreds more sects ranging in strength from one to a dozen or more churches. Charismatics remain within the major denominations, but often they form distinct sub-fellowships.
This demonstrates an obvious disconnect between what God intended to be the effect of His giving the Holy Spirit to all Christians and what has actually happened, especially in modern times. Why is the Spirit a cause of division rather than the basis of unity? Why do some believers tend to ignore or avoid any discussion of the Spirit, while others seem to focus on the Spirit so much that other topics are neglected? What can we do to change the situation and bring about a spiritual renewal that includes broad agreement about the Holy Spirit?
We need three things for this unity to occur. First, we need to recognize our common ground: all the spiritual blessings accomplished for all sinners in Jesus Christ and applied to each obedient believer by the Spirit. Second, we must accept our responsibility to maintain this unity with the attitudes of humility and mutual respect that the Spirit prompts in our hearts. Third, we need to gain a deeper understanding of the Spirit by careful Bible study.
Choices about the Holy Spirit
I believe that a great proportion of the biblical doctrine of the Spirit can be summarized into a series of either-or questions. Searching for and finding the answers to these questions will result in a significant gain in clarity regarding the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which in turn should lead to fundamental progress in how we all can harness the Spirit to accomplish His purpose to bring believers together and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of these questions are:
- What is the Spirit’s effect: uniting or dividing? (this essay)
- What is the Spirit’s identity: person or force?
- What is the Spirit’s contact with our world: active or passive?
- Is the Spirit’s outpouring exceptional or usual?
- The Spirit’s conduit: mind or feelings?
- Does the Spirit’s leading involve developing wisdom or "fleecing" God?
- Does the Spirit come to each believer by grace or by works?
- Is the Spirit’s main work His fruit or His gifts?
- Was the Spirit’s proof the tongues of men or the tongues of angels?
- Is the Spirit’s focus Christ or the Spirit Himself?
- Is the Spirit’s lifestyle to be satisfied or to be thirsty?
- Are the Spirit’s people spiritual or carnal?
- Is the Spirit’s deposit a present blessing or a future hope?
Series on Holy Spirit Choices
In future essays, we will seek answers each of these questions. To g
Something is Wrong on the Web Today!! I guess we are not really talking about the spam, the scams, the dirt - although these are wrong too! Today we are looking at corporate web design. So, its really the suffering of great masses of middle size companies and professionals and even larger public companies we are feeling today - those who are held hostage by the IT staff, techies and internal corporate web design teams.Customer feedback is ignored. Your corporate web design team's eyes glaze over at the sound of internal management feedback. They are continually right and everyone else is wrong - and they don't want to hear that the world thinks that your website is odorous! Expensive campaigns are launched only to find that customer who haven got the right web browser with exactly the right plug-ins can't buy - or can't even see your site. Sometimes links just go in circles other times they are there but off the bottom of the page. No-one checks the effects or where your clients are being lost and if you ask your web developers for anything you are told "you can't have that or it's impossible" or just ignored. There has to be a better way - an if you can have an external corporate web design team at least you can get rid of them without a massive internal process - and loss of face.Agencies and freelancers don't normally give the long term continuity needed and you are still playing second fiddle to someone else project much of the time. Conventional outsourcing doesn't hel
To the Philippians – Following a similar line of argument, Paul insists that the Philippians recognize what they have in Christ and avoid disrupting or destroying their oneness because of a desire for personal recognition or advancement. Based on the common ground they share (expressed by the ifs), Paul offers some practical wisdom:
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. —Philippians 2:1–5
We could turn each of those conditions in the opening sentence into a question: Is there any encouragement from being united with Christ? Do we find any comfort from His love? Do we share in the Spirit? Do we experience as a result tenderness and compassion? The answer to all of these questions is a resounding, joyful YES! Given all of those gifts we share from God, Paul calls on us to have the attitudes and make the effort to maintain the unity we ought to have as a logical consequence of our redemption.
Unity of Primitive Church
The Book of Acts indicates that the primitive church experienced this kind of unity. For example:
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. —Acts 2:42–48
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. —Acts 4:32–35
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. —Acts 9:31
The final passage in this series of quotations explicitly connects the unity of the early disciples with the Spirit, but the other two do so implicitly (see Acts 2:38-39; 4:31).
