Anointed To Do Good: Acts 10:38 Insights into Building, Maintaining, and Releasing GodaEUR(tm)s Anointing in Your Life and Ministry

By Dr. Keith Attles

Anointed to Do Good is a book designed to help the believer in Christ to better understand and implement the anointing of the Holy Spirit in their life and ministry. This book takes a detailed look at the subject of God's anointing. It examines the Holy Spirit's work in scripture throughout Church history and the anointing upon God's servants as they performed ministry.

The purpose of this book is to encourage believers to embrace the Holy Spirit's power available to them. According to 1 John 20, "You have an unction" (anointing) from the Lord. Now you can be empowered and confident to be used by the Lord like never before. I believe the devotional section of this book will inspire believers to activate God's anointing in their life and ministry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639031542

Book preview

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Anointed to Do Good

Acts 10:38

Insights into Building, Maintaining,

and Releasing God’s Anointing

in Your Life and Ministry

Dr. Keith Attles

ISBN 978-1-63903-153-5 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63903-154-2 (digital)

Copyright © 2021 by Dr. Keith Attles

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Christian Spirituality A Historical Overview

Biblical and Historical Character/Spiritual Formation Models

Character and the Anointing Character and Integrity

Testimonies of the Anointing’s Power

What Is the Anointing?

Anointed for Service

Anointed To Do Good!

The Holy Anointing Oil

Reasons for the Anointing

Anointing the Unsanctified

The Costly Anointing

Devotionals

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Be Studious

Be Teachable

Meditation

Be Prayerful

Walk in Love

The Power of Fasting

Praying in the Spirit

Fellowship

Praise and Worship

Hearing the Voice of the Lord

Humility

Practice, Practice, Practice

Submission

Financial Giving

Obedience Is the Key!

Church Attendance

Faithfulness

Endurance

Let the River Flow

Desiring Spirituality

Growing In Grace

Serving Others

Be Holy!

Notes

Acknowledgments

Iam grateful for the foundation given to me by my father, Thomas Attles, and my mother, Jean Attles, as they always sought to make me a man of God. My sisters, Michelle and Lisa, have proven to be a source of support and inspiration for me as I continue to grow in the grace and anointing of the Lord.

I sincerely thank God for the entire Covenant Life Ministries Church family’s dedication and prayerful support, which constantly empowered me through the difficult times along the way. I wish God’s blessing on each of you.

Finally, and most importantly, a heartfelt thank you to my wife, Kimberly, and three children, Aaron, Daniel, and Alisa, who helped me to write this book because of their sacrificial love, patience, and prayers. They gave me the time to complete this research by handling many of my home and church responsibilities through the duration of the writing process. I love and appreciate you all. May God richly bless you.

Preface

Anointed to Do Good is a resource designed to educate, enhance, and ultimately empower a believer to do anointed ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is my personal conviction that many believers and churches have sought to do ministry apart from the Holy Spirit’s enablement primarily because we have been convinced that education, programming, or traditional systems promoting church life are enough to get the job done for God’s kingdom. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, left for us an example to follow in Matthew 3:15–17, which patterned for us the need for God’s Holy Spirit (the anointing), in order to produce greater results in life and ministry.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit will be examined through various lenses, giving the reader a rich understanding of a misunderstood topic in the Body of Christ. My goal is to create a fresh hunger in the life of every believer who desires to grow in the depths of God’s anointing and to produce fruitful results for the expansion of God’s kingdom. An especially insightful section of this workbook is the Devotionals. The Devotionals are designed to encourage the believer in weekly spiritual practices. I recommend that you choose one or two devotionals that you plan to practice during the week and follow the reading, reflection questions, and spiritual practices carefully. If these directives are followed, you will begin to experience a deeper spiritual life in the Lord; as well as a walk in a greater anointing of the Holy Spirit.

You can change the world for Christ under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. May God richly bless you.

Rev. Dr. Keith Attles

Christian Spirituality A Historical Overview

For many years, I have often wondered why the church of today did not really model the Apostolic Church found in the book of Acts. This question provoked me to search for answers in church history writings throughout many generations. What I have found was the church Christ came to establish and sought to fulfill a different mandate than the one we see today. The early church stressed the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20) as its main reason for existence, coupled with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit with signs, wonders, and miracles following. The purpose of the church was to exhibit power over all the kingdoms of Satan by setting the captives free so that they could be able to serve the living God.

As the Apostolic Church moved into different parts of the world, its doctrine became tainted and weakened because of pagan philosophy and practices, which de-emphasized the teachings of the kingdom of God and the person of the Holy Spirit. By AD 313, Constantine became ruler of the Roman Empire and chose Christianity as the state religion. Little by little, the state began to take control of the affairs of the Apostolic Church, and leaders with little or no experience in religious matters began to shape Church doctrine. About AD 350, the Church began to persecute all who were not under the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. People had to make the choice of submitting to the Church or face the sword. Salvation with the need for justification by faith, culminating in the new birth experience, was no longer emphasized. Hence, the imperial church of Constantine continued to become increasingly distant from the original purpose Christ intended when He established His church. This led to the Medieval Church period (AD 476–1453), which lasted for about one thousand years. This period is better known as the Dark Ages of history because gross darkness began to influence both political and religious leadership during this time. Corruption within the Roman Catholic Church became very apparent with the selling of indulgences, the extortion of finances from both the rich and poor to finance the church, and the distortion of sound Christian doctrine with teachings on transubstantiation (in the communion sacrament, the bread and wine are transformed into the veritable body and blood of Christ). These types of corrupt practices in the church caused men like John Wycliffe (1329–1384), John Huss (1369–1415), and Jerome Savonarola (1452–1498) to arise and proclaim the injustices advocated by Roman Catholicism.

