The Same Holy Spirit?

“Do you believe that the same Holy Spirit is available today that you read in Acts?” – Francis Chan

That’s a question that has been stirring up my soul for the past three weeks driving me to a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit. I have been furiously reading through the book of Acts and Francis Chan’s book Forgotten God. As I read Acts, I come to this section where Jesus says, “I’m going to send someone else; in fact it’s going to be to your advantage, it’s better than having me on earth…” (John 16:7) Wait, WHAT?


I have read that verse plenty of times and understood it, but as I read it to myself more and more I have to ask, WHAT? I mean can you imagine the looks on the disciples' faces as they listened to Jesus say this? I’m sure they were saying to each other just what could be better than having the Son of God next to me? After thinking about it, I started to get frustrated with the thought: Why does it seem so different today compared to the days of Acts? I mean isn’t it the same Holy Spirit that’s supposed to be available to us today? So why does it feel so different?


Little did I know that the Holy Spirit was the one guiding me through these questions, so I could come to the realization that He is much more important than we believe or think. And this is what I came up with…


If you read Acts chapter 2, you come to the Holy Spirit’s jaw dropping entrance where the Spirit of God comes in with a violent wind and gives all the disciples the super natural ability to speak in other tongues. I had to ask during prayer, why are we not experiencing that? And that’s when I thought about our churches here in America.


I once heard this man say, “The church today is neither super nor natural; very predictable and expected.” While I wanted to defend the church I unfortunately came to the conclusion that he in many ways was right. Think about it…you go to a church building, you get your bulletin, sit in a chair, and you sing a few songs. A minister delivers a polished message or maybe not… someone sings a solo… you go home. Now I know this isn’t every church, so before you get upset, just keep reading.


My frustration has increased at the realization that we believe in this all mighty, intensely powerful being who puts His Spirit of power in us, yet we respond by worrying about small minded things, such as tabling for small groups, how to talk to a fellow college student about Jesus or a weak greeting in church, “Hi, welcome to church. Here’s your bulletin. Please come next week!” Didn't Jesus tell us that we would receive a super natural power? Then how come our reactions (once we pray to receive the Holy Spirit) are different? It’s as if we pray for Him to come because we know that He is part of the Trinity, but then we cross Him off the list of things to ask and pray about. Last time I checked, you had to act on your faith (James 2: 14-26). We're just too comfortable… I want the same reaction that John tells us about when he says that “people where astonished by the boldness of Peter and John.”


It’s amazing to look at the church and see people so weak and easily defeated, or so insecure about who we are, when we should be the ones that are bold and spirit filled that you ask mountains to move! Has anyone moved a mountain recently? No? Neither have I. I yearn for the understanding of the power that Jesus sent us through the Holy Spirit. My soul cries out for the Spirit to trample on fears and to boldly stand and proclaim His name… that I become such a dangerous Christian that I am well known by the faculty of my college as a Jesus freak! (I’m cool with that term.)


Could you imagine what the church would look like today if we stopped taking control of it and let the Holy Spirit lead? If Jesus told his disciples “I’m going to build my church and the gates of hell aren’t going to stop this thing”, then shouldn’t we find strength in knowing that we have the victory already?! On the contrary, we must not only desire His power, but His leading, guidance, His gifts, and the fruits of the Spirit.


I want to live submitted to the Spirit’s leading on a daily basis. If Christ said it is better for us that the Spirit come, then I want to live like I know it's true. I would hate to keep crawling when I could fly.


I implore you to want the same. I plead with you, let's call upon the Holy Spirit together. Let's get to know Him, this third person of the Trinity, and let's be endured with power.


So I ask you again… Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is the same now that He was then?


Russell Gaither

Walking While Black: Coming To Grips With Racial Identity

Tomy Wilkerson opens his heart and our eyes to the struggle and fight of racial identity...

“I realized that every informed man with whom I had spoken, in the intimate freedom of the colored bond, had acknowledged a double problem for the Negro. First, the discrimination against him. Second, and almost more grievous, his discrimination against himself; his contempt for the blackness that he associates with his suffering; his willingness to sabotage his fellow Negroes because they are part of the blackness he has found so painful” (Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin, page 42).

