What are the gifts for?

To advance the church – look at that first Pentecost and the events that proceeded the falling of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples.

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” Acts 2:1-4

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”  Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. … so those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.” Acts 2:37-38,41

in the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, we see the Holy Spirit rain down His Fire, His power upon the apostles and the Spirit’s powerful gifts manifested. Throughout Acts the Gifts of the Spirit shine and the Church grows by leaps and bounds, 3,000 here, 5,000 there.

We are witness to the Gifts of tongues, Interpretation of Tongues, Healing, Miracles, Prophecy, Utterance of Wisdom and Knowledge, Discernment of Spirits and heavy doses of Faith. The Spirit was truly alive and active in the early days of the church.

He is still alive and active today. I remember the feeling of His outpouring of power at a retreat 4 years ago. The first men’s Emmaus in our parish. A lot of work and passion went into the preparation for this weekend. The team was in union with one another, these brothers were on fire. The outpouring of the Spirit was palpable in the center. The talks were inspired and the singing was uplifting. The memories of this retreat and the pictures are an incredible inspiration.

I witnessed many of the gifts of the Holy Spirit poured out through these incredible men. I saw men healed through prayer, others share wisdom and knowledge of God and yet others see the ‘souls’ of the new brothers. The strongest by far was the gift of faith. This gift overflowed all present and was the seed of such great miracles, saving marriages and families, saving souls lost in darkness and setting free prisoners of sin.

I’ve heard people say God isn’t present today, that He either hides or ignores His creation. I say that is a lie of the enemy. I know first-hand God is active and present. He came to this Insignificant man in my darkest hours, speaking to me, holding my hand and most importantly, being there beside me. I have seen Him call others from death of sin to life. Heal the blindness to finally see with eyes of faith.
Now, I’ve had the honor to see the powerful manifestation of the Gift through close brothers and sisters. I’ve heard prayers in tongues, seen real healings, witnessed prophecy and it’s realization.
As Pentecost draws near, pray for an outpouring of the Spirit like that first Pentecost. Then, watch His Gifts as they call the church to life and enliven its faithful. After Coronavirus, the church will be different. But, with this Pentecost the Church can be more alive then it has been in centuries, IF we open our hearts to His Holy Fire and then step out of the door.