Category — Ministry Tools

The relational graces play a tremendous role in our personal discipleship process. Jesus Christ is extremely personal in discipling you and me. My wife and I were blessed with three children—boy, girl, boy. All three are distinctly different in their personality and wiring. As their parents, there was no way we could impose a cookie-cutter approach to child-rearing on all three and expect them to respond alike. We had to craft an approach for each that played to their personality and situation. This approach is not merely pragmatic, but also the loving thing to do.

Jesus works with each of us in unique ways to bring us closer to himself and transform us into followers who exhibit his character. So when it comes to the relational graces, you will no doubt employ them in slightly different ways than I would. You may also find that you employ one or more of the relational graces to a greater extent than some of the others and that emphasis may change over time. Remember, the goal is not mastery of relational graces, but deeper relationship with Christ. [Read more →]

The Holy Spirit explains the Scriptures to us. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26) The Holy Spirit authored the Scriptures to be read and understood. He delights in making himself known to us through his Word.

There are a variety of ways in which the Holy Spirit explains the Bible to us. Sometimes he gives us the ability to suddenly grasp the meaning of a passage, which had confused us before. Such an experience seems primarily cognitive in nature, but may have far reaching relational impact as well. I say that because we’re not merely seeking an intellectual thrill in understanding a new thing from the Bible. The Bible is very intellectually stimulating, but that’s a by-product not the goal. Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” (Ephesians 1:17) [Read more →]

The Holy Spirit transforms us.  On the face of it we may not think of the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in us as relational and requiring communication. But if we reflect on what it is that Christ wants to change in us, we realize that the changes are predominantly character issues. God’s plan for us is to make us more like Christ in character. “Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

The point is that these character issues (Christlikeness) have primarily to do with relationships—those with God and with others. Even a speedy review of key passages like Romans 12:3-15:7; Galatians 5:22-23 (the fruit of the Spirit); Ephesians 4:17-5:33; and Colossians 3:12-4:6 reveal that the nature of the transformation God wants to bring about in us is profoundly relational. As his children we are to imitate him (Ephesians 5:1). [Read more →]

The Holy Spirit enables us to think like Christ. In 1 Corinthians 2:10-16, Paul lays out an incredible truth for us. To paraphrase this passage, Paul says, “No other person knows my thoughts. In the same way, only God knows his thoughts. But since the Holy Spirit is God, he knows the thoughts of God. And God has given us his Spirit, so that we too can know God’s thoughts!” And then Paul summarizes with the bold statement, “We have the mind of Christ.” This truth is highly relational and highly communicative. This fact stands at the core of Paul’s assertion.

I think I speak for all followers of Christ when I say that we don’t always feel like we have the mind of Christ. We tend to judge the veracity of something based on our experience. When we don’t experience having the mind of Christ (or what we assume that is) we either argue that Paul must not have really meant that we have the mind of Christ. Or we conclude that we must have some deficiency that prevents us from knowing the mind of Christ. Either way, we assume we don’t really experience having the mind of Christ. [Read more →]

The Holy Spirit comforts, encourages and confirms us. Observe from the following texts all the ways that the Holy Spirit relates with us and communicates with us. Romans 5:5 encourages, “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” And Romans 8:26 explains, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”

Paul speaks the following blessing in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Hope is not merely a warm feeling that comes over us from some stimulant. The Holy Spirit speaks hope into our lives by confirming God’s love and promises for us. [Read more →]

The Holy Spirit guides us. We find an unusual example of this with Paul and his companions in Acts 16:6-7, they had been “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.”

When my wife and I moved to Anchorage, Alaska in 2002 it was an especially difficult move for her. We were moving very far away from our children and grandchildren. We have always been a close-knit family, so being separated by such distance was particularly hard. Also, Alaska comes with its own unique set of challenges including long, dark winters and short, cool summers. So when I accepted the job in Anchorage, Linda graciously committed to staying up to five years. I agreed to these terms. [Read more →]

In Acts 8:29 we read, “The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’” And Philip led this Ethiopian official to the Lord. The Holy Spirit gave special instructions to Ananias in Acts 9:10-16 when he told him to go pray for Saul. We find another example in Acts 10:19-20, “While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.’”

Some years ago, my wife and I were leading a small group in our home. The group had been meeting for about a year. Randy and Debbie were part of our small group. They had been married about seven years at the time and were unable to have children. From time to time throughout that year we had prayed for them that they might have a child, but as of yet they had not. [Read more →]

The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. John 16:8 NLT, “And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” A number of years ago, I began discipling a guy who had just come to Christ. He had been a drug dealer and was associated with all the other crime that revolves around drug trafficking. We were walking through a grocery store buying some items that I needed to pick up.

I noticed my friend picking up candy from the bulk bins and eating it in the store. We arrived at the checkout and I casually asked him in the hearing of the cashier how many candies he had eaten so we could pay for them. I asked him without any hint of accusation or condemnation. He stated a number and I paid for them. [Read more →]

The Holy Spirit teaches us what to say. In Luke 12:11-12 Jesus said, “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

In the mid 1970’s I was serving in the US Army in Berlin. The Army mandated several days of training to deter racial discrimination. The facilitator presented lots of issues, but didn’t seem to have any solutions. So when he asked for some, I volunteered to the group that I thought Jesus Christ was the answer to our racial discrimination troubles. The facilitator exploded in anger and verbally abused me publicly and forbade me to talk about Christ in our sessions again. [Read more →]

Jesus told his disciples very clearly that his sheep “follow him because they know his voice” (John 10:4 & 16). Jesus also explained an amazing thing to his bewildered disciples in John 14 to 16. He said, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). Here’s what Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do for his followers: be with us forever (14:16); teach us all things and remind us of what Jesus said (14:26); he will testify about Jesus to enable us to testify of Jesus to others (15:26-27); he will guide us into all the truth, speak to us and tell us what is to come (16:13); he will make known to us what Jesus has for us (16:15). [Read more →]