Table Of ContentCONFERENCE
ON THE
HOLY SPIRIT
DIGEST
Volume 2
A condensation of plenary sessions and seminars
of the Conference on the Holy Spirit in Springfield, Missouri,
August 16-18, 1982
Edited by Gwen Jones
Gospel Publishing House/Springfield, Missouri
02-0500
This book authorized by the Executive Presbytery and coordinated
through the office of Spiritual Life-Evangelism, Assemblies of God,
Springfield, Missouri.
These are the condensations of messages given at the Conference
on the Holy Spirit and represent the views of the speakers.
© 1983 by the General Council of the Assemblies of God, Springfield, Missouri
65802. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, me
chanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the
copyright owner.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 82-84382
International Standard Book Number 0-88243-500-0
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
Introduction 5
Seminars: The Ministry of the Spirit
General Discussion
The Reality of the Supernatural • David W. Flower 7
The Conviction of the Holy Spirit • Wesley W. Smith 11
The Work of the Holy Spirit in Salvation • Irvin G. Steiding 16
The Work of the Holy Spirit
in the Teachinc/Learning Process • Ronald G. Held 22
In the World
Spiritual Warfare • /. Philip Hogan 28
Dangers of the Occult and Eastern Mysticism • Ronald A. Iwasko 32
The Holy Spirit in Mass Evangelism • Lowell O. Lundstrom 40
The Holy Spirit in World Evangelization • Wesley R. Hurst 46
The Holy Spirits Role
in Personal Evangelism • Robert J. Strand 55
The Holy Spirit and Evangelism
Through Music • Cyril A. McLellan 59
In the Church
Unity of the Spirit* Everett R. Stenhouse 67
Receiving New Pentecostals Into
Church Membership • Charles E. Hackett 71
The Holy Spirit and Revival • Donald Henderson 75
Preparing People for Church Growth • C. B. Hogue 80
Evangelism Through Women s Activities • Marjorie Stewart 87
Preparation and Opportunities for Teaching
in the Local Church • Goldia Anderson 93
Teaching Through Women s Activities • Elva Hoover 97
In Church Leadership and Ministries
The Ministry Gifts of Ephesians • G. Raymond Carlson 101
The Holy Spirit and Pastoral Ministry • Frank E. Martin 106
Women and the Pentecostal Ministry • Opal Reddin 112
The Spirit-Filled Pastor's Wife • Betty Johnson 120
Anointed Preaching • James Hennesy 123
The Role of the Holy Spirit in Counseling • Raymond T. Brock 130
The Key to Pastor/Board Relationships • Paul McGarvey 136
Facilities for Pentecostal Worship
and Ministry, Part 1 • John P. Phillipps 142
Facilities for Pentecostal Worship
and Ministry, Part 2 • Samuel C. Peterson 147
Facilities for Pentecostal Worship
and Ministry, Part 3 • William D. DeWitt, Jr. 150
CONTENTS
In Corporate Worship
The Holy Spirit in Corporate Worship • Robert K. Schmidgall 153
The Holy Spirit and Music in the Church • Jesse Peterson 159
Leading Children in Worship • Judy L. Brown 163
The Significance of the Altar Service • Armon Newburn 168
In the Christian Family
The Sincle Adult* Charles A. Anderson 175
The Holy Spirit in the Home • /. D. Middlebrooke 182
The Role of the Holy Spirit in Family Worship • Thomas Lofton 186
The Holy Spirit
and Husband-Wife Relationships • Eumid and Cletta Freeman 192
Ministering to Fragmented Families • Ernest J. Moen 197
In the Individual
The Life of Faith • Delmer R. Guynes 203
Marks of the Spirit-Filled Life • Thomas R. Reid 208
How to Maintain the Spirit-Filled Life • Bartlett Peterson 213
The Holy Spirit and Sanctification • Almon M. Bartholomew 219
The Holy Spirits Role
in Prayer and Fasting • Edgar R. Anderson 225
Guidance Through Spiritual Manifestations • Philip Bongiomo 230
Tongues in Personal Devotions • David C. Crabtree 235
Spiritual Manifestations
Through Unsanctified Lives • Richard W. Dortch 238
Biblical Psychology of Christian Experience • Allen Groff 244
The Place of Emotions
in Christian Experience • Wesley P. Steelberg 252
Total Christian Stewardship • Raymond H. Pludson 256
In the Future
The Hinderer • Kenneth D. Barney 263
The Tribulation and Millennium • David A. Lewis 269
Seminars: Related Spiritual Phenomena and Practices
Water Baptism • Arthur H. Parsons 277
Anointing With Oil and Laying on of Hands • Wayne E. Kraiss 281
Divine Healing—Doctrine or Practice? Part 1 • Marvin Gorman 286
Divine Healing—Doctrine or Practice? Part 2 • K. Dewayne Piker 290
The Relationship of Faith to Healing • Kermit Reneau 294
Slain in the Spirit • Marvin Gorman 300
Visions and Dreams • Ray E. Smith 306
Report of the Findings Committee 309
Index 311
INTRODUCTION
The transdenominational Conference on the Holy Spirit held in Spring-
field, Missouri, August 16-18, was an historic event. More than 100 na
tionally known speakers addressed the plenary sessions and seminars on
a wide range of significant and timely topics.
