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A New Pentecost

In regards to the birth and exponential growth of Christianity, the vital role the 1st Century Pentecost can hardly be over emphasized. While 21st Century Christians enjoy the privilege of billions of Bibles to guide us, the deceptions and distractions of modern life have splintered the true Gospel into a myriad of sects offer various versions of Christ. Prophetic Christians recognize the deepening need for a genuine and sustainable return to the truth of Scripture, yet how few are willing to honestly and diligently seek God for a new global Pentecost with an immediate tactical yield of about a Million Upper Rooms!

1. Didn't we already have a Pentecost? Yes.
2. Isn't one enough? Like so many important questions, the answer is both yes and no... 

• Christianity was birthed and empowered on Pentecost, some fifty days after the Passover preceding Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. The anniversary of which Protestants are hardly aware and Catholics take small notice of, though unquestionably one of the 3 most important historical days for Christendom. 
• In the Book of Acts, Pentecost was marked by the Holy Spirit's arrival as "ball lightening" with spontaneous Christian combustion setting believer's hair aflame. His coming and outpouring afforded miracles, signs and wonders without which, this portion of scripture would likely have been entitled, "the Book of Words."
• Apostles and 1st century Christians, filled with the Spirit of God, produced the light the Church has been guided by for millennia.  And by a marvel excelling that catching Moses' eye on Horeb. "Devout men from every nation" were astonished, not by an unconsumed burning bush, but by tongues of fire dancing on believers heads. These, rejoicing at being consumed by God, burst out in unknown tongues testifying of the wondrous Gospel that would spread to cover the globe. 

• The words and lives of the apostolic fathers provide lamps to our feet and lights unto our path, yet we have lost our way. The Scriptures and the examples of the faithful, have down through the centuries afforded billions the opportunity to live and rejoice in Pentecost's brightness!  This offer is still extended, but is largely being rejected in more than name only.
• Our generation was not present 2,000 years ago and may well need a Pentecost of it's own.  Not to produce new revelation, but a new appreciation and obedience to that which have.  While Bibles may out number people, God's commands are no longer in style.  More often than not they are quietly ignored or even publicly maligned. 
• Worse still, Bible study has largely been replaced by the TV guide and entertainment page.  An average Christian household, in the 1st World Nations, may watch 2,000 hours or more of television annually yet spend 20 hours or less, if any at all, in family devotions.
• Scriptural ignorance and misunderstanding is pandemic.  Ask the average church attendee to quote 10 scriptures in a row.  Most cannot.  Ask for 5, outside of the Lord's Prayer and Psalms 23.  Most cannot.  Ask parishioners what their pastor spoke on 2 weeks ago and most will not remember, much less will have put what little they might recall into serious practice. However, ask particularly Protestant Christians, the lyrics to a couple of favorite inappropriately intimate worship or contemporary Christian songs and they can rattle them right off.  So who's teaching doctrine to the Church today?  If anyone, it's musicians... And what kind of doctrine? “He loves me, He can’t move men not. I love Him, I could never love Him not…”  set to multi-million dollar music and inspirational images. While this may sound well and good, in actuality we could learn an thing or two from scripture's repeated warnings against drawing near to God with our lips, as well as Peter's 2nd Great Confession.

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth, His Name,
from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers,
no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

 
Charles and John Wesley, both in song and sermon, stressed the duty of "the church militant" to train Christians as soldiers to stand against our Adversary and his temptations.  Today, Churchianity stress little more than the misnomer of God’s unconditional love thus inspiring presumption rather than living faith among believers with lifestyles largely undistinguishable from their worldly counterparts.  Far from soldiers, we hardly qualify as wise civilians or even measure up to yesterday's honest heathens.
 

Fall From Grace?

Those cruising aboard a ship feel little motion.  Measuring momentum between passengers and crew gives a false sense neither are moving.  Finding a point of reference beyond the ship is essential to gauge course and speed. The same is true for a culture or an entire generation.  Change, even radical change, can be so incremental and subtle as to be hardly noticed.  This is one of many reasons God provides scripture as a trustworthy sextant and compass.  Together with the orthodoxy of past generations, reference points make it possible to accurately plot our present position and heading.

Much harder is to admit what such readings reveal.  In point of fact, we've so fallen from grace that a new paradigm is needed.  Terminal velocity, reached in free fall by skydivers, unfortunately provides a more accurate description of our current dilemma. Evidence for such an assertion is nowhere more prevalent than in the statistics dealing with the mega-holoaucst of abortion.  Our generation's unprecedented global slaughter of 1.5 billion of our pre-born by clinical abortion, an equivalent of 5-10 times Earth's population in the 1st century, eclipses all other sins of mankind, throughout all other generations, combined. 

Given the parameters Scripture sets for salvation, from the centrality of the fear of God, to living faith as in the Good Samaritan story, such statistical evidence of our crimes against humanity are ignored at the greatest of peril.
 
The good news is that God, having foreseen our current eventuality, has filled the Bible with prophetic advice for just such a contingency. The bad news is, as previously mentioned, few are listening.  Fewer still have studied the Scriptures and been studied by them, to the point of correctly interpreting even their basic tenants, much less understanding the unparalleled judgment America and the Western World, including Churchianity, is storing up.

Such Biblical illiteracy is as mind boggling as it is chilling.  In the information age, with any fact or figure universally available, very few notice the tremors of judgment.  With our very blessings cursed, we continue with business as usual. Within the church we "sing a little louder" as believers did in Nazi Germany hoping to drown out the noise of the trains running Jews to death camps.  We pay little attention to more than 150 pro-life passages or the impact the global abortion of 125,000  babies a day, 45,000,000 a year, has on our communion and worship, prayers and very salvation.  And this, among the most "seeker sensitive" and "touchy feely" generation the Church has ever produced...
 
Revival, a renewed sense of the presence of God, is a hope and prayer that has been shared by billions.  While some sects of Christianity are more open to "charismatic" experience, those desiring to be filled with the Spirit, as evidenced by His presence, fruit and gifts, come from all denominations and backgrounds.

• Revival also carries with it the connotation of renewed success in evangelism and discipleship, both sorely needed today: According to one census, 34% of the world "prefer" Christianity to other religions, including the point of view of the atheist and agnostic. 
• In America, 84% do so yet a much smaller percentage even attend church regularly.  A further examination, matching personal belief systems and lifestyles to Biblically mandated ones, decreases this number even more substantially.
• If such reassessment holds true globally, perhaps 10% or less have a Biblically normative Christian experience.  While billions may "believe" Jesus is the Savior, only a remnant submit to Christ as Lord.   Fewer still on a daily basis.  Fewer still in a manner scripturally acceptable.