Burn, Baby, Burn!

By Brenda Black

For months we tossed sticks and leaves, dumped old straw and moldy hay into a pile at the end of the driveway. Neon orange baling twine lay balled up or bedraggled across the growing heap. We added dozens of logs from a downed tree, sliced into campfire portions. All winter long, that dying, rotting concoction of earthen and fabricated refuse remained until about a week ago when it met its match – and we torched the whole thing!

I thought it would take days for those huge logs and the tightly packed yard waste to fully burn. But in a matter of hours, all that remained was ash. It started fast and hot and with every poke, it glowed hotter. When we fed it more combustibles that needed discarded, it flamed high and smoke billowed from adding fuel to the fire.

A log would roll out once in a while as the burning beast shifted from underneath where timbers already began to crumble into coals. With a quick kick back into the flames, the dying embers on the log were reignited instantly. Smoke boiled and curled upward and drifted barely since there was little wind. I watched like a child, mesmerized by the force, the heat, the speed and the unrelenting path of the flames. I dared to move closer for the warmth. And backed away from the powerful heat.

Some things never cease to amaze me, like this fire. It is frightening, yet comforting. It is destructive while refining. It is horrifically powerful, but can be doused with but a bucket of pure water. No wonder the Lord spoke to Moses from a flaming bush (Exodus 3:2) What better to display his force than licking up a trench of water with fire from heaven (1 Kings 18:38). How else could the Holy Spirit come but in tongues of fire (Acts 2:3). What fear should be evoked to know that God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). How better to spread the Gospel message than with the tongue of man, which like a spark, could set the world afire for Christ (Matthew 28:16-20).

Are we still impressed with the power of God or the purpose of the cross? Do the stories of the Almighty, Omnipotent Holy God burn within us? Or have the flames that once leaped high and hot, died, and we, as the body of Christ, look like ash.

Author, Tim Hansel suggests in his book Holy Sweat that “we are no longer shocked” by the historical account of Christ's crucifixion. “We can get more concerned over the death of our pet goldfish than what happened to Christ on Golgotha. The story has become so familiar and commonplace like the other stories in Scripture, that it no longer shocks us, no longer repels, no longer arouses us. At times, it may not even excite us.

“Yet the people who crucified Christ never thought Jesus a bore. The fact is they thought he was fiery and dangerous to public safety. It was left up to us through the years to turn this Person 'meek and mild,' smiling harmlessly from a framed portrait on a wall. Yet he was the farthest thing from a dull man during his time on earth. And since he was God, there can be nothing dull about God, either.

“But let me take this one step further...Could we then not say that God's nature has something to do with his will for our lives? That is, when we say 'God is love' we aren't just referring to some mush of divinity, some ectoplasmic Valentine, but that since he is love he wants us therefore to be loving. When we say that God is just and forgiving, then we are to be just and forgiving in return. Who God is – that is what he wants from us. The way God is – that is the way he wants us to go. The statements of God in the Bible are boomerang-shaped. They come back to us. So if he is by nature astonishing, then he wants us to live a life of wonderment in return. He says, 'Astonish me!'”

Hansel challenges the Christian to get fired up! “God is saying to us, 'Don't just exist. Don't just meet my bottom line. Don't just get by. Don't just go through the motions, acting holy, sleepwalking through life.'”

We have a choice – to burn, baby, burn or just fizzle, grow old and cold and die. When the Lord who died for you comes in blazing glory, as Judge and a Consuming fire, how do you want to be found? Cold as ice or full of FIRE!

2011 copyright - For reprint rights, please contact author, Brenda Black at http://www.thewordsout-brendablack.com

The Purpose of Pentecost

By Brenda Black

“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: 'Fellow Jews and all of you who are in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.” (Acts 2:14)

He had no microphone, but the roar rising from the masses called for Peter to match its intensity so that he might be heard. On this day of Pentecost, 50 days after the Resurrection of Christ, a multiethnic crowd reacted vociferously to the strange commotion they witnessed and heard. “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:2-4) Peter then stepped up to seize the moment and impart explanation to the ever-restless and riled that were drawn together in bewilderment, for each of these visitors to the Holy City heard their own native dialect and they were “utterly amazed” (vs. 7).

Some heeded the miraculous event and curiously pressed for answers while others made fun and accused the disciples of drunkenness. The power of God had seized their attention, but it was up to Peter to capitalize on the moment and point their hearts in the right direction. He quoted the prophet Joel who generations earlier spoke of a fiery day like this. Then Peter began to tell them about Jesus – his life, his ministry, his death and resurrection!

They were perplexed. They were opinionated. Mostly, this eclectic crowd was pierced to their very core as Peter began to call for repentance. Remember, most of these people were in Jerusalem two months prior. Many then were among that crowd that called for Jesus' crucifixion! Conviction and fear gripped the ones who realized they had scorned and rejected and killed the Messiah for whom they had been watching and waiting.

The mobs had met the person of Jesus. They saw him die and watched the sky turn black. They felt the earth shake and heard of the temple curtain ripped in two. They knew!

If ever they needed proof of God's great power and authority, they saw it that day when Jesus died. They were still talking about the empty grave 50 days later and still no body had been recovered. They saw God-power again when Holy Spirit flames licked the roof top on this Pentecost day and unlearned men spoke in dozens of different languages penetrating ears and minds and hearts.

They knew the person, they saw the proof. And some responded. Those are the ones who discovered the purpose of Pentecost.

The rest of the story in the Book of Acts tells of a great response to the Truth message that Peter declared. “'Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.'

“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'

“Peter replied: '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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts. 2:36-39)

The good news is that about 3000 accepted his message and were baptized!

But what of the nay-sayers? They had to be spiritually blinded and ignorant. Think about it: If a drunk slurs his own name, how could the Pentecost cynics reason that drunkenness would make unlearned men articulate linguists! Their hearts were cold and hard so they believed that the Twelve were filled with wine instead of the Holy Spirit.

The sad news is not everyone that day repented. Some resisted the plea, rejected the person and refused to believe the powerful proofs right in front of them. Those who received salvation devoted themselves to teaching and fellowship and to communion and prayer. The rest – well, their decision took them a far darker way. Instead of being filled with purpose, they perished.

Pentecost had a purpose. It birthed the church. Today, the greatest story ever told has not changed. And people still get the chance to hear the truth and turn from their dark paths and walk in light and love when they repent and are baptized into Christ.

If you would like to learn more about this Jesus, I'll gladly be your Peter and tell you everything I know about him. Decide for yourself. Will you believe and be saved by God and filled by the Spirit? Anything less is as foolish as drunkenness and only leads to death.