The Readings teach us that experiences of Jesus /Holy Spirit open our spiritual eyes so we can see things our minds cannot grasp. Bartimaeus, Paul and Job all heard the voice of God and were able to understand things they could not figure out in their heads. This is why there is a disconnect between those who have experienced Jesus / Holy Spirit and those who have not.
(Proper 28 2024 Fr. John)
We are nearing the end of the season of Pentecost which is about the work of the Holy Spirit guiding us in our lives. Jesus is dealing with the question of “what must I do to inherit eternal life”. Jesus tells him to obey the commandments. He has – but one thing he lacks. He has not really died to his old way of life by giving up his great wealth. He is not “all in”. Not totally dependent on God. The readings help us understand spiritual testing and divine judgement.
1. This Life is a Training Game
In the Season of Pentecost, we are learning about the work of the Holy Spirit as the continuing presence of Jesus in the world. Last Sunday the Readings were about having our spiritual eyes and ears opened. This Sunday we are learning about the danger of an uninstructed tongue and the power of spoken words.
You are invited to the Book Launch for “Recovering Truth, Freedom, and Democracy: Challenging Woke Totalitarianism” on Saturday September 07 at 10.00 at Holy Cross Anglican Church, 2424 – 19 St. N.W. Calgary. Rev. John Gishler will give a brief explanation of what the book is about, why he wrote it and facilitate a group conversation about challenging woke totalitarianism in Canada. There will also be a brief presentation and book signing later at 2.00 pm. At Better Books and Bibles 600 – 16 Ave NW.
There are four weeks of readings all based on this important issue of who Jesus is. John is an eyewitness. His account is different – meant to be read with spiritually opened eyes. We are in Pentecost where the readings for each week teach us about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the life of the church.
In writing Recovering Truth, Freedom, and Democracy: Challenging Woke Totalitarianism, I had a word of knowledge.
· Writing about the Judeo-Christian foundation of truth all thriving democracies are based on and explaining how these have been lost as they contradicted the false truth of various woke activists.
· Realized in my research I had identified 7 spiritual truths that have been almost lost as the Church expanded, grew, became intellectualized and politicized and was led by men who had not had the same experiences of Holy Spirit as the first Apostles.
Paul is explaining how things work in the unseen world (2 Cor. 5 6-17) The unseen or spiritual dimension is the theme of all the teachings in Pentecost. The Samuel Reading reminds us we are judged not by appearance but what is in our heart. Jesus’s parables of the seed growing unseen reminds us we are part of God’s order and process of creation, which is unseen, out of our control and is a lost spiritual truth in our time.
I had an Epiphany moment as I finished the finished the first draft of Recovering Truth, Freedom, and Democracy. I was explaining how the foundation of Judeo-Christian supernatural truths was deconstructed because they contradicted the false truths of extreme liberalism, feminism, and LGBTQ activists. Holy Spirit showed me what the seven lost truths were. The Seventh was “Holy Spirit as the continuing presence of Jesus”.
John 15.16-16.15 for Pentecost Sunday explains the work of the Holy Spirit in helping us see our sin and understand righteousness and divine judgement.
1. The Holy Spirits helps us see our sin (John 16.8)
