Posts Tagged ‘ daniel m klem ’

Holy Spirit History, Batman!

There is a lot of history behind beliefs of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit. Way more than I could really fit into one blog. Therefore, I will keep this short.

One of the big controversies started (or became famous) with Arius around the beginning of the 4th Century, and some people still hold to some of his teachings today. His teachings – known as Arianism – stated that Jesus Christ was born in eternity and that He and the Father created the Holy Spirit. If this is true, then worship of and prayers to the Holy Spirit would be wrong since they are going to a created being. This is idolatry.

However, a man by the name of Constantine became a Christian early in the 4th Century. In 323 he became Emperor of the Roman Empire. In 325 he called together the Council of Nicaea to help dispel any disagreements and even heresies (as well as help unite the Empire). It was at this council that we got the beginnings of what is known as the Nicene Creed, which basically took the Apostles’ Creed and expounded on it. It was not until the Council of Constantinople in 381 that it was completed. This Creed is still used in almost all churches in the world. There is one part in particular that we are going to read:

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.

It sure seems we should worship (and maybe even pray to) the Holy Spirit.

New (old) information is fun! After reading the last post and now this one, what thoughts do we have? (The next post I will put out some views of my own)

2011
04/07
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Holy Spirit
Prayer
TAGS



3 comments

O, Holy Spirit, we beseech Thee!

Holy SpiritSeveral things have happened in recent weeks that kind of rocked my brain a bit.
One was hearing a dear friend suddenly exclaim “You do not worship or pray to the Holy Spirit!”
One was the topic coming up in my classes.
One was my remembering thinking about it several times over the past decade and having some random person online ask me about the role of the Holy Spirit.

Can we or should we worship and/or pray to the Holy Spirit?

I have heard arguments on both sides for years. One extreme is saying the Holy Spirit does not work anymore, the other extreme is that we need to focus primarily on the workings of the Holy Spirit. In the last couple of weeks, I have read that these issues have been debated and even fought over throughout the last two milennia on several occasions. That is one reason we have some of the Creeds.
But the question remains: Should we?
A few of the arguments I have heard are listed below, and just so we are clear these are arguments I have heard/read and not necessarily what I believe. As a list of pro’s and cons:

Pro’s (Why we should)
Con’s (Why we should not)
Connects us to God in Heaven
Is still with us here on Earth, not in Heaven
Is Jesus Christ within us
Pushes us towards faith in Jesus Christ
Is God helping us to do good works or doing works through us
Is merely a guide (Counselor)
Any thoughts? Throw me some feedback! Maybe we can get a good conversation going!
2011
04/05
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Holy Spirit
Prayer
Religion
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5 comments

We Are Called

I wrote a poem this past week, and I thought I would share it. Think If We Are the Body by Casting Crowns:

We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ.
We must remember that they reached out to heal hurts.
We must remember that they carried the good news.
We must remember that they touched the lepers.
We must remember that they went to the cross.
We must remember that they took nails for sinners.

We are called to be the Body of Christ.
We must remember that it embodied grace.
We must remember that it held the sick and dead.
We must remember that it loved through our hate.
We must remember that it removed all our sin.
We must remember that it took our place.

We are called to be ambassadors of Christ.
If His hands and feet were pierced on the cross,
If He touched the unclean and destitute,
If He showed love and grace to each of us,
If He gave His life to show this to the world,
Then are we portraying the true Jesus?

I just started thinking about “Jesus’ hands, feet, and body were bruised and scarred; so how come so many in the West rarely show their scars and bruises?” The poem just kind of flowed out.

If you like, I can keep posting poetry I write. Just let me know. It will take a few Facebook likes and comments here and on Facebook for me to consider it, though!

Grace and Peace!

©

2011
03/27
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Hands and feet
Jesus
Poetry
Servanthood
Uncategorized
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2 comments