(Acts 2:1) When the the day of Pentecost came.

What happened on the day of Pentecost following the ascension and enthronement of Jesus Christ is often isolated as a small letter footnote to the gospel preached today in many churches.

Because many pastors hold to a “cessationinist" theology—meaning the Holy Spirit’s supernatural gifts of tongues, prophecy, healing, and other miracles experientially ended at the end of the New Testament—the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the entire world is seen as good history, but is irrelevant (often unconsciously) to the present experience of Christians today—that was for then but not for us today.

These pastors (and many Christians) do not want to be associated with those crazy Pentecostals. In my view, hardened cessationism has negatively affected the maturity and mission-focus of many Western Christians.

The reality is the majority of Christians and churches around the world are Pentecostal/Charismatics, a fact that much of the Western Church remains ignorant of.

Jesus gave instructions through the Holy Spirit to his chosen apostles (Acts 1:2). He said the following, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait there until you receive the Holy Spirit as the Father promised (Acts 1:4). For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days (Acts 1:5). You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 18).

As we read in Acts 2:1-4, when the the day of Pentecost came, suddenly a roar like a hurricane wind came from heaven and filled the whole place where they were sitting. They saw what looked like flames of fire separate and rest upon each one of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Then apostle Peter declared, “What you hear is the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32, ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Holy Spirit on all people (Acts 2:16).

What is important is that the outpouring of the Holy continues, it was not simply a nice one-time historical event.

The experience of the Holy Spirit is for everyone, even those “far away” (Acts 3:38, non-Jews), including the outcasts, the unclean, and the marginalized.

Following Pentecost, the entire world is the now sphere of the activity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is moving all of redemptive history toward fulfillment consummation.

There is not an individual, tribe, or peoples that are excluded from experiencing the presence and power of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ.

Are you fully open to experiencing the presence, gifts, and power of the Holy Spirit in your life?

Or, are you afraid of the Holy Spirit and what other people might think? 

To enter a mature and full Christian life, we must experience God--not just have a mental concept of him--we must experience him daily through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Open your heart to all that God has for you. Come Holy Spirit!