Russellings of the Spirit

Holy Spirit

  • Healings!

    Praise God!  I’ve been healed!  Not just once, but TWICE! After struggling for months and months with persistent knee pain (due to a fall suffered while walking two VERY excited Wheaten Terriers on a trail through Custer State Park), I got a… Continue reading

  • Well, I declare!

    Despite instincts to the contrary, I regularly try to keep an open mind. Life has shown me again and again the hazards of latching – iron-fistedly – onto a particular thesis or paradigm. God seems to take great delight, in… Continue reading

  • The Heartbreak of RPD

    In a wholehearted endorsement of the axiom advising us that confession is good for the soul, I offer this mea culpa today: Sometimes I suffer from RPD… Resistant Personality Disorder. What this means is that I will sometimes resist something… Continue reading

  • Questioning Church

    For most of my life, there has been very little question about church. To be sure, different chapters have witnessed different relationships to church. There was the “blind obedience” stage, the “I’m just here to meet cute girls” stage, the… Continue reading

  • A New World? Or a New Heart?

    The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind… If I had a hammer… To everything, turn, turn, turn… Abraham, Martin, and John… We’ve got to get out of this place… WAR! [UH! GRUNT!] What is it good for? (Absolutely… Continue reading

  • U2Charist?

    Are they? Or aren’t they? Inquiring minds want to know: is U2 a Christian band? Or are they just a rock band that – if you look at some of their lyrics and squint really hard – you can occasionally… Continue reading

  • The Heart of the Matter

    After experiencing a somewhat fraught relationship with it for too many years, I finally can say with confidence that I LOVE the Bible. Whether I am diving into accounts of the trials of God’s people, being seared by the white-hot… Continue reading

  • Is This Such A Good Idea?

    There is a basic premise behind this post you should be aware of before proceeding further. The premise is: GOD EXISTS. Of course, you may continue reading even if you disagree with my basic premise. You just might not enjoy… Continue reading

  • Something from Nothing, Part 2

    (In yesterday’s installment, I recounted one of my most abysmal performances as a pastoral counselor. Troy, a congregant, had come to see me with an incredible mountain of problems including job loss, cancer, his wife’s infidelity, and parenting challenges, all… Continue reading

  • Something from Nothing, Part 1

    Over the course of my 20 years in professional ministry, I like to think I have offered some measure of comfort to people who have come to me seeking counsel in the midst of deep, personal crises. But I know… Continue reading