The Spirit Led Christian Parent

The Spirit Led Christian Parent - Parenting Like HannahIf you have been baptized by immersion, Acts tells us you have received a precious gift. It’s the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit serves quite a few functions in our Christian lives – all of which are especially helpful as you attempt to parent your kids towards God.

Unfortunately, we tend to be a bit muddled when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We know some of his functions, but the Bible isn’t always exactly clear about how those happen. Often Christians are even a bit fearful of sharing how they believe the Holy Spirit has worked in their lives because of the mixed reactions they may get to their story.

So, I was curious when offered the chance to review the book The Spirit Led Heart by Suzanne Eller. The author believes one of the reasons many Christians struggle is that instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to help them, their fear makes them choose to try and handle everything on their own.

The book is broken down into ten chapters, each addressing how our lives would be different if we relied on the Holy Spirit as we should. From being more bold in our faith to having more discernment and wisdom, each chapter covers an area any Christian would love to have more of in their life.

Eller’s style is a mix of story telling, scripture and her views on the topic. I appreciated that she differentiated scriptures in the text, making them easier to locate from a quick scan of a page. She also wrote out each scripture as well as giving it’s reference in the text instead of in the back somewhere. I always appreciate authors who do that, as it makes it more likely readers will dive into the scriptures – which in my opinion should be a major goal of any Christian book.

Most of her points are solid. Those who have a more conservative understanding of spiritual gifts may question the section on that topic in one chapter. She does seem to try and walk a thin line, but in the end believes the gifts that could only be passed on by the laying on of hands by an Apostle have somehow remained.

Although she doesn’t really address it clearly, it appears she doesn’t believe baptism is necessary to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts clearly shows, the three exceptions were when the Church began on the  day of Pentecost, to show God wanted Samaritans to be Christians and to show God wanted Gentiles to be Christians. (Francis Chan has some good YouTube videos on the topic.) Otherwise, the gift of the Holy Spirit was received when immersed in baptism.

Many people may not be tapping into the Holy Spirit, because they don’t have the indwelling they think they do. This book would have been more helpful if the author had addressed this important topic in her book. Too many people are faulting themselves or the Holy Spirit, when in fact the problem is they were led to believe a simple prayer gave them a gift they haven’t yet received.

A lot of this book is a solid introduction to the Holy Spirit. Just be aware to check everything with scripture – a great habit to use with any book or speaker.

 

 

This book was given to me for free in exchange for my honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.

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Thereasa Winnett

Thereasa Winnett is the founder of Teach One Reach One and blogger at Parenting Like Hannah. She holds a BA in education from the College of William and Mary. She has served in all areas of ministry to children and teens for more than thirty years and regularly leads workshops for ministries and churches. She has conducted numerous workshops, including sessions at Points of Light’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the National Urban Ministry Conference, Pepperdine Bible Lectures, and Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration. Thereasa lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Greg, where she enjoys reading, knitting, traveling and cooking.

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