‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’ Acts 2:17-21

I’ve been revisiting the book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit recently. Primarily because as I’ve become interested in the conversation of the Emerging or Emergent Church - trying to get the big picture of what it means and whether there’s validity to the whole hullabaloo. So much of the buzz of the E/Church is about the idea that old is bad, new is good. This same idea is ingrained into us and reinforced everyday. It makes me think about C.S. Lewis. He was professor of the chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University in England. In his first address he offered this view of himself: “I am a medieval book.” In other words, if you want to know about medieval books - look at me. There’s not many of me around. What he brought out is the question of whether old books were of less value than new books and the point being that old books have plenty of valid things to say, not just about a time long ago, but even now. The great thing he revealed is not the story itself but how to read a story properly. So much of our perspective is shaped by something or someone other than the Spirit of God, even as we read the Scriptures. So it’s really great to see the scriptures in a new and fresh perspective. Recently Pastor Robert, Pastor Rick, and I spent some much needed time retreating to pray and seek the Lord and to hear from Him and His heart for Miami Beach. We spent time with DVD’s from the Calvary Chapel Pastors Conference in June, and the theme was Acts: Chapter 29. (There are 28 chapters in the book) Most of the conference was pastors telling all that the Holy Spirit of God had done in their own lives, and in the Calvary Chapels that they pastored. Story after story was how God had astounded them and others by His prophetic word spoken, and the baptism of the Holy Sprit. All of us agreed that the focus of CCMB needed to be shifted and that heartfelt repentance and giving more opportunity to receive the Holy Sprit would open up times of refreshing. I am convinced that without the power of the Spirit in our lives, no splendid idea, or program, or method will amount to anything in South Beach. Only the genuine article of faith will reveal “authenticity”, which is a buzz word of the E/Church. Well, after allowing the Word to soak in for a while I’ve sort of lost my urgency to find out about the E/Church …what’s the point? The way to do church is well described in the Book of Acts - and for all the wrangling, I’ve heard precious little about that from the E/Church!

The believers were waiting in the upper room, praying; in agreement, and in one place. The scripture says that the whole house was filled with the Spirit and He came in power. As a result, the events astounded those who were looking on and they were cut to the heart. Have you been baptized in the Spirit? What book do people read when they look at you? I see many of our brothers and sisters running after the latest thing to come along, and so much of it is just marketing. (I’m not against marketing, just don’t allow it to run your life) Why do we always have to read the latest books or jump into the latest trend? So much of the E/Church is arising out of the heart of Christians in mainline denominations who are disenchanted with the traditional answers and methods they’ve grown up with. We are blessed by the balance of a church that seeks the direction and guidance of the Spirit and the Scriptures, not a committee. So don’t hate the E/Church, be filled with the Spirit of Christ so you can love Him more! Pastor J.P.