Monday, May 25, 2020

Pentecostal Preaching

Once I was the author of a highly rated biblical blog, so much so I was interviewed twice by popular bloggers in the United States and another interview by a Swedish blogger. I was asked whether I was a Pentecostal and my answer did not seem to satisfy anyone, let alone a true blue Pentecostal. If one defines a pentecostal as one being baptised by the Holy Spirit, then I am a pentecostal. Then my theology is that everyone ought to be baptised in the Holy Spirit, so in a sense every Christian is a Pentecostal. If one defines a Pentecostal with one who had spoken or has the gift of speaking in tongues, then I also qualified to be a pentecostal because my experience of the Spirit-baptism was followed by speaking in tongues, though it was not immediate (as I was baptised in the Holy Spirit around 3pm) but spoke in tongues in the evening about 7pm when I had gotten back to my room at varsity. But then if one insists that one must speak in tongues to be a Pentecostal, then I am a border-line pentecostal because I am not convinced by the biblical evidence that every baptism of the Holy Spirit is accompanied by the speaking in tongues. God is sovereign and the Holy Spirit is sovereign as He fills whomever He wills as human hearts are cleansed by faith and repentance.
But tomorrow my tech team had told me to preach my pentecostal sermon to be uploaded on Pentecost Sunday (31st May). Only last night I was still recovering from the effects of yesterday's sermon though it was preached last Wednesday but the impact and effect was felt yesterday as it was uploaded and I reflected on the two church leaders (one from afar) who gave high commendation. I don't remember the last time my sermon was called, "a beautiful sermon", but I also reflected on the lack of response from those I thought would have been blessed. I am not looking for praise or even a word of thanks but thanksgiving is a godly action, and no matter how badly the preacher performed, if he had put any effort at all and there must be at least one point of Scripture that speaks into the hearts of hearers, if not explained or expounded upon, at least by way of reading. I still feel my heart moved and strangely warmed often when Scripture is read aloud. For God's Word stands alone and is mighty in pulling down strong holds and is sharper than any two-edged sword. So today for the rest of the day when most people are enjoying their public holidays, I shall be in full force preparing my sermon and may God's Pentecostal power fall afresh on me.

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