ARE YOU A FAN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

While in England to speak at a National Youth Convention, I went a few days early and had the privilege of visiting the first Methodist Church ever built in England, the John Wesley Chapel in Bristol. I stood inside looking up at the high pulpit where he preached, and upstairs I saw the table and chair where Adam Clarke wrote his commentary. I felt like I was walking where saint’s had trod. This was the place the Wesleyan Revival flame was ignited. It was also here where Wesley espoused his views on the doctrine of sanctification which was such a strong belief in Methodism. I thought how blest and fortunate England was to have such a historical vestige that honored God and His Word.

Two days later when I boarded a train on my way to Birmingham, England, I ended up sitting next to a middle-aged lady. Some young people boarded the train as well. Their loudness, crass talk, and discourteous manners ended up giving us a reason to begin a conversation. She bemoaned the fact that ethics and morals were at a new low in Britain. She detected by my accent that I was not British and politely asked my reason for visiting England. I told her about Wesley’s Chapel and that I was a minister.

This prompted her to begin telling me how the people in the United Kingdom felt about their churches where the flames of revival and reformation once burned brightly. She was not hesitant in letting me know how people were reacting to the deteriorating condition of their church and among their ministers. She said pastors came across as cold and seeking only earthly possessions; that their sermons were on everything except the Bible.

When I shared with her that I was a Pentecostal, that really got her attention. She told me some of the wild things she had heard about Pentecostals. While I confessed that there were some who might fit that description, I also let her know that in most cases we were part of a long line of movements in succession to what John Wesley had preached right there in Bristol. Before we parted company in Birmingham, as I switched trains on my way to the convention in Leicester, I encouraged her to find a good Spirit filled church and let the Word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit kindle a fire within her. She told me she would.

That was some 47 years ago. Never did I think that one day I would start hearing the same things she said about her dying church in England being said about some Pentecostal churches in America. The apostle Paul told young Timothy to fan the flame that empowered the gifts God bestowed on him through the Holy Spirit. Yes, we have been given the oil of the Spirit; yes we are the vessels holding that oil by which we are the light of the world; yes the Spirit of God ignited the flame when He filled us, but we must continue to fan the flame.

Therefore, it is our responsibility to see to it that our churches are still places where people can hear the rush as of a mighty wind that fills the house where they are sitting. If we are not on fire, let’s not blame God; let’s not impugn the Holy Spirit for not moving. God forbid that someday tourists will visit our empty churches with vacant pulpits, silent pianos, organs, unfilled choir lofts, and have the guide tell them, this is where it all began. So fan the flame! Get the fires burning again! Do you feel the Spirit moving in your soul? Start fanning the flame right now with praise and worship. Make it burn bright! Cause the flame to burn bright! It’s up to you!