Celebrate Pentecost Sunday Today!

In honor of today being Pentecost Sunday I am re-posting the 2nd chapter of the Book of Acts from Acts In The Now. I haven't been working on this project for a while now, but I certainly haven't abandoned it altogether. The Gospels In The Now has been out for a couple of years, and I'm happy (and grateful) to say that it has been very well received. I'm especially grateful that I haven't been burned at the stake as other Bible translators were in the past! TGITN has also turned out to be one of the most successful of any of my books, second only, I think, to A Year In The Now. I'm working on a very different kind of book at the moment, but I still plan on eventually paraphrasing at least the New Testament.

A couple of other things...prints of my painting entitled "PENTECOST" (above) are available at www.churchinthenow.org...and I hope to see many of you today at CHURCH IN THE NOW EAST! I've got a good for you...

I've broken up most of the chapter with an acrostic for the word PENTECOST that I've posted before. Enjoy...



                               PENTECOST IS:



P - ushing limits

(Acts 2:1-4 - Acts In The Now)

For well over a week this group stayed in the Upper Room, praying and communing...connecting...basically, just waiting for whatever, as Jesus had instructed them. Day after day, for hours on end, they had been in the same flow...the same mindset...the same hopeful expectation. So by the time the day of Pentecost finally rolled around, they were all together...all together in one place, physically...all together in one place, mentally…all together in one place, spiritually. Then, suddenly, without warning, a thunderous, earthshaking sound like the blast of a violent windstorm burst out of the heavenly realm, and permeated the entire building where they were meeting.3. And they began to see a manifestation of fire hovering above their heads, which eventually separated into individual flames. Each of these flames somehow resembled a human tongue, and these “tongues of fire” came to rest on each of them. Every last one in the place was filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled him or her.

E - mbracing diversity

(Acts 2:5,6 - Acts In The Now)

Now there were staying in Jerusalem devout Jews, pilgrims from literally every nation in the known world. And when they heard this sonic boom send shock waves through the entire city, a huge crowd of them came together in excited confusion to see what was going on. They traced the sound to the Upper Room, and when they arrived there they became even more disoriented because each one heard their own language simultaneously being spoken.

N - etworking nationals

(Acts 2:7,8 - Acts In The Now)

Utterly amazed, they said "Hey…aren't all these who are speaking Galileans?! How is it possible that each of us hears them fluently speaking in our native language?

T - ranscending culture

(Acts 2:9-11 - Acts In The Now) 

Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs…we hear them declaring nothing but the wonders of God…describing His wonderful works and mercy to all…and we hear and understand what they are saying in our own tongues!"

E - mpowering believers

(Acts 2:12,13 - Acts In The Now) 

Utterly perplexed, they tried to rationalize what it was that they were seeing and hearing, asking one another, "What on earth does this mean?" Some, however, unable to comprehend or accept this phenomenon, simply made fun of them, attacking what they didn’t understand by saying, "Ahhh…this is nothing but a bunch of drunks acting crazy."

C - ommunicating truth

(Acts 2:14,15 - Acts In The Now)

Then Peter, being the first one to speak up, as usual, stood with the Eleven, raised his voice, and boldly addressed the crowd, saying, "Listen, all of you who live here in Jerusalem…and listen, all of you who are here visiting. Let me enlighten you as to what is happening here and now…listen carefully to what I say! You are trying to make sense of this spiritual occurrence with your natural minds, which is why you have opted to believe that these people are just drunk…but you can’t honestly believe that. Not only is it only nine in the morning, but you know full well that drunkenness doesn’t enable anyone to speak fluently about the wonderful works of God in languages that they don’t know!

O - vercoming divisions

(Acts 2:16-18 - Acts In The Now)

No, this is what was spoken centuries ago by the prophet, Joel, when he said, " 'In the days of fulfillment, God says, I will pour out of My Spirit on all people…on the entirety of humanity…and when everyone, everywhere, ultimately encounters a revelation and manifestation of My Spirit, both your sons and daughters together will prophesy, your young people will walk in visionary insight, and your old people will dream the dreams of God. In other words, this outpouring will not favor one generation over the other. Neither will this outpouring have any preference for station or status…it will touch the full range of servitude, from slaves, to the totality of the working class…nor will it discriminate because of gender, for it will be equally experienced by both men and women, alike. I will pour out of my Spirit with full abandon in those days, and they will all prophesy...every one of them!’

