Days of the Holy Spirit

Days of the Holy Spirit

 In Blog, Featured

This week on the biblical calendar we celebrate Shavuot and Pentecost, as we remember and honor the giving of the Law (the Torah) at Mount Sinai, as well as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the early followers of Jesus as they gathered in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. This is a season rich in biblical history as well as practical and life-changing application for our lives.

But, more times than not, we can’t count on our cultural surroundings to push us in the direction of that valuable path of Spirit-empowered discovery.

Particularly in our Western culture today, characterized by a high concentration of rationalism and humanism, there is a constant need to remain vigilant when it comes to guarding the ancient, mystical aspects of our faith. At the top of this list is the act of living daily by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

Our faith as believers is not a 21st-century phenomenon. It is an ancient faith that reaches back to ancient Israel and calls us to a timeless understanding of who God is. The prophets of old were not concerned with fitting into the culture around them when they lived and spoke under the auspices of the Holy Spirit. In the same way today, if our understanding of God is only consistent with the ‘modern’ culturally accepted view of the world, then we will find that our understanding of Him is only several inches deep.

In the words of the Nicene Creed, the Holy Spirit is “the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.”

This description of the Holy Spirit is almost completely foreign to how our culture lives and operates today. A Spirit proceeding from God who directs us each day? One who speaks through prophets? An unseen Person who is the Giver of life? These descriptions do not fit into our logical way of thinking. One cannot simply “Google” what the Holy Spirit is speaking to each of us in this moment and find the answer. It requires a listening of the heart and a relationship with an unseen God.

But our God does not apologize when His ways are not accepted by human society. In fact, God often offends our minds to reveal the state of our hearts. How do we respond to the idea that our spiritual walk is from another realm and therefore does not conform to the world around us? Stated another way, when God is not conveniently or easily assimilated into our everyday culture today, what will our response be?

The Jews have led the way in this type of counter-cultural lifestyle for several thousand years, living as a people who, even with all the modern conveniences that surround us all, still hold to the ancient rhythms, steeped in prayer, which have sustained them.

In the modern world of Christianity, prayer is too often not our first response in the midst of challenges, when there are so many other “solutions” available. An internet search engine is usually the first place that we begin to look for the answers we need. But God is stirring us once again by His Spirit to plumb the depths of how to walk with Him in the fullness He intended.

What does it look like to live by the power of the Holy Spirit in the year 2023?

First of all, we must be willing to recognize that our faith was never intended to be a subculture of the society around us. Even 2,000 years ago, Jesus said of His followers, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:16). Our faith should not be derived from the way that the world thinks and reasons. Rather, our faith should inform the way we look at the world and live within it.

As times change and the world accelerates further into the technological age of AI and data-driven social behaviors with each day that passes, we must be on our guard that our dependence does not rest on the innovations of man. This is an essential part of being “led by the Spirit of God” (Romans 8:14). We must be willing to live differently – by the priority system that is found in the Word of God.

Secondly, we must maintain a healthy degree of moment-by-moment flexibility in our lives, knowing that our lives are not our own since we belong to God. First Corinthians says,

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

One of the ways that we honor God is by making room in our lives for Him to direct us. How can we be led by God’s Spirit daily if we don’t surrender our daily schedule to His direction? Time is one of our most precious commodities, and how we spend our time is an indication of what our lives are really about.

Thirdly, we must hold fast to the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit today as described in scripture – which is not only an eternal promise from God but is also desperately needed now more than ever. In the words of the Apostle Paul,

For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:8-10)

Paul concluded His explanation of the spiritual gifts by exhorting us to “earnestly desire” these gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives (1 Corinthians 12:31). We must proactively cultivate this desire commanded by God in order to see God-sized results of walking in the Spirit.

The late Dr. Jack Hayford, one of the pioneers in the Church in this generation for teaching the importance of a life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, said in one of His well-known sermons, entitled Why You Need to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit: “Christ called us to receive the Holy Spirit that we might have the same power source for everyday life and service that animated Him in His ministry.”

Without this daily reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will not have the strength to stand firm and to advance in all that God has for us.

We have entered days of great challenges in the earth, in which our faith is certain to be tested as never before. Thankfully, we have also entered days in which the Holy Spirit will move across the world in unprecedented ways. This Shavuot and Pentecost season and beyond, if we will have ears to hear and hearts to perceive the work of God’s Spirit in our lives, we can be part of the wonders of God that He is releasing globally in this hour. Now is the time to live in the power and fullness of the Spirit!

