The Bible in Hebrews 13:3 command Christians to pray for those suffering as if they themselves were suffering. In other words, the Bible calls us to not only remember those who suffer but to also be one with them in their suffering. In keeping with this scriptural command, the International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) has united millions of Christians in prayer for the suffering Body of Christ around the world. After all, as the Bible says: If one suffers, we all suffer.

Over the years, the IDOP has served as a platform to highlight the stories of persecuted Christians and mobilise the global Church to respond to their plight. Moreover, in so doing, the IDOP has also been a source of solidarity and encouragement to persecuted Christians by reminding them that they are part of a larger, global family of believers.

We believe that God uses the prayers of his people to strengthen and deliver suffering saints. However, in order to pray for these suffering brothers and sisters, we must first listen to their stories. It is only in knowing their plight that we can truly identify with them in their suffering.

We invite you, therefore, to join us this year on 1st and 8th November as we unite globally to pray for the persecuted. Let’s pray that in spite of the pressure and persecution, our suffering brothers and sisters –where ever they may be in the world — would stand firm in their faith, hold fast to the promises of God, and live victoriously in Christ.

Blessings,

Godfrey Yogarajah
Executive Director
WEA Religious Liberty Commission

Watch the IDOP 2020 1:09 minute video (Vimeo) and share it with your church.

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.

Mel Robeck has shared with Pneuma Review the press release from the International Dialogue between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and Classical Pentecostals, which concluded on December 4, 2018.

Representatives of various classical Pentecostal churches and a delegation from the World Communion of Reformed Churches met in Legon, Accra, Ghana, November 29 – December 4, 2018. This meeting was the fifth session of the third round, which is focused on “Ministering to the Needs of the World.”

The participants were photographed on the campus of Trinity Theological Seminary, where the Methodist scholar on Pentecostal and Charismatics, Dr. Kwabena has recently become President. Pictured left to right, row one: Bas Plaisiar, Teresa (Tess) Chai, Jacqui Grey, and Van Johnson. Row two: Karla Koll, Jean-Daniel Plüess, Gabrielle Rácsok, and Setri Nyomi. Row three: David Daniels, Mel Robeck, Hanns Lessing.

At the beginning and end of each day, participants gather to pray, sing, read and reflect upon the Bible together. This time of sharing in spirituality and worship helps to contextualize the discussions that take place, and builds greater community between participants.

This year, the dialogue focused on the significance of eschatology (those things having to do with the end of time and the return of Jesus, which is our blessed hope) to Mission. To open the discussion, the Rev. Dr. Karla Ann Koll (Reformed) and Rev. Dr. Van Johnson (Pentecostal) prepared and presented papers reflective of the teachings of their faith communities on this topic. Participants then raised questions and responded in a free-ranging discussion intended to tease out common interests and common concerns, while noting differences in understanding.

In her presentation, Dr. Koll demonstrated that Reformed Christians, like Pentecostals, anticipate the return of Jesus Christ to bring the Reign of God in its fullness. Their primary focus has been on sharing the Gospel and caring for the lives and well-being of others in ways they believe are in keeping with that Reign. Following the teachings of John Calvin regarding the sovereignty of God, and their belief that God’s redemptive intention encompasses all of creation, they have been less focused upon events surrounding the Second Coming, and more on the call for the Church to minister until Christ’s return. They maintain that the Holy Spirit empowers them both to promote the Gospel, and work to transform culture and society in keeping with Christ’s will.

Dr. Johnson made the case that both time and space have challenged the way Pentecostals think about and act upon their understanding of eschatology. Pentecostals believe that God has been restoring the purity, passion, and power of the church through the Holy Spirit, in anticipation of the imminent return of Christ and the inauguration of His kingdom. Like the early church, their expectation that time was short before Christ’s return, has motivated much of their mission activity, in which they have emphasized the proclamation of the Gospel to the “lost.” Yet, after a century of existence, Pentecostal views of time are changing, leading to shifts in how they view mission. If they have more time to live and act, their view of the world around them, their space, must be taken more seriously than in the past. While continuing to affirm the soon return of the Lord, their notion of mission has broadened beyond proclamation or evangelization alone, to include other missional activities. Now, mission includes a range of activities extending from evangelism to creation care as signs of the future kingdom.

In former times, some missionary efforts were aligned with militaristic imperialism. Are the terrible expressions of colonialism being promoted by contemporary missionaries? Professor Celucien Joseph reminds us there is a better way.

