{"id":5834,"date":"2009-09-25T06:00:03","date_gmt":"2009-09-25T06:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2009\/09\/friday-is-for-friends-t-1.html"},"modified":"2009-09-25T06:00:03","modified_gmt":"2009-09-25T06:00:03","slug":"friday-is-for-friends-t-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/09\/friday-is-for-friends-t-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Friday is for Friends: T"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SpiritDove.jpg\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Several Fridays ago, Scot allowed me to post here<\/a> about several reasons that working supernaturally with and through the Spirit (healings, prophetic insights, etc.) can be a match made in heaven–and on earth–for those interested in joining God’s mission.  <\/span>We also discussed how the strengths of the missional church movement would also be very helpful to those already working with the Spirit in this way.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, I was pretty excited when Scot started the series on the book of Acts.  <\/span>And the posts didn’t disappoint.  <\/span>But there hasn’t been much discussion.<\/b> The relative silence in light of such an exciting book got me thinking about the comments to my prior post.  <\/b><\/span>I wondered how many folks read these passages and studies and just feel foreign to the dynamics described there.<\/b>  <\/span>Looking back at the comments to my earlier post, there were at least two common refrains:<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

(i) “Yes!!
\nI’ve practiced some of this and want to practice it more and want to see it
\nembodied more in emerging\/missional church.  <\/span>Thanks for raising this issue!”, and<\/p>\n

(ii) “I
\nbelieve it’s possible and even a good thing in theory, but have little or no
\nexperience with this personally, nor am I likely to have any given my church
\ntradition, and it makes me nervous.” 
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

So, in
\nresponse to both these loosely described groups and everyone in between, and to
\nhelp us all, I have questions for us to think about and discuss.  <\/span>To those more in the latter camp: <\/p>\n

What are your own biggest concerns, fears,
\nobjections or obstacles to practicing this stuff with the Spirit?  <\/span>Also, how do you feel when you
\nencounter or do studies like Scot’s on the material in Acts (or similar
\npassages in the gospels)?  <\/span>Do they
\nencourage you, create longing or interest, or just seem distant and strange
\nand\/or intimidating?<\/b>  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>[For
\nthose interested in further reading, Authority to Heal<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em>, by Ken Blue (IVP, 1987) is, still in frequent use at Fuller, and
\ndeals with common hindrances and gives practical advice for getting started in working
\nwith God to heal.]<\/p>\n

To those who
\nhave had experience with these things, what
\nwere and what continue to be your common obstacles, etc., to working with the
\nSpirit in these ways?  <\/span>What has
\nbeen most helpful?  <\/span>Any surprises
\nin your experience relative to what you expected?  <\/span>What are some of the most memorable things you’ve seen God
\ndo?  <\/span>What are some of the most
\nmemorable things he’s taught you as you participated in these things?<\/b><\/p>\n

For my part, I
\npersonally have more experience with what I consider to be
\n“prophetic” experiences–experiences in which I’ve been given inside
\ninformation about or for someone else that had great significance to them (at
\nthat moment or later), or been told to do something that had particular
\nsignificance to them, and that I had no way to know about on my own.  <\/span>(Think of the woman at the well or
\nNathaniel under the fig tree, or Agabus with Paul.)  <\/span>At first, my main obstacles for me were merely the avoidance
\nof the topic and practice by the tradition I grew up in and the fear of the
\nunknown.  <\/span>Later, though, and to
\nthis day, my main obstacles are just getting busy and being fearful of how I’m
\nperceived.  <\/span>Basically, just different
\nforms of selfishness are my most common impediments.  <\/span>That’s my initial encouragement to those curious about doing
\nthese things with God: perfection is neither a prerequisite for nor a
\nby-product of doing these things. 
\n<\/span>They’re just part of our apprenticeship to Jesus, part of our growth in
\ntrust and love for God and others. 
\n<\/span>They are not deserved by anyone involved; they are given as part of
\nGod’s love and mission.  <\/span>They are
\nembodiments of what and whom we proclaim.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several Fridays ago, Scot allowed me to post here about several reasons that working supernaturally with and through the Spirit (healings, prophetic insights, etc.) can be a match made in heaven–and on earth–for those interested in joining God’s mission.  We also discussed how the strengths of the missional church movement would also be very helpful to those already…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acts-of-the-apostles"],"yoast_head":"\nFriday is for Friends: T - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/09\/friday-is-for-friends-t-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Friday is for Friends: T - 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