Elbert approaches Luke-Acts with two questions: (1) How does Luke expect Theophilus, the reader, to read his two-volume work (Luke-Acts)? and (2) How does Luke expect him to respond to it? As Robert Menzies summarizes, in the forward, first, Luke gives Theophilus “a coherent pneumatological picture.” Second, Luke thinks that “if Theophilus prays to receive gift of the Holy Spirit as Jesus taught, then it will be given to him” (Lk 11.13) and third, that Jesus’s command to ask for the good gift of the Holy Spirit must be understood in light of Pentecost and subsequent pneumatological events in Acts (vii). Significantly, Elbert sees the inchoate state of Theophilus who has received some initial instruction in the faith (Lk 1.4) like Apollos, whose knowledge of Jesus was rudimentary but deficient and was given a fuller picture (5, Acts 18.24–28).

For Elbert, Theophilus was probably a sincere disciple who needed further instruction which included more information about the Holy Spirit that his second treatise more extensively provides (1, 6). Having given Theophilus further teaching and examples of historical precedent, Luke expects him to seek this gift of the Holy Spirit (11). Elbert cites Hellenistic rhetorical parallels that demonstrate a pedagogical and mentoring relationship with the reader (20:n35, n61).

Moreover, the Lukan version of “the Holy Spirit” in contrast to Matthew’s “good gifts” shows that Luke is stressing Spirit reception either by his redactional emendation or by preferring one version of the dominical saying over another retained in the earlier Gospel tradition (11.13 cp. Matt 7.11). Elbert links the good gift-Holy Spirit saying to Acts 1.5, 8; 2.2. Luke’s rhetoric is intended to be didactic for his reader, Theophilus, and later in Luke-Acts, Luke shows him what to pray for and the effects of the gift of the Holy Spirit (34–35). Luke then, views history and narrative as paradigmatic for Christian practice (43–44).

In the third chapter, Elbert focuses on Acts 2.38: “Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (NRSV). Repentance and baptism are mandated in the final instructions of Jesus (Lk 24.47–49) and found throughout the Third Gospel. The repeated promise of the Holy Spirit in Lk 24.49 and in Acts 1.4, 8, 14 puts Theophilus in “an expectant transition” and is followed with templates for his own petition to receive God’s gift of the Holy Spirit (45). But first, Elbert makes it clear that those who were about the receive the promise of the Holy Spirit “had already entered into genuine Christian discipleship and commitment to Jesus, i.e., that they have entered into that nexus of experiential concepts: repentance, forgiveness, belief, and salvation which Luke associates with experiencing Jesus” (46). He gives ample examples from the Gospel that folk already had experienced salvation before Pentecost. In the text and in the footnotes, he takes issue with those who say that believers only experience salvation after Pentecost, especially James Dunn (46–50). It appears that Dunn and company are interpreting Luke’s pneumatology through the lens of Paul’s understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in conversion. Luke must be allowed to speak on his own terms, for the pneumatological agendas of both Luke and Paul are not quite the same.

Using a Graeco-Roman historiographical method, Luke presents in Peter’s Pentecost sermon “three narrative functions”: (1) to summarize events with a view of how the reader should respond, (2) to provide precedents that guide the disciples in mission, and (3) “to draw all the threads together into a timely tutorial re the Lukan gift of the Spirit, from both the preceding prophetic xenolalic event as well as from the previous narrative” (50–51). Peter’s initial speech/sermon is programmatic for all of Acts (54). “This emphasis on the individualistic extension of prophetic vocation to all repentant, forgiven, callers upon the Lord’s name who would prayerfully seek the gift of the Spirit, as I shall argue, for 2.38c, is distinctively Lukan” (55).

