Radiohead sang, “When the power runs out, we’ll just hum.” As church leaders, we’re tempted to do the same. A.W. Tozer put it this way: “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”

Church is all about the living God, but sometimes we don’t sense his living presence. Has the church been using entertainment as a substitutionary form of life support; an iron lung that replaces breathing in the air of God’s presence? Many of our services are gimmicky, flashy, and funny, trying to simulate an experience with God. I know. I’ve tried that. As leaders “leap about and cut on themselves shouting all the more” like the prophets of Baal, the church gets further away from experiencing his presence.

But ...