What Is the Holy Spirit?

"We're doing this series called 'The Name'", opens Louie Giglio.  We have all been charged to carry the name of Jesus and it is a big deal.  We often get caught up in the daily grinds of life and forget why we're here in the first place!  How do we carry on His name on a day-to-day basis?   "I think it is in starting the day with Jesus."  Every day we should come to God in His Word.  Even for Louie, who is regularly on tour, he frequently gets caught up in the logistics of his ministry rather than focusing personally on the name of Jesus! 

In the book of Acts (chapters 1 & 2), after Jesus has been raised from the dead, He appears to the Apostles, giving them great confidence that He was who He said He was, but then Jesus ascends into Heaven and leaves them.  However, remember that when Jesus left the Apostles, He promised to leave with them the Holy Spirit.   Luke recounts these events in his New Testament book.  Before Jesus had died, he had many questions for Jesus.  Having asked Him when the kingdom of Heaven would descend,  Jesus had responded that no one would know the time.  "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth."  So, our responsibility, as laid out by Jesus Himself, is chrystal clear.  That whole "power" thing serves for one purpose; to carry out the name of Jesus.  This is the assignment! 

Louie says we are not to engage in our purposes and our agendas, but rather to reorder our lives to carry the name of Jesus and His resurrection.  Louie pauses and points out that it is so easy to hear this charge and to be mindful of a message like this, but to then return to our every day habits without purposeful intent.  Does this mean that the Holy Spirit hasn't really come into our lives?  What is the evidence that we rely on the Holy Spirit?  As we read in Acts, we see that anyone the Holy Spirit touches cannot help but scream out the name of Jesus. 



Look in Acts 2:1.  It describes an event where the Apostles have gathered and a wind blows in and "the whole house was filled up".  It seemed like fire came down and touched each person causing them to speak in tongues.  It was like God Himself had descended upon the house! 

Most of us know that there is something that has to happen that is more than what is happening.  When the Spirit came, what is the first thing the Apostles did?  What do you think was their first reaction??   Read the text.  They started speaking.  Now, they were speaking in other tongues, but not "speaking in tongues".  They were speaking in other languages!  How do we know this?  Because a crowd gathered in amazement and witnessed it.  People were in the city from all over the world and they heard these men speaking about the name of Jesus in all of their own languages.  Knowing these men were from Galilee, they could see this was a miracle.  In the midst of this, Peter stands up and speaks to the crowd.  "This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel."  When the Spirit comes, people speak about Jesus...

Peter speaks to the crowd, “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. ²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,^[a] put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. ²⁴ But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him."

That day, our church was born. But God knew that, even though the birth of the church was powerful, its people would become overwhelmed with life in time.  They would begin, over time, to lose fervor, so God knew He had to give them something more. 

Read in Chapter 3 the incident of a crippled man;  "Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called "Beautiful", where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.  Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.  Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.  He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.  When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Look at this story.  This lame man had gone to this temple every single day.  The apostles told him that they didn't have anything for this man at all.  ALL THEY HAD WAS THE NAME OF JESUS.  They didn't give him money, a sandwich or clothes, just Jesus' name.  We have that same power over us as Christians, as "Christ in us".  We might want to do something that would appear to help these people at their point of need.  We can certainly do that, but how often do we want to stop, help the person, but then say, "Look at me", and "Don't think of this help as what you've experienced from thousands of others who have just passed by and thrown out leftover change"?!  Look at me and hear the name of Jesus! 

There is power in that name.  In Luke 4, a demon possessed man is approached by Jesus, and the demon immediately screams out to Him because he knows who Jesus was!  Jesus then casts out the demon and, at the same time, silences the demon saying that the people are not yet ready to know who He is. 

Years ago, Louie and Chris Tomlin were touring in Washington, D.C. and someone asked if they would be interested in seeing the White House.  His crowd of musicians gathered where they were told and they were picked up by this same guy in a maroon van.  "This guy was full 10 and 2, you know?"  The driver seemed to have all the confidence in the world.  As they watched intently from the back of the van, it pulled past pilons, passed armed guards and up to the security gate.  They're driver rolled his window down and said, "I've got Chris Tomlin and his band in the back here and we're here for a 10:00 appointment with the President."  Louie was shell-shocked.  "We were just going to tour the White House, but this guy thought that meant they were going to see the President!"  He thought that if he went to the White House and simply mentioned the name of Chris Tomlin, that everyone would step aside and let them in!  The security guard at the gate was on the defensive, put his hand on his holster and instructed the man to slowly put the van in reverse and to exit the premises.  

