The holy and unholy quest for power

Describing the ubiquitous nature of power, Phil Kniss, senior pastor of Park View Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, VA, told his parishioners in the last Sunday of Easter, that the power of Pentecost is counter-cultural and something bigger than ourselves. Many of us live a self-oriented life with a thin Christian overlay, with a kind of generic power source, but the power the committed Christian uses is the one that carries out the spirit of Jesus--an itinerant prophet/preacher. Yes, we have unlimited power to model Jesus but not the kind that manipulates God for our own self-advancement.