“What do you do?”
This is a common question in our world that we have probably answered countless times. However, what about our fellowship, our tribe, us as Pentecostals, what do we do?
To answer that question it is helpful to go back to our roots.
Azusa Street
Many of us are familiar with the story of Seymour pastoring a church in Los Angeles where people were filled with the Holy Spirit. But what did these people do afterwards? As a result of this encounter an evangelistic movement was birthed. People traveled all over the world and introduced others to Jesus.[1]
Andrew Harvey Argue
When you look at Canadian Pentecostal history it is impossible to miss Argue. He encountered the Holy Spirit at meetings in Chicago and came back to Winnipeg to have a huge impact within the city and church. However, when you strip all of the accomplishments away it is clear what Argue did. “Like all true evangelists, he was very effective with his altar call. That was the crux and aim of his ministry, to bring people to God.”[2]
We could go on and tell more stories about our roots in India with Pandita Sarasvati Ramabai[3]or what happened at the Hebden Mission[4]in Toronto or even go farther back to the book of Acts[5]. People encountered the Holy Spirit and what they did afterwards was introduce people to Jesus.
So, what do we do? I think it is simple, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance we introduce people to Jesus. Nothing could be more true to our roots in the book of Acts and our Pentecostal history.
[1]McGee, Gary B. 1988. “The Azusa Street Revival and twentieth-century missions.” International Bulletin Of Missionary Research 12, no. 2: 58-61.
[2]Rudd, Douglas. When the Spirit came upon them: highlights from the early years of the Pentecostal movement in Canada. Burlington, Ont.: Antioch Books, 2002. pg. 40
[3]Snyder, Howard A. 2005. “Holiness heritage: the case of Pandita Ramabai.” Wesleyan Theological Journal 40, no. 2: 30-51.
[4]Stewart, Adam. “Hebden Mission.” In Handbook of Pentecostal Christianity. DeKalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 2012. pg. 105
[5]Acts 2:1-41
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Guest post by Tyson Howells. Tyson is the Lead Pastor at City South in Edmonton. Along side him is his wife Evie, and his three boys Seth, Jude and Blake.
You can connect with Tyson here.