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Interview With Earl J. And Steve E. Banning, M. Wayne Benson, Arthur B. Ledlie, And Darrell E.Ovenshire

Ministering the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

During the last few years, a group of church leaders have been meeting to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to them about ways the Assemblies of God can be encouraged in both articulating and leading people into the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In surveying pastors with strong ministries in this area, Enrichment talked with Earl and Steve Banning, senior pastor and copastor, of Braeswood Assembly of God, Houston, Texas; M. Wayne Benson, senior pastor, First Assembly of God, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Arthur Ledlie, senior pastor, Metropolitan World Outreach Center, Detroit, Michigan, and his minister of creative arts and pastoral care, Darrell E. Ovenshire. Each talked with passion and wisdom about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their churches.

Earl J. Banning

Steve E. Banning

M. Wayne Benson

Arthur B. Ledlie

Darrell E. Ovenshire

YOU ARE SEEING HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE EACH YEAR COME TO CHRIST AND RECEIVE THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. IS THIS THE RESULT OF INTENTIONAL PLANNING OR a SOVEREIGN MOVE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

S. BANNING: It is both. God desires every believer to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. This promise was given when Christ ascended. He told His disciples to tarry until they received power from on high that they might be witnesses. We treat the Baptism as a natural process of our faith. Salvation is a natural process of entering into the Kingdom, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a natural process of the infusion of God the Holy Spirit to assist us in living out our faith. The Early Church was a Pentecostal church, and we are Pentecostal.

Regarding intentionality, Paul asked the believers at Ephesus, "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" For Paul, the next step in their relationship with God was being filled with the Holy Spirit. This was not left to chance or opportunity. There needs to be an intentionality in leading people into the Baptism. The Scripture says, "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." It is God’s intent to fill His people with the Holy Spirit.

E. BANNING: We teach our elementary children to look at the baptism in the Holy Spirit with an attitude of expectancy. We believe that expectancy is the fruit of faith, and people will rise to the level of your expectancy if you teach the Word of God. We have a mandate for our children’s director that all children be prayed for and given opportunity to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues and have an awareness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit before they go into the youth department.

Likewise, there is a mandate for the youth department that our youth be given every opportunity to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We expect salvation and the Baptism as a natural process of faith. By the time our children go through the elementary and youth departments, they should be growing in their faith and filled with the Spirit.

BENSON: For 24 years I have articulated our position on the baptism in the Holy Spirit as well as the person and work of the Holy Spirit. It is safe to say I have given Spirit-filled leadership. But when we experienced the tide of the Holy Spirit that came on us in 1996, it was a sovereign response from God. I don’t want to take away from God’s own directives and His determinate counsel for what He did, but I had a sense of desperation, and there was a sense of desperation in others in our church as well.

The Old Testament’s picture of revival is the valley of dry bones. God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. Ezekiel declared the Word of God, and the bones came to life. Before Ezekiel’s eyes, God put muscle and sinew on these bones. The bones could now bear the weight of strong and responsible ministry. A mighty, revived army stood before Ezekiel. That is a picture of revival. How do you get to Ezekiel 37? Look at Ezekiel 36. Approximately 37 times God makes a declaration of His will: I will do this, I will do that, I will blow My wind in, I will bring the harvest. Then He said, "Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever" (Ezekiel 37:28, NIV).

WHY IS IT NECESSARY THAT WE EMPHASIZE THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR CHURCHES?

E. BANNING: We emphasize the Holy Spirit because we feel He is vital to the work of righteousness in every believer. According to Acts 2:39, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a promise of God. It is a spiritual gift subsequent to salvation, offered by the Lord Jesus Christ to everyone who believes. John the Baptist made it clear that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire. The "fire" burns up dross and inspires us, giving us passion and enabling us to do the work of God.

BENSON: I emphasize the Baptism because this experience impacts lives. My own personal experience, coupled with my influence in the church and in the community, impacts people’s lives. If I am not hungry for God, and if I don’t need God, then the people I influence won’t perceive their need either. But if I’m desperate for God; if I can’t live a day without Him; if I must have the power of the Holy Spirit; if it’s no longer an option or an appendage to my already filled life but a total dependence, then others around me become influenced by that as well. They sense their need for the Holy Spirit.

Many times we relegate the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit to an historical event. To walk in the fullness of the Spirit is something entirely different. Our people need to know and experience what that means. The Holy Spirit came to make Jesus real; to make God personal; to woo us and reprove us. The Holy Spirit is not just a doctrine; He is a Person. He has probably been the most misrepresented and maligned Person in the Trinity. He has been ignored, and we have grieved Him. God has used Pentecostals to raise up a standard that holds fast to the integrity of the person of the Holy Spirit. We don’t relegate Him to an "it," but we personalize Him, and He personalizes God.