Elbert notes that the promise of the Spirit is not merely for prophecy: “Luke neither says nor implies that Joel has promised the ‘Spirit of prophecy’ (contra Turner). Rather, Luke’s insertion ‘and they will prophesy’ in 2.18 simply highlights the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy and extends the promise of it to everyone (cf. 1.4; 2.39), thus making Luke’s understanding of prophecy one component of the Lukan gift of the Spirit” (57–58). Luke understands that other aspects of the Spirit’s gift are included, such as dreams and visions and, later, other wonders. Nor is it evident that Spirit-reception happens immediately upon obeying the imperatives of “repent” and “be baptized”; the reception of the Spirit is in the future tense. Elbert demonstrates several passages where the future following the imperative is not immediate (64–73). To insist that the gift of the Spirit must appear immediately at baptism appears “to be non-Lukan importations no matter what their source” (72). Luke has set his narrative up to this programmatic point in the Pentecost sermon to instruct Theophilus, who already knows about repentance and forgiveness of sins, to ask the good Father for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Elbert makes the case for Apollos receiving fuller pneumatic instruction and experience, for he had the same instructional deficiency as the Ephesian twelve, who knew only the baptism of John. He suggests that Theophilus, though somewhat informed in the faith (Lk 1.4), knows only of a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins and needs further instruction on how to receive the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised. Luke does this by his frequent emphasis on prayer, especially regarding reception of the Holy Spirit. These promises and examples provide a paradigm for Theophilus to pray to receive the Holy Spirit (94–95).

Luke does not invent Theophilus to be a mere foil for him to present a theological treatise wrapped in a narrative; rather he gives instruction to Theophilus on what to pray for, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and what to expect in the breath of prayer for his future ministry. The primal mode of biblical revelation subsists in the telling of a story and expecting the readers to respond to the salvation-history event. The story cannot be divorced from the didache.

Elbert’s lengthy essay, presented in 2000 as a Society for Pentecostal Studies conference paper, should have been published much earlier; his argument is persuasive, and he maintains a detailed and frank interaction with other scholars in his footnotes. We have Robert Graves of the Foundation for Pentecostal Scholarship to thank for making this seminal essay available to the Church and the academy.

Reviewed by James B. Shelton

We celebrate Pentecost Sunday when Jesus poured out his Spirit on his disciples and the Church began.

Recent articles and reviews about the contemporary ministry of the Holy Spirit

Spirit-Empowered Christianity

What does Spirit-empowered Christianity look like around the world? Pneuma Review speaks with Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, directors of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity and editors of the third edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia.

Discovering the Reality of God in Word and Spirit: an interview with R. T. Kendall

Dr. R. T. Kendall  is a strong advocate for bringing together in the church the exposition of the Word and the power of the Spirit.

Frank D. Macchia, Jesus the Spirit Baptizer: Christology in the Light of Pentecost — reviewed by Wolfgang Vondey

Jack S. Deere, Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks and Heals Today — reviewed by John Lathrop

Getting Spiritually Equipped for Ministry that Matters by Chas Carrin

“To be genuinely equipped for life-in-the-Spirit, our experience with Jesus absolutely must go beyond academic, literary information about Him.”

Testimonies about the Spirit’s work in our lives

Total Surrender: Finding Messiah at an Italian Pentecostal Church, an interview with Michael Brown

An Italian Pentecostal Church played an important role in Dr. Michael Brown’s spiritual journey.

Receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Testimony

Chaplain Jim Linzey shares a testimony of coming into the fullness of the Spirit and a simple guide for how you might help others experience this for themselves.

From the archives:

Embrace the Spirit this Pentecost

How to Speak in Tongues

What did God have in mind for you when he gave the gift of tongues to the church? What can you do to prepare yourself to receive this blessing? An excerpt from Larry Christenson’s classic work, Answering Your Questions About Speaking in Tongues.

PR

In January 1991, I attended the National Reserve Officers Association Midwinter Conference at the Washington, D.C. Hilton Hotel. I was an Air Force Reserve chaplain with the rank of Captain. I had initially decided not to go to the conference.

One week before it began, however, I received a telephone call from the Air Reserve Personnel Center in Denver, Colorado. The voice on the other end stated, “May I speak with Chaplain Linzey?”

Image: Jeremy Yap

“I am he,” I replied.

“You have been selected by the Military Airlift Command Headquarters at Scott AFB, Illinois, to go with orders to the National Reserve Officers Association Midwinter Conference at the Washington, D.C.

