Fire In My Bones
Fire In My Bones by J. Lee Grady:
I Think We Lost Pentecost.
In our quest to become sophisticated Christians, it seems we“ve lost our spiritual edge. We must recover the power of the Holy Spirit.
I spent this past weekend doing what I love most-teaching and encouraging a group of leaders from a local church. We had a proposed agenda for Friday night and all day Saturday, but we quickly scrapped that outline and let God have His way. As we prayed and prophesied over each person, the spiritual temperature of that church went from cool to hot within 24 hours.
After Sunday morning“s message, in which I shared how I was filled with the Holy Spirit, the altar was jammed with people who wanted that experience for themselves. More folks lined up for prayer after the service, too, including a young man who needed to get his heart right with God.
When the Holy Spirit is present in power, spiritual hunger rises. Healing and joy are released. The flame inside us is fanned into a blaze, and our dying embers come alive.
But as I look around at the church today, even among congregations that use the Pentecostal label, it appears that Pentecost has become a stale concept. Many churches have intentionally turned their spiritual thermostats way down below room temperature?in an effort to be relevant and sophisticated.
We wanted to fit in with the culture so badly that we moved uptown, reinvented our message and remodeled our altars. I“m all for making changes to reach a new audience. But I fear that the fire on the altar went out while we were buying our expensive sound systems and installing our coffee bars.
Today we“ve invented a new variety of dry religion. It looks nothing like your grandmother“s three-hymns-and-a-boring-lecture. Today“s version includes upbeat music, a casual dress code, relaxed meeting times and short popcorn sermons. We even use PowerPoint and movie clips! We“re proud to say: "Hey, look at us! We“re not religious!"
But let“s remember that if we aren“t open to the fresh, spontaneous moving of the Holy Spirit-and if we aren“t willing to take the risks involved with Pentecost-then our trendy, postmodern worship experience will become as boring as a three-hour pipeorgan concert.
Please hear me. I“m not saying there“s anything wrong with PowerPoint or coffee lounges. I“m glad we have cordless microphones and Jumbotron video screens. But there“s nothing worse than an American megachurch full of high-tech gadgets that is devoid of genuine spiritual life.
Does anybody out there notice that something is missing?
Look around at your own church. Is the Holy Spirit welcome? Is there a sense of holy expectancy? How long has it been since someone gave a prophecy or a message in tongues in a service? How long has it been since a sick person came to the altar for healing? How long has it been since someone was so overcome by conviction that they ran to the altar for salvation? Is there freedom for the Holy Spirit to move, or are things so regimented that God can“t interrupt?
I want to scream out in a crowded church: "Where is the fire?" Many of us don“t even know to ask this. But it“s time to look beyond our slick facades and recover what“s been misplaced?before we lose a generation.
We are in the same predicament as the sons of the prophets who turned to Elisha for help (see 2 Kings 6:1-7). They were busy building their house when one of the men dropped his ax head in the Jordan River. He cried for help and Elisha supernaturally discerned where it was submerged. Then Elisha caused the heavy iron tool to float to the surface of the water.
In all our religious busyness we must recognize that we“ve lost the ax head. We may dress and perform like fashionable, high-tech, 21st century Christians, but we don“t have the power of Pentecost. We“ve become dull and helpless.
We must cry out. We must have the sharp edge of the Spirit to bring people to the point of conviction and repentance-and to spark the blaze that will engulf our nation in authentic spiritual revival.
J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma and an award-winning journalist.
I Think We Lost Pentecost.
In our quest to become sophisticated Christians, it seems we“ve lost our spiritual edge. We must recover the power of the Holy Spirit.
I spent this past weekend doing what I love most-teaching and encouraging a group of leaders from a local church. We had a proposed agenda for Friday night and all day Saturday, but we quickly scrapped that outline and let God have His way. As we prayed and prophesied over each person, the spiritual temperature of that church went from cool to hot within 24 hours.
After Sunday morning“s message, in which I shared how I was filled with the Holy Spirit, the altar was jammed with people who wanted that experience for themselves. More folks lined up for prayer after the service, too, including a young man who needed to get his heart right with God.
When the Holy Spirit is present in power, spiritual hunger rises. Healing and joy are released. The flame inside us is fanned into a blaze, and our dying embers come alive.
But as I look around at the church today, even among congregations that use the Pentecostal label, it appears that Pentecost has become a stale concept. Many churches have intentionally turned their spiritual thermostats way down below room temperature?in an effort to be relevant and sophisticated.
We wanted to fit in with the culture so badly that we moved uptown, reinvented our message and remodeled our altars. I“m all for making changes to reach a new audience. But I fear that the fire on the altar went out while we were buying our expensive sound systems and installing our coffee bars.
Today we“ve invented a new variety of dry religion. It looks nothing like your grandmother“s three-hymns-and-a-boring-lecture. Today“s version includes upbeat music, a casual dress code, relaxed meeting times and short popcorn sermons. We even use PowerPoint and movie clips! We“re proud to say: "Hey, look at us! We“re not religious!"
But let“s remember that if we aren“t open to the fresh, spontaneous moving of the Holy Spirit-and if we aren“t willing to take the risks involved with Pentecost-then our trendy, postmodern worship experience will become as boring as a three-hour pipeorgan concert.
Please hear me. I“m not saying there“s anything wrong with PowerPoint or coffee lounges. I“m glad we have cordless microphones and Jumbotron video screens. But there“s nothing worse than an American megachurch full of high-tech gadgets that is devoid of genuine spiritual life.
Does anybody out there notice that something is missing?
Look around at your own church. Is the Holy Spirit welcome? Is there a sense of holy expectancy? How long has it been since someone gave a prophecy or a message in tongues in a service? How long has it been since a sick person came to the altar for healing? How long has it been since someone was so overcome by conviction that they ran to the altar for salvation? Is there freedom for the Holy Spirit to move, or are things so regimented that God can“t interrupt?
I want to scream out in a crowded church: "Where is the fire?" Many of us don“t even know to ask this. But it“s time to look beyond our slick facades and recover what“s been misplaced?before we lose a generation.
We are in the same predicament as the sons of the prophets who turned to Elisha for help (see 2 Kings 6:1-7). They were busy building their house when one of the men dropped his ax head in the Jordan River. He cried for help and Elisha supernaturally discerned where it was submerged. Then Elisha caused the heavy iron tool to float to the surface of the water.
In all our religious busyness we must recognize that we“ve lost the ax head. We may dress and perform like fashionable, high-tech, 21st century Christians, but we don“t have the power of Pentecost. We“ve become dull and helpless.
We must cry out. We must have the sharp edge of the Spirit to bring people to the point of conviction and repentance-and to spark the blaze that will engulf our nation in authentic spiritual revival.
J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma and an award-winning journalist.
