The sound of the explosion was heard up to 3,000 miles away in Perth Australia.
That is on the ground reports following the Krakatoa volcano eruption in Indonesia in 1883. Its “blast zone” was felt worldwide because of a strange event within the volcano which occurred as it was undergoing a “normal” explosion. So what happened you say?
The bottom line is this: something got inside it. Tuck that thought away for now as I give you a twenty second lesson in volcanology. Don’t worry. You can steal the illustration later at no charge!
As Krakatoa’s walls began to rupture after its first two explosions, ocean water entered the magamatic chambers of the volcano creating the conditions for a “phreatomagmatic” (pronounced free-atto-mag-matic) event. This was the secret power behind Krakatoa’s unusual force and displacement powers. In simpler terms: the mother of all pressure cookers was created, contained, and then carried outward at the moment when the power below overcame the pressure above holding it down.
The result: a super-explosion that, quite literally, rocked the world.
Sitting on a spiritual pressure cooker?
So what do “phreatomagmatic” volcanic events, Krakatoa, the Holy Spirit, and rocking the world have to do with God’s people in this age?
With Krakatoa as our backdrop, listen afresh to Jesus explain to his men how something would get inside them and explode outward to a waiting world.
“What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.” As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared –in white robes! They said, “You Galileans! – why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly – and mysteriously –as he left.” (1:8-11 Message paraphrase).
The magma of heaven had been building up to this exact moment and the conditions were ripe for a divine explosion. Follow me on the journey to this moment. Jesus’ leaving was a first and necessary explosion the disciples had to feel. The walls of their personal expectations (i.e., Jesus physically booting the Romans) would finally collapse by his ascension, making way for a flooding entry of the Holy Spirit. In other words, an emotional low in the disciples and a power from “on high” were about to coalesce, establishing the perfect conditions for a Spirit-induced thermo-hydraulic explosion of power that would send shockwaves over the entire planet for centuries to come.
The divine recipe for an evangelistic and social revolution?
- A full “cup” of the Holy Spirit
- One small community of willing men
- An audience waiting to witness men acting out of character (in a good way)
- People needing to be helped by this movement
The result: an encapsulating, all consuming encounter with the Holy Spirit for that moment, in that context, in that community of men, manifesting itself in culturally specific ways to explode the Kingdom of God forward in high definition resolution.
The end game of the Holy Spirit in your community of people has not changed. He has designs on their moment in time, in their personal context, and wants to work through them in culturally powerful ways to create an earth shattering witness that rises above broken culture to create waves of spiritual and social health.
This first men’s movement in Jerusalem and the modern global context have much in common. For starters, the world is sitting on our porch. Back then, the Feast of Pentecost brought the known world to Jerusalem. Today, technology brings the planet to our cell phones. We can see what the world is up to!
Billions of technology users can see and hear exactly what is happening on any day on any part of the planet. The global dynamics of that first Pentecost and it’s God-designed blast zone potential makes the times we live in today ripe for the next global revival led by people acting counter-culturally under the leadership and filling of the Holy Spirit.
Like the disciples, millions of God’s people globally are disillusioned at the current state of affairs, staring at the skies, waiting for the life they thought they would live to reappear. It is time for a prophetic voice to issue a reality statement and spark the next spiritual revolution like the angel did when the disciples were dazed and confused after Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Who will break into their malaise and tell them of the higher purposes and plans of God that dwarf culture’s vision for them? Who will stand up like Peter and boldly relay the message that it is time to commit themselves to God without apology? Who will make sense of this hour of confusion and transition for them by telling them it is their time to follow and serve Christ? Who will charge them to go agent health and justice personally, locally, and globally? Who will provide a vision that is strong enough to attract all strata of men and women?
That prophetic voice is you my fellow pastor and the people in your community are waiting. Most importantly, the world is waiting for a new wave of spiritual and social health driven by people of the Spirit releasing captives, relieving pain, reducing loads, raising spirits and reaching souls in the mold of Pentecost. Join me in this exciting movement of God. I see it happening in my own church and community and it can happen in yours too.
Do you need more of Kenny Luck’s words of wisdom and insight? Check out What God’s Man Can Do About Bullying.
Kenny Luck is the founder of Every Man Ministries and the men’s pastor at Saddleback Church. His 20th book – SLEEPING GIANT: No Movement of God without Men of God – is the proven blueprint for men’s ministries, and was recently released through Broadman & Holman Books. To learn more about Pastor Kenny Luck visit EveryManMinistries.com.
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