Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
If you study the history of denominationalism, you will find yourself in the middle of the study of revival. The reformation opened the door in the 1500’s for a series of denominational spinoffs that were the results of times of spiritual renewal. In a perfect world you would think that revival would birth unity; that’s seldom the case. Normally a church that is birthed in renewal will cool off after several generations. It seems like every century or so there are new revivals resulting in new denominations. The Pentecostal movement that began in the early twentieth century is now at that critical time. Many of the spirit filled churches have given way to the pressures of society and have succumbed to the modern relevant church movement. Here are some interesting words from Stanley Horton, one of our Pentecostal Fathers.
“The recognition that we are not self-sufficient, but totally dependent on Christ and the Holy Spirit to do anything that pleases God, and the willingness to give Him all the praise, is the secret of the success of the Pentecostal Movement today. More than that, the Pentecostals stand firm at the point that marks off Bible-believers from so-called liberals. The line of demarcation is not the acceptance simply of the Virgin Birth, the Cross, or the Resurrection. It is rather the supernatural itself. Those who oppose the simple gospel of Christ, who try to strip the Bible of its miracles, and who cut up the New Testament and make Jesus an empty figure—a pale, mistaken teacher—all build their theories on an anti-supernaturalistic bias.
Most of these anti-supernaturalists argue that they must remove the supernatural from the Bible in order to make the gospel acceptable and applicable to modern man.”
This really defines what has happened over and over again. From the Presbyterians to the Methodists, and then the Baptists to the Pentecostals; the cooling off of one movement precipitates the need for another move of God. The good news is that the Lord is patient and persistent, He never gives up. He is determined to have a witness of His supernatural power in the world today. The only question, which side are you leaning on?
3 thoughts on “LEANING ON THE LORD’S SIDE”
Since my only worth has come as the result of what Jesus paid for my formerly insignificant existence, and for me to begin to understand the opportunities given to me that I never earned or deserved, to begin to “get” that is beyond me. It must be part of the replacement parts of my rebuilding. That is supernatural, and I believe I’m planted on that side.
POWERFUL, HALLELUJAH…
GLORY HONOR AND PRAISE KING of KINGS JESUS. HALLELUJAH!!! HAVE YOUR WAY JESUS/HOLY SPIRIT WITH ME. YOU ARE ALL UP IN ME and I AM ALL IN YOU, WHEW HOO KING, WE LEAN ON EACH OTHER, INSIDE OUT AND ALL THE WAY AROUND….
GOOD MORNING PASTOR FRANK, HALLELUJAH, AWESOME BLOG. LOVE YOU, HAVE A BLESSED AND FILLED DAY IN OUR KING OF KINGS JESUS. 🙂
Pentecost for me started when God empowered his disciples in the upper room! He told them to tarry in Jerusalem until the comforter came. It’s written in the gospels of the bible. God bless you friends!