S - eeing globalism

(Acts 2:19-21 - Acts In The Now) 

Then, speaking in poetic, prophetic vocabulary, or in the symbolic language of prophecy, (Genesis 1:14 - 16; Isaiah 13:9, 10; 34:4; Amos 8:9; Ezekiel 32:7, 8), Joel went on to say, ‘I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, that will appear as blood, fire, and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the full manifestation of the great and glorious day of the Lord.’ In this way He used the same imagery that the other Prophets of old employed to speak of the downfall of earthly authorities and governors. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved from any chaotic fallout that will come as a result of the transition of power, when the earth is no longer ruled by natural thrones and crowns (“suns and moons”), but totally and completely by My Spirit!

T - aking dominion

(Acts 2:22-28 - Acts In The Now)

"People…Israelites and foreign delegates, alike…listen to this…Jesus of Nazareth was a man thoroughly accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God performed among you here in Israel through Him. I‘m really not telling you anything that you don‘t already know. But to give you some context, allow me to tell the whole story. This man, Jesus, was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge…in other words, from the eternal perspective…in the God-reality…it was absolutely the Divine will for it to happen exactly as it did. But here in the natural, temporal realm, you, with the help of manipulative men who found a loophole in the law, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. In this dimension and reality…from the human perspective…it was simply an unjust execution of an innocent man. But, regardless of what it was on this side of these parallel realities, God raised Him from the dead, totally freeing Him from the agony and authority of death. The obvious truth is that, in the grand scheme of things, it was just impossible for death to keep its hold on Him in any way. David had this to say about Him: 'I saw the Lord before me for all time…and because He was and is beside me at my right hand, nothing in the world can shake me.Therefore my heart (my spirit) is in a state of ecstasy…and my tongue (my speech) is overflowing with expressions of joy. And when my physical life comes to an end, my body will rest peacefully in hope, and in confident expectation, because I know that you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead…you will not allow your Holy One to be contaminated with the stench of death. You have revealed to me all the paths of life…you will fill me to overflowing with joy in Your presence."

Acts In The Now 2:22-28

22. "People…Israelites and foreign delegates, alike…listen to this…Jesus of Nazareth was a man thoroughly accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God performed among you here in Israel through Him. I‘m really not telling you anything that you don‘t already know.

23. But to give you some context, allow me to tell the whole story. This man, Jesus, was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge…in other words, from the eternal perspective…in the God-reality…it was absolutely the Divine will for it to happen exactly as it did. But here in the natural, temporal realm, you, with the help of manipulative men who found a loophole in the law, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. In this dimension and reality…from the human perspective…it was simply an unjust execution of an innocent man.

24. But, regardless of what it was on this side of these parallel realities, God raised Him from the dead, totally freeing Him from the agony and authority of death. The obvious truth is that, in the grand scheme of things, it was just impossible for death to keep its hold on Him in any way.

25. David had this to say about Him: 'I saw the Lord before me for all time…and because He was and is beside me at my right hand, nothing in the world can shake me.

26. Therefore my heart (my spirit) is in a state of ecstasy…and my tongue (my speech) is overflowing with expressions of joy. And when my physical life comes to an end, my body will rest peacefully in hope, and in confident expectation,

27. because I know that you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead…you will not allow your Holy One to be contaminated with the stench of death.

28. You have revealed to me all the paths of life…you will fill me to overflowing with joy in Your presence.'"

Acts In The Now 2:14 - 21

14. Then Peter, being the first one to speak up, as usual, stood with the Eleven, raised his voice, and boldly addressed the crowd, saying, "Listen, all of you who live here in Jerusalem…and listen, all of you who are here visiting. Let me enlighten you as to what is happening here and now…listen carefully to what I say!

15. You are trying to make sense of this spiritual occurrence with your natural minds, which is why you have opted to believe that these people are just drunk…but you can’t honestly believe that. Not only is it only nine in the morning, but you know full well that drunkenness doesn’t enable anyone to speak fluently about the wonderful works of God in languages that they don’t know!

16. No, this is what was spoken centuries ago by the prophet, Joel, when he said,

17. " 'In the days of fulfillment, God says, I will pour out of My Spirit on all people…on the entirety of humanity…and when everyone, everywhere, ultimately encounters a revelation and manifestation of My Spirit, both your sons and daughters together will prophesy, your young people will walk in visionary insight, and your old people will dream the dreams of God. In other words, this outpouring will not favor one generation over the other.

18. Neither will this outpouring have any preference for station or status…it will touch the full range of servitude, from slaves, to the totality of the working class…nor will it discriminate because of gender, for it will be equally experienced by both men and women, alike. I will pour out of my Spirit with full abandon in those days, and they will all prophesy...every one of them!’

