JOIN ME AND LINDA FOR Our Annual Summer Conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin

 

In less than a month from now Linda and I and many of our friends will spend five days together at our Annual Summer Conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin!

2021 HIS IDENTITY ~ OUR AUTHORITY CONFERENCE

REGISTER NOW FOR THE 2021 CONFERENCE

June 27 - July 1, 2021 at the Green Lake Conference Center in Green Lake, WI

We are excited to announce our speakers for 2021.

William Hinn Jr. and Clay Harrington will join us along side our HSRM leaders as speakers for a spirit filled week starting June 27 at 6 pm to July 1 at 10 pm in Pillsbury Hall at the Green Lake Conference in Green Lake, WI. 

• You are invited to the Holy Spirit Renewal conference at Green Lake, Wisconsin for a week of spiritual renewal, healing, transformation, equipping and empowerment to walk the Spirit-filled life as described in the New Testament. 
• Experience God throughout the week in anointed worship and teachings from nationally known guest speakers, HSRM leaders, and gifted workshop presenters. 
• Youth Ministry, children’s Ministry and childcare make it possible for the whole family to enjoy and fully participate in the conference and receive a touch from the Lord. 
• Free time every afternoon allows time to enjoy the great outdoors on the beautiful conference grounds of Green Lake Conference Center. 
• The fellowship among the conferees at the Holy Spirit Conference is a special feature and has earned it the tag line “More than a Conference, It’s a Family!” 
• Holy Spirit Renewal Ministries has been serving the Body of Christ for 45 years though conferences, seminars, and retreats and has the distinction of maintaining a great balance of word and Spirit-expounding God’s uncompromised truth and sound scriptural teaching while experiencing and releasing God’s New Testament power that was promised to all believers. 
• He is the same yesterday, today and forever! 
• Love yourself and your family and make it a priority to “press in” for all the Lord has for you and wants to do in your life. 
• The conference is a Paradigm shifter that will bless you in every way! 
• For Lodging at the Green Lake Conference Center (www.glcc.org)  please make your arrangements with the Center by phone at 920-294-3323. 
• The Green Lake Conference Center offers a wide range of lodging options, from tent camping sites to cabins/homes and hotel rooms. 
• Holy Spirit Renewal Ministries does not make arrangements for conference lodging. Off-site hotels are also available in Ripon and Green Lake, WI..
• ON-GROUNDS DINING is available in the Kraft Center Dining Room 

HIS IDENTITY ~ OUR AUTHORITY CONFERENCE GUEST SPEAKERS

William Hinn Jr.

William is the Senior Pastor of Risen Nation Church alongside his wife Emily; he also travels extensively as an international speaker. Their hearts are to see a generation run wholeheartedly after Jesus — walking in power, identity, intimacy, and righteousness.

During William’s teens and early twenties, he served faithfully at the church of his father, Pastor William D. Hinn. William has directed ministry events in large venues, arenas, and stadiums for both Benny Hinn Ministries and Lifestyle Christianity. He has also served as a personal assistant to Todd White as well as an itinerant speaker under Todd’s ministry.

William and Emily have two beautiful children: William, Elizabeth (Ellie), and one on the way! They are eager to see God’s people come into an encounter with Jesus & see this world invaded with the Kingdom of God.

http://www.risennation.org/

https://www.facebook.com/RisenNation/

Clay Harrington

At an early age, Clay was immersed in timeless teachings about God through his mother – a powerful woman of God. Today, 

Clay travels as an itinerant evangelist who inspires others to press into a rich relationship with the Father, equips the saints to live naturally supernatural lifestyles, and provokes the church to live radically for Jesus. 

Clay is married to his wife, Regina, and has two sets of boy-girl twins. 

He currently works as the Evangelism Pastor at the Vineyard Church in Urbana, IL.

 http://www.clayofgod.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/clayofgod77/

You Are a Temple of the Holy Spirit - Sunday 5/30/2021

Tim Curry and I co-preach on "You Are a Temple of the Holy Spirit."

Adventures With God - Episode 01 - Desperation

I am with Robby Dawkins, Brian Schwartz, and Jamie Galloway in this episode of the TV series Adventures With God.

My Reading for Memorial Day Weekend...

 

                                               (Path in our back yard that leads to the river.)

It's Memorial Day weekend!

Linda and I are avid readers.

We read. Therefore, we are.

My reading for this weekend is:

The biblical book of Romans. Along with reading the actual text, I've added six commentaries to my studies. I LOVE doing this! And, so far, 46 others have joined me in this summer Bible study. 

This weekend I will begin moving into Romans chapter 2.

I am also reading Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment. I enjoying, and learning, from this well-written text.

The Uninterested, Uninvolved God of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, argues Rod Dreher in The Benedict Option, has won in the West. Mere Christianity has lost.


Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD), argues U of Notre Dame's Christian Smith, is the de facto, default religion of American teenagers today. MTD's core beliefs are:


1. A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.

2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when he is needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

Smith writes:

"Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is also about providing therapeutic benefits to its adherents. This is not a religion of repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of a sovereign divine, of steadfastly saying one’s prayers, of faithfully observing high holy days, of building character through suffering, of basking in God’s love and grace, of spending oneself in gratitude and love for the cause of social justice, etc. Rather, what appears to be the actual dominant religion among U.S. teenagers is centrally about feeling good, happy, secure, at peace. It is about attaining subjective well-being, being able to resolve problems, and getting along amiably with other people."