Every time I speak about the Black community, or issues within the Black community, lexicons of emotions overwhelm me. Not only am I upset about the stereotypes placed upon us, but also I’m angry with us for accepting them. Even deeper than that, I’m furious we even allow these stereotypes to become boxes we find our comfort in; little prisons for us all to live in. The issue within my heart was so complex, there was nothing else I could do but feel upset. I later came to realize it all stemmed out of a deep sense of wanting to belong, to be accepted. Because I grew up in a household that never discussed race, and a small Christian school that didn’t discuss it either, when I was younger I never thought about the differences between people.  But once my eyes were opened to the racial divide that existed, I couldn’t get my mind off of it.                          

My parents were always afraid I would get into trouble or end up hanging out with the wrong people, so from the very beginning they kept me busy once school got out. I used to go to day care; I’d spend the night at a friend’s house, I even began playing sports for the local Boys & Girls Club. However, I noticed something weird. There would always be Black kids hanging out in front of the establishment - maybe a boy would be eating chips or would be chasing after a girl with a snack, but my parents told me not to hang out with them. And I think I privately began to develop a fear of them. 

For the most part, I was a good kid in elementary school. Every once in a while I slipped and I would have to stay in for recess. One day I was acting up in class and my teacher made me stay in from break. Encompassing me were the usual suspects - the ones who were always in trouble; the ones who’d been in trouble since the first day of school. One of these kids was a Black boy named Kevin. I was never sure what he did to be in trouble, but every time I saw him he was getting kicked out of class for something. One time he dropped a pencil and got sent out class. For some reason, he took a strong interest in me and began talking to me. Of course, talking wasn’t allowed and, of course, he got sent out of class. But this time it was different it seemed, because this time he said something I’ll never forget: it’s because I’m Black, isn’t it? I knew he was in trouble because he broke the rules, but once I saw the teacher’s lack of response, I began to wonder. Did race have something to do with it? Furthermore, did the teacher see me as one of them? Being Black became associated with being in trouble

The first time I heard the words “you’re not Black” was in a predominately Black Vacation Bible School but the phrase followed me for all my life. Because I didn’t sag my pants, listened to NSYNC instead of Ludacris, and earned decent grades, I was labeled as an “Oreo” by the time I was in the sixth grade. Later I would be called “the Whitest Black kid ever” by a variety of kids. I think my all time favorite was when white kids would call me “the nicest Black kid they’d ever met.” Even though I laughed when those remarks were made, I didn’t realize the segregation that was taking place. I was too White for the Black kids, but no matter how white I may have been perceived, I was too Black for the White kids. In high school, it made things very difficult. I would go to parties with my White friends, look around the room to find only White people, and feel like the outcast. The second a Black girl walked into the party, I wanted to talk to her. It felt like she’d been placed there for me. But once I spoke, she wasn’t interested. She wanted the stereotype and I couldn’t deliver. In fact, this happened with almost every Black girl I talked to. The worst was when I would take interest in a girl who wasn’t Black and I’d have to ask around if she was interested in Black guys. I don’t know what was worse, when she did and I wasn’t “Black enough” for her or when she wasn’t and I knew I didn’t stand a chance even though I was “different” from every other Black person anyone had ever met.

It never made sense to me. I’m sure Waka Flocka Flame was never told he wasn’t “Black enough.” I’m sure Flavor Flav is “Black enough” Why was that? If being Black is about discrimination, I’ve been there. I remember the first time I was racially profiled. I was sixteen years old and I was at a local concert some friends of mine were putting on. I left the venue for a bit because the band playing wasn’t very good and by the time I came back to the venue, police was waiting on me. “Someone called and told them I had a gun.” They took me outside the venue, patted me down, and found a cell phone in a leather case. I’ll never forget the humiliation in that moment. Some of my friends walked out to their car to lug equipment to the stage area. I called out for them to prove to the policeman I wasn’t a bad person, but either they didn’t hear me or they didn’t want to get involved. There’s nothing more embarrassing and emotionally scarring than getting treated like a criminal in front of your friends and people you admire. It wasn’t like I was being suspicious. I was wearing a hoodie with a guitar on the front, a shirt from a metal concert, and I mentioned the small town I was from. The cop gave me his badge number and name and apologized for what happened. To this day I don’t know if he ever really got a call. I’ve had mothers pull their daughters by their ears and slap them for dating me because I was Black.

