Holy Pneuma!

“When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.” (Psalm 104: 30)

Life beyond death….This Eastertide leading up to Pentecost inspires me to ponder God’s giving of the Spirit at Pentecost. It is just so amazing! To be so known and understood, to be so loved and provided for! Our human need for a presence with us after Jesus leaves this earth is a human need well known and understood by our loving God. So we are given the ruach (in Hebrew) or the pneuma (in Greek), the breath of God, the Holy Spirit, as our comforter, advocate, counselor and companion. Doesn’t that just take your breath away!! What a gift! The third part of the Trinity!

There are over 260 references to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. In addition to the Hebrew and Greek scriptures referring to the Spirit of God, Hindu, Taoist, Islam and Bahai faiths also refer to the Spirit as an agent of divine action. The dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and a universal symbol of peace as well. In Acts it is described as coming down from heaven into the room where the disciples saw tongues of fire! The Holy Spirit is both powerful and peaceful, communicating God’s power but also God’s sensitivity to our needs. God sent this spirit to create and renew. God provided this powerful reassuring presence in the cloud guiding the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. God sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples when they were despairing after the death of Jesus so they would never feel alone. And we have that same spirit guiding, supporting, and sustaining us. The Holy Spirit illumines the scriptures so we can apply them to our daily lives, prays for us when we have no words, communicates God’s grace to us when we have communion, and inspires forgiveness, outreach, and love at times when revenge, fear, and hate would be the most instinctual response. I love the Holy Spirit!

Spirit of God, you are the breath of creation, the wind of change that blows through our lives, opening us up to new dreams, new hopes, and new life through faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you, God, for understanding the needs of your fragile and finite creatures and responding with ineffable love in the form of your breath. Spirit of new life, forgive us and break down the prison walls of our selfishness, that we might be open to your love and energized to serve your children who are hungry for your Word of hope and care, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(For more information on the Holy Spirit and image copyright see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Spirit#Judaism)

Audio Recordings of our Worship Services at PCM

http://www.pcmorristown.org/503818.ihtml

Bill McChesney Still Lives On in his "My Choice" poem

My Choice
By William McChesney
(This poem was written by an American Missionary to the Congo, martyred due to his faith and US citizenship at the age of 28 in 1965.)

I want my breakfast served at eight

With ham and eggs upon the plate.

A well-broiled steak I'll eat at on

And dine again when day is done.

I want an ultramodern home

And in each room a telephone;

Soft carpets, too, upon the floor

And pretty drapes to grace the doors.

A cozy place of lovely things,

Like easy chairs with inner springs,

And then, I'll get a nice T.V.

- Of course, I'm careful what I see.

I want my wardrobe, too, to be

Of neatest, finest quality,

With latest style in suit and vest.

Why should not Christians have the best?

But then the Master I can hear

In no uncertain voice, so clear:

"I bid you come and follow Me,

The lowly Man of Galilee."

"Birds of the air have made their nest

And foxes in their holes find rest,

But I can offer you no bed;

No place have I to lay my head."

In shame I hung my head and cried,

How could I spurn the Crucified?

Could I forget the way He went,

The sleepless nights in prayer He spent?

For forty days without a bite,

Alone He fasted day and night;

Despised, rejected - on He went,

and did not stop till veil He rent!

A man of sorrows and of grief

No earthly friend to bring relief;

"Smitten of God," the prophet said

Mocked, beaten, bruised, His blood ran red.

If He be God, and died for me,

No sacrifice too great can be

For me; a mortal man, to make;

I'll do it all for Jesus' sake.

Yes, I will tread the path He trod,

No other way will please my God,

So, henceforth, this my choice shall be,

My choice for all eternity.

(Since we do mission work in Kenya, I wanted to know more about Bill McChesney. I have friends who go into the Congo regularly on medical mission trips. The following is an excerpt from an interview with Aldine McChesney (Bill’s mother) for a newspaper in Phoenix, AZ.)
“Bill was one of the happiest young men I have ever known. People often called him “Smiling Bill”. Sunshine seemed to radiate from his face and personality. He had things to live for and hopes for the future. He was well aware that it was dangerous in the Congo. He sent me a photo once in which he was in a very large cooking pot. He was smiling since the picture was a joke about being cooked and eaten by the natives. He had a girlfriend after he arrived in Stanleyville. One of the women missionaries took is eye. No doubt, he would have considered marrying her if he had lived long enough.”

When asked about the healing of her grief after losing Bill, Mrs. McChesney said, “I learned that when you grasp, you lose, but when you give to God, you gain. It took a while for me to give my son to God, but when I did, I gained so much.”

(To read the full interview, see: www.redgage.com/blogs/harcab/slain-missionary-s-mother-accepts-jesus-help.html)