Pentecost 2000 emphasizes strength, authority and evangelism
By Robert P. Mills, The Layman Online, August 1, 2000
MONTREAT, N.C. – Strength, authority and evangelism were prominent themes during the closing presentations of “Pentecost 2000: Prayer that Shapes the Future,” a five-day prayer gathering sponsored by Presbyterian-Reformed Ministries International. The event drew more than 500 participants from around the country and around the world.
Bible study leader Laura Long, interim pastor of Clinchfield Presbyterian Church in Marion, N.C., spoke from Mark 12:30, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” by focusing on the word “strength.”
Strength
Strength, said Long, is a capability and a capacity that we may use in serving God and may be physical, mental or spiritual. Strength is also a relative term. How strong one seems to be depends on the situation one is facing. In Matthew 26:40, for example, the disciples did not have the strength to keep watch for one hour. Moreover, Scripture rarely portrays people as strong. We are asked to use every capability we have to love God, but in the big scheme of things we are not very capable, she said.
The Bible does, however, speak of Satan as “a strong man,” said Long. In relation to Satan we are portrayed as slaves, as prisoners, as bound. Satan is the one who has the strength. What we need is someone stronger than the strong man. “We need someone who can break into the strong man’s house,” said Long, “bind him, and rob him of his plunder, someone who can give us freedom and release. That is Jesus Christ. That is why we call him Savior.”
In the eyes of the world the cross of Christ seems foolish and weak. But the foolishness of the cross is the wisdom and power of God. For in the death of Jesus Christ, the power of the strong man is broken.
“What does this have to do with loving God with all our strength?” Long asked. “Do we just give up because we’re not strong? No, we’re to give our utmost to God’s highest in every way we can. We are to use our strength but not depend on it. We are to depend on God’s strength and ableness in Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. I John 4:4 reminds us that the one who is in us is greater than the one in the world. And I Cor. 12:10 tells us that when we are weak, then we are strong.”
Authority and evangelism
PRMI’s executive director, Brad Long, introduced Tom White, founder and president of Frontline Ministries in Corvallis, Ore., who spoke about authority and evangelism.
“Jesus has given us authority over the evil one,” White declared. “The Holy Spirit in you is adequate. Yet as I walk in the cities in our nation, I find we are entrenched in a postmodern society where tolerance is elevated over truth. We have lost the ability to use language to define truth. The church in our day has fallen into captivity to Babylonian culture. Our compromises with culture have robbed us of our spiritual authority and have left us spiritually anemic.”
Turning to the subject of evangelism White said, “I am very convinced from the Scriptures that it is the heart of the Lord to seek and save the lost. We see this most vividly in Jesus standing on the Mount of Olives and looking over Jerusalem and saying, “I wished to gather you under my wing.”
White said that when we talk about evangelism there are two realities we need to recognize. “First, the mystery of who says yes and who says no. The wind blows where it wills. The power of God alone can illumine a mind and soften a heart to believe and receive the truth. It is the mysterious and awe-inspiring work of the Lord to inspire the mind and soften the heart. It is equally clear that the Lord has given to you and me the responsibility to proclaim the word and the plant seeds of truth for the Holy Spirit to water.”
The second reality is that “bringing souls into the kingdom is warfare. There is an ongoing cosmic wrestling match between the God Yahweh and the fallen one Satan. The adversary wants to try to get back at God for being thrown out of heaven by scarring and marring his creation. So the enemy of our souls is at work trying to deceive, distract and destroy.”
White said that in our sincere attempts to lead others into the kingdom we have not adequately understood the reality of this warfare. We have not understood the authority we have been given by God in this regard. “This is not just for some anointed elite, parachurch commando teams. No, this is to you in the pew.”
“Most of us here are overconferenced,” said White. “We’re flooded with books and principles. But we’re sitting under a waterfall. The Holy Spirit is here to pour out a fresh baptism of obedience. We simply need to be available for God’s power to flow through us to set captives free.”
Your prayers for your friends and neighbors, said White, “are prayers that have authority, sharpness like arrows. You have authority to send forth arrows of light to dispel darkness, to ask the breath of God to blow away the black, blinding smoke.”
‘Restful availability’
“The main thing we are to be about is a restful availability that simply follows the lead of the Spirit of Christ in us.”
Paul methodically and faithfully mentored disciples and built communities. He poured his life into building communities of faith. White asked, How might we apply some of these things?
Picking up a theme that was emphasized throughout the conference, White insisted that “Regardless of label, we are one body. I believe God wants to manifest his power through that witness of oneness. I want to challenge you to get the vision to go back and build the house of the Lord, not just in a church or denomination but through his body. This is clearly something of what the Holy Spirit is doing.”