S. BANNING: If we are going to be the witnesses Christ called us to be, we must have the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives by walking in the Spirit. When people are filled with the Holy Spirit, they will find boldness to be witnesses. We can literally impact southwest Houston, the rest of Houston, and the world, if we will allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, and if we will yield to the fullness of the Spirit.

OVENSHIRE: The baptism in the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Word, and it is critical to the Christian’s life. It helps Christians to become all that God created them to be.

We try to have a supernatural expectancy at our church. If you are expecting the supernatural and looking for it, the Lord is willing to provide. Too many times we stop talking about the supernatural, and we stop expecting it. Then we go on with what we feel is normal and try to help people, but we don’t really involve them with a supernatural God. It takes the supernatural to reveal the supernatural.

We go beyond emphasizing the baptism in the Holy Spirit in our services. We see many people filled with the Spirit outside of the church services. I try to sense when individuals have made a solid commitment to the Lord. Then I follow up on them and let them know there is someone who can give them power and stability.

LEDLIE: Most people who have been trained in visitation are simply following up on a person’s visit to the church or confirm the fact they have accepted Jesus. They normally do not visit expecting anything else to happen. But we have had a lot of people working with visitation who see people get saved and receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Pastor Darrell goes to a door fully loaded with everything that God wants to provide, expects it to happen, and sees it happen.

MANY OF OUR CHURCHES ARE NOT SEEING PEOPLE BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THEIR SERVICES LIKE THEY ONCE DID. WHY? HOW CAN WE CHANGE THIS.

BENSON: It’s important that people experience the Holy Spirit and not merely have the ability to articulate our doctrine. I’m concerned that while on the one hand we have those who are deeply involved in preserving our doctrinal distinctive concerning the Holy Spirit and will fight against any concept of gift cessationism, there has developed an experiential cessationism in the lives of many believers. For Pentecostals to lose sight of the primary function of the Holy Spirit and to lose the dynamic of having an experience with God through the Holy Spirit is to forget moorings. This is critical with relationship to our Fellowship and Pentecostals in general.

You can brush shoulders with Jesus on every page of Scripture and miss Him when He shows up. This is exactly what happened to the Pharisees in their day. They read, taught, and prayed about the Messiah all of their lives. But the majority of the Pharisees rejected Him when He showed up. When He stepped out of the pages of the Book and walked alongside them, they rejected Him. It’s entirely possible for people who have believed in the Holy Spirit all their lives not to release total control of themselves to Him when He shows up—it becomes intimidating. We have to get close to the Holy Spirit again, to trust Him. We have to get close to God again to trust Him. And we have to walk close to Christ to trust Him.

As a leader, I was Spirit-filled, but I don’t think I was Spirit-saturated. Jesus said, "Without me ye can do nothing." And God knows without Him we have done plenty. But we have never done anything apart from Christ that has any long-lasting fruit. For that we must have the power of the Holy Spirit.

S. BANNING: Expectancy is important—expecting something to happen and creating an environment for it to happen. At Braeswood it is uncommon for us to have a service where there are no manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit. We release God to do what He wants to do in the church. We are not trying to control Him. The necessity to control creates an intimidation in the congregation.

God desires to work in the lives of the leadership and in the Body in general. It’s important to release the body of Christ from the fear of making a mistake. Some people want to control the error before it becomes an error, and they work by fear, not by faith. If people misuse the gifts, and they have a teachable spirit, we talk with them, instruct them, and they respond.

LEDLIE: It is important to allow God to use people in their area of giftedness. We have people in our congregation who are greatly used of God to lay hands on people and pray with them. Things happen. Many times we don’t give people opportunity to use their God-given gifts.

As pastors, we should encourage others to rise to the place where God has called them. Allow your staff and ministry teams to operate according to the gifts and abilities God has given them. Pastors don’t have to be everything to everybody because the gifts are in the Body. My wife is used of God when she lays hands on people, and it’s amazing to see her use her gifts.

We ask the youth pastor, "Are you praying for people to be baptized in the Spirit?" We tell the children’s pastor, "We want you to be praying that God would open up opportunities for children to be baptized in the Holy Spirit." And it is not an embarrassing challenge, because every staff member and every layworker can be a part. The senior pastor and the Sunday service are not always the focus.

E. BANNING: People who visit our church are coming because we are a Pentecostal church. Before every worship service we invite the Holy Spirit to assist us in worship because He is the Spirit of worship. Acts 3:19 says, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." We need refreshing, and the Holy Spirit in a worship service brings refreshing and understanding. He’ll speak to the sinner, to the people with inquiries, and to those who are hungry.

The key to receiving anything from God is to hunger. The Bible says that if we hunger, thirst, and seek after righteousness, we will be filled. We have a number of people who come to our 8 a.m. service to experience charismatic worship, then they go to their own church. We even have some ministers who worship with us on occasion because they are hungry. Their hunger causes them to reach out. They want to experience Pentecost, so they come to a Pentecostal church. And God forbid if people come to a Pentecostal church and there’s not Pentecost—we have missed the mark.

