The Guest of the Soul

I haven't posted on this blog for three months, the last post was May 3rd, which was five days before our daughter Georgia Kay was born. Life certainly hasn't slowed down after three months, but I am thinking that I will post items that I am writing for other occasions. So what is below was written for last Sunday's bulletin. That Holiness meeting was focused on the work of the Holy Spirit. If you would like to view the whole sermon it is on our Ustream link.

Dear Corps Family (and Internet family),

It was Thanksgiving in 1999, my entire family got together for what was
to be the last time before my Aunt Martha was Promoted to Glory. My
grandfather was steadily reading a book thats pages were fragile and yellow,
and the binding was broken in one place. The book was Commissioner Samuel L. Brengle’s 1934 edition of The Guest of the Soul. I was intrigued by the title and we talked about it at several points those days. It was his tradition to reread all the Brengle books (the Brengle Corpus) between Thanksgiving and Christmas Just about the time he was going to leave, he looked my way put the book in my hand, “Ange I want you to have this.”


I have always treasured the book for that reason, but the message in it is
more important than my memories. Let your soul hear this section where
Brengle talks about what he means by the “Guest of the Soul.”

A friend of mine said recently, “I like the term, ‘Holy Ghost,” for the word ghost in the old Saxon was the same as the word for guest.” Whether that be so or not, it may certainly be said that the Holy Ghost is the Holy Guest. He has come into the world and visits every heart, seeking admittance as a guest. He may come to the soul unbidden, but He will not come in unbidden. He may be unwelcomed. He may be refused admission and turned away. But He comes. He is in the world like Noah’s dove, looking for an abiding-place. He comes as Guest, but as an abiding one, if received. He forces Himself upon no one. He waits for the open door and the invitation.


He comes gently. He comes in love. He comes on a mission of infinite good will, of mercy and peace and helpfulness and joy. He is the Advocate of the Father and of the Son to us men. He represents and executes the redemptive plans and purposes of the Triune God. As my old teacher, Daniel Steele,wrote, “He is the Executive of the Godhead.”

Samuel Logan Brengle, The Guest of the Soul (London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1934), 58.


Maybe we be able to let the Guest of the Soul into our lives so as to live in God’s mission for the world. 1 John 5:13, “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”

Forward to the Fight,
Andy Miller III, Captain