Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism have failed to answer the origin of any species. Is intelligent design the only scientifically viable answer? Thanks to Brigada for suggesting this long article to start some interesting conversations.

“Verna Linzey Collection Deposited at Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center” iFPHC.org (October 2, 2019).

Jim Linzey, a PneumaReview.com author, has donated a significant collection of papers, photographs, and other media from his mother, Verna Linzey, to the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center of the Assemblies of God. For more from Verna Linzey, see her author page at PneumaReview.com.

“Pentecostal Political Theology” AndrewGabriel.com (October 9, 2109).

Andrew Gabriel introduces this interview: “In today’s video, I interview Dr. Steven Studebaker from McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, ON. I ask him about what unique emphases Pentecostals make regarding political theology and what difference these ideas make for the average Christian.”

“The Gospels Are Fact Not Folklore: Why the first four books of the New Testament should be read as serious historical sources” Christianity Today (October 22, 2019).

Christopher Reese interviews Craig Keener about his 700-page exploration of gospel studies, Christobiography: Memory, History, and the Reliability of the Gospels.

Craig Keener, “Christobiography: Within the Frame of Living Memory” Eerdword (October 23, 2019).

In this publisher’s blog, Craig Keener, considers how much we can know about the historical Jesus from reliable biographies, the four Gospels, recorded within living memory.

J. Lee Grady, “Don’t Be Afraid to Let Holy Spirit Move” Fire In My Bones (October 9, 2019).

Jeff C. Magruder, “Why Pentecostals Don’t Preach Expository Sermons” Christianity.com (July 13, 2012).

John Lathrop recommended this as being a significant article to read if you missed it in 2012.

Image: Jeremy Thomas

Kendra Semmen, “Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke Dies Saturday at 79” CharismaNews (December 7, 2019).

Read the 2014 interview Reinhard Bonnke gave to PneumaReview.com: “America shall be Saved: An interview with Reinhard Bonnke“

John P. Lathrop, “Prophetic Revelation” BeritaMujizat.com (December 19, 2019).

Mark Galli, “Trump Should Be Removed from Office” ChristianityTodayOnline (December 19, 2019).

This editorial opinion from longtime editor of Evangelicalism’s premier publication stirred a storm of controversy. CT’s president, Timothy Dalrymple addressed this on Dec 22, “The Flag in the Whirlwind: An Update from CT’s President.” Galli described Dalrymple’s response in his weekly newsletter (Dec 27) in this way: “It reminds our readers that, while CT magazine might have specific views on this matter and that, we also want to be a place where evangelicals of differing views have a place to express their ideas.” One example of critique came from Dennis Prager, “CT’s Editorial Confirms One of the Sadder Realizations of My Life” CharismaNews (December 24, 2019).

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More from Cletus L. Hull III: http://pneumareview.com/author/cletuslhull/

Look what the Lord is doing! A special report from a participant in the Ba’kelalan Revival.

John Lathrop wrote this introduction for this report by Soh Pooi Siang:

Mount Murud is located in Malaysia. The church on this site has a direct connection to the Ba’kelalan Revival. The Ba’kelalan Revival is also connected to another revival that impacted Malaysia called the Bario Revival. It is unfortunate that neither of these revivals are very well-known in the West. Both of these revivals were marked by a strong sense of the Presence of God. The Ba’kelalan Revival brought about community transformation, had the gifts of the Holy Spirit in evidence, and resulted in the construction of the church on Mount Murud. The video that is included here will fill in some of the history of this move of God. The Lord has truly done great things in Malaysia.

This year from July 19^th to July 21^st the people of Ba’kelalan, located in Sarawak, Malaysia, hosted people from various tribes and nations at their prayer mountain which is called Mount Murud. On September 24^th, 1984 the first public miracle took place in Ba’kelalan on a hill called Buduk Tudal. The second miracle took place on Mount Murud. The second miracle spurred the prophet to ask the people if they would build a church in Murud. Only one responded yes but didn’t contribute to do anything. But the prophet, told by the Spirit to go build His church, decided to go even if others would not follow. The rest is history.

Since then, every year on the third week of July, special meetings are held by the Mount Murud Prayer Ministry. One year the meetings will be held on the mountain and the next year they will be held in the valley in Ba’kelalan. The meetings in 2020 are scheduled for July 17^th though Jul 19^th.

