What: This webinar celebrates the sesquicentennial (150 years) of the birth of William J. Seymour. The Alliance for Black Pentecostal Scholarship mark this important landmark with two lectures given by scholars of Pentecostal studies and a panel discussion.

When: Oct 9, 2020 09:00 AM in Pacific Time (US and Canada)  

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tDjUzCiPSJGLOC1a273Jyg

“After the Holy Spirit is come upon you…” Acts 1:8

June 9, 2019 is Pentecost Sunday.

Celebrate the birth of the Church, when Jesus poured out his Spirit on all of his followers.

Here are some articles published recently by PneumaReview.com about what God is doing in the world and about the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit:

Pastor John Lathrop reviews: Jeff Oliver, Pentecost To The Present: The Holy Spirit’s Enduring Work in the Church, Book Three: Worldwide Revivals and Renewal

A Pentecostal Season

In this excerpt from his book, The Supernatural Thread in Methodism: Signs and Wonders Among Methodists Then and Now, Methodist historian and renewalist Frank Billman reveals how miracles and supernatural interventions were widespread in the ministries of John Wesley and the early Methodists.

From the Author’s Introduction:

Baptism in the Holy Spirit for power and manifestations of the power of God in healing, deliverance from demons, angelic encounters, falling over, crying out, shouting, jumping, dancing, laughing, trances, dreams, visions, and other such behaviors are often associated with Pentecostalism. And although most Pentecostals can trace their spiritual lineage back to the Methodists, most Pentecostals and most Methodists of all kinds are not aware that all of these experiences and more were widely observed among the first Methodists. When Methodists today comment on such experiences and say, “That’s not Methodist, that’s Pentecostal,” what they don’t realize is that those experiences were Methodist 150 years before there were any Pentecostals!

“Miracles and the Gifts of the Spirit All Through Church History”

Historian Jeff Oliver has written a three-volume series on how the gifts of the Spirit have continued all through Christian history. PneumaReview.com speaks with Jeff about his series and how we should expect God to do supernatural things through his church today.

“The Holy Spirit’s Miraculous Gifts,” by Charles Carrin

God wants to unleash the life-changing, bondage-breaking power of the Holy Spirit in your life. Pastor Chas Carrin points out what the Apostle Paul had to say about this and encourages every Jesus follower to pursue spiritual gifts.

Global Pentecostalism in the 21st Century, reviewed by Missionary-scholar Dave Johnson.
 

“The Problem of Old Wineskins”

Jeff Oliver, author of the three-volume Pentecost to the Present: The Holy Spirit’s Enduring Work in the Church, brings a challenge to church leaders: desire and operate in the gifts of the Spirit.

“Common Barriers to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit”

Do you want God to use you? God has put every believer on a journey to become more like Jesus, to walk in the power of the Spirit to proclaim his kingdom. In this excerpt from his book, Say What? A Biblical and Historical Journey on the Connection between the Holy Spirit, Prophecy, and Tongues, Jeremiah Campbell helps us see the barriers that can keep us from receiving the fullness of the Spirit. Approaching this from a classical Pentecostal perspective, he offers tools to overcome those roadblocks and receive what God has for us.

Larry Christenson,”How to Speak in Tongues“

What did God have in mind for you when he gave the gift of tongues to the church? What can you do to prepare yourself to receive this blessing? An excerpt from Larry Christenson’s classic work, Answering Your Questions About Speaking in Tongues.

“Clearing the Smoke, Fanning the Flames: An Interview with Michael Brown“

Pneuma Review speaks with Dr. Michael L. Brown about his story, Playing With Holy Fire, and encouraging the biblical use of spiritual gifts.

“Two Common Myths about the Spirit-Filled Life“ An excerpt from Simply Spirit-Filled: Experiencing God in the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit, by Andrew Gabriel

Many Christians believe the myth that ‘Spirit-filled’ or even ‘spiritual’ must indicate something or someone a little strange. Depending on how much exposure people have had to the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, they might associate the words ‘Spirit-filled’ with people who claim to be inspired by the Spirit to bark like dogs, scream, or roll around on the floor. Such people exist—I’ve seen them!

