A Taste of Pentecost

The simple story of what happened at the ministerial association evangelistic council, May 14-18, Camp Berkshire, New York

By the ministry staff

This felt like heaven," declared a pastor-evangelist of long experience. One man, with a forty-eight-year evangelistic service record and still active, said, "I have attended numerous councils and meetings, but I have never witnessed anything like this in my life."

Another minister expressed it this way: "If I had missed this meeting, and then heard what God had done, I would have been abso­lutely heartsick."

True, there was powerful preaching. But the outpouring of the Spirit of God is what made the,dif­ference. There seemed to be a crescendo of power showered upon the camp. The amazing thing was that after each service all felt that we had reached the zenith. Yet the refreshing continued into the f are-well communion service on Sabbath night.

Plans for this council were not laid with­out much thought and prayer. The evening before it began, our small staff gave expres­sion to what we hoped would be accom­plished. Earnest, fervent prayers were of­fered, pleading with God to do something  special for us. Yet none dreamed what God had in store.

The spontaneous response was actually startling. No individual could tell you why he felt or acted as he did. From our limited knowledge of Pentecost, all we lacked, it seemed, were the visible tongues of fire. None who attended the entire time had ever before witnessed the heart warmth and the tender regard shown for one another. Man after man declared, "I have never had such a feeling of love for my brethren." The love of Jesus Christ pierced every heart.

A remarkable experience was the testi­mony of one who confessed that he had come to the meeting with resentment and hate in his heart. This man stood one eve­ning and faced the entire group as he broke into song. Soon all joined him. Then he told how it all took place.

He had gone to his room during one of the meetings that day, as the Spirit of God gripped his heart. Now he declared to us, "I've got a problem, but the real problem is with self—myself!" Then he continued, "You know, I have had a feeling against some of my brethren. I didn't want a man of a different race to step into my home. But something has happened to me. I can't explain it. I love all of you." His face lighted up as he expressed this love.

If there was a credibility gap in grasp­ing the reality of the potent words of Acts of the Apostles, page 46, to us it was now gone forever. Here they are: "Their very features bore evidence to the surrender they had made."

Yes, all our faces were lighted up with joy and happiness. Love radiated as the spirit of Christ showed through. God was made real. The graphic words of Acts of the Apostles, page 38, made sense to us: "The sword of the Spirit, newly edged with power and bathed in the lightnings of heaven, cut its way through unbelief!"

No, the buildings weren't shaken by the Holy Spirit, but lives were. They were changed by the power of God. You would have thought this group of experienced pastors, evangelists, and administrators were just new converts to the truth.

We want to make it clear that many factors contributed to this experience under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. On the third day the evening meeting, lasted from seven-thirty until after one o'clock in the morning without a break. The hard steel folding chairs were anything but soft, but no one noticed. No entertainment could have captured the attention of this group for such a long period of time.

One administrator testified that pressing duties nearly kept him from coming, and then he had not planned to stay the entire time, because he had an appointment early Sunday morning. Then as tears began to roll down his conservative face, he said, "I don't know what I would have done had I missed this meeting. I know it will mean that I will have to drive most of the night to meet my early morning appointment, but it's worth it all!"

One man handed in the following note: "The work started in sacrifice and we are told it will be ended in sacrifice. It surely has been no sacrifice to be here if I let the conference pay the bill. I wish to place the amount spent on my trip here in a fund to be used to finish the work. Maybe others would like to, maybe not, but I feel I want to make a concrete sacrifice to God to begin a rededicated ministry from this point."

Hearts were warmed as never before. There was a contagious freedom from a critical spirit. The professionalism evi­denced at the beginning melted like flakes of snow before an atomic blast.

The early morning meeting began with a ten-minute devotion after which we broke up into prayer bands for testimonies, discussion, and prayer. Hearts were welded together. At one prayer band a minister spoke up and said, "If Brother_________ had had the gift of healing when this meeting started, I would have been jealous of him." Then another minister broke in and said, "Now we pray that God will give him this gift!"

The meeting was marked by a freedom from awkwardness and embarrassment. On the part of many there was no hesitation to go up and put their arms around a brother whom they had never met before and express a deep appreciation for his presence. There was nothing forced about our ac­tions. Nothing was put on. It was not a theatrical performance. There was an ur­gency, a deep desire, a longing, to share with one another our love for Christ.

At the communion service a revival of genuine love was evident. Even the kiss of peace was restored! Most of us haven't seen this in an American communion serv­ice in years. Oh, how the Spirit took con­trol and guided our thirsty hearts to the wells of salvation! How Christ was made real at every service!

This was not just a streak of strong, emo­tional ecstasy. True, deep, holy emotion was exhibited. But it was not fanatical in the least. Every man can testify to this. There were times when it seemed that the entire group were in tears, but there was no touch of fanaticism whatever. It was love, deep love, which ran true and strong and freely through the hearts of all of us. Jesus took on new meaning to every soul.

We had come seeking new methods, new ways of evangelism, but somehow methods, ideas, suggestions, as important as they were, took second place to the working of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts. We sensed as never before that this work will not be finished by mere methods alone. It will never be finished by excessive expendi­ture of energy. It will never be finished by mere plans and resolutions. It will never be finished by slogans. It will never be fin­ished by the blowing of trumpets and fancy fanfare. It will never be finished by organ­ization alone. But it will be finished when ministers and laity alike seek for the power of the Holy Spirit as we sought it in those few hours and received it in a limited measure.

This tiny taste of what God can do for us is merely a slight mist in comparison with the showers that are due. We firmly believe that floods of power are yet to be poured out upon us; a time when we will see barriers broken down as they were at Pentecost and multitudes accept this mes­sage.

If a casual observer had dropped in on us, perhaps he would have been mystified at what was taking place. Could he have fully understood the meaning of the Spirit-filled testimonies? He might have been puz­zled by the unending chorus of Amens. He would have been amazed as he saw men of different races in small groups standing here and there with heads turned toward heaven pleading for God's blessing. Could he have understood why even the recreational periods seemed to fade into in­significance toward the end of this spirit­ual feast? Would he not have been startled to hear two hundred men spontaneously break out in song after song? Would he have wondered why the leader found it difficult to close the meetings on time? How would he have felt to witness men stand­ing to testify who couldn't speak with words, but only with tears?

One helpful feature was the unique eve­ning briefing sessions on disturbing trends within and without the church. The hon­esty and frankness of these presentations amazed us. We knew these things were happening, but few have dared to express them openly. To each of us, these new in­sights cleared the air, brought deeper un­derstanding, and inspired fresh confidence in the leadership of this movement.

The Sabbath day of fasting and prayer went by quickly. More than one said that he had not even thought about eating. A spiritual intensity possessed the minds and hearts of all. Desires to be more like Christ and to be filled with His Spirit were freely expressed.

This report has not been written to glo­rify any man or group of men. Following such a meeting our only desire is to glo­rify God and Him alone. For this reason all names have been omitted. We simply desire to share with our world ministry the Spirit-filled breakthrough that took place—an experience the church has long awaited. Our only regret is that the magni­tude of it came as a surprise.

We left believing that what took place at Camp Berkshire can and must take place throughout the entire ministry. We left believing that the hour is long past when we can with clear conscience neglect prayer and study of the Word of God. We left believing that it is time for us as ministers to be better fathers and better husbands. We left believing that the time has come for us to pray for one another within the ministry. We left believing that this ex­perience must be shared with our laity.

Really, this was not simply a council on evangelism. It was a council on Pentecost!


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By the ministry staff

July 1968

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