Dr Paul Allen

Holy Spirit Gifts and Power by Paul Walker Without a doubt, the Pentecostal revival of the early 1900s and the Charismatic renewal, which began in the late 1950s, constitute one of the most innovative and impactive spiritual renovations in history. But when we invest ligate this phenomenon, we must ask: 1) Why has this happened? 2) What is this doing? and 3) How can spiritual integrity be maintained?  Why Has This Happened? The first reason has been an evident need for renewal of mission and purpose throughout the church and among its individual members. Second, given this need for renewal, there has been a definite movement on the part of sincere believers to recover the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit, which transformed and empowered the early Christians. Emerging from this movement has been an inbreaking of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by speaking in tongues, among believers in every significant denomination, demonstrating that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a denominati...

What is Pentecost in the Bible? Most people associate it with the day God poured out his Holy Spirit on the Jerusalem church in the Upper Room, enabling his disciples to perform incredible acts—like healings, speaking in tongues, prophesying, and inspired preaching1—as told in Acts 2:1–4: When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Jesus had promised his disciples a “baptism in the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5, 8), that he would send them a “Helper” who would “teach [them] all things” (John 14:26), and that he would not leave the disciples “as orphans” (John 14:18). That day, as about 120 disciples huddled in a room in Jerusalem, those promises ...

On at least four occasions (arguably five) Luke describes, with a form of the verb pimplēmi, people who have already received the Holy Spirit as being “filled” with the Spirit . Each time this verb is employed to describe someone being “filled with the Spirit,” extraordinary things follow —an inspired proclamation of the Gospel (2:4; 4:8, 31), restoration of sight and subsequent proclamation (9:17), or authoritative denunciation (13:9–11).49 Whereas the phrase “full of the Spirit,” using plērēs/plēroō, is generally used to characterize a believer’s lifestyle , Luke’s use of the verb pimplēmi to describe a filling is reserved for temporary bursts of the Spirit’s power. Other instances of pimplēmi in Acts demonstrate the temporary nature of “fillings” described with this verb. In response to the healing of the lame man, all the people are “filled with wonder and amazement” (3:10). In response to the immense success and influence of the apostles (5:12–16), the high priest and S...