Personally Pentecostal

And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22

I have decided to make 2011 a year of Pentecost in my life. Being Pentecostal by church membership hasn’t been something that has meant so much to me and I’m certainly not attracted to some of the extreme images and clichés that have gone along with Pentecostalism.

Since I can remember I have been happier to declare that I’m a believer in Jesus and leave it at that. But this year I want to experience and pursue the Holy Spirit. I want to recognise and honour the way that He works in and around my life.

I know that it is only by His power that I have been able to be who I am and do some of the things I have done. It is easy for me think that I have done it in my own strength or because I’m a nice person but this isn’t actually true – I don’t really know what I’d be like if I didn’t have a deposit of the Holy Spirit in me.

So I want to honour Him and acknowledge Him. I am a believer who has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I believe that I have also experienced on occasion the infilling of the Spirit in the context of life and ministry. I am hungry to see what it is like to pursue the Holy Spirit and seek to know Him more.

I know that I have much to learn from many great men and women who have lived out such a passion in their lives, and of course from the apostles of the Bible. I seek to truly and fully be part of what Jesus Himself issued when He taught the disciples about the Spirit, to wait and to receive Him.

I know that I am also in need of the power of the Holy Spirit. I can’t be who I want to be and live the life I want to without His power in me. I need Him to pour out grace on my weaknesses and to burn away areas of sin in my life. I need Him to empower me to live and minister the way that I have been commanded to by Jesus.


As I blog I would appreciate your prayers, as well as comments and suggestions on what I share.