I realize that it has been some while since I posted a blog, but I have not felt prompted to write, or maybe I have and I have taken no notice! If it is the latter, please forgive me! However, I wanted to write and share with you something that I shared with those who were with us at New Life Christian Fellowship on Sunday morning. We are currently in a series seeking to deepen our understanding and our day-to-day walk with the Holy Spirit. This series has been inspired by a book by Tyler Staton, “ The Familiar Stranger – re-introducing the Holy Spirit to those in search of an experiential spirituality.“ This is a book I strongly recommend as it addresses one of the most debilitating divisions that we experience in our churches today. Somehow, we have been persuaded that we have to choose between the “Holy Spirit Churches” and the Bible Churches. Tyler makes a powerful case for the equal importance of both and the danger of neglecting either in our personal or church lives.
A life deeply rooted in Scripture is absolutely essential for a healthy relationship to God, self, others, and the world at large. Equally essential, though, is a life deeply rooted in the Holy Spirit, who leads by experience and functions in partnership, not competition, with the explanatory Holy Bible.
A member of our church family made a suggestion that it would be helpful for us to set aside a day during the series for prayer and fasting. An opportunity to hear from the Holy Spirit as a community. We looked at the calendar and selected Saturday, November 29th.
On Sunday morning, however, I believe the Holy Spirit impressed on me that I should go further than simply setting aside a day. I should take my pastoral and leadership responsibility in the same way as the Kings of Israel did at times of great importance, and call everyone who calls New Life Christian Fellowship their church to take this day to pray and fast.
If you are part of the New Life Family, I am doing just that! We will begin the day in the sanctuary at 6:00 am with a time of prayer and worship together, which will last as long as we sense it should. The sanctuary will remain open for prayer until 6:00 pm, when we will break our fast together in the Fellowship Hall. There will be an opportunity to share the things we hear from the Spirit during that time. It is my prayer that there will be at least one person in the sanctuary for the whole of the day.
Now I realize that those of you reading this may not be members of our Church family, and so I have no responsibility to “call” you to anything. However, since I was prompted to write this, I want to suggest that you might find some time, maybe on November 29th, to pray and fast that The Holy Spirit might reveal new ways in which you can partner with Him to serve Him and your local communities at this time of so much need and confusion. I am excited for all of us all to hear from the Holy Spirit in fresh ways and so show the world what it means to be with Jesus, be like Jesus, and do what Jesus did!
From the Zebra Bag 
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