Pentecost Sunday 2009

For the record, I am a Pentecostal pastor of an Assemblies of God church and I actually agree with Jim West’s take on Pentecost.  He wrote on his blog: 

In fact, Pentecostalism is astonishingly new on the field of Christian denominations, so it really can lay no claim either to the name of the Feast nor the boast that it refers to their particular brand of faith.

The Day of Pentecost (in the Christian Tradition) is the birthday of the Church (to put it vulgarly).  It isn’t about blathering in unknown tongues  (as is commonly practiced among many Pentecostals)- it’s about the clear and concise communication of the Gospel in known languages to pilgrims who otherwise would not understand the message of Peter.

Christians everywhere – seize your birthright- deny the narrow misinterpretation of the birth day of the Churchby the ‘tongue’ babblers- and call yourselves Pentecostals (in the true sense of the word) today!  You too have a message for the pilgrims encountered in your life.  So speak it to them in words they can comprehend.

Surprisingly, few Pentecostals even preach about the real and true meanings of Pentecost on Pentecost Sunday – I guess that’s all too liturgical!  I’d like to add a couple of things if I may.  

I have tended to think if one is a Christian one is a Pentecostal in some sense since every Christian receives the Holy Spirit into his or her life when he or she places faith in Christ.  It is the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit that unifies us as Christians around the world irrespective of denomination or faith group.  

One thing many Pentecostals miss is that it isn’t about the tongues but about charismatic empowerment to be witness to Jesus Christ in both word and in deed.  He gives us supernatural ability to go beyond our natural ability! 

In actuality – Pentecost is connected to the feast of harvest – so in some sense Christians are to be harvesters, of souls that is, with the help of the Holy Spirit.  Our churches are not to be small little country clubs – we are to be as open as possible and seeking to impact peoples and nations through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.  

So, indeed, call yourself a Pentecostal – for that is what you are, if you follow Jesus Christ and give witness to him in word (things you say and don’t say) and in deed (things you do and don’t do).  

 

Bible Review: Discover God Study Bible

This is my way overdue review of the NLT Discover God Study Bible graciously sent to me by Laura Bartlett over at Tyndale Publishers. 

The purpose and intent of the Discover God Study Bible is to help those who use it to learn more about God (who he is and how he works in our lives) and to glean from the biblical text what it means to know God as well as the different ways we come to know him.  

In many ways I would say it is a devotional Bible in its focus more so than a study Bible such as in the NLT Study Bible sense – and I think this is perfectly okay.  Christians need devotional resources to help in their own personal spiritual formation  and knowing God, or discovering God is a very important aspect of that process.  In fact, do we really ever stop “discovering” who God is and how he works in our lives?  Not a chance.   I personally think our discovering God will keep on even well into eternity. 

The lay out of the Bible is pretty much in line with most typical study Bibles.  The main difference is the single column layout of the text with notes at the bottom.  References are center column.   There are paragraph headings with maps variously interspersed throughout with brief descriptions, also it is a red letter edition.  Each book has introductory notes with sections such as ”Discover God in Levitucus” (covering the main theme of holiness) ”Growing through Leviticus” (addressing issues of personal holiness and worship) ”Levitucus Facts” (that covers authorship, provenance, etc) followed by a brief outline.  Replace Leviticus with any other book title and that’s the general format.   There’s no stance on who wrote Hebrews, though not Paul.

So what makes it different?  It’s emphasis on knowing God or as it is titled, ‘Discover God.”  Really, it’s a focus on the attributes of God.  It is based off the late Bill Bright’s teachings.  This alone can let you know the nature of many of the notes.  Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing but it may help make sense of some of the notes.  For example at 1 Timothy 2:11-15 the note reads:

2:11-15 In the assembly, women are to submit to the leadership of the men by listening and learning “quietly and submissively” (compare 1 Corinthians 14:34-35).  Verse 12 refers to the distinctive, suthoratative activity by which the teacher presents the God’s Word and applies it.  Thus, Paul forbids women to teach men and to hold positions of “authority over them.”  However, they are commanded to teach other women (compare Titus 2:4-5).  The word “saved” in verse 15 makes sense if it refers to sanctification (compare 1 Timothy 4:16; Philippians 2:12), not justification.  Christian women should recognize that childbearing can be a unique and important means of sanctification in their lives.

Other key features of the Bible include what is billed at the Topic Guide System.  The first 60 pages or so of this study edition has a guide for major teachings of the Bible in a topical format.  Such topis include Discover the Bible, Discover Worship, Discover God, Discover Holiness, Discover Salvation, Discover Purpose, Discover Ministry and so on.  Under each category then is a list of topics related to the theme.  For example, for the category of Discover Holiness there are a few statements set a maxim such as:

“Because God has set me apart as His special possession, I can live a life of transformed service“

“Because God has commanded me to grow in grace and obedience, I will look to Christ’s perfect example as my standard for holiness.”