19. Then, speaking in poetic, prophetic vocabulary, or in the symbolic language of prophecy, (Genesis 1:14 - 16; Isaiah 13:9, 10; 34:4; Amos 8:9; Ezekiel 32:7, 8), Joel went on to say, ‘I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, that will appear as blood, fire, and billows of smoke.

20. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the full manifestation of the great and glorious day of the Lord.’ In this way He used the same imagery that the other Prophets of old employed to speak of the downfall of earthly authorities and governors.

21. ‘And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved from any chaotic fallout that will come as a result of the transition of power, when the earth is no longer ruled by natural thrones and crowns (“suns and moons”), but totally and completely by My Spirit!'

PENTECOST SUNDAY/CHURCH IN THE NOW 25th ANNIVERSARY/ACTS IN THE NOW, CHAPTER 2, VERSES 1-13

Church In The Now (then Word of Faith Assembly of God) had its premier service on Pentecost Sunday, 1985, which fell that year on May 26. 54 people, responding to an ad in the paper and some door to door canvassing, met in a little storefront on Royal Drive, and began a ministry based on Psalms 2:8, which in the KJV says: "Ask of Me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."

Fast forward a quarter of a century, three locations, four buildings (and building programs and renovations and property expansions later), and it's 2010. The future is now! God has been good, and as the classic gospel songs says, "We've come this far by faith". This year Pentecost falls on Sunday, the 23rd*, and on that day we will celebrate CITN's Silver Jubilee!

Joining in the celebration with us will be...















...Pastors and Grammy and Dove Award winning artists,
Dony and Reba Rambo-McGuire...
















...Country star and Dove Award winning artist, Ty Herndon...


















...Recording artist, Daniel Kirkley...





















...Stellar Award winning artist, Ted Winn...

...and many others, including Bishop Tom Smith, Senator Ronald Ramsey, and Senator Hank Johnson. There will be an afternoon of outside fun for the whole family immediately following the service, including a BBQ picnic, a concert on the lake, and moonwalks, games, and other kid stuff all over the CITN campus. The entire community is invited...

The first sermon I ever preached here was out of Acts 2, and here I am all these years later working on the Acts In The Now paraphrase...and I'm just up to Chapter 2. The timing couldn't be better! Here's what I have so far:

Acts In The Now 2:1-13

1. For well over a week this group stayed in the Upper Room, praying and communing…connecting…basically, just waiting for whatever, as Jesus had instructed them. Day after day, for hours on end, they had been in the same flow…the same mindset…the same hopeful expectation. So by the time the day of Pentecost finally rolled around, they were all together…all together in one place, physically…all together in one place, mentally…all together in one place, spiritually.

2. Then, suddenly, without warning, a thunderous, earthshaking sound like the blast of a violent windstorm burst out of the heavenly realm, and permeated the entire building where they were meeting.

3. And they began to see a manifestation of fire hovering above their heads, which eventually separated into individual flames. Each of these flames somehow resembled a human tongue, and these “tongues of fire” came to rest on each of them.

4. Every last one in the place was filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled him or her.

5. Now there were staying in Jerusalem devout Jews, pilgrims from literally every nation in the known world.

6. And when they heard this sonic boom send shock waves through the entire city, a huge crowd of them came together in excited confusion to see what was going on. They traced the sound to the Upper Room, and when they arrived there they became even more disoriented because each one heard their own language simultaneously being spoken.

7. Utterly amazed, they said "Hey…aren't all these who are speaking Galileans?!

8. How is it possible that each of us hears them fluently speaking in our native language?

9. Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

10. Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome

11. (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs…we hear them declaring nothing but the wonders of God…describing His wonderful works and mercy to all…and we hear and understand what they are saying in our own tongues!"

12. Utterly perplexed, they tried to rationalize what it was that they were seeing and hearing, asking one another, "What on earth does this mean?"

13. Some, however, unable to comprehend or accept this phenomenon, simply made fun of them, attacking what they didn’t understand by saying, "Ahhh…this is nothing but a bunch of drunks acting crazy."

*CITN begins streaming all services live on the internet again this Sunday (www.churchinthenow.org)...

Acts In The Now 1:12 - 26

12. After this the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, which was less than a mile away….or was what was considered “A Sabbath Day's Walk” from the city.

13. When they arrived, they ascended the stairs up to the room where they were staying. Those present that day were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

14. And, without having any idea what it was exactly for which they were waiting, they all joined together in prayer, and continued to pray constantly. There were also women in the room with them, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, along with His brothers.

