As Christians accross the world celebrate Pentecost this Sunday, what comes to mind of many is what it means and how it affects the religion they are practicing – Christianity.

Pentecost is a Christian feast, 50 days after Easter. The feast marks the event when the disciples received the Holy Spirit 10 days after Jesus ascended to Heaven and promised to send the “Comforter.” In the early church, this was the awakening of the Christian communities’ establishment. Therefore, Pentecost is also the feast of the Christian Church’s inception. Both Christian and pagan elements are vivid in folk traditions.

Since the Middle Ages, in many regions of Europe, celebrators elected the ‘King of Pentecost.’ The winner of a horse-race or the best performing man of a competition requiring different skills became the king. During the following year, villagers invited him to all parties and weddings by courtesy.

Pentecost is a moving-date feast- the date ranges between May 10th and June 13th, depending on the date of Easter. In 2020, Whitsun Sunday is on May 31st. The open-air museum in Szentendre invites visitors to look at wonders of our cultural heritage (though regular programs will not take place).

“Pentecost is not a denomination, but is an experience every Blood-Bought Child of God should receive. The need of the hour in the Church of Jesus Christ today is another Pentecost experience. The initial evidence of the Pentecost experience in a believer’s life is speaking in tongues, but it does not stop there. There should be evidence of fruits of the Spirit, evidence of faith and evidence that God is working through a believer’s life.”

This is according to Rev. Pastor Ejikeme Ejim, Ag. General Superintendent, Assemblies of God Nigeria, on The Guardian, “There are so many religious actors everywhere speaking the Pentecostal language, but lacking the real Pentecost experience. Because they lacked the real power and fire from God, they try to produce their own fireworks. The Church of Jesus Christ is in dire need of another Pentecost experience.”

He continued, “Pentecost was the fulfilment of the greatest promise that Jesus gave to His disciples before He was ascended to Heaven (Acts 1:8-9). After the gift of Salvation, the Holy Spirit is yet another gift of God that every believer should ask to receive. God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13). The gift of the Holy Spirit is for you, your children and all whom the Lord will call to Himself (Acts 2:39).”

“Jesus last words to His disciples were the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). The sequence is that you receive the Holy Spirit first and you will be endued with power. The infilling of the Holy Spirit in a person is accompanied with power. This power is for witnessing for Christ, living a holy and victorious Christian life and doing exploits for God.”

“Not everything that looks like power is from the Holy Spirit. Some of the churches have turned themselves into entertainment centres, rather than transformation centres. The people in these churches perform religious ceremonies, but lack the real Pentecost experience. That is why you still see all the abominations and all the ungodly evidences in their lives. These Pentecostal substitutes cannot replace the real Pentecostal experience. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is a definite and distinct experience.”

On the theme – “Pentecost was the fulfilment of the promise of God,” Rev. Ejim says that, “The hunger of every true follower of Christ, today, should be to experience another Pentecost and that the fire of God will be rekindled in our lives, homes and churches all over the world. My prayer is that the Lord will send His cleansing flame that will burn up every trace of sin in our lives and empower us to do greater works.”

“The Church has become dormant and dying spiritually every day because Pentecost has been relegated to the background. The church was dormant in the upper room, until the Holy Ghost came and then the church took a new life. From numbering 120, the church exploded to 3,120 (Acts 2:41) in one day. The following week, 5000 souls were added to the church (Acts 4:4). The Bible said that the number of the disciples multiplied greatly (Acts 6:7). My prayer is that as we celebrate Pentecost, let there be a spiritual explosion in all the churches in the world.”

“Harvest of souls is at the heart of Pentecost. We must recognise the Holy Spirit as the Lord of harvest, Who comes down once and again with a mighty rushing wind and with His compelling sound, which cannot be resisted, drawing people to God (Acts 2:2).”

He concluded, adding that, “Active partnership with the Holy Spirit results in supernatural church growth. Without the Holy Spirit, you can do nothing (John 15:5).As we as individuals, churches, religious bodies and other institutions earnestly seek the Holy Spirit today, we will experience another Pentecost that will turn our world for Christ.”

Via Hungray Today, on the title – Pentecost Tradition Concord: Christian and Pagan Rituals – since the 16th century, in the Hungarian language, the sentence or phrase ‘as short-lived’ is used for ‘Pentecost kingship’ – which refers to something that lasts only for a very short time.

As a sign of courtship, men secretly placed peonies in the windows of women’s houses.

For the procession, girls and women will come together to spree, sing, chant, and dance in the village, moving from house to house. Sometimes they appoint a queen, either the youngest girl or the prettiest.

This tradition is based on pagan origin, relates to fertility. At the end of the day, the procession turned into a joyful dance party, men and women joining together.

On a more spiritual level, in order to keep evil away, people decorated houses, fences, and stables with green limbs. In some regions, they also set up the maypole at this time (in other places they set it up on May Day). – A maypole is a tall wooden pole, erected as the symbol of nature’s revival.

According to traditional beliefs, extraordinary healing powers are associated with the dew that falls at Pentecost dawn. People walked barefoot on the grass to access the blessing of Pentecost dew. Girls bathed in the dew before sunrise to make their skin beautiful.