                  

Bill Hybel’s of Willow Creek Church has a video where he discusses the inspiration behind visionaries. He talks at length about something called “the Popeye Moment.” Basically, Popeye loved something or someone (Olive Oil) and whenever something threatened that, he might’ve been relatively calm at first, but eventually came a point where he lost his temper. He would swallow his spinach and save the day. Hybels continues to illustrate how Moses had the same experience with the Hebrews and their oppression by the Egyptians. My moment came one day when I was out at dinner with friend of my father who does a lot of great work in a low-income neighborhood. He was telling about a girl we both knew, and knew had potential to do great things in her city, and how she began to take drugs; how she stopped working on her initiative to create a safer, more understanding neighborhood, and how she gave up on ever getting out of the ghetto. When my father’s friend confronted her, she used the same excuse Kevin used: it’s because I’m Black. I couldn’t take it anymore; I knew I wanted to do something related to improving the Black community.

                  

As I spent more time with Jesus, praying over what action I should take, he began to clarify my heart. While I was angry and frustrated with the Black community, it all stemmed out a radical sense of love I felt for them. I don’t hate Waka Flocka Flame. I hated the fact he has the potential to do so much more, but he’s settling for less. I hate the fact people think it’s cool to settle for less. After deeper analysis of my heart I realized the only reason why I was comfortable and found value in being Black was because Jesus showed me he made me that way for a reason. Furthermore, there are reasons why the Black community exists and they need to be reminded how valuable they are.

                  

We are God’s children and until we experience that, things will continue to transpire the way they do. But first that means our churches have got to do a better job. I believe the reason no one is being affected by the word is because of two things: 1) we’re not actually reading it or receiving and 2) when we do receive it, we get into something I like to call “keep it real” Christianity. We want to believe we’re Christians but continue to lead the same lifestyles we did before we knew Jesus. If any sort of growth with Jesus is going to happen, it’s going to come with obedience from knowing him. I’m calling all the Black community to a higher level of Christianity.

Some people believe it’s impossible, and maybe it is. Maybe the issues we have within our own culture are so complex and deeply embedded within us it will take a divine intervention to figure it out. Luckily, we serve a God who specializes in making the impossible happen; all the more reason to introduce Jesus into the equation.

                  

I believe that before any sort of racial reconciliation can happen, Black people must reconcile within our own racial dynamic. However, before we can achieve that, we must reconcile within ourselves and grow into a level where we can be mature. The only person I know that can radically change hearts and minds is Jesus Christ. My heart is to see the lives of Black men and women transformed by the love of Jesus. I’m talking about real Black men and women who are willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the gospel. My dream is to see Black men and women truly live out the gospel with no excuses. W.E.B. Du Bois believed in something called the “talented tenth” saying that for every ten Black men, one would become successful but it was his obligation to go back and get the other nine to where he is. I long to see the same thing happen with the gospel. The beauty of attending the University of Tampa is that we have so many different Black students from all over the world. We have a lot of Haitians, Caymanians, Trinidadians, African Americans, Jamaicans, etc. Imagine what it would be like if all of those students fell in love with Jesus to the point where they went back into their home countries and raised up communities who also loved Jesus and had their lives transformed by the gospel. And then those people would rise up leaders and before we know it, the Black community is revolutionized and if the Black community changes, I believe the world will notice. 

Tomy Wilkerson

Tomy Wilkerson is the founder of Black Campus Ministries at the University Of Tampa, and has raised numerous leaders in the black community which has established a family of students who identify with the struggle of race, and identity. He strives to give all African Americans the opportunity to experience Jesus. The passion and knowledge that Jesus has given him has made him one of the most influential leaders at U.T.  

Women Of Worth

Brianna Ebanks shows us how God's love can transform women that struggle to understand who they are into powerful women of God...


Every woman at one point in her life has battled with the concept of worth. We have battled with it both in the past and in the present. History tells us that women were seen as the lesser of the two genders, and were not as qualified as men to receive an education, go to work, or do any of the tasks men could do.  For many years, society was comfortable with the roles women were allowed. It saw women as housewives, mothers, housekeepers, and supporters for a man. Women were never seen as equal by society, but as the inferior species of mankind. Yet, women decided to fight back, to stand up for the rights they were so equally given at birth. They believed they were just as qualified as men to receive an education, have a career, and still manage their household and raise their children. Women proved themselves right and began to graduate from college, become doctors and lawyers, raise their children, and even teach the Word of God. However, equal rights did not entirely solve the problem of worth women struggle with; in fact, it might have made it worse for now women started to find their identity even more so, in everything but Jesus.