15. This unprecedented prayer summit continued for days, and on one of those days Peter stood up among the believers (now a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

16. and said to them, "Brothers and sisters, we haven’t addressed this issue yet, but we must accept the fact that the ancient, Holy Spirit-inspired Scriptures had to be fulfilled through David’s words concerning Judas, who served as the guide for those who arrested Jesus.

17. We can’t deny that he was one of our number and shared in our ministry, and that he was chosen, just as we were, by divine appointment.

18. But even though in the larger picture he helped fulfill the very words of Jesus concerning His own betrayal and death, in another sense what he did was evil on a personal level. His deed ultimately manifested the will of God, but it was a betrayal of a friend, nonetheless. So because of his overwhelming sense of guilt in response to this, Judas bought a field, where he committed suicide by hanging himself…and in a bizarre and freakish twist, he actually fell headlong, rupturing his belly, and spilling out his internal organs.

19. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this strange occurrence , so they called that field in their language Akeldama, or “Field of Blood.”

20. Peter continued, "I want to bring to your attention two things written in the Book of Psalms…one is ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and the other is 'May another take his place of leadership.'

21. So my interpretation is that these passages suggest the necessity of choosing one of the men who have been with us the whole time that the Lord Jesus was moving among us,

22. beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us in this dimension. The criteria is that one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection."

23. So they nominated two candidates for the position of Judas' replacement, Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus), and Matthias.

24. Then they prayed, "Lord, you know each of our hearts. Show us which one of these two that You have chosen

25. to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go his own way."

26. Then they practiced sortition, which was an equal-chance method of selection by some form of lottery, such as drawing colored pebbles from a bag (casting lots), or drawing straws. Matthias won the lottery, so he was added to the eleven apostles.


In The Upper Room

Acts In The Now 1:4 - 11

4. On one particular occasion, while He was eating with them in one of these meetings, He spoke very directly to them, saying, "Don’t leave Jerusalem…wait there for the gift that My Father promised you…the gift about which you've heard Me speak several times…do not leave there until that promise is fulfilled for you!

5. You all know that John baptized with water…well, in the same way, and in a few short days, you will all be baptized with the Holy Spirit there."

6. But when they met together, they had no response to His insistent instructions about their introduction to the other Comforter. Again, as they had done every time He had broached this subject with them, they just seemed to ignore His words. Instead they asked Him, "Lord…now are You finally going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

7. But He said to them: "Stop being preoccupied with trying to figure out natural things about a natural nation…things like times or dates. The Father has taken care of all that by His own authority.

8. Focus instead on this…on the promise that you will receive dynamic power and inherent ability when the full revelation of the Holy Spirit dawns on you…and then you will be able to be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and ultimately to the entirety of the earth."

9. After He said this, He was engulfed in a cloud, and completely disappeared into it from their natural sight.

10. So they looked up into the sky, gazing intently at all the clouds, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them on the ground.

11. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking up into the sky? You will not see Him there. Look around you here on the earth…be His witnesses here, as He commanded you. As He was taken from your physical company into the heavenly realm, so He will return to you shortly in this dimension, according to His promise!”

Acts In The Now

From the introduction to The Gospels In The Now:

I love Luke’s Gospel…the Gospel of the fully evolved Man…sophisticated…elegant…educated…intelligent. Luke is a physician with an excellent bedside manner, who writes a thoughtful and lovingly detailed letter to the young Greek, Theophilus, about the amazing God-Man. But in reality, it is written to all the Greeks, who would, in theory, appreciate the culture and refinement of its author, and the miracles and philosophy of its Main Character. Luke gives the most attention to the Nativity, because it is the most biographical of the four Gospels…it was also originally combined with the Book of Acts. It brings the Synoptic Gospels full circle, showing us the complete spectrum of all that was and is the Son of Man. Luke…the Gospel that cares!

Acts In The Now I, Verses 1 - 3

1. As you know, Theophilus, in the first installment of this book I wrote to you about all that Jesus began to do and teach while He was manifested in this physical dimension,

2. right up until the very day that He was received back into the heavenly realm, having given specific instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had personally chosen.

3. After His intense suffering and very public death, He presented Himself to them in a resurrected state, in various settings, over a period of forty days. In these meetings…this series of convincing demonstrations and irrefutable proofs of His post-resurrection reality…He spoke to them of one thing, and one thing only. His focus during these encounters was entirely on revealing to them the inner workings and new order of the Kingdom of God.