"What God Hath Wrought"
We could summarize all of this quite simply:
- Christ died to redeem sinners, all sinners!
- He calls them to submit to Him as Savior and Lord.
- To all who respond in obedient faith He gives the same gifts:
- Cleansing from sins
- His own righteousness to wear.
- His Holy Spirit as a divine presence in the heart.
- Membership in God’s family and kingdom.
- Purpose for living: to bring praise to God through Christ
- Assurance for eternity: resurrection and inheritance.
- Because everyone whom Christ has redeemed possesses the same gifts, they should be united.
None of us is better than anyone else, since everything we have and are we have received from God (see 1 Corinthians 4:7). God’s Unity Agenda has divine power to accomplish His purpose “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1:10).
Fractured, Splintered, Fragmented
Yet the religious world has never been more divided than it is today. A website that tracks statistics for the religions of the world, Adherents.com, divides the churches of Christendom into Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Latter-day Saints, and each one of these broad categories can be divided and subdivided again and again. Some estimate as many as 40,000 denominations and sects that all claim connection to Christ and Christianity.
Nor has the rise of the Pentecostal movement (starting around 1900) and the Charismatic movement (also called the Neo-Pentecostal movement and arising in the 1960s) brought about unity. Pentecostals themselves have divided into Assemblies of God, the Church of God (Cleveland), apostolic churches, and United Pentecostal Church, among many others (Wikipedia lists 37 groups under “Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America"). In addition are hundreds more sects ranging in strength from one to a dozen or more churches. Charismatics remain within the major denominations, but often they form distinct sub-fellowships.
This demonstrates an obvious disconnect between what God intended to be the effect of His giving the Holy Spirit to all Christians and what has actually happened, especially in modern times. Why is the Spirit a cause of division rather than the basis of unity? Why do some believers tend to ignore or avoid any discussion of the Spirit, while others seem to focus on the Spirit so much that other topics are neglected? What can we do to change the situation and bring about a spiritual renewal that includes broad agreement about the Holy Spirit?
We need three things for this unity to occur. First, we need to recognize our common ground: all the spiritual blessings accomplished for all sinners in Jesus Christ and applied to each obedient believer by the Spirit. Second, we must accept our responsibility to maintain this unity with the attitudes of humility and mutual respect that the Spirit prompts in our hearts. Third, we need to gain a deeper understanding of the Spirit by careful Bible study.
Choices about the Holy Spirit
I believe that a great proportion of the biblical doctrine of the Spirit can be summarized into a series of either-or questions. Searching for and finding the answers to these questions will result in a significant gain in clarity regarding the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which in turn should lead to fundamental progress in how we all can harness the Spirit to accomplish His purpose to bring believers together and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of these questions are:
- What is the Spirit’s effect: uniting or dividing? (this essay)
- What is the Spirit’s identity: person or force?
- What is the Spirit’s contact with our world: active or passive?
- Is the Spirit’s outpouring exceptional or usual?
- The Spirit’s conduit: mind or feelings?
- Does the Spirit’s leading involve developing wisdom or "fleecing" God?
- Does the Spirit come to each believer by grace or by works?
- Is the Spirit’s main work His fruit or His gifts?
- Was the Spirit’s proof the tongues of men or the tongues of angels?
- Is the Spirit’s focus Christ or the Spirit Himself?
- Is the Spirit’s lifestyle to be satisfied or to be thirsty?
- Are the Spirit’s people spiritual or carnal?
- Is the Spirit’s deposit a present blessing or a future hope?
