It’s a wonder I didn’t “put my eye out.” When you are out of leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, you get creative, and apparently a little reckless. Not sure what my Dad was thinking when he showed me what happened when you trimmed off the matchheads of strike anywhere matches and put them between two bolts connected together by a nut then dropped it vertically onto a hard surface. The loud bang and powerful energy that sent the bolt skyward was too great a temptation for a pre-teen boy not to do over and over again. The occasional explosion in your hands when you tightened the bolts just a little too tight was not enough to deter me from trying again. And why I would try this on the back porch in front of a bank of floor to ceiling windows is beyond me. I was not thinking what could possibly go wrong. I was just enjoying the satisfaction of making a loud noise and the feeling of excited fear you get when the aimless projectile possibly launched in your direction. One day, when my Mother got tired of the noise, somehow the bolt-banger disappeared as did the matches. Perhaps these tendencies could have been a clue as to why my college friends and I would later enjoy aiming roman candles at each other at 20 paces.
Dr. Luke reminds us of the powerful work of the Holy Spirit and its impact on the church. Luke tells us the words of Jesus before His ascension. He says, “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 NIV-GK) The Greek word for “power” is dunamis. We get the word dynamite from this root. I can recall the excited moments of a call to respond to the Gospel message at a Youth Camp one night. Powerfully, the Spirit was at work in the hearts and lives of several students. There was an excited reverence in the auditorium. About 30 kids responded one at a time. As an intern, I was called by the preacher to speak with 3 or 4 of them about their response. The thrill greatly surpassed the moment the bolt-cracker exploded, because this was an eternally changed life, a life launched into a relationship with God-Almighty, a life that would be rocketed to heaven at the end of this life. I could not sleep that night having watched God’s Spirit at work in several teenagers' lives. I watched as this power changed their lives that night and continued to change their life and behaviors over the next several years. Oh to see a little bit of that Holy Spirit revival dunamis in our world today.
Hang in there people. God is glad to be with us. I’m praying for us all.