For many years, I have been thinking about the interreligious conflict between Christianity and other religions in the world, and the work of Christian missionaries in international mission and cross-cultural evangelization. In the context of Haiti, for example, the conflict lies in the relationship between Vodou and Christianity, Christians and Vodouizan. As will be observed, the essay below reveals my values, ethics, theology, my understanding of human cultures and cross-cultural friendship, my understanding of the message of the Gospel and its demands upon people, and the infinite value of Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice for the world. My target-audience is Christian missionaries who are investing in cross-cultural evangelization and international mission.

Image: Jose Martin

Historically, the practice of Christian mission and evangelization, both at the cross-cultural and international level, has been influenced by American-Western ideology of conquest and an attempt to deracinate the culture and traditions of the people being evangelized. Correspondingly, Christian mission and evangelization has been operating from the foundational philosophy of the superiority of American and European cultures and value-systems, and the belief in the triumphal achievements of Western countries in global history. Also, the rhetoric of Christian mission and evangelization has also been shaped by the rhetoric of dehumanization and demonization, as circulated in American-Western books, media, and news outlets, of non-white and Western people. In short, Christian international mission and cross-cultural evangelization has been detrimental to the values, cultures, and concerns of brown and non-Western people.

Unfortunately, many Christian missionaries originated from powerful Western countries and supported aggressive Western interventions such as wars, coups, economic sanctions and embargoes—often resulting in deaths, abject poverty, and underdevelopment. These Christians claimed they were called to serve as missionaries and evangelists, to the great dishonor of the Gospel of peace, interpreting these human-made tragedies, catastrophes, suffering, and pain as part of the divine plan for the Gospel to penetrate that foreign land. To continue to contribute to the (on-going) misery and suffering of the people one is called to reach is the very antithesis of the Gospel of peace and reconciliation. Such attitudes clearly indicates a grave misunderstanding of the task of the Christian missionary and the essence of biblical Christianity—as if one were to support a politics of human destruction and an ethics of death: social, existential, and physical.

In the same line of thought, the Christian missionary should never sustain international policies and diplomatic-immigration laws that will lead to the obliteration of (foreign) individuals, and the separation and dehumanization of the families of the people they are called to love and reach overseas. Because you are called to be a peacemaker and light of the world, God has also urged you to be on the side of the poor, the vulnerable, the economically-oppressed, and correspondingly, to defend their rights to exist and be free. The Gospel is about the activation of God’s justice and goodness in the world, and the application of divine justice in the social order; thus, the missionary-messenger should be a fierce bearer of human justice and a zealous promoter of God’s intended goal to harmonize everything and make all things right.

When: April 17-21, 2018

Where: Dallas, Texas (see event website for accommodations and more details)

Is your effort aligned with your level of effectiveness in your business? As a leader, have you considered WHY you’re doing what you’re doing?

Join us at #PL2018 as we equip you with the tools & skills needed to minimize your effort while maximizing your impact! Register today at http://pastorsandleaders.org.

For the past 20 years, the International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church has united millions of Christians around the world in the spirit that scripture commands: if one suffers, we all suffer.

According to statistics, at least 100 million Christians around the world face persecution daily. These Christians facing routine harassment and difficulties, often suffer in silence and isolation. Over the years, the IDOP has served as a platform to highlight their stories and advocate their plight. Moreover, in so doing, the IDOP has also been a source of solidarity and encouragement to persecuted Christians by reminding them that they are part of a larger, global family of believers.

Based on scripture, we are convinced that God uses the prayers of his people to strengthen and deliver suffering saints. We invite you, therefore, to join us on 6th and 13th November as we unite globally to pray for the persecuted. Let’s pray that in spite of the pressure and persecution, our suffering brothers and sisters –where ever they may be in the world — would stand firm in their faith, holding fast to the promises of God in Christ Jesus.

IDOP is a time set apart for us to remember thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who suffer persecution, simply because they confess Jesus Christ as Lord. We invite you to explore the variety of resources on www.idop.org and hope you will join Christians worldwide in praying for persecuted Christians this November.

The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) is a time set apart to remember them.

Over the past year, thousands of Christians in the Middle East have been forced to flee as a result of the atrocities committed by the Islamic State. Elsewhere, in countries like Nigeria, scores of Christians have been killed for their faith.

“We urge the global Church to unite in prayer for the persecuted Church this November,” said Godfrey Yogarajah, the Executive Director of the Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance.