Series on Holy Spirit Choices
In future essays, we will seek answers each of these questions. To
We are indeed living in the world of information explosion. We have so much information that it is overwhelming, the key is how to organize and quickly retrive the information you need. Isnt it your dream to have all the information at your fingertips, without having to search in Search engines. Wouldn't you like to know what top rated or popular stuff in your field?There are many websites that have been started, mainly refered to as Social bookmarking websites. Users can rate on these websites and quickly sort the content by popularity. Once such site is digg.com. you must have heard about it and may be using it.I was always wondering that as IT professional how can I get only IT related information on a website. Till i discovered IT Discover.comIT Discover is a treasury of Technical resources. In today’s world of information explosion, there is a need to better organize, collect and assimilate data, so it can be transmuted to meaningful information. • IT Discover provides a directory of Web Links categorized in a way to easily retrieve, and manage useful sites. The ratings on each Web Links will show its popularity and quality of content. • Forums on this site are for discussion various IT resources. This is very different from forums on other sites. • IT Discover will also have articles, blogs etc on various topics.Each user can bookmark his favorite resources, on this site and other sites. Hence an organized resource bank is available for all users.Disc
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. —Acts 4:32–35
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. —Acts 9:31
The final passage in this series of quotations explicitly connects the unity of the early disciples with the Spirit, but the other two do so implicitly (see Acts 2:38-39; 4:31).
"What God Hath Wrought"
We could summarize all of this quite simply:
- Christ died to redeem sinners, all sinners!
- He calls them to submit to Him as Savior and Lord.
- To all who respond in obedient faith He gives the same gifts:
- Cleansing from sins
- His own righteousness to wear.
- His Holy Spirit as a divine presence in the heart.
- Membership in God’s family and kingdom.
- Purpose for living: to bring praise to God through Christ
- Assurance for eternity: resurrection and inheritance.
- Because everyone whom Christ has redeemed possesses the same gifts, they should be united.
None of us is better than anyone else, since everything we have and are we have received from God (see 1 Corinthians 4:7). God’s Unity Agenda has divine power to accomplish His purpose “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1:10).
Fractured, Splintered, Fragmented
Yet the religious world has never been more divided than it is today. A website that tracks statistics for the religions of the world, Adherents.com, divides the churches of Christendom into Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Latter-day Saints, and each one of these broad categories can be divided and subdivided again and again. Some estimate as many as 40,000 denominations and sects that all claim connection to Christ and Christianity.
Nor has the rise of the Pentecostal movement (starting around 1900) and the Charismatic movement (also called the Neo-Pentecostal movement and arising in the 1960s) brought about unity. Pentecostals themselves have divided into Assemblies of God, the Church of God (Cleveland), apostolic churches, and United Pentecostal Church, among many others (Wikipedia lists 37 groups under “Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America"). In addition are hundreds more sects ranging in strength from one to a dozen or more churches. Charismatics remain within the major denominations, but often they form distinct sub-fellowships.
This demonstrates an obvious disconnect between what God intended to be the effect of His giving the Holy Spirit to all Christians and what has actually happened, especially in modern times. Why is the Spirit a cause of division rather than the basis of unity? Why do some believers tend to ignore or avoid any discussion of the Spirit, while others seem to focus on the Spirit so much that other topics are neglected? What can we do to change the situation and bring about a spiritual renewal that includes broad agreement about the Holy Spirit?
We need three things for this unity to occur. First, we need to recognize our common ground: all the spiritual blessings accomplished for all sinners in Jesus Christ and applied to each obedient believer by the Spirit. Second, we must accept our responsibility to maintain this unity with the attitudes of humility and mutual respect that the Spirit prompts in our hearts. Third, we need to gain a deeper understanding of the Spirit by careful Bible study.
Choices about the Holy Spirit
I believe that a great proportion of the biblical doctrine of the Spirit can be summarized into a series of either-or questions. Searching for and finding the answers to these questions will result in a significant gain in clarity regarding the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which in turn should lead to fundamental progress in how we all can harness the Spirit to accomplish His purpose to bring believers together and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of these questions are:
- What is the Spirit’s effect: uniting or dividing? (this essay)
- What is the Spirit’s identity: person or force?
- What is the Spirit’s contact with our world: active or passive?
- Is the Spirit’s outpouring exceptional or usual?
- The Spirit’s conduit: mind or feelings?
- Does the Spirit’s leading involve developing wisdom or "fleecing" God?
- Does the Spirit come to each believer by grace or by works?
- Is the Spirit’s main work His fruit or His gifts?
- Was the Spirit’s proof the tongues of men or the tongues of angels?
- Is the Spirit’s focus Christ or the Spirit Himself?
- Is the Spirit’s lifestyle to be satisfied or to be thirsty?
- Are the Spirit’s people spiritual or carnal?
- Is the Spirit’s deposit a present blessing or a future hope?
