Pentecost Ponderings

Over and over
Let your mercy cover me
Over and over
Let your river run through me
O Holy Spirit
Pour down like rain
Over and over again



Rev. Luis Cabral was yesterday's guest speaker at church. He is also speaking at the church camp in Penang this week.

If anyone embodies Pentacostalism, it is this man. Yet I have thoroughly enjoyed all of his sermons; the first time I heard him was (I think) at a Glad Tidings (GT) Christmas service (or some other event) in a hotel some years back. Then the second time was at GT Jalan Gasing. When he first came to our new premises in Section 13, I think I was sick and could not make it to church. So Mum bought the sermon VCD and one of his books for me. Yesteday was my fourth 'encounter' with Luis Cabral.

One of his signature 'phrases' is "I tell you what," which frequently pops up whenever he preaches.

He preached from Acts 8:4 onwards, but never concluded as he went off on several tangents (actually, that's one of the things I like about him; it reminds me of myself!), and the following are excerpts from my sermon notes. Apart from my comments in square brackets, the rest are generally to be read as his words.

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Please pray that Portugal will win the World Cup...

Now Philip went preaching the Word... proclaiming Christ (vv. 4-5)
There was much joy in the city (v. 8). It's better than Prozac! Imagine, city-wide joy; start smiling!

Even Simon the Sorcerer believed (v. 13). If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. There is no power greater than the power of the Holy Spirit.

There is a battle for the souls of people, a conflict of powers. What will determine the outcome, is which power is greater.

Simon called himself great (Greek 'Mega'), but he was no match for the O-mega!

Americans spend 56 billion US dollars on psychic hotlines every year. There is a sense of emptiness/powerlessness that can only be filled by Jesus. ["Life without Jesus is like a donut" -- Robert C. Evans]

People ask me why I don't seem to worry. Well, I've got this peace that surpasseth understanding. Bible says God neither slumbers nor sleeps. There's no point we both stay awake, as if my peanut brain can help Jesus!

[At some point, he went off into a fit of laughter, punctuated with interjections of 'Wooh!' and 'Praise God!' rather like Pastor Donald Anamalai when he preached several months ago. Having finally recovered (after freaking out the church!), he said, "Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness."]

I live in a country [New Zealand, but Cabral is actually Portuguese] which has the highest youth suicide rate in the world... But there's no high like the Most High, and if you want to get stoned, Jesus is the rock!

Today there are many self-help books, which tell you how to master your destiny. But that is the wrong place to search, because it's not about positive thinking or Anthony Robbins or looking within for personal power. It's about looking to God.

When the Holy Spirit comes, we will be filled with rivers of joy. I wasn't baptised in lemon juice!
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As I think about Pentecost (which was yesterday), I am reminded of the words of Gerard Manley Hopkins, quoted in Philip Yancey's Reaching for the Invisible God:

"Christ was himself but one and lived and died but once; but the Holy Ghost makes of every Christian another Christ, an AfterChrist; lives a million lives in every age..."

Perhaps that is what Pentecost is about. And if it is so, I am under no pressure to leave the Pentecostal faith. I was raised Pentecostal, and lived a very interdenominational teenage life because of the Christian Union in school and my involvement with SU/FES. I have, now and then, entertained thoughts of becoming an Anglican or Catholic, but lately I see no reason to remove this Pentecostal 'label.'

I don't speak in tongues, so what? I don't agree with all their doctrines, so what? I think it was during the Church History sessions at d'NA last year, when our lecturer Aunty Gaik Kim mentioned that the church has been consistent with only one thing over two thousand years: splitting.


Prior to the sermon, a friend of Cabral's (also Portuguese) performed the song 'Everytime I Pray' on the oboe. The chorus goes like this:

And everytime I pray
I move the hands of God
My prayer does the things
My hands cannot do
And everytime I pray
Mountains are removed
The paths are made straight
And nations turn to you

It was during this song that I recalled something Tee Ming always tells me: Pray, pray, pray! I was reminded then, that real friends will tell you what is right and what you ought to hear, not necessarily (and sometimes even rarely) what you want to hear. Lately I have taken the easy way out of things, but I must get back to praying, to actually talking with God.


There are many views on the Pentecost, including profound insights from C.S. Lewis in his essay, 'Transposition.' The full account can be found in Acts Chapter 2, so I need not describe it here. But I think it is important to be reminded of Jesus' words regarding this indwelling of the Holy Spirit:

He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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 1:7-8

I know there are many who are sceptical of this 'power,' and many non-Pentecostals continue to downplay signs of the miraculous and incredible, not the least of which is the gift of speaking in tongues. In fact, even many in the Pentecostal camp are divided on this matter.

As for me, my stand is this: if God wishes to employ the unbelievable and miraculous, who's to stop him? Yes, there is danger in power, for power can corrupt; there is also danger because power can come from both good and evil sources. But are we then to say that Jesus could not have been a carpenter, because carpenters are not Messiahs? I suppose this was the gist of Lewis' arguments in 'Transposition.'

At the risk of sounding a little too self-conscious, I must say that although I enjoy Lewis' writings very much, this is ultimately my own opinion. I do not know the extent to which I have been influenced by him (which may be much greater than I realise), but I have attempted to search myself as thoroughly as I could before arriving at this place where I now stand.


Perhaps my only guide in this is Jesus Christ. The second Person of the Trinity makes the first (the Father) known to us, and operates through the third (the Holy Spirit). I am no theologian, but I have read enough of the Bible (the whole of it, and twice through) to know that Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the Almighty God (El-Shaddai) of the Old Testament, as well as the Spirit who indwells each believer from the Twelve Apostles till now.

And I don't think Jesus would make such a big fuss over denominations, let alone over churches. His message then is his message now, and maybe even more important today than ever before.

I suppose the long and short of it is this: I'm proud to be called a Pentecostal. Never mind what people say. It is not the so-called defining signs of Pentecostalism that make me a Pentecostal, but my desire to be made an 'AfterChrist': to have the power of the Holy Spirit that I may be an effective witness for Jesus.

How shall I translate that? I want to be more and more like Jesus, to be an apprentice of the Maestro, to synchronise my heartbeat with the heartbeat of God, to play music that will cause others to listen. But I pray that I may never play so badly as to dishonour my Lord, but also never so well that I forget my position as merely an apprentice.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)


The truth is probably that it is this desire that unites Christians of all denominations, despite the outward appearances and practices that often distract us from our Master. I find myself agreeing with Bono when he said, "I don't see denomination. I feel equally at home at the back of a large, dark cathedral as I do under the bright lights of a revival tent."

And if we ever ask our Master, or if any dissension should ever arise, his answer will probably be the same as the one he gave his forerunner, John the Baptist:

The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.

--Matthew 11:4-6 (The Message)

In recalling the events that led to his AIDS and Africa activism, Bono said, "[Someone] once told me: don't ask God to bless what you're doing. Find out what God's doing, and do it, for it is already blessed."

What is the Messiah doing? What music is the Maestro making? For that I wish to be doing also.


Before his performance, Cabral's friend quoted Psalm 118:23. The entire psalm is worth reading, and I daresay, remembering.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Let Israel say:
"His love endures forever."

Let the house of Aaron say:
"His love endures forever."

Let those who fear the LORD say:
"His love endures forever."

In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.

The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.

It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.

It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.

All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.

The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.

Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!

The LORD's right hand is lifted high;
the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"

I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.

The LORD has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.

Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.

This is the gate of the LORD
through which the righteous may enter.

I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.

The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;

the LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

O LORD, save us;
O LORD, grant us success.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you.

The LORD is God,
and he has made his light shine upon us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.


Amen.