Jessie Pang and Marius Zaharia, “’Sing Hallelujah to the Lord': The unlikely anthem of Hong Kong protests” The Japan Times (June 18, 2019).

The Hong Kong protest against the proposed bill that would extradite activists to mainland China has taken up a modern Christian hymn as its anthem. Thanks to Brigada for pointing out this article.

“How J. P. Moreland Presented His Anxious Mind to God: The apologist opens up about his battles with mental illness” Christianity Today (June 2019).

In this interview by Eric L. Johnson, Christian philosopher J. P. Moreland talks about his recovery from a mental breakdown and what he learned from God in the process.

“Craig and Médine Keener on ethnic reconciliation” [43 seconds] YouTube.com (July 21, 2019).

Kate Shellnut, “Americans Who Know Religion Best Hold Worse Views of Evangelicals” ChristianityToday.com (July 23, 2019).

The subtitle reads, “Pew: Religious literacy usually helps Americans appreciate other faiths. Evangelicals score highest when it comes to their own.” The article quotes PneumaReview.com author Amos Yong, dean of the School of Theology and School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, explaining why evangelicals respond this way and how we should move forward for the sake of the Gospel.

Andrew Gabriel, “3 Ways the Holy Spirit Works Among Non-Christians” (July 6, 2017).

In case you missed it, an article from Andrew Gabriel’s blog series, “Questions People Ask about the Holy Spirit.”

Nancy Hudson, “My Story” YouTube.

John Lathrop writes: “This is the story of a woman missionary in my denomination. She has served in South Africa for 30 years (and is still serving there). Her story is one of faith and perseverance. She oversees 10 churches. Some of her story was told in the House of Prisca and Aquila book Some Men Are Our Heroes.

Andrew Wilson, “Paul Says to ‘Be Filled with the Spirit.’ How Do We Obey a Passive Verb?: Perhaps a sailing analogy will help clear up the confusion” Christianity Today (June 21, 2019).

“Encouraging Spiritual Gifts in Your Church” AndrewKGabriel.com (August 18, 2019).

Andrew Gabriel introduces this video: “In today’s video, I interview Dr. Sam Storms from Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma. I ask him about how he transitioned his previous church from being a cessationist church to one that practices all of the spiritual gifts. He also shares advice for other church leaders who seek to encourage their church to engage the spiritual gifts.”

John Lathrop, “Impartation” PentecostalPastor.com (August 23, 2019).

Charismatic historian William De Arteaga introduces us to The Order of St. Luke, where it came from, how it has influenced charismatic leaders for generations, and reports on the most recent international convention held in Orlando, Florida.

The Order of St Luke was founded by The Rev. John Gayer Banks in the 1930’s, an Episcopal priest residing in California. His intention was to introduce healing prayer into the Episcopal and the mainline churches in the United States. By the 1950s the OSL became a leading and important anti-cessationist group proclaiming a prophetic message among the Protestant churches in North America: the Church’s healing ministry must be reclaimed. Ultimately, the OSL also became a solidly charismatic bastion, sharing in many areas of the world the message that the healing ministry reaches its fullness in conjunction with the gifts of the Spirit. The latter transition was not and easy one, as will be described below.

Dearmer’s labors in reestablishing healing prayer in the Church was partly in response to the vast inroads that Christian Science and the other Metaphysical cults were making during the 1900s in attracting orthodox Christians to their churches. The Rev. Dearmer rightly understood that the root problem was that the orthodox Christian churches no longer believed or practiced healing prayer – i.e. cessationism.[2]

The Rev. Percy Dearmer

Dearmer and two other Anglican churchmen banded together to remedy the situation. This was done through a new organization, The Guild of Health, which was attached to the Anglican Church. (Anglican love doing their ministry through “guilds,” it grounds the group to the Anglican Church and its Episcopal oversight and besides sounds genteel.) The guild spread throughout the UK, sponsoring and organizing lectures and “missions” of three day teachings ending in a church service and the laying on of hands at the altar rail.

John Ganer Banks was born in England but later emigrated to America to get his doctorate in religious studies, and went on to be ordained an Episcopal priest. He determined to do the same for the Episcopal Church in America as the Rev Dearmer did in the UK. From his base at St. Luke’s Church in San Diego, he and his wife Ethel began healing services at his parish, and did healing missions wherever he was invited. While he pastored the parish, Ethel administered the OSL and wrote most of its literature. She began a mimeographed journal of healing testimonies and book reviews. The mailing list for this two page newsletter steadily grew to reach every part of the nation. Within two years it morphed into a more sophisticated printed journal with the name “Sharing.” It continues to this day as the official journal of the OSL.

