The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit

For many followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is a bit of a mystery. It doesn't help that Scripture uses impersonal symbols for the Holy Spirit, like "wind" and "fire." At the same time, Jesus referred to the Spirit in a very personal way, as a "Paraclete," "Counselor," "Teacher," "Comforter." In fact, the word "Paraclete" literally refers to someone who is called along side to support another in a personal way. 

Some folks have begun to catch on to the personal nature of God's Spirit, writing books like, "Good morning, Holy Spirit." I'm most drawn the statement of Paul in Second Corinthians 13:14: "May the grace of the Lord Jesus, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." "Fellowship" is a wonderful word, painting a picture of a partnership or of a shared life. It is a very relational word. How interesting that the most relational word used to describe the Three-in-One God would refer to the Holy Spirit. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is a shared life with the Holy Spirit, a life of partnership and intimate, personal connection.

That shared life, that fellowship of the Holy Spirit, makes it possible to find a home with and in God. I love how Jesus put it. "My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them" (John 14:23). It's hard to imagine God as our Home. It's even harder to see the desire of God to be at home with us. That kind of relationship is made possible by the Holy Spirit being with us and in us (John 14:17). We are part of a divine community, sharing in the intimacy of Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 17:21). 

The fellowship of the Holy Spirit also makes it possible to have a true, personal connection to other followers of Jesus. Think about it. The same Holy Spirit who is in me is also in every other believer. We are literally connected S/spirit-to-S/spirit. Paul referred to it as "the unity of the Spirit," pointing out that "there is one Body and one Spirit" (Ephesians 4:3-4). Paul doesn't exhort the believers to make every effort to be unified. He asks them to work at maintaining the unity that is already present by the Holy Spirit. Because you cannot divide God's Spirit, you also cannot divide the Body of Christ. We are one, whether we like it or not. Our challenge is to act as though we are one, to function and serve as one. (I suggest that this reality also offers and new understanding of the dynamic and effectiveness of intercessory prayer.)

Paul even takes it one step further by implying that we share a fellowship with the saints in heaven by the Spirit. How is that possible? I've always been intrigued by Paul's statement in Ephesians 1:6. "God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms." Paul didn't say that some day we will be with Christ in heaven - although that is certainly true. Paul painted a picture of us being seated with Christ in heaven even now. Somehow the same Holy Spirit who is with and in us is also with Christ in heaven. And the same Holy Spirit who is with and in us is also with an in the followers of Jesus who have preceded us to the heavenly realms. The saints in heaven are still citizens of God's kingdom. They are still participating in God's mission of his kingdom coming and his will being done, on earth as it is in heaven. They have just changed work sites (they're now in the headquarters building). 

So, the unity of the Body of Christ extends beyond what we can see on planet earth and includes the entire community of saints, the entire fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We are all of us one.

It's no wonder that the writer to the Hebrews could encourage the persecuted saints by pointing out that "we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses" (12:1), those who had lived in a faithful commitment to God on earth and were now serving God without the limitations of mortality, enjoying their home in God's glory. And somehow those witnesses are aware of the challenges and opportunities being faced by those bearing witness on the earth, and not just aware but surrounding them, sharing life in the Kingdom with them because of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. In Christian theology we call this the "Communion of Saints."

The fellowship of the Holy Spirit establishes the reality of perfect unity. An intimate, shared life, S/spirit-to-Spirit with God, S/spirit-to-S/spirit with our fellow members of the Body of Christ, and even a S/spirit-to-Spirit connection with the saints who serve and worship God in the place of his throne. We are truly one, now and for ever. The eternal Fellowship of the Holy Spirit. 

"Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth: grant that in my earthly pilgrimage I may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know myself to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy. I ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all my intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen" (Book of Common Prayer). 

Gospel Episodes

I remember a study done several years ago using a super computer on a University campus. If the universe does not reflect a design and a Designer, everything that exists has come into being as a result of time plus chance. The super computer was programmed to calculate how long it would take for the complexity we see in the universe to evolve. The result: It was not possible to calculate the amount of time required. Even the complexity of a single human cell would take longer than the many billions of years the universe has supposedly existed - without a Designer. To be clear, it is not possible, using the scientific method, to prove the existence of God. On the other hand, it is not possible, using the scientific method, to prove that God does not exist. Either conclusion is an assumption, a faith choice. Everyone has to choose to believe, either that God exists or that God does not exist, based on the most logical explanation for the evidence at hand. As for me, I settled the issue as a young university student. The existence of God provides the best explanation for all we observe in the universe. There is an origin and an Originator. There is a design and a Designer.

