Empowered21 Urges Pastors to Preach Power of Holy Spirit on Pentecost; More Than 600 Million Pentecostal, Charismatic Globally

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Thursday, May 29, 2014

With more than 600 million Pentecostal and charismatic Christians around the world, the "Spirit-empowerment" movement called Empowerment21 is urging pastors and relevant Christian ministries to declare the Holy Spirit and its power this Pentecost season which culminates on Sunday June 8, 2014.

Dr. William Wilson, president of Oral Roberts University and Empowered21 global co-chair, explained in an interview with The Christian Post this week that the experience of the Holy Spirit is still as powerful and relevant as recorded in the book of Acts in the Bible.

"[We] all believe in the work of the Holy Spirit, the immediacy of the Holy Spirit and that what God did through the early church in the book of Acts still happens in the 21st Century," said Wilson. "God is not finished with his work of the Holy Spirit among us."

Empowered21 is designed to serve the future of that fast-growing 600-million member movement by helping a new generation of young men and women around the world "understand the work of the Holy Spirit and connect with the Holy Spirit in a personal way," said Wilson.

In the entire book of Acts explained Wilson: "Luke is writing Acts to demonstrate to Theophilus, the growth of Christianity. And he demonstrates in the book of Acts that the growth of Christianity really is instigated in many ways by the work of the Holy Spirit."

"That's why he begins the book with Acts chapter 2, this experience of the Holy Spirit then carries all the way through the book of Acts. You see in the very last chapter, Acts 28, Paul performing miracles on the island of Malta so the miraculous continues," he explained.

"What we believe in the Spirit-empowered movement is that even after the canonization of scripture, that the miraculous continues and that the Holy Spirit is still at work and vibrant in today's Christianity and we can know Him as Mary the mother of Jesus did. We can know his work in a personal way as those we see in the book of Acts," he added.

Pastors and other ministry leaders can find resources about the Holy Spirit at empowered21.com. A 30-day devotional on the Spirit-filled life can also be accessed here.