A Year for the Holy Spirit!

As I think about 2009 and all the promise it holds, I was reminded again about the importance of the Holy Spirit in all that we do and say. In the midst of so many activities and objectives we might have for our churches, the one major emphasis must be on the Holy Spirit. I saw this again as I was working through a major work by theologian Gordon Fee entitled God's Empowering Presence. Working from Regent University in Vancouver, Fee has done an excellent study on the Holy Spirit in the writings of the apostle Paul. In the Introduction he writes, "For Paul the Spirit, as an experienced and living reality, was the absolutely crucial matter for Christian life." Fee's position is not meant to be some dry theological principle that is debated in university or college classrooms, but he writes, "the only worthwhile theology is that which is translated into life."

I think it is worth quoting Fee (pictured at right) again at greater length, just to get the sense of the burden he is carrying: "Despite the affirmations in our creeds and hymns and lip service paid to the Spirit in our occasional conversations, the Spirit is largely marginalized in our actual life together as a community of faith. At least that seems to be true of my own experience of the church; it also seems to be reflected in the thousands of ways individual believers have longed for a greater sense of God's presence in their lives." So, it can be argued that 2009 presents us with a fantastic opportunity for this to be a year of the Holy Spirit! What would our lives and churches look like if we gave way to the leading and direction of the Spirit? What would life be like if we simply followed the promptings of the Spirit from moment to moment? And - here's the question - could we move into the abundant life that Jesus promised in John 10:10 like never before? I must say, this is my commitment for 2009 - to be a man of the Spirit, no matter what!