A Holy Spirit Trio

I find reading books that were handed to me as if they are assignments ἄνωθεν (from above) and they get read with higher priority than many of those I have bought, skimmed through for assignments back in seminary and now adorning the shelves in my bedroom and the church office.  After all, there must be a reason why they were handed to me.  The first title, I was given by a good friend of mine that was both quite the Reformed Presbyterian and yet a "Charismatic Pentecostal" by his own admission;  a second generation minister who graduated from FTS a whole year before me.  This book, authored by a pastor J. C. Ortiz from Argentina, who is currently the leader of the Hispanic ministry in Crystal Cathedral.  I got done with this title shortly before the church went public with its current financial crisis.  It was a very different read than anything assigned in seminary.  Pastor Ortiz has a no nonsense style of writing that nevertheless is accompanied with a great deal of Latin sense of humor and candor.  I found myself laughing out loud on a number of places.  He employs vivid, imaginative examples and illustrations that are surely bound to make it a great, quick read.  It is nevertheless, an impacting presentation of the concept of discipleship with a decidedly critical stance that points out its deficit largely in North America.  The anecdotes regarding the successes of Pastor Ortiz's ministry is instructive and inspiring.  Especially intriguing is the section where he describes how his church had agreed to disband for a period for the sake of outreach and mission, and then gather together as one whole unit again.  This is an unthinkable scenario in the ecclesiastic structures that are bound by high levels of bureaucratic machinery.  The amazing thing is the sheer number that finally gathered as a single, self-identifying church in clusters of cell groups.

The second title was lent to me by a gentleman who attends an Assemblies of God church down in La Palma while also attending our church.  He takes in quite a wide range of doses in charismatic literature while he is also admittedly fond of Joel Osteen's "Your Best Life Now,"  (I didn't get through that title yet by the way) among some other titles.  

Benny Hinn takes a bad rap from the likes of Hank Hanagraaf "The Bible Answer Man" as a straight up false teacher.  Nevertheless the narrativity of this short volume on anecdotal pneumatology appears to hold significant similarities on the importance of acknowledging the Holy Spirit as the leading person of the Holy Trinity that is really, in charge of this age.  Although Hinn is a controversial figure and in some circles, still harshly criticized for his apparently lavish, opulent lifestyle and ostentatious demonstrations of power that are often indicted as fraudulent at worst and at best, seen as highly dubious- the autobiographical presentation of the evangelist proves to be an interesting title worth considering.  There are interesting expositions of the Bible, and some parts of the Old Testament are definitely not negilible, since Hinn studied Hebrew at a fairly young age.  The section where he describes how the Holy Spirit led his ministry to the grand success that he has become, this process written quite lucidly and with simple clarity, can be a mind-opening read for any staunch reformist.

This last title was handed to me by Lou, an Egyptian Christian gentleman who attends our church.  The broad outline of this title is held by the premise of five different words for power in the Bible, which account for Greek ideas of 1) exousia - delegated authority; 2) dunamis - miraculous "dynamite" power; 3) energeia - energy; 4) kratos - dominion; 5) ischus - strength.  These are very important for the Christian to live out his or her Christian life in its fullness but the reception of these are contingent on seven keys:  1) Intimate knowledge of God and 2) his "resurrection power"; 3) embracing suffering; 4) maintenance of relevance by meeting needs; 5) serve God with faith; 6) disciple someone or find someone to mentor and 7) serve with anointing- in other words, be an "imparter."