The fresh, new wind of the Holy Spirit

NOTE: What I wrote below is my observations. I came to the central insight a long time ago, and had it renewed a couple of weeks before Mike began his teaching about newness. And what I have heard him say over the last three weeks seems to confirm my observations.

I have been pondering over something for several weeks now. I have had two different people talk to me about the teachings at church. Having been in this particular church for 25 years, I am very used to the pastors and how they teach. Used to it to the point of no longer noticing (or being blind to) what they are up to.

The first comment was something about their teaching that I had heard the person make previously, and then recently heard again. I will not repeat it here because of what I am about to say, and because the person who said it will be instantly recognizable. It stimulated a lot of thought on what the pastors talk about, how they do it, and what their expectations are.

The second was a comment my wife made. She observed that the elders have never done a teaching on heaven, and rarely mention heaven in church. (Other than as the “kingdom of heaven.”) This was not meant as a criticism, just an observation. My wife had been watching two Bill Gaither “Homecoming” videos on heaven. She had been very moved by them. It helped that a lot of the hymns on the videos were ones that she had sung growing up and had not heard in many years.

Being who I am, I immediately took what she said and generalized it. I realized that the pastors actually rarely take on any of the common “theological” topics: salvation, grace, eschatology, prayer, apologetics, or whatever else. At least as individual, self-contained topics. In fact, we are a charismatic church whose pastors did not talk about the baptism in Holy Spirit for years. And it is not because we lack the intellectual firepower in the pews to handle intense theological discussions.

So what are they doing and why?

The long and short of it is that they are listening to the Holy Spirit. That determines the general topic, how the topic is focused (that is, the specific theme of the teaching), and the outline of what is to be said. In the end, they rarely do the three-point sermons beloved of professors in theological seminaries. They are listening to today’s, fresh, new wind of the Holy Spirit. (Which was actually the topic of today’s teaching.)

They teach what He is prompting them to teach.

And they expect each of us in church, and they include themselves in this, to go to the Holy Spirit. They expect to have the Holy Spirit extract for each of us what He wants to talk to us about. It may be an attitude that needs to be adjusted. It may be sin to repent of. It may be an action that He wants us to take. Or to stop taking (even righteous actions may be less than what He wants from us at a particular time.) It may be just being still and listening to Him.

The primary focus of what they say, for as long as I have been here, has been on what Jesus is saying. [Mike’s emphasis on “Today, if you hear His voice” is typical.] Their emphasis is on an on-going, sustained relationship with Jesus. And the teaching on a Sunday morning is just one, possibly minor, aspect of that on-going relationship.

However, there is a problem with what they do. Sort of. It is not their problem. It is a problem on the part of the listener. The listener has to be listening in a particular way. The listener must be constantly attentive to both the teaching, and to the Holy Spirit. Or be willing to take notes and then pray over them during the week. Meditate on them. Listen for the fresh, new wind of the Holy Spirit.

If a person is unwilling to listen this way, it is going to be frustrating. If they are not willing to ask others for help, it is going to be frustrating. If they want a theology lesson, it is going to be frustrating. If they want to leave church feeling good, it is going to be frustrating. If they want to have their ears tickled, they may be satisfied for a few Sundays, and then it is going to be frustrating. If they want a “good work of the week” to perform, it is going to be frustrating. That is not how they operate.