There were many requests that these addresses be published so persons
not privileged to attend the conference might share its benefits. It was
felt this important material would be of interest to all Spirit-filled Chris
tians. Those who were present were especially interested in having a
complete record, inasmuch as it was not physically possible for them to
attend all the seminars, of which there were 90.
The conference was held on the campus of Southwest Missouri State
University (SMSU). It opened Monday night with an address by the
Reverend Canon Dennis J. Bennett, a pioneer leader in the charismatic
renewal in the Episcopal Church.
Between 8,000 and 8,500 persons attended each of the 3 evening rallies
during the conference. It was conservatively estimated that 12,000 dif
ferent persons were involved in the 3-day meeting.
Among the speakers, most were affiliated with the Assemblies of God,
but several other denominations were represented. They included the
Reverend Harold A. Carter, pastor of the New Shiloh Baptist Church in
Baltimore, Maryland; the Reverend Frank W. Smith, a leader in the
Open Bible Standard Churches, Des Moines, Iowa; and the Reverend
Morris G. C. Vaagenes, Jr., pastor of North Heights Lutheran Church
in Roseville, Minnesota, and editor of Luthern Renewal International
Magazine.
Plenary sessions were held each morning and each night. Attendance
in the afternoons was divided among dozens of simultaneous seminars.
While the conference was underway at SMSU, separate sessions for
youth were being held on the campus of Evangel College. Throngs of
young people attended these sessions and 150 received the infilling of
the Holy Spirit.
In the sessions and seminars at SMSU the Lord graciously moved in
a similar way so numbers were converted, sick bodies were healed, and
scores were baptized in the Holy Spirit, while hundreds received a new
infilling of the Spirit.
There is no doubt the body of Christ was greatly edified by this con
ference.
At the closing session all the conferees were challenged to sign a fivefold
covenant to pray, search the Scriptures, be channels of blessing and
edification in the body of Christ, fellowship freely with all true believers,
and reach out to a hurting world in loving ministry.
5
This two-volume Conference on the Holy Spirit Digest is published
with the hope that it will convey to many readers some measure of the
great blessing experienced at this historic transdenominational gathering.
—Thos. F. Zimmerman
General Superintendent
Assemblies of God
Seminar: The Ministry of the Spirit—General Discussion
THE REALITY OF THE SUPERNATURAL
by DAVID W. FLOWER
Pastor, Bethel Temple Assembly of God
Dayton, Ohio
We witness to a God who is working and does work exceedingly above all
we think and feel in our human, natural limitations. With Him there is no
limit in any realm known to man or even in that which is unknown.
A simple definition of the supernatural is: “The ability of God to circum
vent, exceed, or create beyond all the natural and normal abilities of the
human.” The God of the Bible is this kind of God. There is no limit to His
ability or action. He is supernatural!
This is in sharp contrast to man who dwells in an external, material, and
limited world as far as his own ability to perform and exercise.
Since God is sovereign, He sometimes works without men’s assistance.
Then again, He sometimes waits for men to become channels through
obedience to His laws and commands. Faith enters the picture concerning
the flow of the supernatural working of God. We must bow to God’s
sovereignty in many areas of our faith, for at times God breaks over all our
natural wisdom and ability in life. We must ever keep in mind that “God is
not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His
mind” (Numbers 23:19, NIV). God is not limited. He is not bound. He is
not circumscribed by a system. He is God, and, as God, He can make
natural laws bend to His purpose, causing the supernatural to occur.
Christianity is a miracle-working faith. The Bible pulsates with super
natural power. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are
all ascribed supernatural ability (the Father, Romans 1:20; the Son, Mat
thew 28:18; and the Holy Spirit, Acts 1:8). And there are many more
references in both the Old and the New Testament.
The supernatural is manifested in many ways. It occurs in the spiritual
realm and in the physical and natural realms. Often it is clearly evident,
although there is much which God alone sees. The impartation of life from
7
8 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT—GENERAL DISCUSSION
one living being to another is truly miraculous. The bursting forth of a
flower from the dormant soil, the path of the migrating bird, the orbit of the
heavenly beings—all are supernatural manifestations though they are gov
erned by definable laws.
