High Wind Warning

There is a high wind warning here today. Winds of 30-35 miles per hour with gusts of up to 60 miles per hour. I feel like I am back in Oklahoma! As I walked to the church, I could already see the evidence of this wind--broken branches everywhere. in fact, I wonder how long it will be before a heavy branch falls across a power line and I am left in the dark.

As I thought of this wind, it made me think of preachers! How many preachers are blasting away with "heavy wind" each Sunday from his or her pulpit? If it is a "human" wind, I fear that there will be damage much like I am seeing outside of the office today. As branches are broken by heavy wind, peoples' lives can be broken by heavy-winded preaching.

In the Old Testament we see the Spirit (or breath) of God translated from the word ruach. In the New Testament, it is the word pneuma. It is the ruach that hovers over the waters in Genesis 1:2. It is the pneuma that infuses the apostles with power on the day of Pentecost. Wind is therefore not the problem, it is where the wind comes from that is the problem.

My prayer for everyone who goes to the pulpit this Sunday (and every Sunday) is that he or she lets the ruach/pneuma blow and lets his or her own wind remain calm!