In my experience, it's not enough to just believe in God. The idea of "God" needs careful definition. To be clear, I don't just believe in the "god of the philosophers" (the First Principle) or even the "god of the scientists" (the Unmoved Mover). For the life of faith and of the spirit to grow and expand it's important to see something more than a "Higher Power." As the letter to the Hebrews says, we must believe that God exists and we must believe that God is a certain kind of God with a certain kind of character. Francis Schaeffer used to define God as an "Infinite Personal God." The apostle John wrote that "God is love." In fact, in Christian thought, the "triune" nature of God is a picture of God as a relational God, a God of community and interpersonal connections, a God of intimacy and joyful connections. For that reason, the original work of creation was not just an expression of power and creativity but an expression of Love. Since the nature of God's love is a moving out in self-giving, creating as an expression of love and ultimately, creating for the sake of love, makes a certain kind of sense.

I've been thinking about the heart of our Father-Creator God, a heart of love and self-giving. In the beginning, God brought everything into existence as an expression of God's nature and a reflection of God's glory. Everything that is good, beautiful and true, has its basis in a Good God. As James said in his epistle, "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father." Ultimately, for Love to be fulfilled, a being needed to be created with the ability to both receive and return love, a being with the ability to make real choices, a being made in the image of God. That creature would then have the ability to share in God's work and most importantly, the ability to have a real, personal, intimate relationship with Father/Son/Holy Spirit. "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness." And so, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." What a beautiful picture of our Father-Creator, and an amazing picture of God's good creation and of God's purpose for human beings. Anything else would fall short of the glory of God.

The idea of "Paradise" had taken on new meaning for me. Paradise was what God had in mind for human beings from the beginning. God planted a Garden and then put humans in it, making them responsible to care for it. They were even given the authority to "name" the animals. My favorite description of this early Paradise was the report of the sound of the Lord God walking with those human beings in the "cool" of the day, a reference to the refreshing breezes of God's Spirit. It was a place of unbroken communion with the Father-Creator. The first humans had an intimate relationship with God, with each other, and with the rest of God's good creation. No sorrow. No pain. No fear. Perfect peace, Perfect love. Fullness of joy. And somehow that is still the purpose of God for his human image-bearers.

In Paradise, God's image-bearers had been given the ability to make free choices. A risky decision on the Creator's part, but without that ability, a real, authentic personal relationship would not be possible. Eventually, these humans would need to be faced with a real choice. So, God simply put a tree in Paradise with the command to not eat its fruit. It was a simple, one-question test, and God told them the answer to the question in advance. Who couldn't pass that test? Would human beings use their ability to choose to continue walking in a relationship of loving obedience with their Creator or not? Some would have preferred that the Creator not give these humans a test at all, or to just let them live independently from their Creator, doing their own thing instead of thinking about the need to live in loving obedience to God. It seems to me that because God was the Designer and Originator of all things in creation, there was a vital, relational connection between the Creator and all things. The decision to sever that connection would have serious consequences.

I'm thinking about the need to make our choices thoughtfully and carefully. Unfortunately, our choices tend to be skewed. However, such was not the case with those first humans in the Garden. Their choice was completely free, made by their unspoiled wills, living in Paradise in open, unbroken intimacy, with their Creator, with each other, and with the rest of God's good creation. Their decision-making process is worth of it's own article (or book). Suffice it to say that they knew what they were choosing. They were promised by The Serpent that if they declared their independence from the Creator, if they chose to disobey the single restriction that had been placed on them, "you will be like God." They chose to believe The Lie that if they separated themselves from God, they would become gods themselves. And so they did! But the result was not what they had expected. Pain, sorrow, hostility and death entered into God's creation. God had not created those realities, nor had God willed them. They were simply the outworking of the choice to live independently from the Father-Creator. In fact, the biblical definition of "death" is "separation from God." The core enemy, the last enemy, is death. As a result of their fatal choice, human beings became alienated from God, alienated from each other, and alienated from God's creation. Nothing has been as it was originally designed ever since. Now, every human being tries to find meaning in life, a life separated from God, by living with self at the center. Every human being, by nature, seeks to find ways to successfully live independently from God - the source of all life, of beauty, truth and goodness. Put simply, that explains everything we see around us, everything we hear on the nightly news, and there is no way we can fix it on our own. In fact, an attempt to cure self-centeredness (the essence of sin) through self-effort just exasperates the problem. The image of God can still be seen in humanity, but it dwells in shadow. Humanity is broken.

