New Identity Magazine

HEARING FROM GOD FOR OTHERS

Luke Geraty — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 17:30:18 +0000

I’m an equal-opportunity coffee drinker and pretty much enjoy all things coffee, so I’m often found working in coffee shops. I love the culture found in coffee shops. There always seems to be a nice buzz, and you can easily watch people if that happens to be one of your hobbies. And yes, that does include me, but don’t tell anyone. I was once sitting in a coffee shop when another customer…

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THE GIFT OF ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE GREAT ENCOURAGER

Luke Geraty — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 14:00:22 +0000

Photo Credit: Corpuzzle | Flickr (Creative Commons) A couple years ago I was invited to receive some training to become a certified coach for the family of churches I belong to. I was informed that the training would help me coach people who were planting churches, and it would also help me be a much better leader in the local church I was serving. “Sign me up!” I thought. Before we began the…

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HEALING AS THE KINGDOM COMES SLOW

Luke Geraty — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 17:50:57 +0000

Photo Credit: Carola Ferrero | Flickr (Creative Commons) A few years ago I was in Kenya, a beautiful country in eastern Africa. As a group of my friends, both Africans and Americans, were sharing the good news about Jesus, we approached two ladies with the hopes of building a friendship and sharing Jesus with them. As we began talking, we learned that due to multiple illnesses, one of the women…

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LIMITLESS LOVE

Luke Geraty — Mon, 23 May 2016 18:09:47 +0000

Photo Credit: Khuroshvili Ilya | Flickr (Creative Commons) When talking about spiritual gifts, people are often quick to think about special abilities that the Holy Spirit provides. This can include controversial gifts like tongues, interpretation of tongues, healings, and prophecy or can include leadership, preaching, and administration. All of these are listed as spiritual gifts in the New…

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SPIRIT EMPOWERED COMMUNICATION WITH GOD

Luke Geraty — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 18:39:20 +0000

Photo Credit: Steven Leonti | Flickr (Creative Commons) Perhaps the most controversial of the spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament is the “gift of tongues.” People seem to either insist that everyone should speak in tongues or that no one should speak in tongues! My friend Matt jokingly told me that the only time he prayed for the gift of tongues was when he was about to take a Spanish…

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THE EMPOWERING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR EVANGELISM

Luke Geraty — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 18:52:29 +0000

Photo Credit: Chris Ford @ Flickr (CC) One of the most important roles that the Holy Spirit has in the life of a Christian is related to God’s mission. God’s mission of transforming and redeeming the world includes the spreading of the good news about Jesus, including his life, death, and resurrection. Christopher J. H. Wright, in The Mission of God, writes about how the whole world is the goal…

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THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Luke Geraty — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 21:55:57 +0000

Photo by: GU Photography @ Flickr (Creative Commons) When a person becomes a Christian, they are told about the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit”; God the father and Jesus Christ the son are familiar and have lots of dialogue in the Bible, but the Holy Spirit is pretty quiet and often overlooked. So what does the Holy Spirit do? In the Old Testament…

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Elevating Easter

Luke Geraty — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 19:05:56 +0000

Holy Week, a central point of remembrance during the Christian calendar, focuses upon the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is no surprise. Had Jesus not risen from the dead, our faith would be useless, and we would still be guilty of our sins (1 Cor. 15:17). Holy Week helps us reflect upon the last week of Jesus’ life. There are a number of ways that Christians celebrate Holy Week…

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