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Bringing the Fire

By Bernie Anderson

Photo:Stockxpert

Using bowling-pin-shaped juggling clubs that you might see at a circus, my college roommate and I started juggling together in our free time. Before long we could rhythmically pass the clubs horizontally between us while at the same time tossing in random stunts. We got pretty good and people started asking us to perform for various events like local community fairs, church socials, and birthday parties. We even earned some extra cash! What we soon found out though is that our act could only hold the audience for about ten minutes, then they got that “been there, done that” distracted look on their faces. I think I even saw a few people yawn! We quickly realized that we would have to change our act or lose the crowd. Especially when it came to the kids.

We decided to add some more daring stunts to our act. We incorporated a gymnastics two-high position where I stood on my roommate’s shoulders so we could pass the clubs vertically instead of horizontally then I dismounted with a back flip from the top. This certainly added something to our act but we still felt like something was missing. So we came up with the grand finale of our act—juggling fire. We didn’t have the cash to buy professional fire clubs so we created our own out of wooden dowels purchased from Wal-Mart. We wrapped shop towels around the ends of the wooden dowels, secured them with duck tape and then let them soak in kerosene.

People loved it! They would cheer and watch on the edge of their seats. Sometimes the shop towels would go flying off the end of the dowel and people would gasp and clap. We finally felt like we had won the crowd and left them with the sense that they had really experienced something spectacular.

Where's the Fire?

I don’t believe that church should become a spectacle but I do believe every church has to win the crowd for the sake of the gospel! I’m convinced that in order to do this we must bring the fire! We must remember that members as well as guests at our churches have seen it all. In America, even our non-churched visitors probably have some sense of what a typical church is supposed to be like. So what do we do to bring the fire and win the crowd?

Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). Jesus also told them that when the Holy Spirit came they would receive power! So when the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost God brought the fire of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:3 it says, “Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.”

This was no ordinary gathering in Jerusalem, and we shouldn’t have just ordinary humdrum churches either. The truth is every church has a “juggling act," a routine, or a way of doing church. Some have more talented performers, better equipment, and even more money. So if we are going to be effective at a time when so many churches doing creative things with powerful results, we must pray earnestly for God’s Spirit. We need His Spirit to fill every member, but we then need to take that fire and channel it into tangible acts that directly impact people's lives. I’m convinced that the thing that sets extraordinary churches apart from those that are ordinary is the fire of the Spirit. Remember what Zechariah the prophet told Zerubabbel, So he said to me, 'This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6).
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Bernie Anderson is pastor of the Wasatch Hills Adventist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. All rights reserved © 2009 Church Support Services. Click here for content usage information.