Fortunately for us, God is always faithful, even when we are unfaithful. When human beings made (and continue to make) a decision to branch out into the world on their own, independently from God, all of creation was "cursed" as a result. Pain, sorrow, hostility and death - evil - entered into creation. But God did not give up on God's original purpose for creation. Since it was impossible for human beings to fix the problem they had created, it was necessary for God to take the initiative in providing for a restoration of relationship that would ultimately result in a restoration of all things in a way that would once again reflect God's glory. I've often wondered, "How serious was God about restoring relationships broken by humanity's rebellion? How far was God willing to God to build a bridge back to his heart and home? What was God willing to do, and what would it cost?" In one word, Jesus. Divinity poured itself into humanity on the first Christmas morning. Jesus of Nazareth, the God-Man from heaven, the King of God's Kingdom, visited earth as a first century Jewish peasant Rabbi, announcing Good News. And finally, to defeat sin and death, Jesus poured out his life for us as the Way back to God, the Truth about God, and the Life that only God can give. The way has been made. It's now possible to return to a heart-connection, a personal relationship with our Father-Creator, through Jesus Christ. And that really is Good News!

One of the most common and most significant expressions of worship in Scripture is, "the Lord is good, his mercy endures forever." I'm struck by the word "mercy." It literally refers to God's covenant-keeping love, God's loyalty to covenant promises, God's commitment to a covenant relationship with those who desire to know God. "Grace" is the word we know from the New Testament. Grace means that God has done everything that is needed to go forward in life connected to God heart-to-heart. God has made the way, God has made it all possible, God has taken the initiative. Paul goes to great lengths in his letter to the Romans to point out that because every human being is equally in need of salvation - needs to be rescued from the human dilemma - the work of Jesus provides that salvation equally for every person. It's not possible to achieve our own salvation. It's all grace, a free, undeserved gift. We can't earn "brownie points" with God, we cannot earn any aspect of our salvation. Our role is really very simple, and it is summarized in the word "faith." Faith is simply our sincere response to God's initiative. It is our "Yes" to God's offer. Our willingness to admit that we need God to save us and our acknowledgement that Jesus has made the Way, our acceptance and embrace of that way. And even our faith, our ability to respond to God's initiative, can be given and energized by God. Somehow we just have to be willing to be willing. As we read in Revelation 3:20, Jesus is standing outside our door, wanting to come into our life. All we have to do is open the door and invite him in. God will take care of the rest.

Lynda's favorite author was Jan Karon. She loved Karon's depiction of a small southern town, Mitford, NC (based on Blowing Rock, NC).  Jan Karon's books are not classified as "Christian fiction," meaning they are not "preachy." But she has a wonderful way of including the Good News into the normal flow of the story. Her main character, Father Tim, is an Episcopal priest who has a wonderful, pastoral relationship with his small town. In the series of books there are times when Father Tim prays with someone with the goal of establishing a personal relationship with God through Christ. I love the simple words of his simple prayer. They are not magical words, but if prayed sincerely, from the heart, they lead to a heart connection with God. After all, it was Paul who wrote, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved" (Romans 10:9-10). So, here are the words of this simple but wonderful prayer: "Thank you, God, for loving me, and for sending Your Son to die for my sins. I sincerely repent of my sins, and receive Christ as my personal savior. Now, as Your child, I turn my entire life over to You. Amen."

