Pentecost again

Pentecost Again

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4

According to the Bible, this is exactly what happened on the Day of Pentecost, or Shavuot as they knew it in the Jewish culture and calendar. The famous writer, St Blogger, was a part of that small crowd of 120 or so in the upper room, and at the time he reported it thus.

“There we were sitting around chatting amongst ourselves. A few were praying, some out loud and some to themselves. It was quite boring really. Nothing much was happening at all although there was this low ‘rumble’ of prayer being offered. Peter stood up and it all went quiet. “Brothers”, he said, “The Lord has told us to wait for Him. So wait for Him we will. He has promised us something He called a baptism of fire. Not sure what that can be but if He promised it, then I will wait for it. If you are all with me, then stay where you are and the ladies will start passing drinks around. If you, like so many others, are tired of waiting, then leave now with our blessing. The rest of us will resume prayer after we have had a short break.”

“It was the same speech he made every day. One or two more got up and left, but the majority stayed another day. About 120 of us there were and it was about 7 o’clock in the morning. About an hour later it was, the rumble of mixed prayer and conversation died down a little bit. In the silence, it was almost eerie but all of a sudden there was an ‘electric’ atmosphere. The silence was no accident.

“All of a sudden, oh my Lord, what a commotion. First came what sounded like a desert wind blowing through the place except there was no actual wind. The noise was terrific – some even covered their ears. Then it went quiet again – Oh my goodness. Dear Lord, what is happening. The air is full of little flames – tongues of fire you could call them. They float, real weird, and they move. One flame was headed towards every person in that room. It was amazing. Everyone was absolutely wide-eyed but there was no fear. The flames came down and settled on every persons head – men and women too. Then the flame, this was odd, then the flame kinda disappeared into each person.

“That’s when it all kicked off!! “Shera caraballa fatoora!” What on earth was that? Did I say that? Where did that come from. “Shnah sombrello cavanagh”. Wow, what language is this. Everyone is shouting in these strange languages. Some can understand them – others can’t. Wait a minute, I can hear my own local dialect being spoken. Wow – how did he learn that so quickly. Hey is this what Jesus meant when He spoke about making disciples of everyone?

“Everyone is just grinning and laughing, and now they’re all going outside. Speaking to people in the street. Everyone is amazed. They can all understand us – every nationality and language. This is incredible. I feel so good! My, my, my, God – you surpassed yourself with this one! If this is baptising with fire and this Holy Spirit thingy at work, then I’m already a fan. More of it Lord – More.”

“Peter’s on his feet now. Telling everyone what’s going on. It’s having an amazing effect. Men women and children are weeping openly, repenting it sounds like. “Lord have mercy!” one of them yelled. Oh my – Peter’s only gone and done it hasn’t he. He’s done an altar call !!

“Well, well, would you believe it. 3000-odd people responded. “

“Gotta go – people to talk to about Jesus”

Just musing that’s all.