The Flame

by Gary Paul O’Shell, ©2024

(May 9, 2024) — “2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:2-4

We are approaching once more what the evangelical church, be they Reformed, Wesleyan, or Charismatic, recognize as Pentecost Sunday. It comes about every year 40 days or so after Easter. When it comes to us once more this year, what will be the result? How will it “leave” us? Will anything about us or how we “do church” be any different? Is this day just another day we traditionally recognize, even venerate, and then put back in the closet till next year? What’s the evidence that more often than not, that’s exactly what we do? 

I love to read the writings of A.W. Tozer. Not long ago in one of his works, he wrote that we are all to be “sons and daughters of the flame.” The flame that fell upon the church on the Day of Pentecost 2000 plus years ago. The flame that is still upon the church today but is more often than not, ignored or barely known. Francis Chan wrote a book a few years back on the Holy Spirit and titled it, “The Forgotten God,” and the evidence is strong that the Holy Spirit, who is part of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is mostly unknown in His church. 

Someone asked the question that if the Holy Spirit completely withdrew from His church, how much of what we’re doing would change? This leads to an even bigger question; if He did withdraw, would we even notice? Would you? Someone said that the church has learned to make the sound of rain, the sound of thunder, and the sound of wind, but they’re only sounds. They are not the actual rain, thunder, wind, and yes, the flame of His Holy Spirit. No one is transformed by our sounds. No one is made new. No culture is impacted. God help us that we’ve come to depend upon our props and not His Presence.

I am not attacking the church. I love His church. I am lamenting, grieving that we, myself included, have learned to do so much in our own strength and have forgotten what His strength actually does. We craft worship services designed to make an impact and plan them so closely, remembering every aspect except…..Him. His Spirit. His Work. His Will and what He wishes to do and how He wishes to move. 

I’m part of what almost anyone would say is a very good church. Perhaps you are as well, but even so, I have been crying out to Him to make us, make me, make us all in His professing church, “Sons and daughters of the flame.” When we become such, worship is not about us, what we desire and demand, but about Him and what He wills to do in our midst and through us. When we become children of the flame than every aspect of our lives, whether we’re in the walls of the fellowship or outside of it, we are the church, His church. We are being transformed, continually, and in turn, He is transforming lives and situations all around us. Scripture says that the tongues “spread out like fire.” Fire spreads. May it spread to us. May it spread through…..May we be, truly be, sons and daughters of the flame.

Gary Paul O’Shell was ordained by the Church of the Nazarene in 1987 and is in his 40th year of pastoral service. He has pastored churches in Texas, New Jersey, and Virginia. Having retired from the full-time pastorate in 2019, he is currently on staff at the Compassion Church of the Nazarene in Lynchburg, VA.