Though I could have declined the offer, the Holy Spirit instantly told me to go. I discerned something unusual in the phone call. I said to the sergeant on the phone, “Yes, I will attend. Please send me the tickets.”

The tickets arrived that Saturday. I arrived Sunday in Washington, D.C. The conference began on Monday morning. My orders were to attend leadership seminars each day. On Tuesday, the second morning of the conference, at nearly 10:00 a.m., while I was going down an escalator between leadership seminars, another Air Force officer, Major Rick Kuhlman, was coming up the other escalator. As we passed one another, I noticed that he was looking directly at me. I had never seen him in my life. Naturally, I looked away.

When I reached the bottom of my escalator and got off, I heard a commotion. I turned around just in time to see the major running down his escalator to catch up with me. He introduced himself. “I’m Major Rick Kuhlman. Are you a chaplain?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“I saw the cross on your uniform while you were coming down the escalator. There are 1,300 officers and their wives at this conference. You are the only Air Force chaplain I have seen here. We are having an Air Force luncheon at 12:00. I was asked to give the invocation because no Air Force Chaplain was known to be present. Would you be willing to give the invocation?”

“Yes, I would be delighted to,” I said.

“What denomination are you?”

“Pentecostal Church of God.”

“Meet me at the head table. I’ll save a seat for you and we’ll get more acquainted.”

Two hours later, I met Major Kuhlman at the head table in the banquet hall. Just after the program began, I was introduced to deliver the invocation. While we were eating, I asked Major Kuhlman about his background. He told me he was a born-again Christian and Southern Baptist by church affiliation. We had a delightful time of fellowship.

After the luncheon, we parted ways. However, Major Kuhlman caught up with me again in the main corridor outside the banquet hall.

“Tonight, there is going to be a prayer meeting. Would you like to come?” he inquired.

“I would be delighted to attend.”

“I don’t know where it will be yet. I’ll give you a call this evening with the details.”

“That will be fine. I look forward to it.”

After the leadership seminars had concluded for the day, I had dinner and went to my hotel room to rest before the prayer meeting. At approximately 6:00 p.m., the phone rang in my room. It was the major.

“Good evening, Chaplain Linzey,” the major said.

“Good evening Major Kuhlman,” I replied.

“The prayer meeting will be at 7:00. Can you still attend?”

“Yes, I would like to,”

“We have not found a location yet. Can we have it in your room?”

“Certainly,” I answered. “I look forward to it.”

“There will only be two people coming—a first lieutenant and me. The first lieutenant is a missileer from Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. His name is P.K. Wheeler. He goes by ‘P.K.’”

“That’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to it,” I replied.

As soon as we hung up, the Holy Spirit immediately told me that someone was going to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit at the prayer meeting. I did not know whether it would be the major or the first lieutenant. But I began praying that God would give me guidance to minister effectively to that individual. Neither did I know how the prayer meeting would be conducted, but under the leading of the Holy Spirit, I began to review the Scriptures I had planned to share with them and then spent time on my knees beside my bed praying.

Promptly at 7:00 p.m., there was a knock on my door. I opened the door, and there stood the major and the first lieutenant.

“Good evening, Chaplain Linzey.”

“Good evening,” I replied.

“I would like to introduce you to First Lieutenant P.K. Wheeler,” the major said.

“I’m glad to meet you. Please, come on in.”

After we were seated at my small hotel room table, the major said, “P.K. is a relatively new Christian. This morning you stated that you were a Pentecostal chaplain. Would you pray with P.K. to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit?”

My heart melted. The major instantly confirmed what the Holy Spirit told me when I hung up the phone an hour earlier.

“I would be glad to. Let’s open up the Word of God,” I replied.

For about thirty minutes, I read the Scriptures about how the Holy Spirit came upon judges, prophets, kings, and military leaders temporarily to fulfill a specific task; the promise of the Holy Spirit in Joel 2:28-29; John’s forecast of Jesus as the baptizer in the Spirit in Matthew 3: 11; Jesus’ prophecy of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Luke 24:49; the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:1-4; the subsequent filling of the Spirit in Acts 8:14-17, 10:44- 46, and 19:1-7, each with the manifestation of speaking in tongues. Then I explained the difference between devotional tongues and the gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14.