You have to be careful that you don't take away the name of Jesus and then speak on any purpose thinking God will do whatever you ask.  As an example, look later in Acts where these seven Jewish men attempt to cast out a demon in the name of Jesus (and with the authority of Paul).  The demon responds by saying, basically, "I know who Paul is and who Jesus is, but who are you?"  Then the demon severely beats all seven of the men to a pulp, strips them of all their clothes and chases them back into a city. 

We have to be careful to use the name of the Holy Spirit, not for our purposes, but for His.  Certainly, we have power in His name, but only power for what He wants to do.

Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen?

The "Hope" message by Louie Giglio can be found at http://www.newspring.cc/series/hope. It is a message that has been talked about and spread through all age groups of the Christian community. This is definitely worth listening to!

We are all going to come to the place where we run in to the huge pot holes of life that can swallow us up. Christianity can't always be reduced to a bumper sticker or a slogan. We don't know how to respond to everything that comes our way. We don't get a diagram that gives us the key to life. Some of us found out the hard way when we tried to live the Christian "newness of life" and we get knocked down. When life events continued as they did before we came to know Christ, it shook us and our faith.

In John 16, Christ was about to be crucified and about to bear the sins of the world when He said these words. "Now I've told you these things... (He had said some amazing things like: "I am the vine and you are the branches. Unless you abide in me, you can do nothing" or "I chose you; you didn't choose me" or "As much as the Father loves me; that is the same way I love you". He said he was going away, but the good news was he was gong to send another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who was going to live inside of them. He also told the disciples that they wouldn't see him anymore, but in a short while, they would see him again.) ....so that in Me you may have peace." "Have peace" means to take possession of peace; to have ownership of peace. Jesus didn't say we would have peace by being in church, have peace by having a bible at home or have peace by having certain beliefs. He said would would have peace by having a relationship with Him.

"In this world, you will have trouble." In our world, it will come in the future and in our present reality. Jesus was saying "Trouble is coming!!" Haven't we all had the darkness of trouble? Jesus says that we will have the big kind of trouble like trouble that rocks our faith and nearly snuffs us out. But He gives us the way to peace. He says there is a world that is crumbling, but there is also a powerful God. "Take heart because I have overcome the world." But how do you overcome the world? As He was standing saying this, He had not yet fulfilled his purpose by dying on cross, so how could He say that? It was because He had already arrived. He had fulfilled much because He was God on earth. Some people buy into the theology that troubles don't happen to true Christians. This is certainly not true Trouble will come and the question, at time of trouble, will be "Where will you turn?"

Recently, at a youth conference in Myrtle Beach, Louie told the audience that he didn't know where each of them were at the time, but he promised that the bottom would fall out at some point which would bring them back to the Hope of the gospel. "I was walking off the stage, and I literally hadn't even stepped off the stairs yet" when a security guard stopped him. He grabbed Louie and told him to go back onto the stage and to pray for a kid in the audience who had just received a phone call in the lobby (while Louie was talking) and learned that his mother had been shot in a drug deal. Before he knew it, Louie was praying with the kid in the lobby. Trouble will come.

Month's ago, Louie received an email from a kid named Jacob who had lost his sister in a car accident, which turned his life upside down. Out of the blue, Louie got this gritty thing about real trouble. Jacob was angry with God and couldn't see through his grief. He said his sister should be celebrating a birthday, not lying in a grave. He prayed that God would take away the internal bleeding of his sister when she was dying, but he felt ignored by God. What's the use in praying when God isn't interested in healing or restoring an individual for us? He had prayed over others and watched people heal, but when his sister needed healing, God was silent. So many people were praying that night, but God ignored their prayers.