“God is Using Dreams“

In this excerpt from his book, Jesus in Iran, Eugene Bach shares how God is using dreams and visions to draw Muslims into a relationship with Jesus the Messiah.

Image: Ferdinand Feng

Read more in the “The Spirit” category of articles at PneumaReview.com.

What do Muslims believe about the birth of Jesus, and how is it different from what Christians believe?

Many Evangelical Christians are surprised to discover that Islam believes in Jesus as the Virgin-born Messiah and Prophet. Indeed, it is interesting we have many professing Christian leaders who deny the supernatural birth of Jesus, but all orthodox and believing Muslims hold to it firmly. The starting point for any theological dialogue between Evangelicals and Muslims could be this common ground. However, there are important differences that must be recognised.

Jerusalem in the early 20th century.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

The chapters of the Qur’an are termed “Surahs” (meaning “fences”). Surah An-Anbiyaa 21:91 states: “And (remember) her who guarded her chastity: We breathed into her of Our Spirit and We made her and her son a Sign for all peoples”. Similarly in Surah Al-i-Imran 3:45ff we encounter terms that resemble the Lukan Annunciation narrative: “45 (And remember) when the angles said: O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary … 47 She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me? He said: …Allah createth what He will …He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.” Similar expressions are made in Surah Maryam 19:20.

Although there is this common ground, notice that Islam attaches no theological significance to the Virgin birth; Surah 3:59 states: “Lo! the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said unto him: Be! and he is.” Muslims often state that Adam’s creation was a greater miracle, since he had no parents at all! Moreover, there does not seem to be any compelling reason for the virgin birth in the Qur’an, since Islam denies original sin; the miracle is merely an arbitrary act of God’s will, an expression of His power. However, one interesting point in the Hadith, the narrations of Muhammad (the second source of authority for Muslims), indicates the uniqueness of Christ’s birth: Narrated by Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “When any human being is born, Satan touches him at both sides of the body with his two fingers, except Jesus, the son of Mary, whom Satan tried to touch but failed, for he touched the placenta-cover instead.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.506)

The meaning of “spirit” in Surah 21:91 is uncertain. It can mean God Himself, although the title “Holy Spirit” usually refers to the Angel Gabriel. The birth of Jesus is accompanied by Mary’s retirement to a remote place under a palm-tree (Surah Maryam 19:23) not a journey to Bethlehem. The figure of Joseph does not occur. Many Muslims attempt to quote the medieval forgery the Gospel of Barnabas to persuade Christians that it is the true Gospel. One of its many failings is that it reproduces contemporary Catholic superstition about Mary that she experienced no pains in child-birth: “The virgin …brought forth her son without pain …” In contrast, Surah Maryam asserts that Mary did experience pain: “And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm tree.” The canonical gospels are silent on the issue, but we may presume that the actual delivery was normal.

The Biblical infancy narratives are not reproduced in the Qur’an; instead we have the wunderkind of apocryphal gospels, with Jesus speaking in the cradle (Surah Maryam 19:19ff, cf the apocryphal Gospel of the Infancy) “1 …Jesus spoke …lying in His cradle …’I am Jesus, the Son of God …'” Surah Maida 5:110 presents Jesus performing the miracle of animating clay birds: ” …thou makest out of clay as it were the figure of a bird …and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird …Again in Infancy 36, we read that the seven year-old Jesus: ” …made figures of birds and sparrows, which flew when He told them to fly …” Similar ideas are found in the Gospel of Thomas the Israelite.

It follows that Evangelicals must comprehend that when Muslims agree that Jesus was virgin-born and worked miracles, their understanding differs markedly from the Christian position. We Christians must relate the miracles to Christ’s public ministry following the baptism, and explain the significance of the Virgin birth for Christians in terms of fulfilment of prophecy (Isaiah 7:14) and relation to the doctrine of Original Sin.