Afterward, I took a few minutes to answer questions the lieutenant had about the Scriptures.

Then I said to the lieutenant, “The major and I will be praying in the Spirit. During that time, I will lay my hand on your head to receive the baptism just as the apostles laid hands on believers to receive the baptism. Your lips will begin to tremble. At that moment if you will open your mouth and enter in with us by speaking anything you did not know, you will be speaking in tongues in a matter of moments.”

So the major and I began praying in tongues. After about a minute, I laid my hand on the lieutenant’s head and said, “Raise your hands.” Instantly, his lips began to tremble and he energetically began speaking in tongues with us.

After about 20 seconds, I said, “Stop.” I explained that the reason I told him to stop was to show that he was in full control of his speaking, as the Scripture says, “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32, MEV). Then to prove that he could begin speaking in tongues anytime he wished, I said, let’s pray in tongues some more.” We did.

I gave him further instruction about praying in the Spirit daily. Joy was all over his face, and we continued having a spiritual time of fellowship. The major was filled with excitement and said, “I have never heard it explained so simply before and I have never seen anyone receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit so easily.” He had been praying earnestly for the lieutenant to be filled with the Spirit. And it finally happened!

As soon as the men left my room, I lay down to rest again, and immediately, the Holy Spirit told me that this was the reason why He told me to accept the invitation to come to Washington, D.C.

A year later, I phoned Major Kuhlman to ask how the lieutenant was doing and asked, “Is he still speaking in tongues?”

“Yes, he’s still speaking in tongues, and he wants to know the Scriptures you shared with him, because he’s telling his Baptist pastor about it. Why don’t you call him up?”

The following day I phoned the lieutenant. He said, “I believe our meeting in Washington, D.C. was a divine appointment.”

“I believe you’re right,” I replied. “Have you been sharing your experience with others?”

“I’ve been sharing it with my Baptist pastor, and now he wants the baptism in the Holy Spirit, too! Would you please tell me again those Scriptures that you shared with me?”

“Certainly,” I answered.

Major Kuhlman also asked for the list of those Scriptures so that he could effectively teach others about the baptism. I have followed the biblical model for decades in ministering in the baptism in the Holy Spirit and I have seen thousands receive it as a result. To many people, the baptism in the Holy Spirit seems difficult to receive or only for the especially holy. In reality, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is clearly and simply presented in Scripture. And it is for all believers.

Here are the Scriptures I shared in Washington, D.C., and the five Scriptural I followed that can help you in praying with others to receiving the baptism in the Spirit:

1. Study the Scriptural foundation by reading Joel 2:28-29; Matt. 3:11; Luke 24:49; John 7:37-39; Acts 1:8, 2:1-18, 2:38-39, 8:14-17, 10-44-46, 19:1-7; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 6:19, 12:13, and 14:10 and 14.
2. Inform the believers that you will begin to pray in the Spirit (speak in tongues).
3. Inform them that when you lay your hand on their heads, to raise their hands and enter in with you. They are not to speak in their native language. As Oral Roberts said, “Get with those who are praying in the Spirit and enter in.”
4. Encourage them to speak out by faith, for every utterance has meaning with God according to 1 Cor. 14:10 (MEV). It is impossible to make a mistake. There is no counterfeit.
5. After believers speak in tongues, encourage them to do so daily. Believers who do not speak out by faith should not be made to feel guilty. Be encouraging and willing to pray together with the believers again if they need more encouragement.

May God bless you as you lay hands on and pray with others to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

PR

When: Thursday, October 24 through Friday, October 25

Where: Place Ballroom, Potter’s House of Dallas

I would like to invite you to the “Symposium on the Holy Spirit and Theological Education” at Jakes Divinity School in Dallas, TX. The symposium will be held at the Potter’s House of Dallas in the PLACE Ballroom, Thursday – Friday, October 24 and 25, 2019. We will convene a few of the nations erudite scholars to help us think deeply about theological education that transforms the challenges of our world.

