SPOOKY!!!!!

Last night I called my cousin, Vendon, to ask him to be the MC for our Grand Opening Ceremony. As usual, we started talking and he started sharing his frustration with Christians who, what he calls are SPOOKY. I will be honest here, I had to pull over in my car because I was laughing so hard.

I asked him to explain what he meant by a SPOOKY Christian? He says a spooky Christian is a person who uses the phrase; "The spirit told me to" for everything that they do. His statement was interesting to me because about two weeks ago, I had a conversation with some of my co-workers about another co-worker who for the last two or three months makes it a point to use the exact same phrase about everything she does. "The spirit told me to..." "The spirit told me to tell you..." It's gotten so bad that she has isolated herself from everybody because in her own words no one in the company is on her spiritual level. As well, she has been isolated because everyone thinks she's lost her mind.

We were on our break out on the benches and she told us a story of how she didn't run a red light because the spirit told her not to. I told her it wasn't the spirit that told you not to run that red light, It was flashing lights that caught the car before you that told you not to run the red light potentially receiving a $300 ticket.

I've noticed that in recent months that there are many Christians (that I've come in contact with) that are looking for a supernatural experience to validate their faith. Or, using re-actions, or the lack thereof, to the spirit to prove and/or discredit a persons spiritual maturity.

One of the verses that was mentioned in our conversation was Ephesians 5:18; "And do not be drunk with wine, in excess, but be filled with the Spirit". I could not let this verse go un-explained to those who heard it. "Be filled with the Spirit" in the text is not speaking of a one time act. Literally, the text means to keep on being filled with the Spirit. The life lesson is this; "It's not about how much of the Spirit we receive but how much of us we yield to the Spirit's control". Yielding to the Spirit's control is not that of being slain in the spirit, speaking in tongues, or not being able to have a regular conversation unless the "The spirit told me to say".

Contextually, it's being filled with the Spirit in a day-by-day walk that helps us fight the sin in our lives. The proceeding verses ( v. 1-17) are key to understanding what verse 18 means for proper interpretation. I want to mention two verse that I believe are key to understanding what being filled with the Spirit is about. Verses 15-17 says: "So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life". Then Paul instructs us; "Instead, be filled with the Spirit". Our being filled with Spirit will be evident in a very practical manner. People will know if you're being filled with Spirit based on:

• Our relationship with God (v. 19-20) - "Then you will sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts. And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ".
• Our relationship with others (v.21) - "And further, you will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ".
• The relationship between husband and wife (v. 22-33) - "You wives will submit to your husbands as you do to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of his body, the church; he gave his life to be her Savior. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives must submit to your husbands in everything. And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for herto make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God's word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man is actually loving himself when he loves his wife. No one hates his own body but lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body, which is the church. And we are his body. As the Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one." This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband".
• Parent/Child Relationship (v. 1-4) - "Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. "Honor your father and mother." This is the first of the Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. And this is the promise: If you honor your father and mother, "you will live a long life, full of blessing." And now a word to you fathers. Don't make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord".
• Employer/Employee relationships (v. 5-9) - "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Work hard, but not just to please your masters when they are watching. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free. And in the same way, you masters must treat your slaves right. Don't threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites".
• I also believe that being filled with Spirit will be evident in how we respond in the midst of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-19).

Our spiritual maturity and/or spirituality is evident in practical application from proper interpretation of Scripture. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to assist us in daily living to become more and more life Christ each day.

My question is what happened to practical Christian living? Why do we need a supernatural experiences to validate our faith? Where is the reality of Christian living of walking with God day-by-day? Can we have casual conversation without waiting, as if we're waiting for a phone call, for the spirit to feed us the words?

What is world saying about us when we prostitute the spirit? My answer, it's SPOOKY!