Spirit-Empowered Calling -- Ministry of Reconciliation (Unfettered Spirit)

Jesus declared himself to be a bearer of the Spirit. He claimed the mantle of the one on whom the Spirit of God had fallen. 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Lk. 2:18-19).

Jesus’ own sense of calling to Spirit-endowed ministry points us toward our own calling. This calling is to make known God’s work of reconciliation. It’s a call to join with God, who dwells within us by the Spirit, in a ministry that will inaugurate a new creation, a world that is not only better, but one that will reflect the love that is God. Endowed with the Spirit, we will shine God’s light into the world’s darkness.

The Spirit has come into our midst, serving as a refreshing breeze, a purifying fire, and an empowering wind of God. As the Spirit shines the light of love into our world of darkness, we can rediscover the path that leads back to God, and as a result, experience reconciliation with our neighbor. The Spirit is moving in our world today, breaking down the barriers and extending to anyone who is open, the eternal benefits of God’s reign. If we are open to the Spirit, we will discover wonderful gifts that enable us to minister to this world in which we live in partnership with our God. This is our calling as Spirit empowered ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5). How we can claim this calling for ourselves is the subject of the rest of this book.

Excerpt from Unfettered Spirit: Spiritual Gifts for the New Great Awakening,  (Energion, 2013), pp. 32-33.  Unfettered Spirit was named a Top Ten Book for 2014 by the Academy of Parish Clergy.