Spiritual? God-fearing?

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 2:5

Spiritual? God-fearing?

by Robert T. Cooper

When I was in seminary, many years ago, I did a mission trip to Salt Lake City. There I learned about a group of people known as “Jack Mormons.” To my understanding, these were people who when asked claimed to be Latter-day Saints, but never attended services and didn’t keep any of the Mormon rules such as the Word of Wisdom.

Such a phenomenon is not all that unusual. Amongst Christians, there are huge percentages of people who claim to be believers, even born again, but who never attend services and never do anything that smacks of Christianity, such as pray or read the Bible. We might call them backslidden and suspect they have never been converted.

There are Muslims who are cultural Muslims only and are not seriously submitted to Allah. Amongst Jews, we have what is termed secular Jews; that is, they claim Jewish ethnicity, but not Jewish religiosity. Even amongst religious Jews, strict Jews might question the commitment of many who identify with Reformed Judaism.

Then we have the modern phenomenon of people who say they are not religious, but consider themselves to be very spiritual. But for the life of me I cannot figure anything that marks many of them as being spiritual at all. I don’t have the foggiest notion what they mean. Perhaps they simply don’t want to be self-identified as being non-religious.

In biblical Judaism, there was a group of Gentiles identified as God-fearers. These were people who fully worshipped Jehovah, but had not converted to Judaism. For example, Cornelius was a God-fearer. But there was also a group of Jews identified as God-fearers. They were devout and godly in character; they observed the commandments. Of course, all such Jews would be in Jerusalem for Pentecost.

But what about us? Would we self-identify as being God-fearers? Would others identify us as being devout and godly in character?

How do you self-identify, and what do you mean by those descriptors?

Sound Like

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 2:2

Sound Like

by Robert T. Cooper

When playing charades, sometimes one has a syllable that it is easier to act out a rhyming word or syllable than the actual syllable. So the player pulls on the ear lobe to signal “sounds like”, and then proceeds with the substitute.

Some people think that a mighty or violent wind tore through the place where the Pentecost 120 were praying. Yet when one reads the Scripture, that is not what it says. It says there was the sound of a mighty or violent, rushing wind. What does that sound like?

Luke does not give us an explanation of why the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was preceded by such a sound. Perhaps it was because the 120 were so deeply into their prayer the sound was simply an alarm to interrupt them and cause them to pay attention. We will never know this side of glory, and probably it doesn’t really matter, at least to us. Had it mattered, it would have been clarified in the Scriptures.

Of course, the word for wind and the word for Spirit are one and the same. But what is the sound of a mighty, rushing Spirit? Plus we surely would describe the Holy Spirit as mighty. But the word also has the connotation of violence. Would we consider the Holy Spirit to be violent? What about the idea of the Holy Spirit rushing? I think the pursuit of equating wind and Spirit is a dead end, at least for this verse.

The point I would like to make is that when we are engaged in group prayer, we need to all be deeply involved in it. However, when God wants to get our collective attention we need to be prepared to be interrupted and give Him that attention.

Do you think the sound of the mighty, rushing wind was significant? If so, what do you think was its significance?

How Quickly Does God Work?

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 2:2

How Quickly Does God Work?

by Robert T. Cooper

There is a saying that God can accomplish more in a short time than we can accomplish in months and years. Plus we know that unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain.

We all have heard of musical sensations who suddenly burst on the scene. What no one ever talks about is the years and years those “sensations” labored at their craft, developing and honing their skills, learning their crafts, paying their dues. It happens all the time.

In the spiritual realm, we have all been sensitive to the times we prayed and prayed, and God didn’t seem to hear or to answer for years or even decades. Some didn’t see the answers in their lifetimes, though the answers eventually came. It reminds me of the verse that begins, “When the time had fully come, God….”

Jesus talked about it being like yeast slowly growing until the entire lump of dough is leavened. He talked about it being like a seed that slowly grows into a huge plant or bush.

Jesus had taught about the coming of the Holy Spirit during his 3½ year ministry. During the 10 days following the Ascension, at least 120 believers had participated in a 24/7 prayer meeting, waiting on the coming of the Spirit.

But then on the Day of Pentecost, “Suddenly” the answer to the promise and the prayer came. God moved and acted in mere moments.

Wind of the Spirit

Jenifer Jones

I have known of people who prayed and prayed for a godly spouse, only to finally give up the search. They decided they must be amongst those who never get married, and they began seeking to be content in their single status. Only then did the Lord bring into their lives the one He had all along intended to be the answer to their prayers. Was it sudden, or was it a long-term process?

Of course, God lives outside of time. For Him to work into one moment of time is no different to Him than to work into any other moment of time. But from our perspective there is both process and suddenness.

Please share in the comments section about times God’s work seemed to be a long-term process and times His work seemed to be a sudden happening.