I feel like some of these blogs have become more didactic for me than anything else. My fun stories and other subjects aren’t worth the precious internet and generator time I have here… so I would rather write about things that are more pressing and consequential, i.e. the truth. The Holy Spirit is true. And it’s been amazing to work with people who have the same love and tender respect for the Spirit of God as they do the Son of God. I’ve seen how in the past I’ve given disproportionate importance to the persons of God. It’s becoming so much clearer to me how an incorrect treatment of the Godhead can be unhealthy in our understanding Him and growing in a relationship with Him.
So, the Holy Spirit is not an it, or an entity, but a person of God. Three distinct persons in one God. Boom. Blammm. OMG!!!! That’s amazing!!! What does He do???? I’m tempted to make comparisons between the work of the Holy Spirit and the works of man, or voodoo, or anything else. Those comparisons would be fun and worth boasting in, but I have a better comparison to make within all the works of the Spirit. Out of all the wonderful things the Spirit of God performs, one surpasses them all… conviction!
He proves the world guilty and then brings that guilt to the self of man. He convicts. John 16:8 He will convict the world of guilt; in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment. The reason I love that is because I know the Holy Spirit is the only thing that convicts. I may challenge myself, or I may purpose myself, or I may make my best determination and will-power to change, but I cannot bring conviction to myself. He is the only thing that convicts. Also, I really love that because I can recognize when something is from myself or not. Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a person. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of the world of sin. And when the Holy Spirit rouses the conscience and brings someone into the presence of God, it is not his relationship with men that bothers him, but his relationship with God.
My comparison is that the work the Holy Spirit does to awaken us from our death in sin is not inferior to work that made the blind see, the sick healed, the lame walk, or any other miracles ever performed. How has the permanent work of the Spirit to bring life into an utterly dead sinner become less emphasized and undervalued compared to the other transitory works of the Spirit? Additionally, men might even have the gift of some miracles, but perish still. Some will prophecy in his name and cast out this, and do that, etc. etc. but He will then say to some, “I never knew you, depart from me!” The work of conviction is a saving blessing, you know! Often, it can’t be even be explained how the converted were brought into new light and new life. That should tell you that it’s not from you if it surpasses or transcends your own understanding. Duh. I can see how God heals, but I can’t see how He changes hearts and brings life and fruit to such miserable sinners like us.
Conviction and truth push us forward in Him. John 16:13 tells us that, “He will guide you into all truth.” It is important to note that the truth He guides us into is Christ. He does not go anywhere else. When we venture off into other thoughts in our vast brain, He is not with us there; we go there alone. He goes no further than the cross or the coming back of the Lord. He is only concerned with the things of Christ and the truth. Jesus is the way, the Truth, and the life. I’m always trying to grab truth, knowledge, and wisdom from all these lofty ideas and grand propositions, and it’s ultimately not in any of those things. It’s in Christ. And the best part is that that pathway to truth is not a far off, lofty, gaze into the heavens, but a quick look down at yourself, a sinner. That’s it…conviction! How simple.
I see conviction happening all over the place, not just in our sin, although that’s most beautiful way it’s shown. It runs rampant here. Our participants and volunteer groups come down here to be a blessing. They’re gonna do, do, do, (doodoo, hahahahaha) and then do some more… I say, man, conviction is right around the corner for you. God is bigger than you, me, or the Haitian people down here. Here’s another comparison. You think He cares more about how many tarps you pass out and how good that makes you feel, or the glory He gains from revealing things to you? Or the number of hungry kids you feed verses the latter? Or anything else under the sun verses His glory??? John 16:14 says, “He [the Holy Spirit] will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine, and making it known to you.” There’s the glory; about Him, not you, and not even them either. We tell the pastors we work with down here that we didn’t come here to serve you. Sorry. We came here to serve the Father. We expect Him to lead us into service alongside you and with you, BUT we didn’t come down here for your sake. The reaction is a pleasant surprise of approval. Who wants to be the bull’s-eye of a ministry target anyways? I say that’s great! And sometimes we don’t spend our ministry time working in the community with Haitians or doing anything for their benefit. Sometimes it is spent worshiping our Father in song, readings, praying, or study at our camp site instead. There’s glory to be had for Him in all those different doings and He will direct us to the one or the other.
God may use us to be a blessing to people here. 
Or He may use the people here to be a blessing to us. In the end, He blesses His name. Everything is about Him. One of our objectives is to meet felt needs. Who feels those needs though? Are they what we think people need? Watch what people think others need when a group comes down here and passes out Finding Nemo toys to a kid with an empty stomach. You’d be surprised to see even what they think they need… it’s not always right. God feels the needs and sends His Spirit to meet the need in us or them. Again, it’s truly all about Him. It starts with His grace and ends in His glory; we’re stuck in the middle… in the thick of it all. Surprisingly enough, U are literally stuck in the middle of truth.
