Cathedral of Praise Blog Home

 This is one of my favorite little thoughts I read long ago.

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going.  After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him.
 
It was a chilly evening.  The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.  Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.
 
The pastor made himself at home but said nothing.  In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs.  After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it one side of the hearth, all alone.  Then he sat back in his chair, still silent.  The host watched all this in quiet contemplation.  As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more.  Soon it was cold and dead.
 
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.  The pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave.  He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire.  Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
 
As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. 

I so enjoyed teaching on the weekend. To be able to teach people how wonderful God is and how easy it is for Him to be a part of our life is like ice cream (and you know I love ice cream hahaha). For more years than I wish to remember I was a Pentecostal Christian who believed in the Holy Spirit's work and was used in the gifts of the Spirit. However, I used to listen to Dr. Cho speak of his relationship with the Holy Spirit and could never really understand. One of the great things that happened in my life during the revival days was to develop this relationship. It is not a spooky nor a difficult thing. He is a part of our lives. The problem lies with things we have heard that have made the relationship complicated. One of the things I kept driving home last weekend is that God does not suffer from "multiple personality disorder." Jesus said " if you have seen me you have seen the father." He also said that the Holy Spirit was "another (allos: of the same kind) comforter."  God is one person with one personality! It is so easy to have a relationship with the Holy Spirt, He is already in us, all we have to do is stop ignoring Him and spend time with Him.