Acts 2: Why don't we still have miracles like this?

Tongues of flame, the Spirit roaring and rushing like the wind, people speaking foreign human tongues, signs and wonders:

Why aren't these things still part of our daily life, or even episodic?

The Cynic says they never happened and never will and the only immortality I will ever experience will be the natural recycling of my remains.

The Modern Missions Leader says we don't need tongues because we have bible translators, we don't need healings because we have missions doctors, and we don't need signs and wonders because we have God's word, church histories and teachings, and missionary strategies.

I say God has performed signs and wonders episodically during the life of the church and does so today. I see Acts 2 as a "Big Bang" of the creation of God's church. All of the elements of the kingdom burst forth when God spoke. Since then, worldliness and a "life is a marathon, not a sprint" attitude towards revival and the kingdom have diminished our own appetites for them. And as for God, he prizes above all faith born of the Spirit. 

For the bride of Christ, at least, some of the wedding night sizzle has gone after all these years of marriage. As Jim Morrison sang, "C'mon baby light my fire!" May our temples be once again pure and fit for Shekinah.