Daily Devotion

“An evangelist who has been filled with the Holy Spirit has power. A church full of the Holy Spirit also has power. May the Lord endue our churches with the Holy Spirit that these cold, weak, powerless churches may be able to witness for the Lord, to shine, to lead men to Christ, and to glorify God.”

Andrew Gih · Andrew Gih, Twice Born—and Then? (ed. J. Edwin Orr; London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott), Part II, "Fullness of the Holy Spirit—God's Remedy for a Sick Church," pp. 73–74

Scripture

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

Reflection

Pastor Andrew Gih's plea for "cold, weak, powerless churches" and the teachings of Jesus Christ serve as a mirror, pointing directly to the comfort in our hearts. Secularization rarely collapses overnight; rather, it is the gradual cooling of spirituality through the pursuit of comfort and compromise with the world. When the church or we as individuals lose our witness of holiness, self-sacrifice, and bearing the cross, no matter how respectable our outward appearance, we are nothing more than "salt that has lost its preservative and seasoning properties." Without separating ourselves from the world, we cannot bring change in the darkness; only when filled with the Holy Spirit can the church again witness for the Lord, shine, and lead people to Christ.