Stan Jantz - Fire and Wind: Unleashing the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit

Table of Contents

Fire and Wind is for people who keep the Holy Spirit at arms length because they have been taught that you shouldnt talk about the Holy Spirit. Its also for those who sometimes talk too much about the Holy Spirit. Most of all, Fire & Wind is written for people who long for the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Mark Batterson , New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker ; lead pastor of National Community Church

Start to finish, I nodded in agreement with so much of what Stan Jantz wrote in Fire and Wind . We have classics that theologians have written on the Holy Spirit, which Stan references. We have books by pastors on the Holy Spirit, which Stan quotes. But in Fire and Wind , we get a refreshing and personally touching perspective on the Holy Spirit by a Bible-loving Jesus follower whose heart has been stirred in recent years over what he has missed much of his life. In this easy-to-read book, Stan unpacks theological truths of the Spirit while he also encourages us to experience in new ways the power of the Spirit.

Barry H. Corey , president of Biola University and author of Love Kindness

The phrase Holy Spirit cant help but evoke an emotional reaction for us, ranging from happiness to awe to confusion. With so many theories about how the Spirit works and moves in us, it can be a bit overwhelming. Stan Jantzs book clarifies in a fresh way what the Bible, great experts from the past, and his own experience say about how we can connect on a deep and authentic level to the most misunderstood Person of the Trinity. Highly recommended.

John Townsend , Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author of the Boundaries book series; founder, Townsend Institute for Leadership and Counseling

Stan Jantz is one of my favorite authors. He is biblical, insightful, and enjoyable to read. In Fire and Wind , he takes a fresh approach to the question of how the Holy Spirit is present and active in our lives. I hope you will read it with an open mind and consider that God may be active in ways you have never imagined.

Sean McDowell , Biola University professor, popular speaker, and coauthor of So the Next Generation Will Know

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Fire and Wind

Copyright 2020 by Stan Jantz

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97408

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-7777-7 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-7778-4 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Jantz, Stan, author.

Title: Fire and wind / Stan Jantz.

Description: Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2019.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019017567 (print) | ISBN 9780736977777 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Holy Spirit.

Classification: LCC BT121.3 .J345 2019 (print) | LCC BT121.3 (ebook) | DDC 231/.3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019017567

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019980325

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Contents

M y name is Stan, and I have ignored the Holy Spirit for too long.

Its not like Ive purposely ignored or shunned him. Throughout my life, I have simply forgotten about the Holy Spirit; I just havent thought about him all that much on a personal level. God the Father has been my focus, along with Jesus and the Bible. I guess you could say Im one of those Christians who live as if the three members of the Trinity are the Father, Son, and Holy Bible.

Heres how it worked for me. I believed in God at an early age and accepted Jesus as my Savior by the time I was seven years old. As I grew up, nurtured by godly parents and a series of pastors who were skilled at teaching the Bible, I matured in my faith. I did my best to read and study the Bible while following the command, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30 NIV ).

Eventually Jesus became my one true spiritual passion, and how can he not be? Being saved is all about Jesus. As for the Holy Spirit, I knew he was there, but I didnt know what to do with him. So he just sat quietly in my heart and soul (while I directed my mind and strength to God and Jesus), waiting patiently for me to give him a little nodyou know, one of those glances where you look at someone and give them that slight upward thrust of your chinjust to let him know that I knew he was there. Sadly, I didnt do all that much nodding in the Holy Spirits direction.

So why did I write this book about the Holy Spirit? If the subject of the book has been sitting in the corner of my spiritual life, without me giving him so much as a glance, why do this now? Because I discovered something that changed my life. Actually, two somethings. One was definitely the Holy Spirit, but there was something else that prompted me to change the way I looked at this whole matter.

Not long ago I was at the point where my spiritual life was stagnant and predictable. I thought about the reason Jesus came to earthI came that they may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10 ESV )and I concluded that my life wasnt all that abundant. Oh, I was doing fine in other areas, but spiritually I was feeling flat. Uninspired. And I figured that maybe the Holy Spirit was the key to this life I was missing. I cant tell you why he entered my mind, but something changed, like a light being turned on in a dark room.

So I said to the Holy Spirit, Its time I got to know you better. I know about you, but I dont really know you. And the Holy Spirit said, Im ready if you are. Lets do something together.