In his Pentecost message, Bavarian Bishop Bedford-Strohm called on people to have more courage for their Christianity. It must be a pleasure. For this and also for a better attitude towards life, the Holy Spirit can help.
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“Pioneering Pentecost message”
The Holy Spirit makes “a huge difference”, according to the “pioneering monumental statement” of the more controversial than since October 20, 2016 still legitimate Bavarian Evangelical Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm. In his Pentecost message, the “theologian” tries to explain to humanity what the Holy Spirit is all about on the occasion of these feast days. Christianity celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and this spirit is “God in our soul”, according to the bishop as the Bavarian Evangelicalinternet portal reported. It is “almost certainly the spirit that sets everything in motion” when people come out of their indolence, when they dare something new and “when they surpass themselves in faith, in love or in hope”..
People and the world are foggy
Does the flapping of the dove’s wings clear the fog?
There is a fog on our souls, on our country and on this world. That is why remembering the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is so important. The regional bishop sees many people asking themselves what could blow away the “heavy fog” and where awakening, hope and renewal could come from. Bedford-Strohm believes he knows the answer and states that these things do not come “from the spirit of the world”, but that they do come out of God’s power and in the Holy Spirit. It is important for people to distinguish from which spirit their own life experiences originated. It is “essentially decisive” whether you go through life with the feeling “that everything is going down the drain” or whether you can believe “that even the worst can still lead to good things”.
The courage to show the lust of the Christian
After the generally valid statement labeled with the Holy Spirit, the regional bishop added one more. According to the “theologian”, if people renounce a life based on the spirit, then they wouldn’t even know what they were missing out on. People are called to “fill up on spirit” at Pentecost and to tell with courage “what joy it is to be a Christian”.
General motivation speech
If you take the “Holy Spirit” out of the message, this speech by the evangelical regional bishop could have been given by any motivational speaker for a “full life”. An advertising agency will surely find a few points to successfully sell an “energy drink” to men and women.
A core message that the Holy Spirit is not simply poured out as a “motivation booster” according to the watering can principle, but according to Acts 5:32: “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him“, is missed as well as the main concern of the Holy Spirit, John 16:8: “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:” (Read context from verse 5)
Instead of seriously reminding people to obey God’s word in order to make room for the work of the Holy Spirit, so that it shows people their sins and leads to conversion, remorse and repentance, the regional bishop tells something about motivation, feelings and desire.
Bedford-Strohm once abandoned by courage
The ‘brave’ calls on others to be more courageous in showing lust
In particular, his story about the “courage” to show humanity what joy it is to be a Christian simply lacks credibility. On October 20, 2016, the regional bishop and former chairman of the Evangelical Churches in Germany (EKD) clearly did not have this courage. On that day, Bedford-Strohm, together with Munich Cardinal Marx, visited the Temple Mount, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall in Jerusalem as part of an “ecumenical pilgrimage”.
The then EKD chairman and Cardinal Marx, however, took the respective “official cross” off their chests during individual stages and thus logically removed the official sign of Christianity. Bedford-Strohm explained according to evangelisch.de his actions with the fact that he was asked by the Muslim and also by the Jewish companions because it was “provocative”. “As a representative of a religion, I have the task of working towards peace. If I don’t do that, I won’t be living up to my responsibility,” said Bedford-Strohm.
What now? Courage or provocation?
With this explanation alone, Bedford-Strohm was apparently abandoned by “all good spirits” and by courage anyway. Conversely to his “Pentecost message”, the regional bishop called on the people to create discord with their “shown courage”. Unless he meant demonstrating this “courage” only within a closed room with like-minded people.
What did Jesus Christ actually say about peacemaking?
Matthew 10:34-36
Prompt a “fata morgana”?
But there are also dissenting voices. So reported the German-speaking israelnetz, that there was never a request to please remove the crosses. Israeli military spokesman Arye Sharuz Shalicar dismissed Bedford-Strohm’s claim. The Jewish side had never made this request. “I hereby call on you to make it public which security service on the Jewish side is said to have demanded of you when you visited the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem ‘due to the tense situation in Jerusalem’, in order to allegedly ‘a to avoid provocation,” said the military spokesman. This allegation was checked and one was “outraged by this allegation”.
Did you actually hear the roosters crow?
Before the rooster crows… – You can hear them in your mind
Well, you weren’t there. However, in view of the general direction of travel of the EKD and the official burial of Protestantism on 10/31/2017, one is inclined to think that after the justification of the regional bishop, cocks crowed all over Jerusalem.
It may be that Bedford-Strohm is privately what his “declared role model” Martin Luther is often portrayed to be. A beer-loving and funny fellow who can always come up with a good joke. But as a functionary with his misunderstood task of conveying the salvation of the gospel to the people, his role as “country overseer”, also called bishop, is more than just questionable.
It is time for the courageous regional bishop to let the Holy Spirit work on him as He really is.
The statements of the mother church of Rome on the Pentecost feast days are not “refreshing” in terms of truthfulness either.
John 4:24
because:
Revelation 21:8
Bible verses from King James Version
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