I am praying for Pentecost! It is not so much 
about people speaking “in a strange tongue” as it is about believers getting 
power to be faithful. The church does not need power to identify with the rich 
and privileged. One gets a subsidiary power from such an identification that 
makes the church at least a valuable adjunct of the values of the principalities 
and powers. One does not really need power (dunamis) unless one is standing in 
tension with the world as it is. If the church were to put the poor first, would 
we once again receive Pentecostal power?Maybe we do not desire such power or the consequences of Jesus’ liberation 
mandate. Yet, I cannot help hoping that such power would come and we would 
experience the power of the inbreaking, radical reign of God. Come, Lord Jesus, 
come!
																								—Keith Russell, “Pentecost: The Power of Liberation.” The LIVING PULPIT, 
April-June 2004, page 13.