Beyond these natural phenomena is the area of the spiritual—God, who
is Spirit, working in the areas of man’s spirit, soul, and body. We under
stand that God works through the Holy Spirit to accomplish His divine
purpose in: (1) conviction of sin (John 16:8); (2) quickening our souls (1
Peter 3:18; John 6:63); (3) empowering our lives (Acts 1:8); (4) sanctification
(2 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 15:16); (5) fruit-bearing (Galatians 5:22,23);
and (6) ministry gifts (1 Corinthians 12,14). All these and more are manifest
workings of the Spirit in the supernatural (Galatians 3:3-5).
When we consider the miracle of the new birth, we stand in awe. A soul
that is dead in trespasses and sins and without a sensitivity to eternal values
and purposes is born again by the Spirit and the Word and becomes a new
creation. “Old things are passed away; ... all things are become new (2
Corinthians 5:17). This can only be the supernatural work of the Godhead.
When a mind or body is sick and malfunctioning and God by His Spirit
quickens, heals, makes alive that body and normalizes it, we can only
recognize the sovereign intervention of the supernatural (Romans 8:11).
When there is a need for food, clothing, housing, and inexplicably,
supernaturally, provision is made for that need, we again must say, “It is
the work of the Spirit of God.”
When guidance is needed, the supernatural promise of the Spirit’s work
is assured (John 16:13; Acts 10:19,20; 16:6; Proverbs 8:14; Galatians 5:18).
When we do not know what, how, or when we ought to pray, the Holy
Spirit supernaturally directs our praying, or prays through us, to the
Father (Romans 8:26).
Beyond all shadow of doubt, the supernatural work of God in our lives is
done through the Holy Spirit. There is no limit to God’s ability to work
through the Spirit. He is sovereign. God can do what He wants to do when
He wants to do it.
In the spiritual realm He has chosen to work His supernatural power
through laws which He has authorized, just as in the natural and the
physical realms. Paul gave us a precept in 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 which
identifies the work of the Spirit in all phases of these divine principles.
Nothing can be accomplished in or for God without the Holy Spirit. He is
God’s agent of accomplishment and fulfillment.
The Law of Forgiveness
Here is a Bible principle, not limited to the Old or the New Testament.
It is not under grace or under Law, but under God’s authority. Simply
stated, to find forgiveness we must ourselves forgive. In the Sermon on the
Mount Jesus said it so plainly, “Forgive us ... as we forgive” (Matthew
6:12). And again in Mark 11:25, “Forgive . . . that your Father in heaven
will forgive you.”
THE REALITY OF THE SUPERNATURAL 9
This is a divine law. God will release in us the cleansing of our hurts,
grudges, and resentments as we openly forgive others. God cannot bless a
life that harbors u'nforgiveness. The law of forgiveness will work. God will
honor it.
The Law of Love
There is no limit to this law. God is love; and when love is exercised,
supernatural things begin to happen. Enemies are silenced; neighbors are
kept in peace; the lost are wooed; and hearts are knit together. Paul said,
“Faith works by love” (Galatians 5:6). Again and again as Jesus was moved
with compassion, He healed the sick and ministered to the needy.
Love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Love is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians
5:22). It is the greatest of gifts (1 Corinthians 13:13) and the force that
makes the gifts of the Spirit worthy (1 Corinthians 13). The manifestation of
love helps me set my life’s priorities properly (1 John 2:15). Love will work.
God will honor it, and supernatural reactions will result.
The Law of First Place
Because God is the sovereign Lord and Creator, all things are His.
Everything He made was good. As we recognize this and respond by the
enablement of the Spirit to make Him Lord of all (1 Corinthians 12:3),
supernatural forces are then released. (Compare Deuteronomy 5:7 and
Matthew 6:33; 1 Samuel 2:30 and Mark 10:29, 30; Proverbs 3:6 and Mat
thew 7:24.) The supernatural source of supply will be released, hindrances
to prayer lifted, divine protection given, and divine blessing our portion.
The first place law affects my whole being—body, soul, and spirit. King
Saul kept back some for himself and lost the kingdom (1 Samuel 15).
Ananias and Sapphira kept back some for themselves and lost their lives
(Acts 5). The lad with five loaves and two small fishes gave his all. The
supernatural was released, and the multitude was fed (John 6:9-11).
The Law of Commitment
Psalm 37:3-5 shares a beautiful law with tremendous supernatural re
sults. God assures us there is a release of supernatural power when we turn
it over to Him. The word commit means “to give in, to trust, to consign it
over.” God says, “Give me the reins of your heart, of your life, and I will
open avenues of blessings to you.” God enters a contract with you. He says
you will be fed, your strength will be maintained, provision will be given,
and so on. Jesus confirmed this law. Hear him in Matthew 6:26, 30-34: “All
these things will be added unto you.” Paul reminded us that God “shall
supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”
(Philippians 4:19).
The Law of Faith
The exercise of faith is one of the great three: “Now abideth faith, hope,
and charity” (1 Corinthians 13:13); “without faith it is impossible to please
him” (Hebrews 11:6). Faith releases the supernatural work of redemption
