A fire pit
Years ago I read about a mountain preacher in West Virginia who did something strange when he first came to his little church. He built a fire pit off to the side of the platform and kept a fire burning in it every day. For 40 years, that fire never went out. One man would come by in the morning, and another in the evening, to keep the fire burning.
A reporter asked the aging preacher why he did this. His answer was simple: “Every day when we walk in, we see that fire still burning. It reminds us that the Holy Spirit should still be burning in our lives. That he’s not supposed to go out.”
The preacher died, but the fire did not. Young people who had grown up seeing that fire took up the torch and continued to keep it burning. Even today, almost 75 years later, that fire still burns.
The power that never faded
We like to wax nostalgic about the power of the early church. We read in Acts chapter 2 about the day of Pentecost and say, “Those were the days! Man, if only we had that power today.” But we forget this: the power that fell on the day of Pentecost is still available to us today.
Acts 2: 1-4 says, “When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.”
Notice that word. Suddenly. The Holy Spirit wasn’t on a schedule. He wasn’t programmed into a service outline. He just showed up when He wanted to, in His timing, with His power.
The problem with our programs
We’ve gotten really good at planning these days. We plan our services, our events, our outreach efforts, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But we’ve planned the Holy Spirit right out of our gatherings. There’s no margin in our services, no margin in our events, and no room for a sudden movement of God.
We’ve made our buildings into the church and forgotten that the people are the church. We’ve made programs for everything, from shipping our children off to kids’ areas so they won’t “disrupt” the service to losing the power that comes from being together with one purpose.
Think about a fire for a moment. If you take one log and set it by itself, you may be able to light it, but it’s not going to stay lit long. But when you start stacking wood together, you have a fire that roars. You have a fire that produces heat. You have a fire that can’t be blown out by a sudden gust of wind.
The church works the same way. We’ve become so dispersed and so individualized in our efforts to reach the lost and serve the broken that we’ve lost the combined power of the church working together with one purpose: sharing the gospel with a lost and dying world.
The evidence of His presence
When the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost, there was evidence. Tongues of fire rested on each person. But we’ve confused the issue when it comes to the evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives today. Some have taught that the only evidence of the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues, but that’s simply not true.
The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people, not so that we can compare or compete, but so that we can serve. Some speak. Some serve. Some clean. Some pray. Some encourage. The evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life isn’t so that you can measure it up or down against someone else’s. It’s simply the Holy Spirit enabling you to do what you could not do on your own.
Maybe it’s the evidence of the Holy Spirit is giving you the courage to share Jesus with a stranger. Maybe it’s showing up to serve when you don’t feel like it. Maybe it’s praying for someone when the Holy Spirit prompts you. Maybe it’s using the talents and skills you thought were only ordinary to do extraordinary things for the kingdom.
Getting out of the boat
Peter walked on water, but he wasn’t the only disciple in that boat that night. The difference? Peter got out. On the day of Pentecost, every disciple was filled with the Holy Spirit in that upper room, but when you read the account, it says, “Peter stood up.”
Most of us will never walk on water. Most of us will never preach or lead or do anything remarkable—not because we can’t but because we’re afraid to get out of the boat. We’re afraid to stand up.
We say things like:
“I can’t do that.”
“I’m not qualified.”
“That’s for someone else.”
“I’ll serve, but I can’t clean toilets.”
“I’ll help, but I can’t talk to strangers.”
We put conditions on our availability to God, and then we wonder why His power doesn’t flow through us. The problem is that God’s plan for your life may require you to do exactly the thing that you think you can’t do. God’s purpose for your life may be to manifest through you while you’re doing that menial, mundane task you think is beneath you.
The same power today
The revolutionary truth is this: you have the same Holy Spirit in you that Peter had when he stood up and preached to thousands on the day of Pentecost. You have the same power available to you today that was available on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has not changed. His power has not lessened. He’s just waiting for you to quit planning Him out of your life and start allowing Him to work through you.
Wind can move things that we cannot. Wind can drive a pine needle through a windshield. Wind can topple trees. Wind can carve out canyons and reshape a landscape. The Holy Spirit is often compared to wind. He can do things in and through us that we could never do on our own—if we will just let Him.
Keeping the fire alive
Like that fire in West Virginia that’s been burning for 75 years, the fire of the Holy Spirit is intended to keep burning in our lives and in our churches. But fire requires fuel. It requires attention. It requires people who are willing to keep feeding the fire, keep showing up, and keep saying yes to whatever God asks.
The question isn’t whether God is still in the business of doing powerful things. The question is whether we’re willing to be the wood that keeps the fire burning. Are we willing to be suddenly interrupted by the Holy Spirit? Are we ready to stand up like Peter? Will we get out of the boat?
The same power that changed the world on the day of Pentecost is available to you and to me today. The fire doesn’t have to go out. It just needs people who are willing to keep it burning—one act of obedience, one step of faith, one surrender at a time.
The Holy Spirit is still moving. Are you?
Thoughts from Pastor Toney 