Should all those who are Christian be known as penacostal?

Cindy · Post by **Cindy** » Sun May 31, 2009 9:22 pm

I am not referring to the denomination of Pentecostal, rather, I'm referring to this great festival once celebrated by the nation of Israel and by many Church's....which is traditionally celebrated today, if I'm not mistaken. My question is: If one calls himself or herself Christian, are we indeed, Pentecostal? Looking at Acts 1- 2 we can see...
1) the church gathered together, prayed together...CONSTANTLY Acts 1:14
and were in one accord...Acts 2
2) church expected the arrival of the Holy Spirit..there was expectation!

in the old testament days, the Holy Spirit would come and go upon people....like the prophets and the judges... but when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles in Acts 2 following the death and resurrection of Christ...the church experienced the power of God through His Spirit! And 3, 000 came to salvation that day...
what would the His church look like today if we all were Pentecostal in nature?
1) always gathering together in prayer...constantly
2) having expectation of the Spirits coming...

Do we as His church ATTEND our churches as we should? And then, do we pray together constantly? Being of one accord? Oh I can only imagine the excitement of expecting the Comforter to arrive back in the day of Acts 2! Do we go to church and pray in one accord (Acts 2) with great expectation of the Spirit? And the power and energy of the Spirit is felt, as we pray in one accord? Is this happening in your church? In mine?

If so, then WE all are Pentecostal as I believe God would has us ALL to be (even though I belong to a Baptist church)....and shouldn't we all be Pentecostal??? At least, in nature? Is God's church Pentecostal in nature? Worshipping and praying in one accord? Or do we all need to re-examine how we "do church"....not just paying the preacher to preach and pray but being active as God's church, each one ministering to the needs of the other, rather than just expecting the pastor or preacher to do it.

Are we Christians Pentecostal enough? It's just a question going through my mind on this day of Pentecost. What do you think?

kayky · Post by **kayky** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:43 pm

The Spirit of God is a constant in the existance of every human being. The Pentacost event is simply a symbol of realization of this.

Cindy · Post by **Cindy** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:41 pm

um..sorry to differ with you but the Holy Spirit is not in every human. The Spirit comes as it is invited to come into the life and hear of the believer. Nonbeliever do not have the Spirit inside of them. My point is: Should the church of God, believers, act and "be" more Pentecostal in nature....inviting the power of the Spirit, praying together in one accord.... for many Church's, we are in a mundane routine of just going, hearing the preacher (or for some, tuning him out) then going on about our business...

shouldn't we be more Pentecostal in nature?

btw: Pentecost was not just one happening...it was a festival of old...then of course, the Spirit came FOR THE FIRST TIME to all believers and STAYED....which is different than what happened in the old testament..Spirit came and went....until, of course, the Helper (Spirit) came to believers on the day of pentecost after Jesus rose from dead.

Cathar1950 · Post by **Cathar1950** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:47 pm

Cindy wrote:um..sorry to differ with you but the Holy Spirit is not in every human. The Spirit comes as it is invited to come into the life and hear of the believer. Nonbeliever do not have the Spirit inside of them. My point is: Should the church of God, believers, act and "be" more Pentecostal in nature....inviting the power of the Spirit, praying together in one accord.... for many Church's, we are in a mundane routine of just going, hearing the preacher (or for some, tuning him out) then going on about our business...

shouldn't we be more Pentecostal in nature?

btw: Pentecost was not just one happening...it was a festival of old...then of course, the Spirit came FOR THE FIRST TIME to all believers and STAYED....which is different than what happened in the old testament..Spirit came and went....until, of course, the Helper (Spirit) came to believers on the day of pentecost after Jesus rose from dead.

Except in the Gospel of John where Jesus just breaths on them and says to them receive the Holy Spirit. I guess it really depends on who is telling the story.
One problem the modern Bible believer has is that they read their own story or indoctrination into the gospel like it is one big story when it is really 4 differing perspectives as they developed. Acts is a pious fiction and an idealized history that pretty much leave out non-Pauline Christians.

