I want to tell you two brief stories involving two Traditional Pentecostal churches here in America. These two churches are in two very different parts of the United States, and minister to two very distinct cultural groups. Both churches have been in existence for quite some time, and both churches identify themselves as Pentecostal. As a large part of mine and my wives ministry is in ministering to struggling and hurting Pastoral couples, I had the opportunity to discuss personally these two churches with their Pastors. The first Pastor was with me on a Pastoral retreat, and one morning very early, as we were both sitting on the porch of the cabin reading our Bibles, this pastor turned to me with tears in his eyes and said: "I read of all the miracles that Jesus and His Disciples did, as well as the early Church, and my question to you Steve is this....... Where is the power in the Church today?" Having just concluded a series of messages by that same title, I was utterly "blown-away" that I was being asked that question! It actually served as confirmation to me that what I was contemplating and praying about, and had developed a sermon series out of, was INDEED the direction the Holy Spirit was taking me! And NOT only me, but many other Ministerial Leaders who were asking that very same question! I went on to ask him why he would ask me that question, and his reply was this. He said: "I have been pastoring my church now for over two years now, and in those two years, we have NOT seen ONE move of God, had ONE message and interpretation in tongues, nor had one person show any kind of vibrancy during the worship time!" My heart was heavy as I watched my brother Pastor weep over the lack of the move of the Holy Ghost in their services, and what was even worse,........ NO ONE in this Pentecostal church even MISSED it!The second story is about a Pastor I was talking to who relayed to me a story of how the Holy Spirit actually broke into one of their Morning Worship services. This was something my friend had been seeking God for since he got to this church. The Lord moved in a WONDERFUL way and no sermon was preached nor needed to be preached that day, as the True Senior Pastor of that church (Jesus), began to draw people to the alter in repentance, worship, and commitment! Now understand, this was a Pentecostal church where this Pastor was pastoring and had been for many years, and this was the FIRST breakthrough move of the Holy Spirit they had had at that church since he had been appointed there. This Pastor was excited, until one of his long-time members and leaders in the church approached him after the service and said: "If this is the way our services are going to go, then we'll be leaving!" When this Pastor asked him how he could POSSIBLY feel this way (remember....... were talking about a PENTECOSTAL church here), after a wonderful move of the Holy Spirit like that? His reply was: "We are WORD people! We don't want all this MOVE OF THE SPIRIT STUFF, we just want the WORD!" WOW! This absolutely discouraged this pastor who felt like they had FINALLY broke through to a genuine move of God!
These two stories could be dismissed as non-typical representations of the Pentecostal movement, if it were not for the fact that statements like this are made by pastors and laity alike, quite often in pentecostal churches, not to mention the denominational and non-denominational churches who have NEVER had a move of God like we are referring to here! So, here you have a Christian Tradition, namely Pentecostal, which originated in this kind of Holy Ghost Fire, now reporting that moves of the Holy Spirit are increasingly RARE in their services. So, why is this happening, and where is the power? In answering this question, the Lord revealed to me yet another reason why the Church here in America is NOT experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit that is supposed to be the "norm" for us.
That reason is............. Because we have OFFENDED the Holy Spirit, and we are in DESPERATE need of repenting for it! Now the reader may say: "Steve, how have we offended the Holy Spirit?" The answer is, we have offended the Holy Spirit by acting like we do not need His move; His presence; His power; His direction; nor His leading in our services! By our attitudes, we have assumed a posture of ...... "WE'VE GOT THIS COVERED HOLY SPIRIT! WE KNOW HOW TO DO CHURCH! YOU CAN SIT THIS ONE OUT, AND WE WILL CALL ON YOU IF WE NEED YOU!" And, in response, the Holy Spirit has left many of our churches alone to do their own thing, and the SAD thing is.............. Many NEVER noticed He was GONE!
So, if you are one of those people who notice that things in the Body of Christ aren't EXACTLY right! Or, you feel like their is something DESPERATELY missing in the Church today! Or, if you feel like there just HAS to be MORE to being a Christian than what you are currently experiencing, the answer to this dilemma is quite simple and straight forward!............. We, the Body of Christ, need to desperately repent of offending the Holy Spirit! A very good friend of mine, Steve Chelette, commented on my last post and suggested the need for a 'Solomn Assembly!" I am in COMPLETE agreement with him! We need a Solomn Assembly to come before the Lord in genuine REPENTANCE and cry out to Him once again to send the power of the Holy Spirit upon this desperately impotent Church! And I believe, that once we genuinely DO THAT, and LIVE in that genuine repentance, completly depending on the Holy Spirit to empower us to do the things that Jesus did (you know, ....... our Great Commission!), that we will once again experience a FLOOD of power from the Holy Spirit to accomplish our divinely given task before us! Without this type of repentance and refilling of the power of the Holy Spirit, we are just "PLAYING CHURCH," we are NOT "BEING THE CHURCH!"
---God Bless You!
As an adendum to this blog post, I want to direct the reader to a sermon the Lord gave me concerning the "state" of the Spirit Filled movements. That sermon is entitled: "The State of the Pentecostal Movement" and can be found by clicking on the following link and looking under the July 2011 sermon section. You can either listen to it, or download it to save on your computer, to listen to at a later time. Both are free, and I believe it will minister to you. The State of the Pentecostal Church
Ezra 10
ReplyDelete1 Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there was gathered together unto him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children; for the people wept very sore.
2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.
3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
4 Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee: be of good courage, and do it.
5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they sware.
6 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water; for he mourned because of the trespass of them of the captivity.
7 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;
8 and that whosoever came not within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity.
9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month: and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.
10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.
11 Now therefore make confession unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.
12 Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said concerning us, so must we do.
13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without: neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.
14 Let now our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all them that are in our cities that have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter be despatched.
15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.
16 And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers' houses, after their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
17 And they made an end with all the men that had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.
18 And among the sons of the priests there were found that had married foreign women: namely, of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.
19 And they gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.
No better response then the Word of God!
ReplyDelete