Our worth and identity is something all women struggle to see and define. We struggle to find a meaning for our existence and struggle to see ourselves as individuals who have value. Therefore, we search for ideas and actions to find our identity and value in, a few of these being our work, our looks, our personality, and our relationships with people. Women work so hard in their jobs, in their volunteer activities, in their household, and even in ministry. We define ourselves by what we do, how much people we can help, how much things we can check off our to-do-lists. We define ourselves in our accomplishments, the awards we win in academia, in organizations, and in the compliments others say about us. We work so hard that we stress ourselves, worry over every little thing, and then leave ourselves with no time for ourselves, and especially for Jesus—who many of us claim to be the most important person in the world to us.

Furthermore than work, we define ourselves by our looks in comparison to other women’s looks. We say we are working out to be healthy, we say we are wearing makeup to just highlight our nice features, we say we dress a certain way to be pretty, and we say we don’t care what others are thinking about us. But is that really true? Ask yourself that. Or are we bending ourselves backwards in order to compare to the world’s definition of beauty? Along with looks, don’t we try to fit our personality to become what we think it should be? Don’t we try to change the way we are to be as funny as caring as someone else? Don’t we try to change the very essence of who we are, who we were made to be, in order to fit in and fit society’s definition of a woman? Ha, even more than that, we have defined ourselves by the relationships we are in. We define ourselves as daughters, sisters, friends, girlfriends, cousins, aunts, grandmothers, fiancés, wives, and widows. We do our best to be the best of those titles, to be perfect in those relationships, and even see ourselves as worthless when we lose one of those relationships.

And out of all the relationships, we long to have a man to be loved by, to love in return, and to validate our work, our looks, our personality, and who we are in entirety. I have done this myself many times. I have searched for value in work and achievements, to the point I became depressed. I defined myself in looks to the point I became anorexic. I searched for love in all the wrong places, and gave my heart to guy after guy to only get hurt in return. And what was the result? I was never happy. I was empty inside, lonely, desperate, and depressed. I went to bed every night, with a hole in me that I just couldn’t seem to fill. I wanted to end it all, but knew that I couldn’t, knew it wasn’t right. So I kept living in the prison the world had set up for me, kept living in the prison I set up for myself without any hope of being free. For to me, I had a lifetime sentence of incarceration in the prison of worthlessness. Forever in chains.

Until, I met this man.

This man told me that he loved me, the first day we met! He told me that he had been watching me as I cried and walked around in sadness, and he too was sad in those moments. He told me I used  to walk right past him many days and turned to my work, my looks, my personality, and my other relationships. He told me how much it hurt for me to love things and people who didn’t love him the way he did, that he wanted to be my everything. He said that he was destined to love me, and for me to love him. And that if I accepted him, if I wanted him, he would show me where to find value, where to find my worth, where to find eternal happiness! He even said he loved everything about me—looks, personality, and all. Yet he said that I couldn’t define myself in those works and work too much that I forgot to spend time with him. He told me that he loved that I loved others, and cared for them, but that I couldn’t find my worth in loving them. He said that he wanted to show me how to love people and myself correctly. But he said, I couldn’t do that until I found my value, worth, and love in him. And all I had to do was love him in return. I was scared at first, but as I started to get to know him more, I realized, that he was unlike any other person I met before. He didn’t use me nor compare me to anyone else. He called me beautiful daily, he listened to me talk about my hurts, my pains, and my dreams for something more with my life. I began to trust him, and fell in love with him. He asked me to be with him forever, and I said yes, as his bride! And Every time I hurt him, he always took me back, because he told me he loved me too much to hold all of that against me. It is in those moments I know he is the definition of love, and he is what I was meant for.  And I’m discovering more every day, that his love is indescribable, relentless, ever forgiving, and eternal. In return, I try to love him more each day, by spending time with him, doing what he says is right for me, and telling others about his love.

And that is what he also wants to extend to you. He wants to show you that your worth can only be found in him and his love. That he sees you as a beautiful, precious, perfect women. He sees the hard things you are going through, sees what is tearing you away from him. He got rid of all that on the cross, and now, if you will let him, he will come live in you and show you the magnitude of his love for you. He will even show you how to go and tell others about his love, to invite them into finding their worth and value in him also. Let him love you, let him define you, let him be all you need. I promise you, you will find your worth as a woman or man. Ask him how much he loves you, how much you are worth it, and I promise, he will show you.

 “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” –1 John 4:9-10

Brianna Ebanks

Brianna Ebanks is a senior at The University Of Tampa and a leader in her college ministry. She leads a bible study called Women Of Worth and teaches peers the love that Jesus has for them. God has used Bri in an amazing way to establish Jesus as the one and only identity for women.