From the Bishop
From the Desk of Bishop Mizell
One of the noted characteristics of most of the early Pentecostals was that everyone who received the fullness of the Holy Spirit became an evangelist. Whether they felt the call to the pulpit ministry or not, everyone felt impelled to witness about their experience with Christ. Everywhere they went they told the exciting story of their own salvation with such power and conviction that people gave their hearts to the Lord.
One of the reasons the Pentecostal message spread so rapidly was that everyone who received the experience went and told others, many of whom became Pentecostal also. It is easy to see that a church with twenty-five firebrand evangelists should grow more quickly than a church with 500 lay members and one caretaker pastor.
Somewhere since the outbreak of Pentecost in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many Pentecostals have lost that excitement and determination to witness. There also was a time when we turned our attention more to the physical demonstrations of the Spirit within the worship services than to the call to evangelize. People were widely thought to evidence the power of the Spirit if they shouted, danced or spoke in tongues.
From the beginning, however, the power of the Holy Spirit was for the purpose of witnessing. Jesus promised in Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” In Acts, the physical demonstration of the Spirit was always linked with a specific witnessing event. In addition, it seems that they, too, were all evangelists.
While we might expect the apostles to preach the Word, they are joined in the evangelistic effort by deacons such as Stephen and Phillip. Other persons appear in the record without an introduction as being preachers; people like Barnabas, John Mark and Silas. Even those under the stress of persecution are seen preaching and witnessing. Acts 8:1 describes a persecution so strong that many were caused to leave their homes and live in various regions to escape the persecution. But Acts 8:4 states, “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.”
As we move forward from the Azuza Street Centennial celebration, may God grant us a return to the enthusiasm to propel us into being witnesses for God. We do not need ministerial credentials or the endorsement of a specific organization. What we really need is the power of the Spirit!