scottsholar

     When it comes to spiritual formation, I subscribe to the “Big Bang.” I am not referring here to an evolutionary theory or scientific thought on the Earth’s beginnings. I am speaking about The Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was sent by God in an explosive manner that has forever changed the world. The Church of Jesus Christ began that day, and the Holy Spirit’s power (dunamis) descended on the one-hundred and twenty who were waiting expectantly in the upper room. This event is not just something to study in Church History class; it is so important for the 21^st century Church and for the spiritual formation of those who call themselves Christian. The believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit is able to carry out the Great Commission with power that is direct from above.

     The Prophet Joel states, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29, NIV). This Old Testament excerpt, I believe, is not only predicting what happened on The Day of Pentecost but what is happening in the twenty-first-century. Joel’s prophecy of the coming Holy Spirit would foretell of a power that would reform humanity.

     The most famous passage of Scripture regarding the Holy Spirit comes from the book of Acts. Luke writes, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues…..” (Acts 2:1-4, NIV). The images that strike me from this Scripture are the ones referencing wind and fire. Wind and fire are powerful elements. That the Holy Spirit would come in wind and fire portends of the power that is in the Third Person of the Godhead. Wind and fire are landscape-shapers; so too does the Holy Spirit shape and form the believer.

     Another important section of Scripture pertaining to the Holy Ghost also comes from Luke who says, “There he found some disciples and asked them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ They answered, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit’…..When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:1, 2, 6, NIV). The intriguing part of this passage is that the people that Paul met were already believers; they were disciples beforehand. But they were not familiar with the Holy Spirit until Paul laid his hands on them, and then they were filled. Their spiritual formation had just risen to a higher level. They had gone from being “saved” to being “Spirit-filled.” They had moved to a different level or plane in their belief. What an awesome moment!

     In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians he writes, “To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretations of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:8-10, NIV). These Scriptures embody what my denomination and local church believe. We also believe that the initial evidence of one’s being filled with the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues.

     The Church of God of Prophecy (the denomination I grew up in) and the Assemblies of God (the one I now belong to) are almost identical in their beliefs regarding the Holy Spirit. Both of these organizations realize how important it is for the Christian to be filled with the Spirit to have the boldness to be a witness for Jesus. These churches do not believe we are filled with the Spirit to speak in tongues, but to be able to reach the world with the message of Jesus’ saving blood.

     But as far as the application for ministry goes, I believe Luke’s writings are what it is all about for me. Luke writes, “He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high’” (Luke 24:46-49, NIV). If I apply these words that Jesus spoke to His disciples in the ministry that God has planned for me, then I believe I will be success. It took me twenty-seven years to receive this gift; now my task is to tell others the “good news” and be the witness that the Lord has commissioned me to be.

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