Pneumatology, & Vietnamese Cooking

He & Van, a husband-wife seminary couple from Vietnam called us up and said they'd like to cook us a meal.  A Vietnamese meal.  Naturally we said Yes! and were surprised when they arrived, shooed us out of our minuscule kitchen, and proceeded to make magic out of the armloads of cabbage, carrots, chicken, lettuce, peanuts, and mint-leaves which they had picked up at the local markets.

Wayne and I took a leisurely stroll, and when we returned a few hours later, we had an elaborate and delicious dinner waiting for us.

He (yes that's his name - "HE") is a doctoral student in Theology, with an emphasis on Pneumatology.  We had a spirited (!) discussion (was the breath breathed into Adam in the book of Genesis actually God's Holy Spirit?  Can non-Christians have any part of the gift of the Holy Spirit?  Can our own breathing be thought of as a way in which the Holy Spirit is present within us, or does the Holy Spirit only come with the conscious, verbal commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord? )

We disagreed on some pretty important issues (which would make sense, given our vastly different life experiences as well as the fact that we come from very different denominational backgrounds).

But the evening was a  gift from God, and the Holy Spirit was surely present, as we  enjoyed our meal and were  challenged by the conversation, all of us carrying Christ's name.

 ⁴ The Spirit of God has made me;
       the breath of the Almighty gives me life.  -- Job 33:4

⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' ⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
 ⁹"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.     -- Gospel of John 3:7-9