The God of MTD is "one who exists, created the world, and defines our general moral order, but not one who is particularly personally involved in our affairs—especially affairs in which we would prefer not to have God involved. Most of the time, the God of this faith keeps a safe distance."

I met MTD-ers all the time in my MCCC philosophy classes. Some thought they were Christians, or that the worldview of MTD was the worldview of Jesus. The reason for this is that, while MTD is not an official, organized religion, MTD is "colonizing" other religions. Think now of the alien in the astronaut's body who is waiting to bust out of his chest.

Read Smith's entire article for the details. See also Smith's book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.

One more quote from Smith:

"When teenagers talked in their interviews about “grace,” they were usually talking about the television show Will and Grace, not about God’s grace. When teenagers discussed “honor,” they were almost always talking about taking honors courses or making the honor role at school, very rarely about honoring God with their lives. When teens mentioned being “justified,” they almost always meant having a reason for doing something behaviorally questionable, not having their relationship with God made right."

For Smith's research project see National Study of Youth and Religion. 

Foucaultian Postmodern Irony

  

                                                  (I saw this classic car in Monroe today.)

Ross Douthat writes, perceptively:

"If [Michel] Foucault’s thought offers a radical critique of all forms of power and administrative control, then as the cultural left becomes more powerful and the cultural right more marginal, the left will have less use for his theories, and the right may find them more insightful."

That... is so true..., ironic, and therefore so funny!

ROMANS SUMMER 2021 BIBLE STUDY - Bibliography

 

Here is my working bibliography for my Romans Summer Bible Study.

Gordon Fee, God's Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul

Fee, Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study

Craig Keener, Romans (New Covenant Commentary Series)

Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary

Douglas Moo, Romans: The NIV Application Commentary: From Biblical Text to Contemporary Life

Grant Osbourne, Romans Verse by Verse 

Ben Witherington, Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary

N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: Romans Part 1 

Wright, Paul for Everyone: Romans Part 2

Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God

I use the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. 

My Greek New Testament. 

And... http://www.greekbible.com/ 

Blessed Are Those Who Wage Peace, Not War

(Wellspring Lutheran Home, Monroe)

(I am writing this for a pastor friend who feels shame that his church is having problems.)

Thirty years ago a church in the Detroit area took out a large advertisement in the local paper. The advertisement had these words: "________ Church: The Friendliest Church in America!" When I read it I felt like jockeying for position. I could advertise my church as "We're #2!" Within three years, this church had massive internal conflict, many people left, and the church imploded.

At this stage in my life as a pastor one thing I have concluded is: no church is problem free. 

I can prove this. My church is not without problems, because I am in it. 

We all are troubled people, growing (hopefully) into Christlikeness.

Misunderstandings and arguments and conflicts are inevitable, even among the righteous. What if God shows you someone else's problems? Francis Frangipane, in The Three Battlegrounds, says, if God shows you someone else's mess, it is only so you can pray for them, not talk to other brothers and sisters about how horrible they are.

If you are part of the mess, do not leave others with the mess. Be part of cleaning it up. Be the solution, not the voice of the problem.

As a follower of Jesus you are called to do far more than just love peace. You are to make peace. (One of the best books I've read on this is Making Peace: A Guide to Overcoming Church Conflict, by James van Yperen. See also Henri Nouwen's beautiful The Road to Peace.)

Any fool can wage war. Followers of Jesus are called to wage peace. As a pastor, I have found this to be ongoing in marriages, families, and churches. Waging peace never stops this side of the Age to Come!

"But the new church I am going to doesn't have problems." It does; certainly it will. This is important, because it is within conflict that peacemakers and reconcilers are built. These are people who run towards the battle, not away from it.

I know people like this. They say things like, 

"Come, let us reason together."

I have seen people do this in my church family. When I hear of this, I cannot tell you how thankful I am and how blessed I feel!

Blessed are those who put things together, 

rather than tear things apart.

Blessed are those who, more than loving peace, 

make peace.

Blessed are those who stay when the going gets tough,

rather than leave because the going is tough.

Blessed are those who go to the other person,

rather than tell others about the other person.

Blessed are those who deal lovingly with their anger,

rather than sleep on their anger.

Blessed are the problem-solvers,

rather than the complainers.

Blessed are the understanders,

rather than the judgers.

Blessed are the participants,

rather than the observers.

Blessed are the doers,

rather than the talkers.

Blessed are those who wage peace,

not war.


***

My two books are:

Leading the Presence-Driven Church

Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God.

Read This Book, and Link Here, BEFORE You Get Married!

                                   (Cloud formations, taken from Redeemer's parking lot.)

Read this book, and link here, 

BEFORE you get married.

Jesus Wants Followers, Not Admirers

 

                                                             (Near Wilberforce, Ohio)

Soren Kierkegaard wrote: Jesus' "whole life on earth, from beginning to end, was destined solely to have followers and to make admirers impossible." (Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard, p. 85)

Rod Dreher expands on this idea.

"Admirers love being associated with Jesus, but when trouble comes, they either turn on him or in some way try to put distance between themselves and the Lord. The admirer wants the comfort and advantage that comes with being a Christian, but when times change and Jesus becomes a scandal or worse, the admirer folds." (Dreher, Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents, p. 190)

Dreher then quotes Kierkegaard.

"The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, will not reconstruct his life, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires. Not so for the follower. No, no. The follower aspires with all his strength to be what he admires. And then, remarkably enough, even though he is living amongst a “Christian people,” he incurs the same peril as he did when it was dangerous to openly confess Christ."