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| (Somewhere in Ohio) |
This Sunday morning one of our men took me aside and said, "This is beautiful, because it is not scripted. The Holy Spirit is allowed to move." More like the early church in the book of Acts, right?
Sadly, there are church "services" that are programmed, timed, and scripted. Former Charisma Magazine editor Lee Grady expresses his concern about this in his article "Don't Be Afraid to Let the Holy Spirit Move."
Grady writes:
"If your church allows this kind of freedom for ministry, you are blessed—because many pastors today are afraid to allow the Holy Spirit to move. We've put the Spirit in a box. We have a long list of seeker-friendly rules these days, telling us that:
1) American churchgoers only want a 60-minute church experience;
2) the only "cool" way to do church is to offer three songs, a short TED Talk and video announcements on a big screen and
3) altar calls or extended prayer times will scare people away."
This is sad, because people need the reality of God's power, which cannot be programmed or managed or contained.
Grady gives seven things we can do to encourage the freedom of the Spirit in our churches. Click here to read them.
