geekery.of.all.sorts

Recently I did some study on being baptized in the Holy Spirit, and here's what I found... John proclaims that Jesus is coming after him, and will baptize in the Holy Spirit [Mat 3:11 NASB] 11 "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [Mar 1:8 NASB] 8 "I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." [Luk 3:16 NASB] 16 John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [Jhn 1:26, 33 NASB] 26 John answered them saying, "I baptize in water, [but] among you stands One whom you do not know. ... 33 "I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spir...

Reflecting on the current state of the world, and particularly of the struggle that my friend Jerad's family is facing , it seems like a good time to write down some thoughts about the Bible and prayer. Jerad mentioned in a recent blog post that he was collecting scriptures for encouragement, and I thought not only about the scriptures I hold on to, but also to how I use them. It seemed to me that unpacking the process of internalizing and living within the truths of scripture might be worthwhile. Hopefully it's either interesting or encouraging to Jerad, and anyone else that ends up reading this. So my Big Question to ponder is how do we thrive despite the circumstances we each face, and how can we take a proactive stance in prayer to resist the sense of impending doom that surrounds us, at a moment when so many other things are outside our control.  Thinking on that, one of the key scriptures that comes to mind is what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:4-8. Philippians 4...