Spring 2005: Other Significant Articles
Ernest B. Gentile, “You Can Have A Personal Pentecost: The baptism in the Holy Spirit is nothing to fear. It’s God’s gift for all Christians.” Charisma (October 2004), pages 76-78.
This short essay is an excellent introduction for the Christian to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Representing the Pentecostal/charismatic tradition, Gentile does argue for initial evidence: “It seems logical to affirm tongues as the initial evidence of Spirit baptism from a [biblical] historical perspective” (page 78).
www.charismamag.com/site-archives/554-charisma-channels/spriritled-living/3244-you-can-have-a-personal-pentecost [link active as of June 24, 2014]
Don Scribner, “A Model for Determining the Most Needy Unreached or Least-Reached Peoples” Mission Frontiers (Nov-Dec 2004), pages 6-13.
Mission Frontiers (www.missionfrontiers.org) invited the director of Joshua Project (www.joshuaproject.net) to explain a new model for prioritizing people groups least reached with the good news of Jesus’ revolutionary story. Instead of a simplistic on/off toggle saying reached/unreached, this model takes into account Christian presence (or response to the gospel), population, development of their country, and the availability of ministry tools (such as legal distribution of Bibles). This article includes significant charts detailing ranking by country, people cluster, and response to evangelism as well as a spreadsheet of 233 least-reached peoples.
www.peoplegroups.org/Documents/26-6-joshua-project.pdf [full article available as of June 24, 2014]
Paul L. King, “A Historical Survey of Belief and Practice regarding Deliverance of Demonized Christians” Refleks 3-1 (2004).
Historian Paul King summarizes the controversy of whether or not Christians can be demon possessed. He begins with Tertullian and other early church leaders’ beliefs and practices, discusses Reformation leaders’ views, and concentrates on 19th-20th Century views. King is co-author of Binding and Loosing: Exercising Authority over the Dark Powers (Christian Publications, 1998) with K. Neil Foster and is therefore no stranger to this subject or its importance for church leaders. He concludes: “While there are some Pentecostals, evangelicals and charismatics who do not believe that Christians can be demonized, the preponderance of documentation throughout church history, both theologically and experientially appears to lean toward the belief that Christians can in some way be afflicted in varying degrees by demonic forces” (64-65).
Category: Spring 2005
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