Each thematic category has statements similar to these and they are spread throughout the Bible where the related themes occur.   I did find it interesting there wasn’t a statement that started out “Because God is Holy…”  So moving on, there is a topical listing based off key questions related to the thematic topic.  For holiness questions are asked: “What does it mean to be holy?” “What are the standards of personal holiness?” or “What is our role in holiness?”  

With this last question, one then learns about delighting in God rather than sin, identifying ourselves with Christ’s life and work, educating ourselves and our family with Christ life and work, trusting God while facing temptation, and yielding to the Spirit.   The part about delighting in God is then broken down to rejoicing in repentance, Gladness in God, and joy in discovering God and so on.   Of course verses are given to help support and explore these themes and ideas.

So this is the basic approach to how the Bible works – there are lots of different ways people and use this Bible for their own benefit and perhaps also in a small group format.  It covers quite a few essential teachings of the Bible and the Christian faith: God, Faith, Salvation, Adoption, Church, Worship and the like.  Overall I think this is a great Bible most Christians would like to have and use mainly for devotional purposes to help them learn more about God and the Christian life.

RBL Additions

The following are some of the more interesting book reviews added to the RBL list:

A. Philip Brown II and Bryan W. Smith, eds.  A Reader’s Hebrew Bible.  Reviewed by Hallvard Hagelia.

Bryan M. Litfin.  Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction.  Reviewed by H. H. Drake Williams III.

I. Howard Marshall.  A Concise New Testament Theology.  Reviewed by Edward J. McMahon II.

books, books, and more books!

While in So Cal visiting my brother (who just graduated from USC with his EdD) and  our parents (who came along to celebrate – they live in Seattle) – I got yet another gift card to yet another place to get books!  Where you wonder?  The gift card is to none other than Nick Norelli’s favorite used book store!  What you say?  Used book store?  Well, of course, anyone can walk in there and thumb through any book – I’ve seen some on the shelves with pages folded the covers folded and all kinds of crazy stuff! But I suppose I don’t have to get books – they do sell used music and other things too.  I know U2 has some stuff out I could always get and I tend to quite like their stuff.  

But B&N is not always bad – you can find all sorts of jewels and nuggets of the books sort if you look long enough.  In fact I found one the other day when I was there.  Look, I have said it before, and I’ll say it again, there are just certain books that when you see them on the bookshelf in a book store – you buy it (used or not)!  Tillich was one of them – I saw it – so I got it, end of story.  And I think this was a good one to get (At least I trust Gomes’ introductory comments that it let’s us see the heart of Tillich’s ideas). 

Next, in the mail today, UPS edition, I got a new review book from Thomas Nelson Publishers blogger program, Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions as complied by James A. Beverley.  I think every Pastor, if not most Christians should have a dictionary or two on their shelves addressing world religions and I think this one by Beverley would be as good as any, especially given that he is one of the few who has interviewed the Dalai Lama in India and has consulted as a legal expert on world religions.  At least he has one good endorsement.  He professor Hans Kung wrote (from the back cover),

“Professor Beverley, my former student, is one of the leading evangelical Christian scholars of religion.  His new book is the most comprehensive of its kind ever done by an Evangelical.” 

So, given what we know about how endorsements work – I’ll take it as it is.  Hopefully it will prove to be a good resource.

will blog again soon

now that we are back from our mini vacation to So. Cal.   Hopefully I’ll have something up soon.

On submitting a paper proposal

Michael Halcomb who blogs over at Pisteuomen, has posted on his suggestions for going about submitting a proposal for a paper to be read at some biblical societies meetings, be it SBL, ETS, or even as I blogged about here, the upcoming Society for Pentecostal Studies meeting in 2010.  Seems to me like now is as good a time as any to make the call for papers since it does take some time to put one together and all.  

He writes in part:

Believe it or not, writing an abstract for a paper proposal can be an intimidating thing. The trick is to basically encapsulate the thrust of your paper in just a few, catchy sentences; you want to write something that will pique the interests of readers…even if they’re not particularly interested in your area of study. By no means am I yet an expert at doing this. In fact, I’ve only presented about 6 or 7 papers at conferences at this point. However, I was asked to share a few thoughts on the matter, so, I’ll gladly do that here.

6 0r 7 papers?  Well, I think that qualifies Mike to offer some pretty solid suggestions on paper proposals.   He gives a few examples of abstracts / proposals that he’s submitted and then breaks them down sentence-by-sentence.  Head on over and check it out and let him know what you think!  

Thanks Mike.