Further reading:

• Peter Riddell & Peter Cotterell, Islam in Conflict: Past, Present and Future (IVP, 2003)
• Samuel Zwemer, The Muslim Christ (Oliphant Anderson and Ferrier, 1912). Online
• Neal Robinson, Christ in Islam and Christianity (Macmillan, 1991). Preview

 

This article originally appeared on the Pneuma Foundation website on March 16, 2006. The Pneuma Foundation is the parent organization of PneumaReview.com. Used with permission by Verbum: WEA Theological News (January 2006).

The grace that Pentecostalism brought to Christendom was to make the use of tongues and the other gifts described by Paul in I Cor. 12 and 14 normal in the life of ordinary Christians.[1] This was something not seen since Apostolic times. Before we examine how tongues came to be normal (or at least well known) we need to look at an almost forgotten revival to learn a negative lesson. That is, what happens when the Spirit gives His gifts but there is no theology to receive the experience?

The Cherokee County Revival

The revival in question took place in Cherokee County, North Carolina.[2] This county is part of the Unicoi mountain region bordering North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. It occurred during the summer of 1896.

Ten years earlier a tiny eight member church formed called the “Christian Union” by the Rev. R.R. Spurling. The founder’s rather grandiose intentions were to restore the church to the holiness of “primitive Christianity,” avoid divisive creeds, and ultimately unite all the churches – thus its name. Spurling died shortly after the church’s launch, but not before he ordained his son, R.G. Spurling, Jr., to carry on his vision of the new church.

The Christian Union grew slowly, and in 1892 a second congregation formed. Two other preachers joined the denomination, one was a Methodist preacher, William Martin, and the other F. W. Bryant, a Baptist. By then, all three had experienced a Wesleyan-like “second blessing” of sanctification in their lives and were influenced by Holiness doctrines.

Under the leadership of these ministers, a series of local revivals took place in the homes, barns and meeting houses of the Unicoi mountain region. This intensified in the summer of 1896 when the three ministers began a revival in the Shearer schoolhouse in Cherokee County, a humble, one-room frame building. They preached the Methodist-Holiness message of sanctification and soon return of Jesus. A. J. Tomilinson, writing about the revival fifteen years later, recounts:

…the Holy Ghost began to fall on the honest, humble, sincere seekers of God. While the meetings were in progress one after the other fell under the power of God, and soon quite a number were speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. The influence and excitement then spread like wildfire, and people came for many miles to investigate, hear and see the manifestations of the presence of God.[3]

The tongues surprised the ministers, who “sought the scriptures.” They correctly identified the phenomenon with Acts 2:4, 10:46 and 19:6 and felt very blessed by the experience. The revival, including tongues, lasted all summer, but faded by the fall. The ministers and congregation thanked God for the season of revival and the tongues, and prayed that all of the Churches would be similarly blessed.

The Rev. Spurling, Jr. and the others who led the revival had no theology, accurate or inaccurate, to understand that what had happened was a universally important and a repeatable gift. They did not make a “big deal” of the tongues. A decade later, when the Azusa Street revival received national publicity, the churches of the Christian Union accepted the theology developed by Charles Parham and joined the budding Pentecostal movement. Ultimately, the Christian Union changed its name and grew to become the Church of God (Tennessee), now one of the biggest Pentecostal denominations of the world.

One other pre-Pentecostal revival needs to be mentioned, a revival that took place among several Holiness congregations in Corsicana County, Texas, in the 1870s. This revival began with a burst of worship and enthusiasm which included tongues and, significantly, an understanding that the gifts of the Spirit described in 1 Cor. 12 were for the present. Unfortunately, like many revivals before, the leaders drifted into false prophecy, which included the idea that a person baptized with the Spirit would be regenerated physically to the point of being able to live a thousand years. The revival disintegrated further as local prophets urged their followers to sell all and await Jesus’ return in 1875. Jesus didn’t make it, and the only thing achieved by the revival was the discrediting of future Pentecostal efforts in the area.[4]

Books on the rise and growth of the early church abound, focusing on various personalities and emphases. Do we need additional volumes to add to this library? If they are as well written as this new book, I believe that the answer is a resounding yes! Ivor Davidson has done us all a wonderful service, by re-presenting the story of the first three centuries of Christianity in this first volume of what should prove to be a fascinating series by Baker Books.