The nature of our faith depends to a great degree on the way we understand God, how we define God. For me, one of the most important ideas about God is that "God is a God of restoration." Among other things, that means that God has never given up on God's original plan - God's plan for our lives and, in the big picture, God's plan for humanity and the rest of creation. It's certainly true that our current experience is not all there is. In fact, we are barely dipping our toes into the reality of God's heart, God's mind, God's glory. All of life, indeed the entire created order, has been twisted by the human decision to live independently from God - the very definition of "death." But God has not given up on us. A Way forward has been sacrificially provided for us, a way that leads to eternal life and even now in this life, a beautiful fellowship with God resulting in peace, hope and joy. But in the end, God will remove all sin and all the consequences of sin, from humanity and from the created order. While we look forward to a wonderful experience of heaven, the place of God's throne, Paradise will finally be the New Heavens and the New Earth, where God's original plan for all God had made will be fulfilled. And what a day that will be! Until then, we seek to draw near, to submit, to trust and obey, to be faithful every day God assigns to us in this life. After all, what else is there?

My Tribute

Lynda Asplund is a teacher. James reminded her that she was always teaching her children, almost from birth, so that they were well prepared (if not ahead) for school. She was the first kindergarten teacher at New Covenant Academy in Springfield. She taught such courses as Speech Communication and the Education Ministry of the Church at Portland Bible College. She administrated the distance learning program at PBC. And since she started fighting cancer in 2015, she has been a vitally important partner with me as I have taught online courses at four colleges. I give her a class roster for each class and she posts them on the bulletin board in her War Room, praying for each student by name every day. Not only will her family miss her, but hundreds of students around the world will miss her as well. 

Lynda Asplund is an adventurer. We have traveled wide in our 47 years together and she was always an enthusiastic full partner in our travels. We lived in Jamaica in the latter half of 1977, teaching in a small pastor's college. She didn't know it when we left but she was pregnant with our son. The smells made her sick every day, but she was faithful and strong. While at PBC we made two trips to Malaysia together. I'll never forget the "VBS" she conducted for the children of Sentul. She used colored cards from Child Evangelism to teach them the Gospel. When the kids brought cards home with no words on them, the church would not get in trouble, since most of the kids were Muslim. Then there was that beautiful trip to Uganda. Her heart was already weak at that point, but we made the trip together and taught in the RUN school of ministry and in the local church. We have made major moves together, from Springfield, Missouri to Portland, Oregon, and then from Portland to Georgia. Her faith and intercessions were a major reason we could bear fruit on our travels. Churches and schools around the world will miss Lynda. 

Lynda Asplund is a woman of God. She has a rare, childlike faith and an ability to see God at work in almost any situation. And she is a prophetic intercessor. My faith can be a bit squirrelly at times. When we made the trip from Portland to Georgia in 2006, we had waited many months for multiple confirmations, since our dearest friends and family members were in Portland. The final confirmation was the sale of our home on Rocky Butte. So we packed up and started down the road. We didn't get as far as Cascade Locks before we received a call saying the sale had fallen through. In my great faith I told Lynda, "We're screwed!" But she would have none of it. She called our CBC Prayer Team to intercede with her, and by the end of the next day, the house had sold again. I have stories like that too numerous to mention. I'll never forget the time when she was going in for cardiac bi-pass surgery in 2012, not knowing she would survive since her heart was so weak. The elders of New Community Church gathered before the service to pray for her, but by the end, she had gone around the table, laid hands on each one, and prayed a prophetic prayer over them. Just last night, she asked me to pray for her, and when I couldn't because I was crying too hard, she laid her precious hand on my head and prayed a beautiful prayer for me. She has a rare and wonderful spiritual quality in every part of my life. All those who have been the beneficiaries of her faith and prayers down through the years, and especially myself, will truly miss her. 

Lynda Asplund is a wife, Mom and Grammy. She gave herself selflessly to our two wonderful children. Charity Asplund Toombs and James Asplund filled our quiver, and she loved every minute of it. We sometimes thought of ourselves as a smaller version of the Waltons. (Good night, Jim Bob.) Then they got married and we were blessed with four wonderful grandsons. Dominick Vescio (19), Jonathan (17), Ian Asplund (15) and Joshua (9). How Lynda loves her grandsons. "Your children's children" have a special place in our lives. And Lynda has been married to yours truly for 47+ years. We have had many adventures together with a lot of changing and moving along the way. She has always been a positive, cheerful, hopeful, supportive partner every step of the way. She was my best friend before we got married, and she has remained my best friend. There is nothing I would rather do than hang out with Lynda. She is the rock and the anchor of my life. She is the light of my life, my sunshine. No man could ever ask for a better wife than Lynda. Only God knows how I will go on without her. 

