I’m confused again. Yeah, I know that it happens a lot. Here’s the deal today…

I’ve got some “spirit-filled” friends. They call themselves that anyway. It’s usually said with a hint of “we-got-something-you-don’t” tone that makes it clear that I’ve not arrived. I’m just a little bit short of them. I’m like the kid in the remedial reading group in elementary school; I think I read fine but all the other kids smirk that I’m not on the same books as they are. I don’t care for it.

But that’s another topic for another day. Today’s confusion is the result of my “spirit-led” brothers operating in what I call “wing-it mode.” They are allergic to planning and preparation and lean heavily on doing whatever the Spirit leads them to do. Um, okay.

I wonder why the Spirit can’t show up in the planning process. Can’t he help us put messages together or design programs? My wing-it friends don’t seem to think so. They accuse me of being controlling and not open to the Spirit’s leading.

My experience has put me right in the middle of some weird stuff. Once the Spirit led the pastor to stop in his sermon and tell the crowd, “God wants to heal someone of a pain in their wrist today.” Hmmm

I saw another occassion when a guy told his congregation they were not worthy of receiving communion. Then there are the times when I’ve seen guys toss their notes aside to preach a message that God just gave them at the last minute. Those messages, in my experience, were all scattered, disjointed and tough to follow.

At one service I attended, a man stood up and announced that he had a message from the Lord. He went on a verbal rant about women until the pastor stopped him after several minutes. Weird.

I’m pretty sure that the Holy Spirit can and does show up in planning. I think the “Spirit-led” mentality is often an excuse for laziness.