Ivor Davidson is a senior lecturer in systematic theology at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. In his preface, he explains that his aim in writing this book was to produce “a fresh narrative history of the early church that is accessible in style, comprehensive in scope, and—not least—up-to-date in scholarship” (p. 7). It is this reviewer’s conviction that he succeeded in his threefold purpose. Birth of the Church is both readable and informative, and could be easily digested by the layperson and the minister, the student and the teacher, the seminary president and the youth group member. History is presented as story, with a flowing narrative that includes personable characters, memorable places, thrilling travels, and fascinating conflicts. Davidson does not simply give us a list of people, places and dates, but shows how Christianity grew among real people, with real problems and issues, troubles and triumphs—people we can relate to and understand.

Still focusing on the real people from those centuries, although written from a mainstream evangelical perspective, Birth of the Church does not hesitate to hold up “the other side” of the numerous debates among those who professed to follow Christ (and what that meant) in those early centuries. What was Montanism, Gnosticism, and Marcionite dualism (among others), and why did those early followers become Montanists, Gnostics, and Marcionite dualists? Arguments for both sides of each debate are presented, in the end demonstrating why one side prevailed over another. Davidson is refreshingly balanced and uniquely fair in his historical narrative, but still shows why we believe what we believe today in mainstream Christianity.

However, history’s course has been marked much more by sacrifice than by praise. There is an interrupting parallel between the sequence of events in the two books of Samuel and the events that constitute our worship history since the birth of the Christian church. Historically we have come out of the period of “ark isolation” into a time where in worship God’s authority, provision and presence is being reestablished.

David, the man who became king, first became a man by discovering the heart of God in the context of worship. God, however, had already moved prior to David by raising a prophetic leadership voice that called for the rule of God’s heart. Samuel “prepared the way” for David as centuries later John “prepared the way” for Jesus.

Worship has always been the means by which God has sought to reestablish his rule and restore relationship with His people. The context of 1st & 2nd Samuel does concern itself with the immediate and intimate details of the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel, but it also carries potent illustrations pertinent to worship and worship leadership. It is with this worship leadership emphasis that we look again at the story.

The first book of Samuel opens with the account of Hannah, the despised one, yet doubly loved by her husband (1 Sam. 1:5-6), going before God, whom she believed had caused her barrenness (v. 6), and with unconscious emotion pours out her petition for a son.

In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. And she made a vow, saying, “O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life” (1 Sam. 1:10-11).

Hannah is accused of drunkenness by Eli the high Priest and told to go and sober up! She stands her ground and is promised that she will receive what she asked for. Samuel is born, and Hannah, true to her word, returns her God-given gift back to Him.

I prayed for this child and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD. (1 Sam. 1:27-28)

I have often wished that God would “think ahead” and grant me what he wants for me before I have to struggle for it. It is only in hindsight, and sometimes only with “loud” hindsight, that I have discovered that the very purposeful pursuing of what I believe God has laid on my heart has, in its tough passage, provided me with the heart of what it was all about. It is this very characteristic we call “heart” that is the focus of God’s intentions, and the source of relationship. In Hannah’s case, God was not just interested in the birth of a child, but in giving birth to a servant-hearted prophetic kingdom.
I was in two-day pastors’ gathering not long ago in Melbourne, Australia. Our purpose was solely to ascertain what God was saying about church leadership coming together to pray. One of the pastors made a comment that I will not forget. He said, “We’re not here to launch another program, we’re here to see what God is birthing…if we merely launch another program it will simply die, but if God births what is in His heart, what comes will bring life!”

Giving birth is an arduous and painful process, but the joy in what has been born puts pain behind. Hannah, with bitter tears cried out for a son. Ridicule resulted. Her perseverance paid off. She not only gave birth to a son, she mothered a prophetic leader “whose words never fell to the ground.” Samuel, whose name means “heard of God” inaugurated a new kingdom era for Israel that led to the greatest king they ever had.