Let's just say that moving and Church Conference became all-consuming on the Cotton agenda. Thanks for your patience. I will be slowly catching up.
On our trip to Turkey and the Greek Isles in 1999, we also went to Kushadasi and Ephesus, which is right on the western coast of Turkey. I bought Tina's anniversary ring in Kushadasi, right after we spent the day touring Ephesus. Just a few months before we toured there, the Three Tenors had done a concert there. Today, concerts are banned there because the sound equipment deteriorates the ruins. It was quite a place: ruins from a large library, temples to Artemis as well as the emperor cult, and much to our entertainment - a set of ancient toilets with a platform in front of them on which musicians played while people went to the restroom. The ruins were wonderfully preserved.
Like Priscilla and Aquila discovered with Apollos, Paul discovers in Ephesus that the faith of the people is not complete. For Apollos, it mean acquainting with the truth about Jesus. For the Ephesians, it meant acquainting them with the Holy Spirit. What the people had was John the Baptist's understanding of baptism - a baptism of repentance, a declaration of changing ones behavior and action. The baptism of the Spirit moved beyond that to a filling of followers with the Spirit of God, the Christ within. You know from my earlier writings in this blog that my own life has a parallel here, that the filling of the Spirit allowed me to move from doing my best for God, to allowing God to move in and through me. The difference between those two has been life itself to me. John and Charles Wesley's story is remarkably similar.
We say we believe in the Trinity, but I find that most people have a two-dimensional faith. They strongly believe in a God who created the world and is always there. They believe God the Father hears their prayers and gives guidance to their lives. They believe in Jesus who walked this earth, died for us and rose again. They believe by placing their trust in him that they are saved and given the gift of eternal life. While they
say they believe in the Holy Spirit, they really don't seem to know what the Spirit does or how we experience the Spirit dimension of God. It is the Spirit dimension that sets the presence of God loose in and through us, the dimension that becomes our inner teacher and mentor, the dimension that frees up our giftedness (both natural and spiritual)to make a difference in the church and the world, the dimension that builds our Christian character day by day, the dimension that unifies and empowers Christians to make present the kingdom of God in this world. It is no accident that the Apostle's Creed connects the Holy Spirit and the holy catholic Church. We can't be the Church without the dimension of the Holy Spirit. Jurgen Moltmann's theology text on the Church is entitled The Church in the Power of the Spirit.
When the power of the Spirit is set loose in and through you and me, Christianity becomes alive in a whole new way. For Paul, miracles were happening without him touching people. Things he touched ended up becoming miracles for people. Isn't it exciting to see what happens when things get out of our control and into the freedom and power of God's Spirit. In fact, some tried to counterfeit it, which I have also seen done. The results for the sons of Sceva were not very good! On the other hand, those in sorcery and magic were giving up their lucrative practices and bringing their wealth so that the gospel could be furthered. They knew the difference between truth and falsehood.
So much of what people yearn for in our day and time (the instant gratification, the thrill of great entertainment or daring stunts, the desire to create a "really big show") is really a desire to be part of something truly great - life in the freedom and power experienced in the third dimension of God. Of course, demonstrating true freedom and power over against the false kind will make you controversial, as the rest of Acts 19 describes.
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