The designated dates for this year’s IDOP is 1 and 8 November. In some countries, IDOP will also be observed on 15 November. We invite you to visit the IDOP website to download special resources to help you pray effectively for the persecuted.

We urge you to unite in prayer for the persecuted Church in the spirit that Christ commanded, “for, if one suffers, we all suffer.”

Remember their chains.

IDOP Video 2015 from IDOP on Vimeo.

Pastor Cletus Hull tells us about the International Society of Biblical Literature meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Puente de la Mujer (“Women’s Bridge”) rotating footbridge in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

I am back from my trip to Argentina and I had a great experience.

The Meeting was held from July 19-26, 2015 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The paper was titled “The Pneumatology of Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 Grounded with his Christology in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.”

Presenting my paper on the cross and the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 1and 2.

About the paper: The cross of Christ crucified symbolized the central theme of Paul’s ministry. In his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle commenced his correspondence with “the message about the cross” and “power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18, NRSV). The proposal for this paper utilizes the method analogia scripturae. Set within the wisdom motif of the Greco-Roman world, this study is dedicated to the examination of the apostle’s Christology in the context of 1 Cor. 1:18-25 and the Pneumatology in 1 Cor. 2:9-16 as both pericopes are juxtaposed in his epistle. Essentially, the thesis concerns the grounding of the Pneumatology of Paul with his Christology in 1 Corinthians. The Corinthian church required clarification and pastoral wisdom with their pneumatic experiences; thus, Paul recognized that a strong theology of the cross complemented their encounters with the Spirit. The question for biblical studies involves a lively tension of the Pneumatology of the Spirit with a robust Christology. Because the power of God throughout this passage has the cross as its paradigm, the structure of the paper leads to the significance of the apostle’s pneumatological contribution of the cross and Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:18; 2:2). For this reason, a strong Christology must ground the Pneumatology of the Pauline corpus. This study in biblical literature commences a new discussion in ecumenical dialogue between pneumatic experiences in the church and christological issues in scripture.

Rev. Dr. Cletus Luther Hull, III  D.Min.
PhD Student, Biblical Studies
Regent University
www.cletushull.com
July 29, 2015

The Society of Biblical Literature, according to their website, was founded in 1880 to foster biblical scholarship. The 2016 annual meeting will be held in Seoul, South Korea from July 3-7, 2016. For more information about their annual international meetings, see: https://www.sbl-site.org/meetings/internationalmeeting.aspx

Church of God Presiding Bishop Mark Williams preaching.

Official church historians consider the Church of God (Cleveland, TN USA) the oldest continuing, and one of the largest, Pentecostal ecclesial organizations in the world. It dates back to 1886 with roots in the Unicoi Mountains of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina. It considers itself more of a movement than a denomination, more of a dynamic and organic union than an institution. Yet with around 7 million members worldwide and a constituency closer to 15 million the Church of God certainly has developed some of the trappings of an organized institution. One of these institutional necessities has been its biennial General Assembly.

True to its origins in the American Wesleyan Holiness Movement the Church of God early adopted a mostly Episcopal form of government. Among other things, this has meant a centralized polity, although with some admittedly hybrid elements of congregationalism showing through here and there. Every two years Ordained Bishops of the Church of God meet in a General Council to elect leaders, discuss business, and address pressing issues in the church and in society. Then the General Assembly, which still includes the General Council but adds other credentialed ministers as well as registered lay delegates, meets to confirm (or not) the suggestions of the Bishops. The General Assembly is the highest governing body of a group that insists it adheres strictly to the teachings of Scripture in its beliefs and practices. In between General Assembly sessions the Church of God is led by an International Executive Committee consisting of a Presiding Bishop (General Overseer), three assistants (executive bishops), and a Secretary General together with 18 councilors comprising the International Executive Council. The Presiding Bishop moderates the General Council and the General Assembly.

For me, this opening process suggests something of an interpretative key for the 75^th General and what it says about where the Church of God is today and what it is about. Two words come to my mind: retention and expansion. The course of this General Assembly suggests to me that the Church of God is engaged in Herculean labors to retain its Holiness-Pentecostal heritage and identity and also to expand its ministries and mission for contemporary relevance and effectiveness in a world that has changed dramatically since the turn of the 20^th century. As a Church of God member, bishop, pastor, and educator, as well as something of an interlocutor with others, I applaud these dual drives. However, I recognize that there is an inherent tension in remaining rooted in the past while taking wing into the future. Nevertheless, I’m convinced that the most consistent way forward for the Church of God still involves integrating just such continuity and creativity.