Let the Fire fall!
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:11
God wants His church baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire! One translation of the Bible says that when the Holy Spirit clothes us with power, we are “fully equipped” (Luke 24:49 AMP). An old tradition from Yosemite National Park has something to say to us about Pentecost fire.
For about the first 100 years of Yosemite being a National Park, they had a tradition called the “Firefall”. A hotel owner built campfires on the edge of the cliff of Glacier Point and instead of putting the fire out with water, decided to shove the embers off the cliff making what is known as the Firefall–a steady stream of what looked like hot lava pouring off the 3,000 ft. cliff!
At the start time, a master of ceremonies would shout “let the fire fall!” as live music played the soundtrack. The glowing embers would be shoved off the cliff and thousands would come to see this spectacle.
However, the tradition ended in 1968 because it was a fire hazard and not the best way to take care of the park. A few years later a photographer noticed at another waterfall that, at sunset time, would reflect orange, red, and yellow and look like a firefall…but it was an illusion.*
I couldn’t help but think of Pentecost fire when I heard this story.
“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Acts 2:1-4
The original church was baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire! They preached the gospel with power, moved in healing and miracles, and God accompanied their ministry. The fire fell and the world was changed.
However, I wonder if the modern church is in danger of having an illusion of power. It might look like a firefall, but it’s just the lights. It’s just the smoke. There might be a nice production, but is there power?
The Yosemite Firefall was canceled because it was a fire hazard. Things might get burned up. That works for Yosemite, but in the church, I’d rather have a fire hazard than an illusion of fire!
The fire is a hazard to the devil. The fire is a hazard to dead religion. The fire is a hazard to powerless Christianity. Let the religious mindsets get burned up. Let the fear get burned up. Let the things that hinder a move of God get burned up.
Don’t settle for an illusion of fire when you’ve got access to the real thing!
We need the fire of God!
God wants His church to be a place of encounter with the power of God. God wants His people to be carriers of the flame.
If the Habit burger got anything right, it’s that “It’s not the same without the flame.”
Let the God who burns in the burning bush call on you today to burn with the holy flame of His Spirit.
Ask God for a fresh outpouring this Pentecost. Not so you can have a nice feel-good moment, but that you would be baptized with power, produce supernatural evidence of the reality of God, and point people to Jesus!
Let the fire fall!