HOW DO YOU PREPARE PEOPLE TO RECEIVE THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT? WHAT ABOUT THOSE PRAYING FOR PEOPLE TO BE FILLED?

S. BANNING: First, we give instructions to those coming to be filled so they will not feel intimidated. If people are baptized in the Holy Spirit, we realize we are not the ones doing the baptizing—it is Jesus. If people aren’t filled when they are prayed for, it’s not because the person doing the praying or laying on of hands has done something wrong or failed. What distresses people the most who are praying for someone to receive the Baptism is that very issue. In salvation there is no "physical" evidence, like tongues, that someone has been saved. However, there is an inward witness and a changed life. With the baptism in the Holy Spirit there is an immediate response. We know a person is baptized in the Holy Spirit because he or she speaks in tongues.

When we pray for people and they don’t receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit immediately, there is an intimidation—a performance issue—that can take place. We try to clear up that issue from the beginning. We are praying the prayer of faith and agreeing with that person, but it is Jesus who does the baptizing, not us. It is a work of God; it’s between that person and the Lord.

Second, we find out what a person’s expectations are. People who come to be baptized in the Holy Spirit may not understand what’s going to happen. And sometimes that’s one of the biggest obstacles to overcome in receiving the Baptism. We give them a brief explanation concerning what will happen when they receive the Baptism.

Third, those who are praying for people to be baptized must be thoroughly baptized in the Spirit. They must keep their relationship with the Holy Spirit fresh and vital. They must keep the fire alive within their own spirit. They are not praying for someone to receive something they are not actively exercising themselves.

E. BANNING: We also teach our people who minister at the altar to encourage those who accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior to immediately receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We don’t want them to wait another day. Many of these people receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit shortly after they are saved. There’s never more fervency and more hunger for God than at that moment of conversion. So we urge the natural process, which is to love God and receive all that He has for them.

OVENSHIRE: I use a five-step approach when I’m sharing with believers. First, they should acknowledge and confess their sin, and reaffirm that Jesus is Lord and Savior.

Second, I show them some facts from 1 Corinthians 14:2–4. I share that those who speak in an unknown tongue speak to God and edify or strengthen themselves. I let them know that is the Word of God; it’s fact, not feelings.

Third, I share that Jesus, and only Jesus, baptizes the believer in the Holy Spirit. An individual must ask to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I encourage the individual to ask God for the Baptism.

Fourth, to receive the Holy Spirit, they should begin to thank the Lord for some specific blessings and express why and how much they love Him. We really focus on the Crucifixion in this praise. Then I remind the person that Jesus is present, and He is pleased with his or her verbal expressions of love for Him. I liken it to the physical growth of a child—when that child begins to say "Dada" and "Mama," the parent is excited; but the parent didn’t have to twist the baby’s arm to speak; the baby speaks out of his or her own free will.

As they freely express their love for the Lord, the fifth step is to have them tell the Lord in the Spirit. When I hear the least little statement spoken in tongues, I encourage them because people are generally embarrassed or shy. So when they begin to speak in tongues, I tell them that’s what they have asked for. Afterwards, I encourage them to pray in the Spirit several times a day.

DO YOU HAVE SPECIAL ALTAR CALLS FOR THOSE WHO ARE SEEKING THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT?

LEDLIE: We have special altar calls to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit about four or five times a year. Otherwise, it’s a spontaneous thing that happens every service.

E. BANNING: We emphasize the ministry and the baptism in the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday and in other special services. When we have evangelists, we also (because of our fervent desire for every believer to be baptized in the Holy Spirit) prayerfully consider having one service where we emphasize the baptism in the Holy Spirit. But most of our people receive the Baptism at regular times at the altar, and many of them receive in Sunday school class. We urge the full operation of the spiritual gifts in the total venue of the church. A person is just as likely to receive the Baptism in Sunday school class, at Royal Rangers or Missionettes, or at a youth outing, as during a church service. It’s the expectancy of the normal; it’s Pentecostal.

S. BANNING: During one of our services last year an evangelist leaned over to me and asked, "Does this happen often at Braeswood?"

I answered, "It is very common for the gifts of the Spirit to function in the church."

He replied, "This is fantastic!"

I asked, "Doesn’t it happen everywhere? I’m a little naive myself, I suppose."

He said, "Not everywhere."

There is a hunger that grows in the hearts of people when they see God moving in a service; when they see people praying in the Spirit, singing in the Spirit, and see the gifts of the Spirit in operation. When we pray in services for people to receive the Baptism, we instruct them to stand up—we want them to stay on their feet. We want God to do this work and expect it to happen, and it’s incredible. We’ve had services where a massive number of people would come to the front and receive the Baptism. After this takes place, the anticipation and expectancy in the service is, if you’re hungry and you want to receive, you’re going to receive today.