John Cougar describes my life in the lyrics “I was born in a small town. Taught to fear God in that same small town.” Now granted, not every town along the journey was small, but most of the houses of worship were. I was born to a man who was the son of a preacher. A Pentecostal preacher to be clear. I grew up in the Sunday services of exuberant worship, speaking in tongues, prophetic messages, and yes, somebody was either going to take off running or dancing or fall out in the Spirit. This was my norm. This was my frame of reference for faith. It was my normal. I didn’t know any different.
As an adult, I have made the conscious, educated choice to remain Pentecostal. With all its flaws, with all the manipulating TV preachers, with all it’s bruised egos, to steal the Gen Z colloquialism: it just hits different. I am not here to begin a theological argument regarding the continuation of the gifts of the Spirit past the experiences of the Apostles. I am here making a declaration and as much out of my desire that I am still in search of those moments when it hits different.
Back to that growing up in small churches. There was an expression that is still often perpetuated when the seemingly perfect pairing of music and preaching stirred the Spirit: we had “church”. This emphasized umph put on the word “church” was expressed not as a knock on any other Sunday, but more as an indicator that that particular service “hit different”. God moved. Lives were healed, sometimes physically, sometimes emotionally. People were saved, delivered, restored. In those moments of youth observance, what I saw was the real power of Pentecost. From the floor tucked under a pew pretending to sleep, I saw the authority God had in both heaven and on earth. I saw God move.
Now, I have been one who has strongly contended that the church move in line with the times and culture. I have advocated strongly for younger leaders to be given space and place. I have waged my battles on the receptivity to new songs for the church that are being birthed out of empowered moves of the Spirit. New songs for new days. So, understand what I am advocating, is not the good ole days of Pentecost. I am not looking to walk down memory lane in hopes of finding the Spirit of God there waiting for the church. What I am searching for is a genuine, empowered place of worship.
Let me bring some clarification: the Bible is clear on a couple of issues. The 120 in the upperroom in Acts 2, a cornerstone of Pentecostal theology, says they were all in unity. From every place my finger touches the page of scripture, what I find is a God of unity not chaos. So let’s be clear, God is mystery and mysterious at times. There are still things about this incomprehensible God that our finite minds cannot grasp about the infinite. Even in the mystery, it is orderly. Chaotic experiences of unicorn dust falling from the ceiling is not the move of God we should be looking for. Instead, it is housed in individual hearts that rise as one voice and one prayer and one anthem of worship that reaches heaven and heaven responds.
As I sat in a recent master’s level class, I asked a visiting professor for a clear definition of Pentecostal worship. Dr. Martin, professor and former pastor, summarized it this way: it is an experience of God’s actual presence. God is there doing something. Acts 10:44 tells of Peter preaching to the Gentiles at Cornelius’ house and the Holy Spirit “fell on all those who heard the message”.
In my maturity of faith, I no longer want simply the theatrics of Pentecostal church. I desire God to fall on those who gather. I desire his presence to be evident, real, tangible in the space of worship, preaching, testimonies. It is not a return to anything, it is a request for God to do what he has always done in this generation: pour out his promised presence on sons and daughters as prophesied by Joel and as declared by Peter. It just hits different.
Please understand my heart. If you come from a different faith tradition that the baptism in the Spirit or Pentecostal belief was not taught or taught as wrong, this is not an injunction on you. Any who call on the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior is set free and we are united as family. This is simply the beating of my heart for God to do something great, tangible, real in my generation and as an evidence for the next. This is a heart beating for the mystery of God to find space and place in our lives, in our houses of worship. This is a prayer for God to fall on me.
What we learn from the prophet Isaiah is that God does new things. The Lord told his people that he was going to move. Yet, just before that announcement came a reminder of what he had done: Red Sea crossing, Pharaoh crushing, promised land giving. Then the Lord shifts gears and says to his chosen tribe: forget those things, I am about to do something NEW.
Forget the peeping under the pew. Forget youth camp methodology. Forget any pattern of how we have ascribed to manifesting a move. For what God is going to do is new, it is for TODAY. It will be the same God. It is the same authority. It is the same Holy Spirit given by Jesus who intercedes at the throne for us. Yet the HOW will be different, it will be new. It will hit different.
