We celebrate Pentecost Sunday when Jesus poured out his Spirit on his disciples and the Church began.

Recent articles and reviews about the contemporary ministry of the Holy Spirit

Spirit-Empowered Christianity

What does Spirit-empowered Christianity look like around the world? Pneuma Review speaks with Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, directors of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity and editors of the third edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia.

Discovering the Reality of God in Word and Spirit: an interview with R. T. Kendall

Dr. R. T. Kendall  is a strong advocate for bringing together in the church the exposition of the Word and the power of the Spirit.

Frank D. Macchia, Jesus the Spirit Baptizer: Christology in the Light of Pentecost — reviewed by Wolfgang Vondey

Jack S. Deere, Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks and Heals Today — reviewed by John Lathrop

Getting Spiritually Equipped for Ministry that Matters by Chas Carrin

“To be genuinely equipped for life-in-the-Spirit, our experience with Jesus absolutely must go beyond academic, literary information about Him.”

Testimonies about the Spirit’s work in our lives

Total Surrender: Finding Messiah at an Italian Pentecostal Church, an interview with Michael Brown

An Italian Pentecostal Church played an important role in Dr. Michael Brown’s spiritual journey.

Receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Testimony

Chaplain Jim Linzey shares a testimony of coming into the fullness of the Spirit and a simple guide for how you might help others experience this for themselves.

From the archives:

Embrace the Spirit this Pentecost

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.

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“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.

Every church has an awesome privilege of supporting, encouraging, training, and equipping each person to fulfill their God-given purpose.

Party Time?

Everyone loves a good party. We all love to celebrate our accomplishments and enjoy our successes—not to mention relishing the flattery of our peers. Relish …That reminds me, we’re going to need almost a dozen grills and we’ll probably have dessert catered by that ice cream shop down the street. Let’s see, we’ll need the hospitality team and the kitchen crew. I need to form a leadership team to delegate the responsibilities to the team captains of lay leadership …

Image: Yoori Koo

I’ve often been there. Have you? The times where even celebrations—times of worship, relaxation, and enjoying one another—seem like too much work to be worth it. Here’s the tension: It’s too much work without volunteers, and equipping volunteers is too much work. The process of equipping others to serve and lead in the local church is challenging, but it should also be rewarding for everyone involved.

I serve in volunteer leadership as the Director of Equipping at my local church, Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Missouri. Over the past several years, God has moved within our people to create a culture of service that we would not have dreamed possible.

We celebrate the fact that each person has a special God-given purpose in life, and we as a church body have the awesome privilege of supporting, encouraging, training, and equipping each person to fulfill that purpose. This celebration results from much more than just a nominal belief that each person is special.

We passionately believe that:

• Equipping and developing people is biblical.
• Each person is made in a special way.
• Each person deserves special attention.
• We must commit to each volunteer that they will have training, be affirmed, receive feedback, know expectations, have an opportunity to help evaluate ministries, and experience the joy of recognition and reflection.
• Hundreds of volunteers would love to be asked to serve.

With each belief comes a challenge that causes us to ask the question, “Are we just mentally on board with the principles of biblical equipping, or does our belief cross the line of conviction that results in action?” My passion is so strong that I left my position in the secular marketplace to give my life to equipping the people in the local church. I have never been so fulfilled, rewarded, or challenged—all coupled with the sense that I am doing exactly what I was made to do. I believe you can help your volunteers tap into that same belief and passion.

The intrinsic motivation for inviting people into ministry must be pure. It would help to be clairvoyant! But fortunately, God blesses leaders in the local church with the spiritual gift of discernment, guiding us when inviting someone to a specific ministry. You can be certain that you will be successful in matching each individual with his/her specific design if you truly have the other person’s best interest at heart and desire that the Kingdom of God is glorified. I find myself experiencing great remorse when my attitude falls to what I can get from an individual rather than what I want for the individual. One of our favorite statements is, “We are not about inviting people to fill roles, but roles to fulfill people!”

Celebrate the Holy Spirit this Pentecost Sunday
by reading one of these great articles from the Pneuma Review archives:

Ken Archer

Ken Archer, “Biblical Imagery: The Metaphorical Symbols of the Holy Spirit” appearing in the Summer 2011 issue.

Christian theology should always be concerned to speak about God on the basis of God’s self-communication in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God comes to us in Christ Jesus through the power and personal presence of the Holy Spirit. … [Read more]

Henry Harbuck

Henry Harbuck, “Have You Experienced A True Pentecost?“

… Christians throughout the world celebrate Pentecost Sunday—a time of rejoicing and reflection on the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon those who had assembled to receive power from on high. … [Read more]

Charles Carrin, “The Holy Spirit’s Amazing Work of Art” appearing in the Spring 2008 issue.

Pentecost exploded onto the ancient world with such power that it forever altered the work of scribes and the production of books. The overwhelming demand for the written account of Jesus had no precedent in world history. As a result, the New Testament numerically eclipsed all the combined works of Plato, Aristotle, Herodotus, Euripides, Homer, and other ancient writers. … [Read more]

Winfield Bevins, “The Spirit of Life.“

 The reason many churches are empty, dry, and void of spiritual life is because they have lost touch with the dynamic presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit played an important role in the life and ministry of the early church. It is impossible to understand the explosive growth of the New Testament church without understanding the important role of the Holy Spirit in the church. Sadly, for most of church history the Holy Spirit has been virtually overlooked. However, today many people are hungry to experience the Holy Spirit in their personal life. … [Read more]

Brian White, “Pentecost and the Inside-Out Church“

The empowerment of the Spirit in our daily lives.
A Fresh Call to an Ancient Calling

It’s important to study the Holy Spirit’s activity in the early Church because your church is being encouraged to live inside out, just like the early Church did. The call to be an inside-out church is a call back to the roots of the Church, back to the very foundation of what it means to be Pentecostal. … [Read more]

Book Review: Amos Yong’s Who is the Holy Spirit? Reviewed by Paul J. Palma and appearing in the Fall 2013 issue of Pneuma Review.

Amos Yong has written a fresh and comprehensive guide concerning the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. This work has profound implications for contemporary audiences regarding the topic of the Spirit in the Acts narrative. Who is the Holy Spirit will resonate with anyone wishing to discern the winds of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. … [Read more]