Marshall Shelley and Eric Reed, “Finding the Grace Gates: An interview with Pastor Joseph Garlington” Leadership (Spring 1999), pages 22-28.

Pastor Garlington is the pastor of Covenant Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a frequent speaker and worship leader at Promise Keeper events nationwide. “Finding the Grace Gates” focuses on the role of pastors as the “lead worshiper” of their congregations. Pastor Garlington relates many personal stories and experiences in explaining how to help people recognize holy moments (what Garlington calls “God moments”) in worship. He expounds on the term repristination, a word borrowed from the writings of Garry Wills, as he explains how worship must be renewed for every generation for them to properly understand its meaning. The role of the lead worshiper, he says, is “to lead by example”, and to “…not get in the way.” The key is leading people into an awareness of God’s presence and then teaching them to linger in it. Garlington stresses the importance of teaching people to find “grace gates”. “When I am most conscious of my inadequacy, my dependence upon God, and upon His sufficiency, that’s when I have a ‘grace gate’—the inrush of the grace of God for me for a particular reason, a particular season in my life… . My responsibility as lead worshiper is to help my congregation find the gate. You get a thousand people in a room and there’s somebody out there who has broken the law. And there’s somebody else who’s had the best week ever, and there’s everything in between. I have to get these people to understand that they all have access to the presence of God.”

Finding the Grace Gates provides many keen insights for anyone who leads worship or is interested in deepening their knowledge of Scriptural worship methods.

Reviewed by Joseph Joslin

Read the original article: www.ctlibrary.com/le/1999/spring/9l2022.html

David Daniels, Henry Winters Luce Professor of World Christianity at McCormick Theological Seminary, speaking at the Society for Pentecostal Studies convention on March 6, 2014.

David D. Daniels provides an insightful look at the uniquely interracial roots of early Pentecostals and some of the problems they encountered. He begins with a brief look at each of the three main renewal movements within the black church in America: the black Holiness movement, the black Restorationist movement, and the healing movement. All three of these movements had a goal of seeing blacks and whites worship together. By the early 1900’s these three groups had joined with parallel movements in the white renewal groups to set the stage for the Azusa Street Revival with it’s mix of interracial worshippers. The fact that Pentecostalism was seen as having two founders, one black (William Seymour) and one white (Charles Parham) was not lost on the early observers of the movement, including the press. Spurred on by these early successes many of the largest black Pentecostal fellowships began including white members and churches in their fellowships and vice versa. Unfortunately, according to Daniels, the power of the Jim Crow laws and racism of the day had started to erode what had been accomplished at Azusa and before. With the result that some black congregations started withdrawing from these new multiracial denominations as early as 1908 (due to the fact that some would not allow for black leadership in the denomination). As time progressed more white and black fellowships began to withdraw and form their own denominations until what remained was just a shadow of what had taken place only a decade earlier in the revival meetings. Daniels notes that by and large the two groups remained separated until the late sixties when some Pentecostal denominations began a new course of racial reconciliation and healing.

This article by David D. Daniels appeared in issue 58 of Christian History. The entire issue was titled, “The Rise of Pentecostalism,” and it included a number of articles on all aspects of the early Pentecostal movement. This excellent non-technical introduction to Pentecostal history had articles ranging from “The Pentecostal Tradition” by Stanley M. Burgess to articles about the ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson and other women. Several articles and departments looked at the controversial doctrines that aroused heated discussion earlier in this century, including pacifism and oneness. There were also interviews with Pentecostal historians and perspectives on why being a Pentecostal is more than just speaking in tongues. This particular issue would make an excellent addition to any church library or pastor’s study.

Reviewed by Joseph Joslin

Read “They Had a Dream” online at: www.christianitytoday.com/ch/1998/issue58/58h019.html [available March 17, 2014]

Joe Joslin and Raul Mock at a PneumaReview.com editorial committee meeting on March 11, 2014.

“20 of the Most Significant events in the history of 20th Century Pentecost” Pentecostal Evangel (May 31, 1998).

The Pentecost Sunday (1998) edition of the Pentecostal Evangel (Assemblies of God weekly publication) is indeed a special edition.  Laid out in a concise and easy-to-read chronological format, this Evangel can be read in order or by the subjects that interest you the most, as all of the articles are self-contained.  Some of the topics covered are: the beginnings and spread of the modern Pentecostal movement, key people and places in Pentecostal history, and different movements and theologies within Pentecost (including a frank look at some of the more controversial doctrines). The articles are written by many of the most respected Pentecostal scholars of our day including, Gary B. McGee, William W. Menzies, and Del Tarr. The articles are:

• 1901: The Holy Spirit falls at Topeka    by Gary B. McGee
• 1905-1908: The Azusa Street Revival    by Ken Horn
• 1906-1907: Pentecost Goes to Europe    by Edward Gitre
• 1906-1910: Pentecost Goes to Canada    by Ronald Kydd
• 1907- Present: The Church of God in Christ    by Elijah H. Hankerson III
• 1910-1916: The Finished Work    by Glenn Gohr
• 1914: The Birth of the Assemblies of God    by William W. Menzies
• 1913-1916: The Oneness Controversy    by Robert Berg
• 1913-1939: Early Pentecostal Missions    by Joyce Wells Booze
• 1917-1939: Early Hispanic Pentecostalism    by Efraim Espinoza
• 1919-1945: Russian Pentecostalism    by Gary B. McGee
• 1910- Present: Pentecost in Brazil    by Everett A. Wilson
• 1939- Present: Pentecostals Come Together    by Wayne Warner
• 1948-1951: The Latter Rain    by Edgar R. Lee
• 1915-1959: The Healing Movement    by Wayne Warner
• 1901-1976: Women in the Pentecostal Movement    by Joyce Lee
• 1951- Present: Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International    by Hal Donaldson
• 1959- Present: The Charismatics     by Vinson Synan
• 1956- Present: Pentecost in South Korea    by Karen Hurston
• 1994: The Miracle of Memphis    by Del Tarr

Reviewed by Joseph Joslin

Read the full Pentecostal Evangel issue at the Flowers Pentecostal Heritage Center: http://www.ifphc.org/pdf/PentecostalEvangel/1997-1999/05-31-1998.pdf

Joe Joslin and Raul Mock at a PneumaReview.com editorial committee meeting on March 11, 2014.