Introduction

“Hey Sticks,” Charlie said into the phone, using my nickname, “what can you tell me about the Holy Spirit?”

Charlie was twenty years old at the time and had grown up in a churched environment all his life, including a Christian school. He’d just been through a bit of a difficult patch, so I was thrilled to get a phone call like this.

“What do you want to know Charlie?”

“Well, I want to know about the Holy Spirit? Who is the Holy Spirit? And how does he work in my life?”

“Top questions, Charlie. Not many blokes your age call out of the blue and ask something like this.”

“Yeah, well that’s another thing Sticks, I’ve been going to church most of my life. How come no one’s told me about the Holy Spirit? Are they scared of him or something?”

Charlie’s question stuck with me.

It didn’t just bother me, it hounded me.

But it also took me on an adventure, on a road of discovery.

I started reflecting about the Holy Spirit, about how I talk to him, or don’t. About how brilliant he is at working in the ordinary and yet bringing about the extraordinary. About Christians who are fearful of so many things, and yet also quietly suspicious of the very Spirit who can help them overcome those fears.

Then, one day, I was driving home after meeting with the printers in relation to my previous book ‘Favoured’. It wasn’t even finished yet. I was at a set of traffic lights waiting to turn right. Halfway through the right-hand turn, the Holy Spirit directed me to write another book, about him, called ‘Spirited’, for Charlie, and all the others in the world who are unaware of the richness that is ours in Holy Spirit himself.

So, here it is. For you.

Dig into the richness, delve into life.

As you do, you’ll become Spirited in the normal rhythms of everyday life. Yet at the same time, you’ll be alive, eager, anticipating, aware, and watchful of what the Holy Spirit is doing, not only in you, but through you.

 

PS. The first chapter will be delivered to your inbox on Friday.