Gathering the troops.

It's that time of year again. LEAVES, LEAVES, and more LEAVES! You can rake em', blow em' into the woods nearby, mulch em', or secretly bless your neighbors with an overnight gift....(No, don't do that.)

I mulch our leaves. The mower is a wonderful 'ridder' of leaves for me.

Yesterday, the wind was having a fun time playing with our leaves. It was really fascinating to see the leaves dancing around in this circle and to see how the wind swirled them together into a tidy pile.

It got me to thinking how the Holy Spirit of God gathers people together for important work in the local church. The wind, much like the Holy Spirit, cannot be seen, yet the influence of both produces results that must be heeded. Leaves get mustered into a neat little pile. Followers of Jesus get wake-up calls and respond with renewed vision and purpose.

This morning in worship, there were several moments when the Holy Spirit had been busy and the results were difficult to dismiss as coincidence. A woman just happens to read a midweek devotion that dovetails into morning worship. Another person who writes a script for the dialogue in worship and it just happens to mesh with the worship theme. I think we need to acknowledge that something is going on that cannot be stopped or denied.

"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing

of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what

seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. (Acts 2:1-3, NIV)

If ever there was a time in our broken world for the people of God to let loose with the Holy Spirit's power and influence, it is now. Beware, when you allow the Spirit to have His way, expect to be moved out of your comfort zone and expect to be a minister to people who might be total strangers. God needs you to step up and be gathered together with other pliable believers. Will you respond?