Matthew Wright’s Reviews > The Familiar Stranger: (Re)Introducing the Holy Spirit to Those in Search of an Experiential Spirituality > Status Update

a counselor to listen, prating us, along with pointing questions, eating us in interpreting the Complex plot points of our individual stories, and the puzzle pieces that fit coherently into the hole.

Jesus caused the Holy Spirit by three. Revealing names: comforter, advocate, and counselor. In the long and unpredictable race of the spiritual life, we have been given a comforter to draw near, never leaving us alone in our pain; and advocate to defend us against the harassing constancy of the deceivers, lies;

And those institutions' faults are well documented on the pages of Scripture. Despite his own legitimate criticism of the "church" of his day, Jesus did not abandon it. He kept showing up, kept praying with the people in the pews, kept receiving the Word in the context of brothers and sisters.”

“Second, I want to say clearly that the major problem with “I’m into Jesus and not the church" is Jesus. If you're really into Jesus, you know that the church was never optional in his mind. Jesus was not anti-institutional. He regularly led his followers into the two religious institutions of first-century Judea: the synagogue and the temple.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit means signs, wonders, and miracles. In the greatest miracle of all just might be living in a community of love over the long haul.

The spectacle of Pentecost came in tongue of fire in rushing wind, but the sustaining power of Pentecost came in a community of people, humbly and stubbornly, loving one another. If it’s the power of Pentacost, we are after we’d do well to look as much to the people on our right and left as we do up to the heavens.

You will not be thinking about whatever stressing you today. You will be thinking about people. The people you got to spend your life with. How do you love them or didn’t. How do you prioritize them or didn’t. What you sacrifice to know them more deeply or what got in the way.

In the early Church, they never imitated the miracles of Jesus, without equally imitating the love of Jesus. They move toward pain, toward hurts, and annoyances, and grievances, toward the one in need. They learned to forgive and ask for forgiveness. They saw the worst in each other and kept choosing love. Power always serves love. Never the other way around. The Bible calls power apart from love a noisy gong.

My deepest transformation requires the intervening rescue of God. And my deepest transformation is Foster and community.

What is the greatest obstacle to our formation isn’t, in fact, culture, clashes, ideological, division, technology, HIGH, jacking, our brains, or wealth, stealing our affection? What if our greatest obstacle is the one, the culture and the Church jointly celebrate: wonder last?

He goes on to admit the immediate gratification of the alternative-that running will provide immediate relief from the awkwardness or pain of remaining, but you're destined to find yourself in this exact spot in the next community.