Great Spirit

Visiting St. Paul’s Parish Princeton For this field observation project, I chose to attend the 5pm Sunday service at St. Paul’s Parish in Princeton. Growing up in the Pentecostal tradition, I have become at home in free worship and contemporary liturgy. Most of the church’s I’ve attended in the past had many informal elements in their liturgy, designed to make new-comers feel a little less awkward and part of the church family. As a new Methodist, I have found many Methodist churches…

Martin Luther wrote the Freedom of a Christian in 1520. This work expressed the heart and soul of Luther’s treatise on Christian liberty in which he sets forth the essence of Christian faith and life. One of the main points in this treatise is Luther’s attempt to distinguish the different parts of the human person. His theory rests on the belief that everyone is made up of two parts; the inner spiritual person and the outer bodily person. Luther shows how the inner soul of a person is…

David Bosch, considered to be a foremost mission theologian, presents thorough scholarship drawing upon a vast number and breadth of sources, covering the entire chronological scope to the present era of NT church history from a "emerging ecumenical paradigm of mission" perspective in an amazingly compact fashion. The epochal treatment of missions by Bosch is notable, also in it’s scope from Primitive Christianity, Hellenistic period, middle ages Roman Catholic, Reformation, Modern…

According to Martin Luther in his Sermon on the Creed, the Apostle’s Creed is split up into three articles, the first being about creation and the Father, the second being about redemption and the Son, and the third about sanctification and the Holy Spirit. Creation is a major theme that not only appears in the Apostle’s Creed, but also is a fundamental principle of Christianity. Many major historical theologians…

The book, The Lord Reigns: A Theological Handbook to the Psalms is written by James L. Mays. It is a book about the book of Psalms viewed as a scripture and a liturgy. The book is concerned with the use of Psalms, and how its central message of the Lord reigns is portrayed. Mays proposes that the word “the Lord reigns” is the main point of Psalms that describes the sovereignty of God. It describes the contents and context of the Psalms individual and as a whole in relation to the other books of…

I was standing in the middle of the hall at Church on the Rock in Toronto, Canada, a completely foreign environment where I knew no one other than my father who stood beside me throughout a religious experience that has in some sense, changed my outlook on Christianity. From a young age my father had instilled the importance of faith within our household, motivating my family and I to attend church every Sunday and most importantly, to read the Bible and apply the principles to our daily life.…

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened,” (Holy Bible, Mathew 7:7-8). I have heard this Bible verse from Matthew many times, and although it’s message left little room for perception, I found myself mirroring Jesus’ Disciple, Thomas, who had to ‘see to believe.’ Sure, I prayed regularly. Sometimes those prayers were answered, and other…

the Guglielmites “spiritual dreams” being crystalized into heresy through the inquisition, Barbara Newman writes: But certain tenets and practices appear to have been shared by all: a reverence for Guglielma as a uniquely Spirit-filled person, even physical embodiment of the Spirit; an interest in gender complementarity; a belief in the priestly capabilities of women; an inclusive ecclesiology embracing the ultimate salvation of Jews, Saracens and pagans; a fascination with such “charismatic”…

It was a confusing time for we had just received a call to a southern Parish and had only been in the northern mission for one year. It had been a very difficult year on the family, but we were already seeing revival and growth as the Holy Spirit awakened hearts to the power of God’s love. We arrived at dusk, set up our camper, just in time to take in the evening service. It had been a ten-hour drive and we were weary but full of anticipation as we walked through the parking lot. There were…

The power of the Holy Spirit continues to play a key role in its presence during the administering of sacraments. The journey through life is still very often referred to at mass. And lastly, God as a healer has been a widespread idea that helps relate the Lord to His true essence:…