Calvin Synod Herald, 2017 (118. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2017-05-01 / 5-6. szám
2 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD CALVIN j. iCDAI n synod ntq/VLU Official Organ of The Calvin Synod - United Church of Christ Founded in 1900 AMERIKAI MAGYAR REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA \_________________________________________________/ Volume 118 MAY-JUNE 2017 NO. 5-6 Official Organ of the Calvin Synod United Church of Christ - Founded in 1900 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD (ISSN 0161-6900) is published bi-monthly $15.00/year for individual subscriptions; $10.00/year for groups, 50 or more copies Please make checks payable to the Calvin Synod Herald Editor in Chief: Rt. Rev. Dr. Csaba G. Krasznai, Bishop 14530 Alexander Road • Walton Hills, OH 44146 Tel.: 440-221-5334 • Email: revkrasznai@gmail.com Co-Editor: Rt. Rev. Stefan M. Torok, Auxiliary Bishop 68 Cherrywood Drive • Somerset, NJ 08873 Tel.: 732-917-4566 • Email: sctorok@comcast.net Interim Hungarian Editor: Rt. Rev. Stefan M. Torok Business Manager: Wilburn A. Roby, Jr. 264 Old Plank Road • Butler, PA 16002 Email: warajr@embarqmail.com Newsletters prepared by: Cathy Paksi 419-733-5829 • cathy.paksi@gmail.com Newsletters printed by: Gazette Printers 724-349-3434 Periodicals postage paid at Butler, PA POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 264 Old Plank Rd„ Butler, PA 16002-3810 Manuscripts and photographs are not preserved or returned Send all correspondence to the Editor The views and opinions of the writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the position of the magazine or Calvin Synod. CALVIN SYNOD HEADQUARTERS: Rt. Rev. Dr. Csaba G. Krasznai 14530 Alexander Road • Walton Hills, OH44146 Tel.:440-221-5334 Email: revkrasznai@gmail.com OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS • Beaver Falls, PA • United Church of Christ of Bridgeport, CT • Cleveland, OH - West Side Hungarian Reformed Church • Columbus, OH • Dayton The proper procedure is for all interested ministers to send their completed PROFILE (as provided by the United Church of Christ) to the Bishop’s office: Rt. Rev. Dr. Csaba G. Krasznai 14530 Alexander Road Walton Hills, OH 44146 Tel.: 440-221-5354 • revkrasznai@gmail.com The Holy Spirit Pentecost "If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you" (John 14:15-17) At Pentecost we remember and celebrate that special event when the heavenly Father sent the Holy Spirit into this world through His Son Jesus Christ. The apostles were the first who received the gift of the Lord’s Spirit. Right after that blessing, they boldly went out to the streets and squares of Jerusalem and preached the good news of Jesus Christ. When the apostle Peter preached, three thousand people accepted the message of the Lord and were baptized. That became the birthday of the Christian Church. Therefore the feast of Pentecost is just as important as Christmas and Easter. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit shook the entire nation of Israel and brought with it great changes. However, the outpouring of the Spirit had a great influence not just on Israel, but on the whole world. During His earthly life and ministry Jesus Christ has promised that He would send the Holy Spirit who would guide us into all the truth. In connection with this, let us turn our attention to two important questions here. The first is, how can a person receive the Holy Spirit? The second is, why is the presence of the Holy Spirit so important in our lives? In order to give an appropriate answer to the first question, we need to know that there are some prerequisites if someone wants to receive the Holy Spirit. The prerequisites for receiving the Spirit, according to Jesus’ words, are: 1. ‘‘If you love me. ” 2. ‘‘Obey what I command. ” We just need to do these two simple things, loving Jesus, and obeying His teachings, and we can therefore receive the Holy Spirit. Simple things? These are not that simple to do, aren’t these? Loving Jesus and obeying His commandments are not easy. We have troubles especially with keeping the Lord’s teachings. We are individual persons with free will. God created us as human beings and not as robots. We can choose to accept or deny things, to do things or not doing them.
