I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the in-between hymns.
Today’s song is All Over the World the Spirit is Moving. It emerged in the Pentecostal/charismatic scene in the 1960s and 1970s. Such songs were often short, repetitive-praise choruses that had no clear author or publication date.
The first mention of the Spirit in the Bible is way back in Genesis 1:
Genesis 1:2
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is omnipresent; He is everywhere. But each member of the Trinity plays different roles. And we think of the Holy Spirit as being active in manifesting God’s presence on the earth. Jesus did that, but shortly before He returned to heaven, he promised the coming of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16-17
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
It wasn’t that the Holy Spirit was entirely absent in the Old Testament. There are many references to Him. But at Pentecost, He descended in a new way to a much wider group of people, and now he is active throughout the church and throughout the world.
For the theologically minded, I find Wayne Grudem’s talks on the Holy Spirit helpful. Scroll down to Chapter 30 on the Systematic Theology Archive for three lectures that he gave to ordinary church folk, based on his Systematic Theology.
But the song itself describes the work of the Spirit in simple terms. Some might wonder about the line “as the prophet said it would be” – which prophet said this?
I can think of two Bible references, though there are probably more:
Joel 2:28–29 (Old Testament)
“And afterward,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your old men will dream dreams,
    your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Then, in Acts 2, in the New Testament, on the day of Pentecost, Peter quoted that passage to explain what the crowd saw (the disciples speaking in tongues) as a fulfilment of that prophecy. You don’t need to be a Pentecostal to believe in the activity of the Holy Spirit. When He touches people, they might respond in different ways. Sometimes it’s just a matter of having a greater appetite for the things of God and a greater delight in worship.
Non-Pentecostals often dismiss Pentecostal practices such as healing, speaking in tongues, prophecy and so on, as wishful thinking. But even if it is, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the Holy Spirit isn’t active. I sometimes compare it to playing the air guitar when you go to a rock concert. Even if you’re not up there on the stage playing the real guitar, you’re so delighted to be in the environment that you want to find some way of expressing your delight.
So, in the New Testament, we see genuine miracles, healing, prophecies, and speaking unlearned languages. People debate about modern-day claims about such practices. But to look on the bright side, at very least, Pentecostals desire to have the Spirit of God come down and work in the way that He did in the New Testament and in various revivals ever since. Most Pentecostals that I’ve met accept that the movement has its silly side and its sinister side, but it has been hugely influential in all sorts of ways and has breathed new life into the church worldwide. It’s also experiencing huge growth. So, even those of us who are a little cautious of its claims shouldn’t wish it away. One wonders what the church would be like if you didn’t have such movements throughout its history.
I’ve heard the song in both Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal fellowships. The same Holy Spirit moves in both, and He is at work all over the world:
Hibernia Gospel 
Hi! Interesting about the Holy Spirit. I do feel His presence, especially when with other worshippers, but I have never spoken in tongues. I feel too embarrassed.
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Thanks for your comments. I’ve always been a bit skeptical about modern day “speaking in tongues”. I did go through a phase of doing it privately for a couple of years after committing my life to Christ back in the early 1980s. I had some Pentecostal friends that seemed particularly zealous and enthusiastic, and I wanted to be more like them. But I was never convinced that “speaking in tongues” was the same thing that we see in the New Testament. In the New Testament, I think that it was primarily a sign that the gospel was for every nation. And even though it doesn’t explicitly say that it stopped, I think it probably did stop. And in the New Testament is seems that it was human languages. Paul does say in 1 Corinthians “If I speak in the tongues of men or angels..” but I think he’s speaking hypothetically. Whatever language angels have, I don’t see why it would sound anything like human language. I sometimes wonder if people build up an association between speaking in nonsense syllables and deep worship. So, when they do it, they really are speaking to God. You could sing Adeste Fideles in worship without understanding a word of what you’re saying. So maybe it assists people in worship, even if it isn’t the real thing. What makes me uneasy is if someone rests their faith on it as if it’s a miracle. The New Testament version certainly wasn’t a miracle, but I’m not convinced that the modern version is.
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Thanks. Having read this, I think I’ll be less inclined to feel lacking for not speaking in tongues.
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