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ABOUT US

Eagles’ Wings. and our affiliates (“we,” “us” or “Eagle’s Wings”) is focused on (1) Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, (2)Renewing the importance of spiritual community and (3)fostering understanding across cultural divides, through social media, mailings, email, conferences, speaking engagements and related forms of media and other presentations.

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For the purposes of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, or GDPR, Eagles’ Wings, and each of its departments for which you have interacted with for a product or service are the data controller.

INFORMATION COVERED BY THIS PRIVACY POLICY

This privacy policy covers personal information, including any information we collect, use and share from you, as described further below. This privacy policy applies to all websites of Eagles’ Wings our products and services, and our mobile applications (collectively, the “Services”). This privacy policy does not cover how our Users may use or share data that they collect using our services.

When you engage with us through service or product purchase, your personal information will be collected, used, and shared consistent with the provisions of this privacy policy as well as the following addendums related to particular products and services offered by Eagles’ Wings, which are a part of this privacy policy.

For the purposes of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, or GDPR, these are data processors:

INFORMATION WE COLLECT FROM YOU

In the course of your use of the Services, we obtain the following information about you as described below. We collect this data for the purposes described in “How We Use Your Information”.

SIGNING UP FOR SERVICES; USER INFORMATION

USE OF SERVICES, WEBSITE VISITS AND SUPPORT

We store this data we collect in a variety of places within our infrastructure, including system log files, back-end databases, and analytics systems.

SOCIAL MEDIA

OTHER SOURCES

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We have a legitimate interest in running a successful and efficient organization and in providing you with Services and useful content, and we use the information we collect, both on its own and combined with any other information we collect about you, for the following purposes:

We also use the information we receive in aggregated and anonymized formats to produce reports on trends and statistics, such as mobile search trends, email open rates by industry, campaign best practices or the number of users that have been exposed to, or clicked on, our websites or evaluated or purchased our products and services.

Payment information that you provide to us, including credit card data, will only be used to facilitate payment for our products and services.

SHARING OF INFORMATION

As further described below, we will only share certain personal information with:

SHARING WITHIN Eagles’ Wings

We share personal information with other members of the organization to allow communication with you on offers of interest.  If you are located in a jurisdiction where such sharing requires your permission, we will only do so with your consent.

SHARING WITH THIRD PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS AND VENDORS

When we share personal information with certain third-party vendors, including marketing, data services and advertising partners, that information includes your name, email address and other information enabling partners to:

If you are located in a jurisdiction where such sharing requires your permission, we will only do so with your consent. Please note that if you access our services through a tool that hides your location, such as through a virtual private network, you may not receive our request for permission because we were not able to identify you as being located in a jurisdiction where your permission is required.

AUTHORIZED USERS

All users authorized by you to have access to your account can view personal information stored in the account. A primary account holder can view personal information saved in subaccounts to which they have authorized access. We share information about authorized users only for legitimate purposes consistent with this privacy policy, including servicing your account and marketing products and services to you.

LEGAL PROCESS

Lastly, if legally required to do so, or if we have a good faith belief that such disclosure is reasonably necessary, we may disclose your personal information to courts of law, law enforcement authorities and other relevant third parties, such as internet service providers, to conduct an investigation, respond to a third party or law enforcement subpoena or court order, bring legal action, prevent harm to others or pursue other relief when you or a third party are or may be:

This disclosure can include transferring your information to the U.S. and other countries outside the European Economic Area. To the extent we are legally permitted to do so, it is our policy to notify you in the event that we are required to provide your personal information to third parties.

SECURITY

The transmission of information via the internet, email or text message is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your information transmitted through the Services or over email; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will take appropriate technical and organizational measures to safeguard your personal information against loss, theft and unauthorized use, access or modification. When we collect financial account information, such as credit card numbers, we protect its transmission through the use of encryption such as the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol.

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CHOICE/OPT-OUT

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS FROM US

EMAIL

You always have the opportunity to opt out of our marketing communications with you or change your preferences by following a link in the footer of all non-transactional email messages from us or by emailing us at [email protected]. Some communications from us are considered transactional or service communications (for example, important account notifications and billing information), and your account(s) for Eagle’s Wings products and services are provided to you upon the condition that you receive these communications from us. You must cancel your account(s) for Eagle’s Wings products and services, as applicable, if you do not wish to receive any transactional or service communications. To cancel your Eagle’s Wings account(s), please follow the instructions found in the terms of service for the applicable Eagles Wings services. You may still receive marketing communications from us even after you cancel your account unless you also opt-out of our marketing communications, as described above.

