What Do We Learn from the Gospel of MARK about the Holy Spirit?

https://larrydixon.wordpress.com/2019/12/07/the-forgotten-third-developing-a-relationship-with-god-the-holy-spirit-what-do-we-learn-from-the-gospel-of-mark-about-the-holy-spirit/

What It Means to Seek the Kingdom of God

https://frankking.net/2019/12/what-it-means-to-seek-the-kingdom-of-god/

The Holy Spirit and Transformation

Anyone who reads the apostle Paul’s letters comes away with the clear idea that Paul taught the Holy Spirit was/is a transforming Agent. One example is Romans 8:4: “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (NIV).

Let’s agree to agree: The Holy Spirit works in us to transform us into Christoformity.

How?

That is the question in the work of Volker Rabens’ academic book, The Holy Spirit and Ethics in Paul: Transformation and Empowering for Religious-Ethical Life. This book is now in its 2d edition and published by Fortress.

Continue at: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2019/12/04/the-holy-spirit-and-transformation/

A Simple Way to Pray the Lord’s Prayer

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” Matthew 6:9-13

Jesus didn’t say, “This is what you should pray,” like it was a magic formula, that if you pray these exact words in this exact order God would give you whatever you wanted. Jesus said, “This is how you should pray.” He gave us the Lord’s Prayer as a way to remember the essence of praying to our Heavenly Father. Here’s an easy way to remember the key aspects of Lord’s Prayer:

P – Praise your Dad. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Matthew 6:9
Before you ask for anything, start by praising God. This isn’t because God needs to be reminded how awesome He is. It’s because you need to be reminded about how awesome God is. How important is praising God? What difference does it make? To use a football analogy, it’s all about field position. Let’s say the other team kicks off the ball and your team is returning it. If the ball is downed at your 1-yard line, and you have to drive 99 yards to score a touchdown, that’s pretty tough. But what if you catch the ball and return it 80 yards? Now, before you ever run an offensive play, instead of being back up at your 1-yard line, you’re in their red zone, and scoring is a ton easier. Field position matters. Before you start asking for anything, when you spend time praising God, it’s improving your field position. So spend time doing it. And the reason I said Praise your Dad instead of Praise God is to remind you of the relational aspect. God is not some cold distant being. He is your loving Heavenly Father who wants to talk with you.

R – Recognize what’s important. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10
Again, still not asking for anything yet. What you’re doing here is reminding yourself that God’s kingdom and God’s will is the most important. Recognize that. “It’s not about me, God, it’s about you.” Recognize the mission of God over your preferences.

Read more: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/newwineskins/a-simple-way-to-pray-the-lords-prayer/

Video: The Amazing Story Behind the Song “O Holy Night”

https://churchleaders.com/daily-buzz/315467-video-the-amazing-story-behind-the-song-o-holy-night.html

What Do We Learn from the book of Revelation about the Holy Spirit?

https://larrydixon.wordpress.com/2019/12/04/the-forgotten-third-developing-a-relationship-with-god-the-holy-spirit-what-do-we-learn-from-the-book-of-revelation-about-the-holy-spirit/

Why Aren’t the Younger Generation Coming To Worship?

https://alightbreaksthrough.org/why-arent-young-peopling-to-worship/