I Will Pour Out My Spirit

Joel 2:28 28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Here is the promise that God made to the prophet Joel, and was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when the New Covenant, or the Church was initiated. This outpouring of His Spirit is the distinction of the Church age, and He gave us His Spirit for a purpose, and that purpose was not to be emotionally pentecostal inside a church building. This outpouring was meant to be a witness to the world, with signs and wonders that would give people an opportunity to know about the supernatural God who died upon the cross. This is an important distinction for me, because as a young Christian I was lured into what is called "full gospel" gifts and outpourings and it always made me a little uncomfortable.  Now, I am not denying Holy Spirit gifts and manifestations, but I don't think they were given to create a three ring circus inside a church building or auditorium.  Gifts were given to inspire others to ask the questions, and inquire of what they see or experience.  The first time I heard the gift of tongues, I was so curious as to what it was, that I asked and pursued my interest and that lead me into giving my life to Christ. God's spirit poured out on believers will help us build the dreams, and do the visions that lead people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Powerless churches produce powerless believers, but the kind of power the Spirit brings is not the kind that is often thought of when we talk "God Power."   The out pouring has to do with communication as I read it.  Sons and daughters will prophecy, they will preach the Word of the Lord, and instruct in the ways of God. Men will see things in dreams that can communicate God's warning, and visions that will communicate a direction or a missional objective. God's Spirit is about getting people to talk about and explore who He is always with the objective of getting them saved. These gifts are not for the Church to exploit, they are to communicate to the world the message of the gospel.  The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit as described in 1 Corinthians 12 has to do with giving a gift to a person that is beneficial to the whole group. It's never to accent on the gift, but to accent on what the gift does for the church. The same is true with the gift of prophecy accompanied with tongues, it is to edify the assembled group of believers. Communication from God to us, and then a confirmation of that word by a demonstration of a gift in operation. This has all to do with communication from God to us, and it illustrates His pouring out of His Spirit upon us so that we would use these experiences to witness to those outside of Christ.   This outpouring of these gifts is for the church to strengthen it's message in a world that wants to change the rules, redefine the perimeters of human sexuality, challenge the moral boundaries , and give preference to religions and ideas that come out from the pit of hell. They want to make a mockery of what we as believers in Christ stand for, and eventually make our claims so ridiculous that no one in their right mind would believe such nonsense. As believers we need to engage this trend, and allow the outpouring of His Spirit to lead us, guide us, speak through us, to act and demonstrate God's love and power, all in order to bring a witness about the God of Creation, and the God of redemption.  Let us not waste His outpouring, He wants to create in us a fortress for the defense of the gospel, and The Holy Spirit is standing by waiting to pour more into us, are we ready and willing to receive it?  I am spending a few days in Northern Minnesota, and God is pouring out a heat wave...I guess I better pour myself into the lake....until tomorrow, just keeping it honest and truthful.....K