Series on Holy Spirit Choices
In future essays, we will seek answers each of these questions. To
The concepts of stock and flow are often used when dealing with knowledge management. The stock of knowledge would be the level of knowledge of one employee (or even a whole organization) and the flow of knowledge would indicate the amount of knowledge that is transferred between people; the usage of the knowledge in organizing activities. These concepts -- of stock and flow -- help to give insight on the matter, because they are already common to us because of other areas where the same concepts are used. And we have learned them at school.Basic electronics is about a current that flows through an electric circuit. This flow is tempered by a certain resistance. And for a certain amplitude of the current -- given the resistance in the network you need provisioning power: the voltage. The resistor absorbs the current and for the same kind of current given the resistance you need more power. The flow (current) and the resistance (stock) operate in a reciprocal proportional way.The stock and flow concept also is a valid way to analyze economic systems. In economics the flow of money is the (circulation) velocity of money. The Quantity theory of money states that this velocity of money is defined as “the ratio of net national product in current prices to the money stock.” Or V = (P * Q) / M. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantity_theory_of_money)In this case the causal relation between stock and flow are less transparent as in electronics.In knowledge management the relation is per
None of us is better than anyone else, since everything we have and are we have received from God (see 1 Corinthians 4:7). God’s Unity Agenda has divine power to accomplish His purpose “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1:10).
Fractured, Splintered, Fragmented
Yet the religious world has never been more divided than it is today. A website that tracks statistics for the religions of the world, Adherents.com, divides the churches of Christendom into Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Latter-day Saints, and each one of these broad categories can be divided and subdivided again and again. Some estimate as many as 40,000 denominations and sects that all claim connection to Christ and Christianity.
Nor has the rise of the Pentecostal movement (starting around 1900) and the Charismatic movement (also called the Neo-Pentecostal movement and arising in the 1960s) brought about unity. Pentecostals themselves have divided into Assemblies of God, the Church of God (Cleveland), apostolic churches, and United Pentecostal Church, among many others (Wikipedia lists 37 groups under “Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America"). In addition are hundreds more sects ranging in strength from one to a dozen or more churches. Charismatics remain within the major denominations, but often they form distinct sub-fellowships.
This demonstrates an obvious disconnect between what God intended to be the effect of His giving the Holy Spirit to all Christians and what has actually happened, especially in modern times. Why is the Spirit a cause of division rather than the basis of unity? Why do some believers tend to ignore or avoid any discussion of the Spirit, while others seem to focus on the Spirit so much that other topics are neglected? What can we do to change the situation and bring about a spiritual renewal that includes broad agreement about the Holy Spirit?
We need three things for this unity to occur. First, we need to recognize our common ground: all the spiritual blessings accomplished for all sinners in Jesus Christ and applied to each obedient believer by the Spirit. Second, we must accept our responsibility to maintain this unity with the attitudes of humility and mutual respect that the Spirit prompts in our hearts. Third, we need to gain a deeper understanding of the Spirit by careful Bible study.
Choices about the Holy Spirit
I believe that a great proportion of the biblical doctrine of the Spirit can be summarized into a series of either-or questions. Searching for and finding the answers to these questions will result in a significant gain in clarity regarding the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which in turn should lead to fundamental progress in how we all can harness the Spirit to accomplish His purpose to bring believers together and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of these questions are:
- What is the Spirit’s effect: uniting or dividing? (this essay)
- What is the Spirit’s identity: person or force?
- What is the Spirit’s contact with our world: active or passive?
- Is the Spirit’s outpouring exceptional or usual?
- The Spirit’s conduit: mind or feelings?
- Does the Spirit’s leading involve developing wisdom or "fleecing" God?
- Does the Spirit come to each believer by grace or by works?
- Is the Spirit’s main work His fruit or His gifts?
- Was the Spirit’s proof the tongues of men or the tongues of angels?
- Is the Spirit’s focus Christ or the Spirit Himself?
- Is the Spirit’s lifestyle to be satisfied or to be thirsty?
- Are the Spirit’s people spiritual or carnal?
- Is the Spirit’s deposit a present blessing or a future hope?
