Before I am accused of being a cessationist, let me establish this clearly: I love the Holy Spirit. I believe in everything the Scriptures reveal about Him.
I believe He is God — the third Person of the Trinity.
I believe He is the Spirit of Jesus who regenerates our deadened spirits and gives us new birth from above.
I believe He still fills hungry believers today, empowering them with supernatural gifts to continue the work of His Kingdom.
But I also believe He is the most misunderstood and mistrusted member of the Trinity.
Why? Because we — those who claim to be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led — have often misrepresented and distorted His precious ministry.
We have abused His gifts.
We have ignored His leading.
We have resisted His sanctification.
And in doing so, we have grieved the Spirit of God.
Abusing His Gifts
False prophets and false prophecies in recent years have revealed the corruption of the prophetic gift in the Body of Christ.
Because we have tolerated charlatans, I believe the Holy Spirit withholds His true prophets until we repent of our “itching ears” and humbly receive His word — even when it is uncomfortable or corrective.
True prophets, who prefer to dwell in the Glory rather than in the spotlight, will guard their sacred gift and refuse to throw pearls before swine — until the Lord releases them to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
The gift of tongues has also been mishandled. In many churches, tongues are loudly encouraged, yet interpretation is seldom required — a direct contradiction of Scripture. Visitors are left confused, and believers without this gift feel condemned, as if they are lesser Christians.
Even worse, I have personally witnessed ministers line people up, promise them the gift of tongues, and then instruct them to repeat “la-la-la-la-la” until they “receive” it. How I tremble for such deception!
Ignoring His Leading
Romans 8:14 tells us: “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
But if we ignore or disobey His leading, what does that say about us? Will we still be the children of God?
We must beware of casually attributing our own ideas or imaginations to the Spirit- especially when our actions bring confusion, stumble others, or bring shame to the name of Jesus.
Resisting His Sanctification
One of the Spirit’s ongoing works is to sanctify us — to make us holy and transform us into the image of Christ. He is, after all, the Holy Spirit. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
Yet how many of us yield to His refining work?
Celebrity ministers are being exposed before the watching world, but we refuse to confront sin within our own ranks. The spirit of the world has seeped so deep into the church, with anguished cries for deliverance from sexual bondage- yet we offer more grace than even God does, excusing rather than confronting.
We honor one another with affirming prophecies, but we refuse to honor the fierce holiness of God.
We preach a diluted gospel, offering false assurance of salvation through a repeated prayer — yet wonder why the “new creation” continues in his old ways. Without a revelation of Jesus’s salvific sacrifice, without a true encounter with Him, there will never be transformation — and thus no real spiritual power in the House.
My Growing Alarm
For years, I have grown increasingly uneasy about how the Holy Spirit is being presented in many charismatic circles:
● Nervous about mass invitations for “Spirit-baptism” that reduce the holy to the sensational.
● Nervous about leaders speaking with hyper-confidence on God’s behalf.
● Nervous about the hype and hysteria that often surround what should be a sober and holy encounter.
● Nervous that the Spirit is being marketed as an experience rather than honored as the Holy Presence of God.
What began as nervousness has now become an urgent alarm.
And that is why I find myself desperately crying out:
WHERE ARE YOU, HOLY SPIRIT?
There is a remnant that is crying out for Your Glory. Please, COME!
