Have you heard about the "New Trinity"? I'm surprised you haven't. It's been around a long time. We just visited a church that believed in it.
So what is the New Trinity? Here is how it goes: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Scriptures. You laugh, but many churches live in practical denial of the present active work of the Spirit. "It's all about the Word of God", they say. "God only speaks to you through the Word of God," others comment.
Read the book of Acts again. Notice the prominent place of the Spirit. For example, in Acts 13:2 the Bible says that the Spirit of God told the leaders of the church of Antioch to "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
Let's examine this verse, shall we:
First, notice this doesn't involve any of the apostles (Peter, James, etc.). Why is this important? Because when ever mainline pastors and theologians see the Spirit doing something like this, they explain it away by saying, "It was a unique time period when the Spirit would speak. But it was only for the Apostles." Clearly, this experience was not limited to the Apostles.
Secondly, notice that the Spirit of God did not speak out of the Scriptures. There wasn't anything at that time but what we call the Old Testament. Mainline preachers often say that the Spirit only speaks out of the Bible. Well, here He is not doing that. And besides, that would be quite limiting! If God could only speak out of the words of the text, strictly speaking, He couldn't say anything to us today! There must be some interpretation and application that the Spirit of God does. What is more accurate is to say the Spirit will not contradict the Scripture. But He is not limited to speaking strictly from the printed word.
The next verse (vs. 3) says that Paul and Barnabas were sent out by the Holy Spirit. Do you see how active of a role the Spirit has in the ministry? The very next chapter 14:8-10, Paul heals a lame person. This is what it means to be a Christian.
Mainline preachers want to say that the Spirit doesn't work like that anymore. Well that doesn't make any sense to me. Why would God remove the present active work of the Spirit from the life of the church in a time more desperate than ever before in the history of humanity?
Let me appeal to one more thing: A naive person gets saved. They are isolated from these all-knowing mainline preachers. He reads the Bible. He finds the Spirit of God working with miraculous power. He says to himself, "This is what it means to be a Christian." Poor guy. He can't afford to buy these preacher's books that will enlighten him about how the Spirit doesn't work like that anymore.
If the goal is to be like what we see in the New Testament, we are definitely failing. We look nothing like what is written in the Bible. No where does it say things would change. Man has decided it must be different based on their experience. However, experience is never a reliable guide for theology.
Now, if there was no evidence to refute what these mainline preachers say, then I would concede. But the fact is that all around the world - even in the U.S. - the Holy Spirit is working powerfully.
Some criticize and say, "Yes. There are things going on in India and South America, but after all they are third-world countries." Does being third-world make them any less human? Are they senseless and unable to discern? Those who would argue thus do not have a very high opinion of people in other countries - they probably have never visited them either.
Having been on many foreign soils, I can testify that these "third-world" Christians are smart, strong in mind and body, and they are seeing God do things we've only dreamed of in the U.S. Being poor, however, they can't afford to buy the book that tells them what they are seeing God do with their own eyes is a farce - a fluke. Poor them! Oh that we were too poor to buy into it.
Some churches are very conscientious about including the Holy Spirit in their speech. But if you listen closely, it is a rubber stamp. It is all words. They have to remember to talk about Him, because if they didn't He would be completely forgotten. Why? Because the Spirit of God is not among them. When someone is around you, do you have to remember to talk about him? No. It is natural. He is a part of the conversation. Remove that person from company, and you must remind yourself of him.
Take the power of the Spirit away, and you have nothing but an empty shell. Funny, that is how most mainline churches are right now: An empty shell. They have a building but no people. They have the Bible, but no power.