PHONE

We may contact you by telephone, with your consent where applicable, for marketing purposes (including by automatic dialer and/or prerecorded message). If you do not want to receive marketing calls, please contact [email protected]. You do not need to agree to receive automated marketing phone calls or texts from us to use the Services.

COOKIES

For information about how to manage and opt out from cookies, please visit our Cookie Policy.

INFORMATION FROM THIRD PARTIES

To manage the information we receive about you from a social networking site or other third parties (if applicable), you will need to follow the instructions from that party for updating your information and changing your privacy settings, where available. The information we collect is covered by this privacy policy and the information the third party collects is subject to such third party’s privacy practices. Privacy choices you have made on any third party site will not apply to our use of the information we have collected directly through our Services.

UNAUTHORIZED ACCOUNTS                                                                                                             

If an account or profile was created without your knowledge or authorization, please contact [email protected] to request removal of the account or profile.

RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We retain your personal information to provide services to you and as otherwise necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We will retain your personal information for no more than seven years following the later of (i) the date on which you terminate your use of the Services or (ii) May 25, 2018, unless we are otherwise required by law or regulation to retain your personal information for longer.

YOUR RIGHTS

Where the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, or GDPR, applies, in certain circumstances and subject to data processing agreements, you have rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you. We set out below an outline of those rights and how to exercise those rights. Please note that we will require you to verify your identity before responding to any requests to exercise your rights by providing details only known to the account holder. Please note that for each of the rights below we may have valid legal reasons to refuse your request, in such instances we will let you know if that is the case.

ACCESS

You have the right to know whether we process personal information about you, and if we do, to access data we hold about you and certain information about how we use it and who we share it with.

PORTABILITY

You have the right to receive a subset of the personal information you provide us if we process it on the legal bases of our contract with you or with your consent in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and a right to request that we transfer such personal information to another party. If you wish for us to transfer the personal information to another party, please ensure you detail that party and note that we can only do so where it is technically feasible. We are not responsible for the security of the personal information or its processing once received by the third party.

CORRECTION

You have the right to require us to correct any personal information held about you that is inaccurate and have incomplete data completed. Where you request correction, please explain in detail why you believe the personal information we hold about you to be inaccurate or incomplete so that we can assess whether a correction is required. Please note that while we assess whether the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you may exercise your right to restrict our processing of the applicable data as described below.

ERASURE

You may request that we erase the personal information we hold about you in the following circumstances:

Please provide as much detail as possible on your reasons for the request to assist us in determining whether you have a valid basis for erasure.

RESTRICTION OF PROCESSING TO STORAGE ONLY

You have a right to require us to stop processing the personal information we hold about you other than for storage purposes in the following circumstances:

You have objected to us processing personal information we hold about you on the basis of our legitimate interest and you wish us to stop processing the personal information while we determine whether there is an overriding interest in us retaining such personal information.

OBJECTION

You have the right to object to our processing of data about you and we will consider your request. Please provide us with detail as to your reasoning so that we can assess whether there is a compelling overriding interest in us continuing to process such data or we need to process it in relation to legal claims.

You also have the right, at any time, to object to our processing of data about you in order to send you marketing, including where we build profiles for such purposes and we will stop processing the data for that purpose.

WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT

Where you have provided your consent to us processing your personal data, you can withdraw your consent at any time by emailing [email protected].

THIRD PARTY LINKS & INFORMATION COLLECTION AND USE BY OUR USERS

Some of our Services provide links to other websites. Because we do not control the information policies or practices of these third-party sites, you should review their privacy policies to learn about how they collect and use personal information.

You may also log in to some of our Services using sign-in services such as, but not limited to, Facebook Connect or an Open ID provider. These services will authenticate your identity and provide you with the option to share certain personal information with us, such as your name and email address to pre-populate our sign up form. For example, if you take advantage of certain of our social media features, such as the Facebook Like button, and widgets, such as the “Share This” button or interactive mini-programs that run on our site, the applicable social networking sites may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our websites, and may set a cookie to enable it to function properly.

DATA TRANSFER

In order for us to provide the Services to you, your personal information will be transferred to, and stored at/processed in the United States.

You can contact the Eagles’ Wings [email protected] for further information

COMPLAINTS

In the event that you wish to make a complaint about how we process your personal information, please contact our office and we will try to deal with your request.

Eagles’ Wings
PO Box 450
Clarence, New York 14031

Telephone: (716) – 759 –1058
Fax: (716) 759– 01731

[email protected]

NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES

We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. If we decide to change this privacy policy in any material way, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on www.eagleswings.org or the website of the Eagles’ Wings’ product or service you use prior to the change becoming effective. In all cases, your continued use of any Services constitutes acceptance to any such changes.