Join Bishop TD Jakes and me, as we welcome Dr. Yolanda Pierce, Dr. Leonard Sweet, and a host of other thinkers for this symposium.

The “Symposium on the Holy Spirit and Theological Education” is an annual academic forum that invites a general Christian audience, pastors, ministers, and theological students from around the world, scholars, and JDS students to participate in conversations that promise to be intellectually stimulating and theologically challenging. At the same time, it will inform Christian leadership and practice.

Registration is $85. It includes all sessions, the opening dinner Thursday evening, a light breakfast Friday morning and a boxed lunch during the closing panel discussion.

I truly hope you are able to join us. If so, please go ahead and register here. This symposium will be one of a kind!

Sincerely,

Dr. Antipas

This teaching series on “The Baptism with the Holy Spirit” explores the biblical and theological foundations of the experience known as the baptism with the Holy Spirit or the reception of the Holy Spirit as confirmed by speaking in tongues. In the process of explaining the experience, Verna Linzey relies heavily on biblical resources. Thus, the presentation comes both from personal experience and from biblical research. The variety of discussion is significant, moving from the nature of the Holy Spirit Himself through the experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Verna Linzey then shows the workings of the Holy Spirit through the Old and New Testaments. Finally, Verna Linzey, in showing how to receive the Holy Spirit and the necessity and results of receiving the Holy Spirit baptism add the practical application that will apply to everyone.

Listen to all 19 teachings:  https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/vernalinzey

Special thanks to Jim Linzey, Verna’s son, for preparing this introduction to the lecture series.

If we grieve the Holy Spirit He may become silent, imperceptible to us, and we will find ourselves seemingly abandoned to a frustrated and unspiritual state. It was in the apparent fear of this condition that David cried out, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me!” The scores of apathetic and unmotivated Christians attest to this fact. It is possible to be born-again and yet be in a spiritually-lifeless condition. Such Christians and Churches frequently resort to “religious” behavior to compensate for the loss of their true spirituality.  The Holy Spirit can be:

1. Grieved: Ephesians 4:30-32.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

2. Resisted: Acts 7:51-52.

You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

3. Quenched: 1 Thessalonians 5:19-23.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

4. Rebelled Against: Isaiah 63:10.

But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.

God wants to unleash the life-changing, bondage-breaking power of the Holy Spirit in your life. Pastor Chas Carrin points out what the Apostle Paul had to say about this and encourages every Jesus follower to pursue spiritual gifts.

The Apostle Paul encountered Jesus on the Damascus Road and was born again; three days later in the Damascus Room through the laying-on-of-hands by Ananias he encountered the Holy Spirit and received the Spirit’s baptism. Later, this same man wrote an 84 verse treatise on spiritual gifts: First Corinthians 12,13,14. His Biblical explanation provides the most comprehensive, authoritative information we have on the subject. More importantly, it is the only resource bearing the seal of Divine Authorship. All conflicting opinions, no matter how cherished or long-established, are but human speculation and must be discarded. Scripture is our final, absolute authority.

The Apostle begins his dissertation with the plea: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant” (12:1). Interestingly, this appeal that we “not be ignorant” appears seven times in the New Testament concerning different topics. Once, it is by Peter and six times by Paul. Each time, the request reveals an especially deep concern of the writer. Its’ appearance here should command the attention of every conscientious believer. The Apostle then proceeds carefully to detail the operation of nine grace-works of the Spirit. These are the direct result of the Spirit’s baptism. Having defended the need and purpose of the gifts, Paul then concludes his discourse with the stirring rebuke, “But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant!” (14:38). In other words, he says, “After this careful explanation of spiritual gifts, if anyone refuses to learn, I have nothing more to say to him. Let him remain illiterate!” Paul seemingly anticipated that some believers would reject his teaching on miraculous works of the Spirit and added this harsh warning:

“If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37).

1. “Earnestly desire spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:31).
2. “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (14:1).
3. “Since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel” (14:12).

