If you were to walk with me through my office and take the time to look with me at the books on my bookshelves, one of the first treasures I would show is a yellowed by age, ragged by handling book published in 1931 titled The Phenomena of Pentecost. I know this book isn’t currently on any top ten list of bestsellers, and you’ve probably never heard of the book, right?
Why is this my favorite book among the literal hundreds of books on my shelves? It’s because this book was written by a group of individuals who not only read the book of Acts, but saw it, lived it, preached it, taught it, demonstrated it, and wrote about it. I’m referring to these pioneers of the Pentecostal movement — Donald Gee, P.C. Nelson, Myer Pearlman, George Jeffreys, and D.W. Kerr. Their lives and teachings played a significant role in the worldwide outpouring of God’s Spirit back in the 1930s and 1940s and laid the foundation for the move of God’s Spirit that we are enjoying today.
While there are many quotes that I could share from each of these contributors, there is a sentence that I read that made me put the book aside and begin to rejoice and say over and over again, “Yes, yes, yes, yes. It’s true.” It comes from the chapter The Gospel of the Miraculous, written by the founder of the United Kingdom’s great Elim Pentecostal Church, a man who ministered in signs and wonders, George Jeffreys.
“As long as the gospel is preached and there are creatures to receive it,
the power to demonstrate the supernatural will remain on earth.”
Can you see why I became excited when I read that sentence? It is a strong, strong, strong reminder that heaven’s power is readily available to validate the preached gospel. God’s power is waiting to be released as we preach the good news. It’s here. It’s ready for release. All that I have to do is preach the gospel and provide the opportunity for heaven to validate through signs and wonders what has been preached.
I’ll stop writing so that you can throw your hands into the air as you rejoice and open your mouth to start proclaiming, “Yes, yes, yes, yes. It’s true.” Let’s preach AND demonstrate the Word!
Yes, this is powerful!