Presence Evangelism is the New/ Old Evangelism

By Melanie Jean Juneau

 

Painting by Wilhelm Amberg (Wikimedia Commons).

This move of the Spirit is quiet, subtle and entirely grassroots. 

The stars have fallen. The big names have grown old.

Society is weary of huge, dazzling Christian shows. People crave reality.

Evangelism has gone through many stages to reach the place we are today.Up until the late 60′s, evangelists were mainly preachers of the Word. In the Protestant camp, Billy Graham shone the brightest while for Catholics,the first name that pops into my head as an example is Bishop Fulton Sheen and his radio program.These men focused on an evangelism of the word, a preached sermon or talk with the purpose of convincing people to repent, change and commit their lives to God.

The primary way the Holy Spirit touched people in large crowds in the 70′s, 80′ and 90′s was through power evangelism. Rather than preaching long sermons, the evangelists who drew the largest crowds were prophets and healers. The Spirit fell in a tangible way.This was not restricted to the Protestants. The Catholics experienced their own Charismatic Renewal with crowds of 30,000 gathering in Rome in the mid 70′s. I remember one Catholic Charismatic Conference in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where 10,000 people sang gently, harmoniously in tongues like angels and I am sure with angels. Organizers allowed the Holy Spirit to move gently among the crowd, healing physically and emotionally.


Continue reading at Melanie's blog joy of nine9.

Spiritual gifts that are much needed today

By Mary N.


 

Happy Christmas by Viggo (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

It's no great secret to those of you who read my blog posts that I believe we live in "spiritually" critical times. I also believe that each and every one of us, though some may be as yet unaware of them, have special gifts from the Lord that can be a great help today in leading people back to the Lord and these gifts include charisms. Over the years, I have heard it said that these "charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit" are no longer necessary - that they were only for the early Church in order to better spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and add to the community of believers...but this is absolutely untrue. Not only is it untrue but this false statement is detrimental to Christianity in this day and age.

The Holy Spirit is working harder than ever to bring people to Christ. Some of the reasons that we don't see the more obvious manifestations of these gifts of the Holy Spirit today and why some believe they haven't received any of these gifts may be due to:

- a lack of faith
- blockages in the spirit (this may be because we may need to forgive others...or even ourselves)
- unconfessed sin
- sinful patterns of living
- a lack of understanding the immense power of God
- a reliance on human understanding
- a lack of charity
- a refusal (can be an "unconscious" refusal) of the gifts due to false humility or because of inner    wounds that need healing


Continue reading at Mary's blog The Beautiful Gate.

The surprising charisms of the Holy Spirit

by Nancy Ward

Pentecost by Girolamo da Cremona (photo credit: Getty Museum)

 What are your spiritual gifts? Has the Holy Spirit ever surprised you with the grace to serve in a way you never imagined?  Or taken your natural talent and empowered you to use it to honor God?

For me, writing was about personal fulfillment, if not fame. The Holy Spirit transformed my desires, helping me surrender that natural talent to the Lord. So my inherited talent became a charism dedicated to building up the Body of Christ for the glory of God.


The change happened after I filled out a questionnaire revealing my charisms of the Holy Spirit.  My spiritual life flourished, directing my natural talents more outward than inward.

Other gifts teetered on the line between “mine” and “God’s.” My gift of administration, defined as providing the planning and coordination needed to accomplish good things, was not exclusively directed outward.  I could accept the grace to seek the good of all involved in a ministry or project, or just as easily use this gift to get my way without consulting or honoring God.

I scored high on discernment, the ability to sense the spiritual struggles of others. But my low score on mercy equaled a very judgmental Christian, without the impetus for practical acts of compassion to relieve their distress.

The Lord develops new charisms to enhance the ones we have. I seek the charism of wisdom, that is, remarkable insight and creative solutions, to ensure my writing conveys God’s love effectively and consistently. The Holy Spirit surprises me with illuminating perception far beyond my ideas. I wrote about this in Holy Spirit Sandwich.


Continue reading at Nancy's blog  JOY Alive in our hearts.