These admonitions do not indicate the reluctance that typifies the modern church’s attitude against spiritual gifts. There was no such lukewarmness on the part of Paul or the Corinthians. Identically, believers today are encouraged to exercise the gifts for the benefit of everyone: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all; for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills … But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant” (1 Corinthians 12:1;4-11;38).

Present Everywhere, Sustaining Life

Image: Annie Spratt

As a divine person, there is nowhere we can flee from the presence of the Spirit (Psalm 139:7). Therefore, by the Spirit, God “fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1:23) and is “over all, and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6). On account of this, Hendrikus Berkhof correctly recognizes that “insofar as the Spirit is the name of God in action, nothing short of the whole creation can be the field of his operation.”[1] This would necessarily include the human brain.

The Spirit is present everywhere sustaining life. Expressing this, Christians have sometimes referred to the Father as Creator, the Son as Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as Sustainer. Likewise, the Nicene Creed, which is regularly affirmed in liturgical churches, affirms that the Spirit is the “Lord, the giver of life.” This, I think, includes within our brains, while we sleep.

The Spirit in the Brain

One might think that what happens in our brains is a “natural” process. But it is not natural, if one means apart from God. Nothing about the human being is “natural” in the sense that we are created and sustained, from start to finish, by God. As Job declared, “the Spirit of God has made me,” and “the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4).

Image: Alexander Possingham

A False Dichotomy

When it comes to issues of science and biology, sometimes people make a false dichotomy by thinking that either God is at work, or “natural processes” are at work in our bodies. It doesn’t, however, have to be an either-or option—both can be true. Similarly, Christians affirm that God is at work knitting each child together in their mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), even though we learn in health class the natural processes of child development from the point of fertilization, to the development of an embryo, through to a fully formed fetus. Likewise, the Spirit works in and through the natural processes of our brain to renew our brain functions.

Do you want God to use you? God has put every believer on a journey to become more like Jesus, to walk in the power of the Spirit to proclaim his kingdom. In this excerpt from his book, Say What? A Biblical and Historical Journey on the Connection between the Holy Spirit, Prophecy, and Tongues, Jeremiah Campbell helps us see the barriers that can keep us from receiving the fullness of the Spirit. Approaching this from a classical Pentecostal perspective, he offers tools to overcome those roadblocks and receive what God has for us.

Tongues accompanies the baptism in the Holy Spirit as an evi­dential gift. However, a gift cannot merely be given, it must also be received. Many individuals ask, “why don’t I speak in tongues? Why don’t I receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit?” We must re­member first of all that we don’t determine the giving of the gift, the Spirit determines when and to whom to give spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 2:11). However, on the receiving end, we must also understand that different reasons, albeit even subconscious rea­sons, cause us to refuse the gift even when the Spirit gives it. In this section I propose seven specific reasons (although this list is not all-encompassing) that cause individuals to refuse what the Spirit offers, the inspiration for the first five came from evangelist Rob Enloe (2013).

1. Anti-Pentecostal Baggage

This mentality comes from an underlying fear of a counterfeit experience. From a young age, many people erroneously learned that the gift of tongues comes from the devil, or that the gift is not biblical. Therefore, they understandably refuse to seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit, let alone open their mouths, lest they actually speak in tongues. Such a perspective also creates fear and dissen­tion among Christians, developing an “us vs. them” mentality.

Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:11-13).

Mark Turney’s new book, Encountering God’s Missionary Spirit, is now available for free download in PDF e-book format from the Decade of Pentecost website. Mark is Associate Director of the Acts in Africa Initiative.

The book presents the Holy Spirit as “God’s Missionary Spirit,” focusing on His central role in fulfilling God’s mission to call to himself a people out of every tribe, language, and nation on earth. It is designed to equip church leaders to better guide their churches into authentic New Testament experience and practice. It is further designed to help leaders mobilize their churches for Spirit-empowered mission and church planting.

Mark Turney is the Associate Director of the Acts in Africa Initiative. You can download the book for free by clicking on this link: Free e-Book.

Reprinted with permission from the Intercessory Prayer Call Report from Acts in Africa Initiative, a ministry aimed at inspiring authentic Pentecostal revival in the Assemblies of God in Africa.