When: Thursday, October 24 through Friday, October 25

Where: Place Ballroom, Potter’s House of Dallas

I would like to invite you to the “Symposium on the Holy Spirit and Theological Education” at Jakes Divinity School in Dallas, TX. The symposium will be held at the Potter’s House of Dallas in the PLACE Ballroom, Thursday – Friday, October 24 and 25, 2019. We will convene a few of the nations erudite scholars to help us think deeply about theological education that transforms the challenges of our world.

Join Bishop TD Jakes and me, as we welcome Dr. Yolanda Pierce, Dr. Leonard Sweet, and a host of other thinkers for this symposium.

The “Symposium on the Holy Spirit and Theological Education” is an annual academic forum that invites a general Christian audience, pastors, ministers, and theological students from around the world, scholars, and JDS students to participate in conversations that promise to be intellectually stimulating and theologically challenging. At the same time, it will inform Christian leadership and practice.

Registration is $85. It includes all sessions, the opening dinner Thursday evening, a light breakfast Friday morning and a boxed lunch during the closing panel discussion.

I truly hope you are able to join us. If so, please go ahead and register here. This symposium will be one of a kind!

Sincerely,

Dr. Antipas

Convergence 2019: The God Who Heals

When: Thursday, September 26 through Saturday, September 28, 2019.

Where: The Criterion OKC, 500 E Sheridan Ave., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA.

Speakers include PneumaReview.com authors Sam Storms and Michael Brown.

More Information and Registration.

The mission of Convergence: “Through Convergence we aim to instruct and encourage individual believers and local churches to eagerly embrace the functional authority of the written text of Scripture and to experience the full range of miraculous spiritual gifts, all to the glory of God in Christ” (from their website).

Pastor Wesley Zinn shares a report from the prayer and worship gathering, United Prayer Rising (UPRising) Europe, held July 8 through 11^th at Ashburnham Place in the UK.

From the United Prayer Rising webpage:

In July 2016 in Ilsan, South Korea, we witnessed a spiritual “UPRISING (United Prayer Rising)” where generations from across nations converged to fast, to pray, and to believe God for a reversal of the trends of attacks happening globally among the youth today, and to see the birthing of new, youth-led prayer and mission movements. On its last day, at the Nuri Peace Park, DMZ (the border between North and South Korea), the youth contended for a reunification of Korea, and we continue to witness today the hope of it becoming so alive!

After the UPRISING in Korea, young people have owned the vision, and have taken the zeal for united prayer to their respective regions and nations. The “waves” have rolled out.

There have now been UPRisings around the world in nine difference nations and locations. The most recent was UPRising Europe, help in a field in the south of England, but representing the whole European continent.

Each UPRising event is planned, organized, and led by local young adults, with guidance and shepherding from a multigenerational team. All of this is very informal and unofficial, but the presence of the Holy Spirit’s leading and power is stirring a movement that is gaining momentum and growing from event to event. Already plans are underway for at least two more events in Mexico and Australia.

I was invited to attend the UPRising event this past January in Jakarta, Indonesia as part of the multigenerational shepherding team [Editor’s note: See Pastor Zinn’s report of UPRising Jakarta 2019]. There I was introduced to the UPRising Europe leaders and again served a pastoral/shepherding role during the organizing stages, and during the event itself.

The UPRising Europe event was a 72 hour worship and intercession gathering. The call was For Worship, For Prayer, For a Continent. Around 250 attended, but the significant number is 26. 26 nations were represented, nearly all from Europe. It was powerful to join in to fervent prayer for each country represented in the tent. And it was revival stirring aroma to be led in worship by teams from all over Europe. Women from Iceland teamed with a Latino drummer from the United States and a guitar player from Malta. A family who runs a House of Prayer in Albania drove the 36 hours to lead worship for two hours and then I found them serving in the lunch line. A worship team from Russia was followed by Ukrainians. Unity that may not happen in politics and earthly government was occurring in worship and in the family-of-God oneness in the prayer tent.

We are quick to lament the declining numbers of young adults who are active in our churches or even give the church and Christ a second thought. We describe them as apathetic, filling their lives with a busyness that doesn’t satisfy.  A truer assessment is that this description applies to every generation and locale down through the ages where there is no sense of a move of God.