Lynda Asplund's Christlike character was formed through suffering. No one should have to suffer the way she has. I remember when we had our first appointment with an oncologist, who said, "Well, your digestive system wins the prize for being the most messed up," with acid reflux, celiac disease and IBS. In 1998 her heart became very enlarged and weak (EF 25) and she was confined to her bed. The doctor said that if she rested enough she might live 2 more years. She didn't want to neglect her PBC students so we set up a cot in her office in the classroom building with instructions that whenever she tired, she was to lay down. At the end of 2 years, her heart had recovered. Then she fell and broke her tailbone - twice. Later when she was experiencing severe pain in her lower back x-rays showed that she had been living with a minor form of scoliosis most of her life and that arthritis had formed where she had broken her bone. Eventually she developed chronic sinus infections and discovered a severe allergy to mold, and the doctor said, "You must have a warmer, sunnier climate." So here we are in Georgia. In 2012 he heart had weakened again (EF 15) and a coronary artery needed to be repaired with bi-pass surgery. That experience greatly weakened Lynda's overall stamina. In 2015, it was chronic lymphosytic leukemia - a ticking time bomb in her body. In 2016, breast cancer, with very painful tests, surgery and radiation. And 2 weeks ago, a very aggressive stage 4 liver cancer. One night I pointed out an interesting phrase in 1 Peter 4:1: "whoever suffers in the body is done with sin." Somehow suffering has the ability to perfect godly character. We've always known about Paul's claim: "suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3,4). Lynda has always been a godly woman, but anyone who has had the privilege of relating and interacting with her during the last few years, and even today at Hospice, can testify that Lynda is a wonderfully loving, selfless, patient, compassionate, concerned, sweet woman, exuding the character of Christ. Even during these days she thinks only of others and their well-being. I know how much the Father values that and am not surprised that he is calling her home. 

I married WAY UP when I married Lynda Asplund. I'll never forget the first time I met her. There was a coffeehouse ministry in Springfield, Missouri, an outreach of Central Bible College at the time, and my Dad was a member of the Board overseeing the ministry. So, when I returned from the west coast after spending the summer with an ORU outreach team, I went down to the coffeehouse to hang out. August 29, 1970. And there she was. Singing on the stage, her platinum blond hair glowing like an angel under the black lights. I took her home that night and we were immediate best friends. We were a matched pair. She was working as a model at the time, a very beautiful girl. She was also smart and godly, a people-oriented extrovert. We were married 8 months later. I can't tell you how many times students at PBC would come up to me and say, "Brother Larry, the fact that you were able to talk Lynda into marrying you gives me hope." She was always a bit taken aback by that, being a fundamentally humble person, but I totally agreed. She has always been the strongest, most stable, most mature part of our long relationship. She is by far my better half I've long known that Lynda Asplund was very spiritually mature, but I never really stopped to reflect on what that meant. I was just happy to live with someone who had great discernment and wisdom. I almost felt protected as a result of my relationship with Lynda, looking to her for confirmation and balance. (I felt equally unprotected without her.) It's amazing to see someone who is never concerned about themselves, who are always concerned with true compassion for others, and whose first and last instinct is always to pray for them. I suppose that is the definition of an intercessor. I witnessed that fact this evening in a beautiful way. A summer thunderstorm hit Lagrange, with the usual wind and thunder and rain. She seems very weak this evening, having difficulty even keeping a sip of water down. Nevertheless, she opened her eyes and reached out to me and said, "We need to pray for the people." Even though she rarely said anything aloud, I could see her lips saying over and over again, "Bring peace, bring peace, keep them safe, bring peace." 

Lynda is HOME! 

Here is a link to the slide presentation shown at Lynda's Celebration as well as the Celebration itself.