Goat · Post by **Goat** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 4:17 pm

Cindy wrote:um..sorry to differ with you but the Holy Spirit is not in every human. The Spirit comes as it is invited to come into the life and hear of the believer. Nonbeliever do not have the Spirit inside of them. My point is: Should the church of God, believers, act and "be" more Pentecostal in nature....inviting the power of the Spirit, praying together in one accord.... for many Church's, we are in a mundane routine of just going, hearing the preacher (or for some, tuning him out) then going on about our business...

shouldn't we be more Pentecostal in nature?

btw: Pentecost was not just one happening...it was a festival of old...then of course, the Spirit came FOR THE FIRST TIME to all believers and STAYED....which is different than what happened in the old testament..Spirit came and went....until, of course, the Helper (Spirit) came to believers on the day of pentecost after Jesus rose from dead.

The question should be 'Is the holy spirit in anybody, or do some people just think they have it'? Are people interpreting a very strong emotional response that they gave themselves as the Holy Spirit'? Apparent, many ex-Christians realized that when they thought they were filled with the 'Holy Spirit', they were fooling themselves.

kayky · Post by **kayky** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 4:22 pm

Cindy wrote:um..sorry to differ with you but the Holy Spirit is not in every human. The Spirit comes as it is invited to come into the life and hear of the believer. Nonbeliever do not have the Spirit inside of them. My point is: Should the church of God, believers, act and "be" more Pentecostal in nature....inviting the power of the Spirit, praying together in one accord.... for many Church's, we are in a mundane routine of just going, hearing the preacher (or for some, tuning him out) then going on about our business...

Your interpretation seems to be based on a fundamentalist Christian point of view. It doesn't make a great deal of sense. You can't invite in what is part of your actual nature.

Cindy wrote:shouldn't we be more Pentecostal in nature?

If you mean should we all awaken to our true identity in God and live out of that realization, then I would agree with you.

Cindy wrote:btw: Pentecost was not just one happening...it was a festival of old...then of course, the Spirit came FOR THE FIRST TIME to all believers and STAYED....which is different than what happened in the old testament..Spirit came and went....until, of course, the Helper (Spirit) came to believers on the day of pentecost after Jesus rose from dead.

Pentecost was a Jewish festival. What happens at Pentecost in the New Testament can only be interpreted symbolically as a description of awakening. It is not a literal description of how God operates in the lives of human beings.

Cindy · Post by **Cindy** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:27 pm

goat, I completely agree with you. An emotional experience is something that is often provoked due to circumstance, etc. within the church at that moment, but the real filling of the Holy Spirit into someone is...well..completely different. Maybe that is why the road is "narrow", the gate "small" that leads to life...and few are on it.

kayky · Post by **kayky** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:31 pm

And I suppose you envision yourself as one of those lucky few who has figured it out...

Cindy · Post by **Cindy** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:31 pm

Kayky...that is exactly what I mean. We should all really "awaken" from our sleep...our sleep in the Christian life...and "be" the church....full of power given to us through the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. But might it be true...that some only think they have the Spirit inside of them (because they "go to church each Sunday) or do they really have the Spirit of God living within them?

Someone (in an above response) said that we all have the indwelling, all humans do... well that simply isn't the Christian faith at all. Those who know Christ have the right to be called "sons and daughters of God"...and that is a certain group,not everybody. But you hit it exactly....we all need to be awakened and "live the life"...worshipping in Spirit and in Truth.

Cindy · Post by **Cindy** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:34 pm

Kayky....in no way do I ever mean to come across as a "special one" who has figured it out... I simply state what the Lord has taught me in His Word...that the road is narrow and few are on it. I am determined to figure out in my life what that life requires..the narrow road life...and the aim to live it as best as I can.

Friend, I join the journey in trying to live in God's Grace and to try and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit....that is all one can do...I fully rely on God to get me through.