Holy Spirit Renewal Ministries in American Baptist Churches
Dr. Roger Fredrickson opened the session at the all-conference worship on Sunday morning. He challenged us to get back to the big stuff:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has annointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to leal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;"
Isaiah 61:1
Dr. Fredrickson encouraged us to seek true unity, empowered by the Holy Spirit to do God's work in the world.
Quotes from Dr. Clark Pinnock:
"The Spirit brings us into intimacy with God to sensitize us to the will of God...The Spirit can set our hearts on fire and fill our mouths with songs of praise. But the goal remains the gathering of the nations, the transformation of creation."
"The apostle Paul tells us to praise God with both Spirit and mind, and to pray with both Spirit and mind. He wants us to keep a balance, even as God has joined Spirit and Word. Often evangelicals emphasize the Word over the Spirit, while Charismatics often emphasize the Spirit over the Word. But the Spirit and the Word belong together. It has been said that if we emphasize the Word without the Spirit, we dry up. If we emphasize the Spirit without the Word, we blow up. But if we hold Word and Spirit together, we grow up."
Quotes from Dr. Gregory Boyd:
"Jesus says these gates (referring to Matthew 16:18-19 - gates of Hades) shall not be able to 'prevail against' the church. Since 'gates' are defensive structures to keep the enemy out, not offensive weapons, 'prevail' is more accurate than 'overcome,' which the NIV uses. Jesus is portraying the church as taking the offensive, and Satan's kingdom as being on the defensive."
"...our charter is to live out a theology of revolt, throwing all we are and all we have into guerilla warfare against the occupying army, the tyrannizing powers of darkness. Anything less radically contradicts the way Jesus defined the vocation of the church."
