Opening Thoughts on Pentecost Writings

(Today’s audio reading on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6kSTWAd05hi1Wt1xh9F5Fr)

“The church is vigorous and flexible, for these are the
days before it ever became fat and short of breath through
prosperity, or muscle-bound by over-organization. These
men did not make ‘acts of faith,’ they believed; they did
not ‘say their prayers,’ they really prayed. They did not
hold conferences on psychosomatic medicine, they simply
healed the sick……we have ruefully to admit that they
were open on the God-ward side in a way that is almost
unknown today. No one can read this book without being
convinced that there is Someone here at work besides mere
human beings.”—Anglican minister and Bible Translator
J.B. Philips, from the preface of his translation of the
Book of Acts.

This set of devotional readings, posted here one-by-one as blogs on my public website, was the third in a series of seasonal devotional books, the other two being for the seasons of Advent and Lent. Since that time, I have added two more to the list, another on Advent, and one on Spiritual War. As with each of the others, each is generated from a two word title, or main thought.

In some ways, as this one developed, this may be my personal favorite of the first three. I suspect that’s true for a couple of reasons. One is that I have not found much devotional material in place for Pentecost. In some ways, at least in mainline evangelical churches that I’m familiar with in the United States, Pentecost is either overlooked or barely mentioned. It might receive a passing nod in church bulletins on the actual day it occurs on the church calendar. Or a pastor may reference it as “the birthday of the Church”, but it doesn’t seem to be a birthday that draws much attention, much less a party! My point is that I have found a lot of freedom to write on Pentecost, as the subject matter is indelibly exciting and ripe for expression. Of course, commentaries in English on the Book of Acts are too numerous to count. However, devotional series of forty readings that weave together the supernatural events of Pentecost Day are in my estimation, not plentiful.

A second reason I have found pleasure in writing this series of devotionals is that it fulfills at least in a small way a personal goal or quest that began in 1972. At that time, as a 14-year old, I sheepishly admit that I remember humbly trying to set aside time to “write a book on the Holy Spirit.” I had experienced the Holy Spirit in May of 1970 as the Charismatic renewal found its way to the small, south Alabama town where I lived. I saw hearts changed, bodies healed, hands raised, churches disrupted! I was introduced to many new teachings, both in person and by cassette tape. In my heart was a desire to join with those voices to highlight the exciting ministry of God the Holy Spirit! Until that point, I knew nothing about the Holy Spirit. But he was certainly—and quite unexpectedly—alive in my life, and I wanted to share what I was learning. In my young, teenage naivete, I assumed a book was the best way to do that! As an untrained writer, with very little experience in my Christian walk, who had perhaps preached once in my life to that point, launching in on a “book project” with no coaching and mentoring, I predictably didn’t get very far. However, I remember the longing in my heart to create a commentary on the work of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps after the seed was barely planted and hardly watered more than 45 years ago, this short book is at least an attempt to capitalize on that early eagerness and zeal. As I look back on my Christian life, I quickly confess at times I see that it has been marked by a lot of zeal and not much knowledge! Perhaps this short effort will at least reveal some increase of knowledge over the past four decades.

One amazing day that precedes Pentecost is Ascension Day. Again, here’s a reference to an important day on the church calendar barely mentioned in the church circles in which I have found myself. I discovered that in some parts of our global Christian fellowship, Ascension Day is almost on a level of importance with Easter. Last year, I was in a board of directors’ conference call with a ministry based in South Africa, and it happened to have been scheduled on Ascension Day. The South Africans on the call asked if we in America celebrate Ascension Day. We glibly said no. They then said that it was a very important day to them in their Christian cycle of seasonal worship. In fact, it’s a day that can be taken off from work if requested and allowed under the appropriate circumstances. (And as they considered that we were having a business call on that day, one could hear the slight regret in their voices that they had allowed it to happen.) We Americans on the call were sort of stunned to hear that, as Ascension Day figures even less into our thinking than Pentecost. But as I have delved into the events surrounding Ascension Day, I have found the preparation writings for it, as part of this Pentecost season devotional, to be very rich material. I hope you will also.

The Scripture says in Deuteronomy 16:16 that each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three festivals: The Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Shelters, and the Festival of Harvest. The Festival of Harvest was also known as the Feast of Weeks. It took place seven weeks plus one day after the Passover and the start of harvest. Later it became known as Pentecost, meaning ‘fiftieth’. On that day, the priest offered to the Lord two loaves of bread made from the new flour, plus animal sacrifices. In concluding its article on the history of Pentecost, The Lion Bible Encyclopedia says, “it was a time of great rejoicing and thanksgiving for God’s gifts at harvest.”

The overall story reflected in the pages of this devotional book describes how God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit worked in harmony to launch a Festival of Harvest never before seen or imagined. Read on, rejoice, and may I dare say, pray for another Feast of Harvest of similar magnitude!