Series on Holy Spirit Choices
In future essays, we will seek answers each of these questions. To
If you ask me whether the market will have moved up or down by this time next year, well I may as well flip a coin, because I don’t know.If you ask me whether the market will have moved up or down by this time next month, well again, I may as well flip a coin, because I still don’t know.If you ask me whether the market will have moved up or down by this time next week, AGAIN, I may as well flip a coin, because I don’t know.And if you ask me whether the market will have moved up or down by this time tomorrow, I am sorry, but I JUST DON’T KNOW!But… if you ask me whether the market will move up or down in next few minutes, well I will have a definite opinion. Why? Because if I can see the CURRENT state of buying and selling in the market NOW, then I can make a reasoned and fairly accurate estimate of what the market will do in the next few minutes and moments.My prediction will not be based on some secret formula; it will not be based on some esoteric sounding indicator, nor on some complex mathematical equation. No, it will be based on my evaluation of the current state of supply and demand.Predicting the long-term movements of the markets is a guessing game. All we have to go on is the past; all we can reasonably do is assume that what has happened in the past will continue to happen in the future. Basically that is what trend following is, making the assumption that the past equals the future.In my trading world, the only law that works is that of supply and
We need three things for this unity to occur. First, we need to recognize our common ground: all the spiritual blessings accomplished for all sinners in Jesus Christ and applied to each obedient believer by the Spirit. Second, we must accept our responsibility to maintain this unity with the attitudes of humility and mutual respect that the Spirit prompts in our hearts. Third, we need to gain a deeper understanding of the Spirit by careful Bible study.
Choices about the Holy Spirit
I believe that a great proportion of the biblical doctrine of the Spirit can be summarized into a series of either-or questions. Searching for and finding the answers to these questions will result in a significant gain in clarity regarding the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which in turn should lead to fundamental progress in how we all can harness the Spirit to accomplish His purpose to bring believers together and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of these questions are:
- What is the Spirit’s effect: uniting or dividing? (this essay)
- What is the Spirit’s identity: person or force?
- What is the Spirit’s contact with our world: active or passive?
- Is the Spirit’s outpouring exceptional or usual?
- The Spirit’s conduit: mind or feelings?
- Does the Spirit’s leading involve developing wisdom or "fleecing" God?
- Does the Spirit come to each believer by grace or by works?
- Is the Spirit’s main work His fruit or His gifts?
- Was the Spirit’s proof the tongues of men or the tongues of angels?
- Is the Spirit’s focus Christ or the Spirit Himself?
- Is the Spirit’s lifestyle to be satisfied or to be thirsty?
- Are the Spirit’s people spiritual or carnal?
- Is the Spirit’s deposit a present blessing or a future hope?
Series on Holy Spirit Choices
In future essays, we will seek answers each of these questions. To give you a preview, in each one of these either-or choices, I believe that the first is the correct answer rather than the second, and I will strive to demonstrate that truth from Scripture. Our study will range through the entire Bible, for the Spirit is mentioned in the first paragraph of Genesis (1:2), in the last paragraph of Revelation (22:17), and hundreds of times in between.
God wants us to reach unity about the Spirit, and if we can, then perhaps a greater unity will no longer elude us.
Whose Fault Is It?
Conclusion: God intends for His Holy Spirit to unite all Christians. If we are divided, the fault is ours, not His. The starting point for that greater unity He wants us to have is to find unity regarding the Holy Spirit.
Want to go deeper?
I highly recommend the following books about the Holy Spirit and Pentecostalism:
Bruner, Frederick Dale, A Theology of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostal Experience and the New Testament Witness. Originally published: Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1970. Reprints: Unicoi, TN: Trinity Foundation, 2001; Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2006 (still in print from both sources).
Bruner is a non-Pentecostal who nevertheless documents the teaching of Pentecostalism from its own literature and then compares it with a careful exegesis of Scripture.
Synan, Vinson. The Holiness-Pentecostal Movement in the U.S. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1971.
Synan has written a number of other books on the Pentecostal movement since this, his doctoral dissertation, was published. One of the most recent is The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal, 1901-2001 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006). He is a lifelong student and historian of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement and is regarded as a prominent Pentecostal theologian. He is Dean Emeritus of Regent University.
I will share more resources on the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit as this series continues.
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