Pentecost Sunday. Are you Pentecostal?

What is Pentecost? Are there churches that are Pentecost while others are not?
Is the church supposed to use the word Pentecost only as a noun or can it be used as an adjective? And so I ask you: Are you Pentecostal?

In spite of the fact that the church doesn't know what the adjective means, the church insists that the word remain in our vocabulary as an adjective. The church is unwilling for the word simply to be a noun, to represent a date, a place, an event in the history of the church, refuses for it to be simply a memory, an item, something back there somewhere. The church insists that the word is an adjective; it describes the church. The word, then, is "Pentecostal."

If the church is alive in the world it is Pentecostal. And you thought we were Methodist!

How do we keep this aliveness, this fire burning, this spirit moving? What must exist in us, around us, and through us, if we are to be Pentecostal?

The Holy Spirit speaks through broken people to a broken world, using language every broken heart can hear and understand.

Because we know what it is like to be broken by hatred, we can speak of the healing love of Christ’s sacrifice.

Because we know what it is like to be broken by despair, we can speak of the healing hope of Christ’s forgiveness.

Because we know what it is like to be broken by doubt, we can speak of the healing faith in Christ’s promises.

Because we know what it is like to be broken by illness, we can speak of the healing wholeness of Christ’s resurrection.

Because we know what it is like to break down doing church — program church, purpose-driven church, seeker-sensitive church, organic church, missional church, NCD church, simple church, we can stop doing church and start doing Pentecost.

The church of Jesus Christ is alive and well. In fact, Christianity is still the fastest growing religion in the world. But it’s growing not in the North and West, but in the South and East. Why the difference? Why is Christianity surging in the South and East and not in North America and Europe?

Because where the body of Christ is growing the people aren’t trying to do church. They’re doing Pentecost. Maybe it’s time for us as a church to stop relying on our own powers and programs, our blueprints and boilerplates, and start doing what these early disciples did: trust the Spirit and do Pentecost… See the next article coming up in the next few days.

Friendship and Your Marriage. What does the Bible say?

"To everything there is a season." That's what it says in the Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes. And that can be true of friendships as well as in other areas of life. Sometimes you have a best friend all while growing up but later in life you out-grow each other. Sometimes you have a special friend that helps you through a crisis and eventually you don't see each other as much. But for that season of your life, they were a blessing. And sometimes you are able to keep your friendship alive throughout your life. That is an even greater blessing.

Friendships are different than marital partnerships. Marriage is a sacred vow you enter into with your partner and with God. It is a "cord of three strands" relationship that God takes seriously (and so should we) because it is a living picture of Christ's love for the church to a world that needs to see God's faithfulness lived out before them. And even though you can have great friendships like King David and Jonathon had, sometimes the ongoing relationship needs to be ended if they become toxic to your life, but especially if they become toxic to your marriage. And that's what happens sometimes. Some friends just aren't good for the health of your marriage.

It's tragic when spouses allow their friendships to interfere with the well-being of their marriages. Some spouses will say that they don't want to end the friendship because they've "been friends for so long." One of many answers to that could be: When fruit is ripe, it is good to partake of it, but when it turns rotten, then it's time to get rid of it. The Bible says, "Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character.' come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning: for there are some who are ignorant of God -- I say this to your shame." (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)

A person might say that if they let go of this friend, they "won't have any friends." It would be better to not have any friends for a while than to have friends who are an enemy to your marriage and pull you in a wrong direction. Good friendship in the Bible wasn't as dependent upon availability as it was on helping rather than hurting one another. It's the Matthew 5 principle if your "hand" or your "eye" causes you to do what you shouldn't, then you must get rid of that which is causing the problem. Friendships are disposable, marriages aren't supposed to be (except in very rare cases as outlined in the Bible).

Sometimes friendships can be detrimental to the health of your marriage. There are a number of ways in which this can happen. "One is when a friend, whether same-sex or opposite, becomes your main confidant. That kind of sharing is what builds true and deep intimacy. Thus, when you confide your concerns and fears, your hopes and dreams, your struggles and temptations with a friend to the exclusion of your spouse, you forge your strongest bonds of intimacy with the friend. Another way in which friends can hurt your marriage is by consuming too much of your time. Couple time -- the time you spend together, connecting with each other and nurturing your relationship -- is a premium for most of us. Jeannette and Robert Lauer say’s that friends who expect or demand so much of your time that they deprive you of couple time are foes to your marriage." ( from the article "With Friends like These, from Marriage Partnership Magazine