This past January 23-26, I attended the United Prayer Rising event in Jakarta, Indonesia:  World Generation Gathering. As one of the “older” generation representatives, I was inspired to witness twentysomethings from 35 different nations from every continent gathering together in passionate worship and fervent prayer. The hundreds of people may only have been a remnant, but they were far from apathetic and self-absorbed. Their passionate, sacrificial, and complete commitment to the Lord brought me hope and great encouragement.  (To learn more about this grassroots movement, check out www.unitedprayerrising.com)

I have attended many worship and prayer gatherings throughout a lifetime in church and Christian circles. What I witnessed the final night at the World Generation Gathering in Indonesia was truly unique. The leader would call out the name of one of the 35 countries represented by the attendees. To which the whole assembly would rush to those attendees, lay hands on them, and zealously pray for their country. This continued through the evening, country after country, amidst shouts soaring and tears flowing. What caught my seasoned attention was the ever increasing crescendo. The intensity would not fade but only increased nation after nation, into the night. The cries of hope for each nation were only overshadowed by the overflowing joy of the impassioned intercessors. By the time the final nation’s name was called out, the gathering had become a holy raucous affair!

In just a few short years, this groundswell movement of young worship and prayer warriors should be encouraging to all of us. From the initial gathering at the DMZ (the border between North and South Korea), this movement has grown and spread throughout the nations. The next gathering is in England, July 8-11. Once again, it is organized by and will be attended by primarily young adults. And once again, they have sought the counsel and oversight of older generations. I look forward to attending, supporting, and sowing into their lives and this movement. And equally, I look forward to witnessing the stirring of God within them, and being their cheerleader. (To learn more about the gathering in England, check out www.UPRisingeurope.org)

Wesley Zinn
Pastor, Wellspring Church
Berlin, CT USA

Craig Keener commented: “The New Perspective(s) and older perspectives come to different conclusions on various points, such as ‘faith in Christ’ vs. ‘faith of Christ,’ the meaning of ‘works of the law,’ and so forth. I connection with my new Galatians commentary, Influence magazine published an article by me on this topic.”

Kate Shellnut, “Francis Chan Explains Why He’ll Share a Stage With Benny Hinn” Christianity Today (March 21, 2019).

The subtitle reads, “There are millions who will never hear strong biblical teaching unless teachers are willing to go.”

Roger E. Olson, “Is Absolute Refusal to Contemplate the Possible Existence of God Scientific?” Patheos (April 8, 2019).

J. Lee Grady, “8 Ways to Encourage the Flow of the Holy Spirit” Fire In My Bones (April 10, 2019).

John Lathrop writes: “This is a very good article by Lee Grady.”

Haddon Robinson, “Preaching to Everyone in Particular: Find varied applications and scatter them throughout the sermon” Christianity Today Pastors (Fall 1994).

Read this classic article from the late Haddon Robinson.

Craig S. Keener, “Leading New Testament Scholar Reveals How to Recognize False Apostles” In the Line of Fire (April 23, 2019).

Michael Brown introduces this article by saying, “This is a guest column by my friend, Craig Keener, one of the world’s leading New Testament scholars.” Read more by Michael Brown and Craig Keener at PneumaReview.com.

John P. Lathrop, “Encouragement” Pentecostal Pastor (April 30, 2019).

Craig Keener, “Real Raisings from the Dead or Fake News?: Falsified resurrection stories should not cause us to discount credible miracle accounts” Christianity Today (May 17, 2019).

“The Places in America with the Most Cases of Human Trafficking” Geoffrey G Nathan Law Offices (2019).

Statistical information in easy-to-read format about this growing evil in the USA.

Roger E. Olson, “Three American Religions Confused with Christianity” Patheos (June 1, 2019).

Leah Payne, “Why Foursquare’s Female Leaders Have It Harder Today: The Pentecostal denomination was founded by a woman nearly a century ago, but it has failed to elect another female president since” ChristianityToday.com (May 29, 2019).

Leah Payne, author of Gender and Pentecostal Revivalism, says there is an “ongoing struggle for women to reach to the highest positions in evangelical institutions, even in traditions that ordain women and affirm their roles as preachers, teachers, and leaders.” Read Payne’s interview with PneumaReview.com about her book: “Pioneer Women of Pentecostal Revivals.”

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