Here’s an example of being courageously led (and controlled) by the Spirit. A Christian in Damascus (in Syria) felt like God was telling him to go find and pray with a famous terrorist who had come to town in order to capture and torture Christians and take them away. This guy actually obeyed the inner prompting and went to see the terrorist. When he got there he found out that the terrorist had just been transformed by the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. This courageous man’s name was Ananias. And the terrorist’s name was Saul, who later changed his name to Paul. Paul wrote 1/3 of the New Testament. Would you go pray with a terrorist if God told you to?

Who’s in control? As a pastor, I’ve discovered that God and I can’t both control a church service at the same time. If I’m running things, then He isn’t.

Welcome to the real world — the world of the Holy Spirit.
–Unbelief is a myth; Christ is certainty.
–We live in a mythical world. Scientists have shown that matter — all the material around us (including the the earth, the stars, and even our bodies) — is made up of tiny atoms. Atoms are almost completely empty space. Although atoms appear to us as solid, they are really electrons (tiny sparks of energy) circling at the speed of light (and not much else). Scientists say that if all the electrons in the universe stopped circling, everything that physically exists could fit in the palm of one human hand. Thus, what we call “reality” is actually a mirage — a myth.
–Unbelief trusts (that’s an oxymoron) in the material world — the atoms that masquerade as solid matter — and things like violence & war.
–Faith trusts in the fact of the invisible world — the immaterial realities like love, justice, hope, human rights, freedom, goodness, inspiration, right, truth, vision, joy, faith, humility, salvation, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Father.
–Where is your hope? Does your lifestyle demonstrate that you are fully trusting in Christ?