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

May 20, 2018 is Pentecost Sunday.

You’ve seen it before, an old house that goes through an extreme makeover—it is like a brand new home! The attraction is the compelling contrast between life before and life after.

Consider, then, the contrast between the Christian life before and the Christian life after the Holy Spirit comes upon you!

After for Christians:

• receive power, be witnesses (Acts 1:8)
• magnify God (Acts 10:46)
• live according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:5)
• put to death the deeds of the body (Rom. 8:13)
• receive gifts of the Spirit (I Cor. 12:4)
• walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16)
• be led by the Spirit (Gal. 5:18)

This is the Promise. The Gift is the Holy Spirit.

Embrace the Spirit this Pentecost weekend!

Pentecost is both a Christian and Jewish festival. For Jews it commemorates the giving of the Torah to Moses and the spring harvest. But on that day, celebrated on the 7th Sunday after Easter, as the disciples were gathered in prayer, the Holy Spirit came upon them, in what appeared to be flames of fire, and power came upon them to be Christ’s witnesses. This day is considered the birthday of the Church.

Robert E. Webber, The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2006), 282 pages.

Robert Webber has written an effective teaching manual that has covered the essential factors of spiritual formation. With an eye towards the historical foundation of Christ-centered spirituality, he established the building blocks for the contemporary reader. Webber and his publisher have gratefully retained the pertinent citations and endnotes, which for the reader with little familiarity with the historic names and situations of the characters that he referred to is quite helpful. Webber’s organized style of writing efficiently and end of chapter summaries make the material easy to comprehend and great for group study.

The idea that Christ-centered spirituality is safely rooted in the history of the church is essential to Webber’s content. Step by step, and era by era, he walks the reader through the concepts that demonstrate the spirituality of the church. Spirituality must have an equal voice with the rationality of the church. He candidly expressed his Evangelical Protestant bias (even ignorance) against the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox branches of the Church—and he leads the reader through his journey towards a greater awareness of the treasure that is contained within the history of the whole church. Further, he has made a proficient synthesis of the books from several current and popular authors on the subject of Christian spirituality.

Robert E. Webber (1933-2007).

Is it just one more book on spirituality? Yes and no. Yes, Webber championed the call for the church to embrace her historical spirituality. And no—he has advanced foundational spiritual disciplines toward a fresh perspective to challenge our American or Western perspective of spirituality. What would the Church look like if we all carried the Rule of St. Benedict in our pocket everyday? How might ecumenism be approached if we put genuine spirituality ahead of our preference of tradition and dogma? Webber’s synthesis of ancient (our common heritage) and contemporary (our various traditions) Christian resources are condensed here for the novice or mature seeker of genuine spirituality.

Reviewed by John R. Miller

Editor’s note: Robert E. Webber passed away on April 27, 2007. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/aprilweb-only/118-12.0.html

Publisher’s page: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-divine-embrace/230122

Preview The Divine Embrace: http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Divine_Embrace.html?id=GqH8_2gmmycC

Christianity Today July 2007

Isaac Phiri and Joe Maxwell, “Gospel Riches: Africa’s rapid embrace of prosperity Pentecostalism provokes concern—and hope” Christianity Today (July 2007), pages 22-29.

Does faith bring wealth? The 2006 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life study asked if God would “grant material prosperity to all believers who have enough faith” (24). Nearly nine out of every ten Pentecostals in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa said yes.¹ This cover story in Christianity Today investigates the growing dominance of prosperity teaching as being shared throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

While some African prosperity teachers are given brief quotations, the majority of the article presents a highly critical perspective. Some Pentecostal/charismatic scholars are quoted to offer an overview of the parallel growth of Pentecostalism and prosperity teaching in Africa. However, some of these scholars may take exception to the summary of Word of Faith doctrine and health-and-wealth made in this article.

A direct connection is made from E. W. Kenyon to both the heretical New Thought movement and the Christian Science cult. “By the turn of the 20th century, Essek William Kenyon, a pastor and founder of Bethel Bible Institute, had incorporated similar ideas into his preaching on the finished work of Christ” (25). This ignores scholarship² that argues Kenyon taught what some believe to be biblical principles that were influenced by the positivism of New Thought but in distinct contradiction to it. A further connection is made between the late Kenneth E. Hagin and Kenyon. The article claims, “Hagin taught Christians they could get rich by mustering enough faith” (25-26), ignoring any Word of Faith teaching that God’s prosperity is grace to be received in every part of life. Although it may be a case of too little too late, Hagin wrote Midas Touch: A Balanced Approach to Biblical Prosperity (Kenneth Hagin Ministries, 2002) before he died to address this kind of abuse. Marginalization and misrepresentation of Word of Faith beliefs does nothing to bring its adherents to conversation regarding what is sound biblical teaching.

J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine, is quoted as urging discernment when investigating the “strains” of prosperity teaching being preached. “Many of the renewalist leaders in Nigeria preach prosperity as a biblical concept based on the promises of Deuteronomy … proclaiming that when people serve Jesus Christ and renounce other gods, God blesses their nation and economy” (page 24). God is moving, Grady says, despite the greed of some.

The second half of the article considers critics of prosperity teaching from within Africa, and presents a balanced critique of a movement that this article depicts as being out-of-control.

Running along with this article is “First Church of Prosperidad: Arlene Sanchez Walsh on the African-style prosperity gospel right in our backyards—in immigrant Latino churches” (pages 26-27).

Coincidentally, The Christian Century featured a cover story on the same subject. Paul Gifford, an expert in African Christianity, says that growing Pentecostal churches in Africa focus on achieving success. He addresses the tensions that arise when poverty and setbacks to “success” are the daily reality. “Expecting miracles: The prosperity gospel in Africa” The Christian Century (July 10, 2007).

Reading these articles, especially Gifford’s, will broaden and deepen your understanding of Christianity in Africa and how the doctrine of prosperity has been imported there from America.

Reviewed by Raul Mock

Notes

At the time of printing, this article was found online at:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/july/12.22.html

“First Church of Prosperidad” may be found here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/july/13.26.html

“Expecting Miracles” by Paul Gifford may be found at this location: www.christiancentury.org/article/2007-07/expecting-miracles-0

¹ Time magazine’s 2006 poll of American Christians had 61% believing that God wants people to be prosperous, and 31% agreed that if you give your money to God that God will bless you with more money. “Does God Want You To Be Rich?” Time (September 10, 2006). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1533448-2,00.html

²Two such studies may be found in Geir Lie, E.W. Kenyon Cult Founder or Evangelical Minister? (Refleks Publishing, 2003) and Joe McIntyre, E.W. Kenyon: The True Story (Charisma House, 1997).