Do we not talk of creating leaders by training? What are we saying? We are saying that the means employed produce the effect. We say that our training makes leaders, our education enlightens the intellect, our social work ameliorates conditions of life. Well, suppose they do: these are not the ends which we set before ourselves: the end which we set before ourselves was a revelation of the power of the Holy Ghost. We have either lost sight of the end or we have put the means, our 'activities,' into His place. When the activities usurp the place of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit is obscured and hidden, because He is in fact deposed from His rightful place. It is He who creates leaders, it is He who enlightens, it is He who uplifts, it is He who teaches men to 'live,' whatever the conditions in which they live. We cannot have it both ways.
-- Quote from Roland Allen's book, THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT
Let's chew a while on these thoughts until the Holy Spirit enables us to fully take in what He is saying.