It was a flat out reality. What could Louie say about that? "Take heart?" How could Louie himself say anything in an unexplainable event that causes unexplainable pain? This kind of pain in our lives The cross is the core of the Christian journey. It's not just a transaction Hebrews 6:19-20, it says "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf." We have this hope as an anchor during the shipwrecks of life. 1) It is at the cross that God shows us He loves us. We have to get this when we are thinking, "God must not love me if He let this happen to me." We have to get eyeball to eyeball with Jesus and understand that He was the love of God.

Our Heavenly Father loves us. 2) God allows freedom, but He maintains control. At the cross, "angry men" crucified Jesus. An authority gave the crowd the option of freeing Jesus or Barabus, a notorious criminal. But who did they choose? The Son of God. The guards came in punched the clock and crucified Christ. Was God in charge? Yes. Did the men make those choices? Yes. Yet, somehow, God gave freedom, but maintained control. He is never not in control of your life, but we are in a broken world where we make choices. 3) The third thing the cross tells us is that God can use the worst for His eternal purposes. This isn't something the disciples could see at the time when their Messiah was being beaten, ridiculed and crucified. It was a horrible experience, but when Christ reappeared and had been resurrected, it was all the more beautiful.

"I've told you enough bad news. Let me share you some good news." On January 22nd, Louie was on tour with Chris Tomlin in Phoenix outside of the Dodge Theater and he received an email from a young girl, Ashley, via wi fi which can now be found in its entirety at the link, http://268generation.com/blog/2008/04/the-day-unending-life-began/. Louie was so excited after reading the email. "She didn't even come to the conference and she was saved!" Louie called her up and asked if he could post her email on his site and blog. To him, it was a fantastic letter which drew many responses later on from his readers. A while later, Ashley wrote an email to "momma and everyone else", copying Louie and saying she had graduated even though it had been a "helluva year". She told how she had had some wonderful experiences, but that she was especially thankful for her roommate sharing the truth of Jesus and how it had changed her life. On May 4th, however, Louie received a message from her mother telling him that she had been in a car accident and died in the arms of her father. But her mother, even in her grief, said that she had watched her daughter's life change when she met the Savior. She missed her daughter, but knew Ashley had been listening to Louie's messages to learn more about her walk. The mother thanked Louie for all that he did because, at the funeral, many of her Christian friends showed up praising and rejoicing at a time that would normally be very sad.

Louie wept and, after composing himself, wrote the mother back a couple of days later. They communicated online about how wonderful it was that Ashley came to know Christ before her death and then they talked about Ashley and her new life. It wasn't long before the mother asked if she could give Louie's email address to Ashley's father, an atheist. She apologized ahead of time for anything her ex-husband might say to him. 4) The fourth thing the cross shows us is that God paints of a canvas. To us, it is a mosaic, because we can't see the significance of any one piece until we know the larger picture.

Not long afterwards, Louie received an email from Mike, Ashley's father. He had heard about Louie's conversations with him and how Ashley had been saved in January. Althought he was an atheist, he said that he could honestly say that he saw a huge difference in Ashley; "It was amazing." On the night he got the call, he was in Arizona and rushed to Florida via plane. But he was six hours too late and his daughter had died in the arms of her other father. It was like a knife in his soul. "I didn't know a person could feel that much pain all at once." Ashley's friends called and asked if they could plan the funeral. Two hundred kids showed up at the wake and music was playing and people were rejoicing that Ashley had come to know Christ. At one point, Ashley had asked her dad if he would go to a Christian concert with her, but he said no, Reflecting back on it, he said he now would give anything to have a chance to say yes. Her death had dramatically affected him. Louie wrote back and said he was glad Mike had gotten to know the power of the gospel through someone he loved. Not long afterwards, Mike wrote back with one sentence; "Would it be okay if I ask you some questions about your life and your faith?"

We might be left in these situations wondering why this is happening to us. But what we can realize about the cross is that Jesus knows our pain and that He went through it just like we are going through it. The cross doesn't get rid of the circumstance, but it does gives us the hope that everything that happens is part of a perfect plan for the good of those who love him. God will never let go of us no matter what comes our way. Big time trouble is coming and when it does, the hope comes from the cross.