One of the saddest parts of the Easter story occurred the night Jesus was arrested. His disciple Peter was stressed to the breaking point and fearful of the crowd. When the high priest’s servant girl accused him of being a disciple of Jesus, he denied it.
The Bible is a supernatural book. It is divinely inspired and saturated in God’s living presence. It brings joy when we are sad, comfort when we are weary, guidance when we are confused and encouragement when we are ready to quit. That’s why we need to read and study it daily.
I don’t know exactly why, but many people confide in me. I can’t count the times people have told me, “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but ..,” and then they share a horrible moment from their past. They finish by saying: “You’re the first person I’ve ever told.”
The World Assemblies of God family now totals close to 68 million people worshipping in over 365,000 churches. What the Lord has done around the world through Spirit-filled believers and Spirit-filled leaders is absolutely amazing. It is vital that we not lose the distinctive which has powered this growth: our reliance upon the Holy Spirit and our doctrine of the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking in other tongues.
Have you ever lied about a relationship to protect yourself? Or told close friends you didn’t believe them … about something really important? Maybe you can identify with Peter or Thomas, subjects of the two remaining episodes in CNN’s second season of Finding Jesus: Faith, Fact, Forgery.
I’ve just spent two weeks in South America, where the Holy Spirit is moving in unprecedented ways. Churches are growing and average Christians are sharing their faith passionately. One recent Pew Research study showed that 1 in 5 Latin Americans now identifies as an evangelical Christian—and a majority of these are Pentecostals.
