I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. –Luke 24:49, NIV
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. –Acts 2:3, NIV
Nearby the boisterous streets of Jerusalem, there was anaposento, the upper room where the apostles and a few others were congregated. Why were they locked up, you say? They vividly remember Jesus words: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)”. And it wasn’t that long- Jesus left them for ten days. But He would come back –in a big, brand, new, and bold way, bolder than what they have ever seen.
Suddenly, a wind broke out in the upper room. Glossas –tongues of fire- were breaking out upon the men. They were speaking Latin, Greek, Aramaic, Arabic, Turkish, Amharic, Egyptian, Nubian, Persian, Urdu, all the languages of the people who were there. The people were surprised: some amazed, others never convinced, even thinking they were drunk –at nine in the morning!? (Granted, there could’ve been a wineskin or two back in that aposento…)
Were they laying hands? I don’t know. Were they falling on their backs? I don’t know. Were they dancing, gyrating, walking side to side with a finger raised to the heavens? I don’t know. But there’s something I know: Jew and Gentile, slave and scythe, smart and idiot… Man became finally one. And we learned, for the very first time, that the Church lives on fire.
And who told you that fire doesn’t exist today!?