Who We Kemps Are

“…and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.”

―2 Corinthians 5:5 (NLT)

My dear Virtually Perfect Grandchildren,

Today is my birthday and it has caused me to think about who I am and who we are as Kemps.

To truly understand the Kemp side of your family you must understand us through the lens of our Pentecostal heritage—beginning with your great grandparents, Mama and Papa Kemp.

Your great grandfather came from Northfork West Virginia and Mama Kemp came from Eastern North Carolina and they met in Norfolk, VA. Specifically, they met in church—a Pentecostal church. And that fact greatly impacted who they became together and later it shaped our entire family.

Perhaps a better word than “Pentecostal” is “Spirit-filled.” It is important to understand that living a Spirit-filled life is not something extra, it is essential to experiencing the fullness of life. To the degree that a person, family or church embraces and celebrates the living active presence of the Holy Spirit they experience life.

When we speak of “dead churches” or “dead/boring services” (or sermons) what we mean is that the Holy Spirit is not intentionally welcomed and celebrated and allowed to enliven the church or worship service.

There’s a reason that people are resistant to the active presence of the Holy Spirit in their midst…

Like Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Holy Spirit is not safe, but He is good.

Bottom line, the Holy Spirit will not be told what He can and cannot do. And this leads to the crux of the matter. Being “Pentecostal” means ultimately that we have to be willing to do life on God’s terms, nor ours. This can be scary. But three generations of Kemps have discovered that it is the way to go.

I must admit that I didn’t always feel that way. There were times that I was a little embarrassed by the “craziness” of being Pentecostal. I wished that we could be like other folk—quiet, respectable, and predictable. (In other words, boringly safe!) But as the years went by I learned that being Pentecostal was the way to go. Being Pentecostal is where the action is!

It’s like jumping in the deep end of the pool—being Pentecostal is being in over your head in your relationship with God. But that is where all the fun happens!

And by the way, your Nana’s story is much like mine (Whisper: she might even be a little bit more Pentecostal-crazy that I am! But I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you.) And I wouldn’t change a thing, except to hope and pray that each of you join us in becoming the fourth generation of Pentecostal Kemps.

Jesus described being filled with the Holy Spirit to drinking “living water.” That sums it up well. We Kemps have learned that once you drink that living water, nothing else satisfies. So drink deeply my dear VPGs. For that’s what we Kemps do!

Love always, your “Pentecostal Papa”