Later, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Church was positioned to receive revival and enlightenment from men whom the Holy Spirit would move upon in order to right the wrongs that cast it into the Dark Ages. Over a two-hundred-year period, a great reformation began to take place, which started in Germany and spread all throughout Northern Europe. This resulted in the founding of national churches owing no allegiance to Rome. Much of the transitional period of the church called the Reformation was attributed to a man named Martin Luther, who was a monk and professor at the University of Wittenberg. Luther observed many of the practices advocated by Roman Catholicism and concluded that these theological beliefs and practices were not in-line with the Word of God. Men could not be justified by works of obedience as preached by John Tetzel who sold certificates to pardon all sin. Martin Luther vehemently protested against such doctrine and set out to disprove this type of flawed teaching. On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses or statements to the front door of the Wittenberg Cathedral, openly protesting the selling of indulgences and his discontentment with the Pope and priesthood. He maintained that many doctrines and practices of the church were not consistent with the Holy Scriptures. Although certain rulers within the church tried to coerce Luther into recanting these statements, he held firm to his convictions and beliefs. The writings of Luther spread throughout Germany, and many people who were discontent with the Catholic Church soon found themselves siding with his views in protest against this erroneous religious system. Hence, the title Protestants were given to his followers and a major division occurred in the Christian faith. No longer would there be only the Catholic Church, but now there would also be the Protestant Church alongside it. The church that had existed for hundreds of years in darkness was now about to be given a ray of light through the efforts of an enlightened man named Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation period.

The works and writings of Luther did not go unnoticed in the church community. Soon the reformation in Germany spread all over Europe. In Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli, in 1517, protested against the remission of sins through pilgrimages to a shrine of the Virgin at Einsiedeln and, in 1522, broke from Roman Catholicism. John Calvin, William Tyndale, John Knox, the Quakers, and John Wesley were among the major contributors of the Protestant Reformation, which later influenced other countries all over the world.

During the early years of the Protestant Reformation, three major concerns needed to be addressed. The first was the right of the followers of Jesus Christ to have the ability to read and study the Scriptures for themselves in a known language. Second was to rid the church of corrupt leadership, doctrine, and practices. Third was an emphasis on holy living and seeking communion with the Holy Spirit in order to empower the believer for everyday living. Personal edification and growth was what this movement was all about.

The Medieval Church had awesome structure, liturgy, and beauty attributed to its movement, but the Protestant Church produced power in the lives of its followers. As the church of Jesus Christ continued to experience change and transformation back to his intended purposes for its existence, a new era arose for the church called the Modern Church era. This era, which began about AD 1453 to the present, seemed to be used by God to get the church back to how it began in AD 30 as the Apostolic Church. Jesus Christ has allowed the Holy Spirit to bring fresh revelation and insight to men that were responsive to bring about seasons of restoration and revival to the church. Men like Martin Luther and John Wesley were able to capture the leading of God’s Spirit, concerning what needed to be emphasized for the preservation of the church throughout history.

I believe that success of the church during the present modern era will hinge on the efforts of the Holy Spirit trying to convey to the hearts of men to follow His leading. The Holy Spirit must be allowed to communicate to church leaders the mind of God for the purpose of seeing it return to the glory of the Apostolic Church, a church of power and purpose. Many of our church fathers were not afraid of allowing the Holy Spirit to dictate what needed to be addressed as the church continued to move in progressive revelation. This type of revelation comes by following very closely the leading of the Holy Spirit as He reveals present-day truth to impact our generation. The Spirit of God is endeavoring to produce a glorious church and people if we would only listen and obey as many have done in the past. We are desperately in need of revival and renewal in the church and America; no longer can believers afford to walk in darkness as the church did centuries ago.

The first Great Awakening occurred around the early 1700s under the leadership of Johnathan Edwards (1703–1758), which caused an awesome revival that spread throughout all the American colonies. A Second Great Awakening began in the Cane Ridge, Kentucky, area in 1801. Many believers experienced a renewed interest in Christian devotion and living that was brought about by an emphasis on repentance from sinful practices. As a result, there was an unusual outpouring of the Holy Spirit with accompanying signs and wonders. Many who were touched by the Holy Spirit exhibited manifestations like jerking, rolling, and dancing during revival meetings.

Once again, around 1906, God poured out His Spirit as evidenced in the Azusa Street Mission of Los Angeles. The Pentecostal Fire of this movement spread all over America, which broke down many of the racial and denominational barriers that existed during this time. Believers from all walks of life received the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. The Church in America was beginning to transition out of the Modern Church era back to its origin of beginnings, hence, the Apostolic Church. Signs once again were becoming commonplace in the existence of the church.

As we begin a new decade (AD 2000), our expectation should be to position ourselves for another great move of the Holy Spirit in our generation. In the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s, God had chosen to awaken His church with a mighty demonstration of His spirit. Position yourself and get ready for a fresh anointing by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus spoke, concerning the last days upon the earth, just before His coming. He said in Matthew 24 and 25, that it would be characterized by lawlessness, ungodliness, unbelief, and a host of other sins. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:1–9 how the last days would encompass everything Jesus spoke about and a lot more as detailed in His letter to Timothy. Both servants of God were able to foresee the drastic changes in men’s hearts, which would ultimately cause tremendous social breakdowns in relationships at every level in society. These predictions serve to notify believers of the pending decline in moral and ethical conduct, thus, resulting in judgment upon all sin.

Kingdoms in Conflict

Since the beginning of time, with the creation of man, there has always been an unseen battle being waged between forces of good and evil. Both of these forces have identified rulers over their respective kingdoms through which they exercise