Craig Keener on AGTS

From the latest AGTS Alumni Newsletter: 

Dr. Craig Keener (‘85/’87) recently shared:  

“I support AGTS because it offers hope for the future, bringing together God’s Word and God’s Spirit in a special way.  AGTS is strategic for the kingdom, equipping laborers who are making a vast difference throughout the world.  I have full confidence that what we invest in AGTS has an impact that reaches so much further than most of us can imagine, because AGTS is shaping leaders who will shape the future of Pentecostalism, combining the best academic skills for leading God’s people in His Word with the power of the Spirit that has always been a hallmark of Pentecostalism.”

SPS call for papers

Society for Pentecostal Studies Call for Papers

Date:  March 4-6, 2010 – North Central University, Minneapolis, MN

New Voices, New Visions: The Future and Hope of Pentecostal Theology

SPS invites participation in exploring future trajectories of Pentecostal theology.  Proposals should be 500 words and should include a working title, a statement of the problem and scope of the project, a brief discussion of the methodology, and a tentative conclusion. Proposals should be made, via the SPS website to the leader of the appropriate interest group. Proposals are due no later than July 1, 2009 and will be acknowledged within two weeks of submission.

Confronting Powerless Christianity

It’s the book Sam sent to me, of his own free will.  I guess he won’t be reading it again so he passed it along.  Thanks!

The book is Charles H. Kraft’s Confronting Powerless Christianty: Evangelicals and the Missing Dimenstion (Chosen, 2002).

From the back cover:

The only kind of Christianity in the New Testament is Christianity with power!

If you are skeptical about yet intrigued by the issue of spiritual power for today, Charles Kraft provides a biblical, reasonable apologetic for a realm too often overlooked.  He describes his own paradigm shift concerning the power of Jesus to heal and free others, and explains persuasively why every Christian should be confronted with this missing dimension.

Confronting Powerless Christianity will inspire a more robust faith that is powerful enough to heal, to free people from emotional wounds and to bring about real life change.  Kraft discusses an experience of dynamic faith that invites intimacy with Jesus and results in transformed lives.  His scholarship, experience and, most of all, heart for the broken and lost show through in this book.

I have only read the introduction so far but I like what I see.   For the longest time, Kraft himself was extremely skeptical of the charismatic movement and was in many ways flat out anti-pentecostal.  But his interactions with John Wimber in the late 1970’s changed how he saw things and has since promoted a Christianity with power.

One major focus he zero’s in on is the role of experience in Christianity.  Typically, evangelicals (in general) downplay experience and often accuse those in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles of over focusing on experiences.  Yet, here is what Kraft argues in his introduction:

Further, I want to discuss the necessity of experiencing the things Jesus told us we would be able to do if we have faith in him (John 14:12).  It has been in vogue for traditional evangelical theologians and Bible teachers to warn people against basing doctrine on experience.  Yet, in the real world experience counts for a lot, and theory that does notwork in experience is soon discarded.  In addition, the insight of behavioral science in human interpretation of the world weighs heavily on the major part that experience – or lack of it – plays in our conclusions.  How we interpret the Bible, then, is strongly influenced by our experience.  This fact divides those who have experienced spiritual power from those who have not (9).

Kraft makes a strong point here – if it doesn’t work in life how should we continue in it?  We say we beleive something – we try it out – the experience fits the belief – we go with it (e.g., it’s been my experience that….) if not, we scratch it and move on.  Do we not?

What say you?

EDIT: Please know Kraft assumes an already sound evangelical doctrine (and practice) of preaching the Bible – that is why he addresses the “missing dimension” (the problem of experience) as noted in the title.

temporary blogging slowdown

I’ve slowed down because we’ve been busy. 

Monday and Tuesday we were in Phoenix for a pastor training we are going through (see here for more).  It’s been really good – this is our first pastorate and a case where it is either “sink or swim” and I am pretty sure it is because of this class we are going through that we are learning to swim – had we not had it we’d probably be close to sinking if not gone already.  This is a pretty challenging place to be (the Grand Canyon National Park) ministry wise but the traning has help us to make the most of it and it is paying off – we like to joke that when we first started (Oct 2007) we had a church split – everyone split (the left)! 

So, we endured quite a few situations where we had only two to three people in our Sunday services on average and just a few would come to the home Bible study – now we are averaging 35+ people  between our two services (am, pm) and the home Bible study (lately, (we’ve been having 40 people between the two services including tourists)  I don’t think that is too bad really, given our context.   We’ve learned a lot and it’s been going quite well. 

Now we are off to California (Newport Beach) to visit my brother who just graduated with his Doctorate in Education from USC – and to have a mini-vacation since we’ll be there from Friday to Monday (driving Thurs and Tues).  Visiting fam isn’t always super relaxing but we hope it will go well enough!  My parents are already there visiting so my daughter Mercy will get a little nana and papa time!  Perhaps we’ll get a day a disneyland for her to go on some rides and have a fun day. 

Be Blessed!