“How Christians Can Break the Stronghold of a Curse-Informed Worldview: A Nigerian pastor refuses to live his life by this framework—and he wants to help the African church get there too” Christianity Today (September 11, 2023).

PneumaReview.com author Godwin Adeboye is interviewed by Geethanjai Tupps.

Craig Keener, “God has not rejected his people—Romans 11” CraigKeener.com (November 27, 2023).

Scott Sundquist, “Attentiveness: Deliverance” GordonConwell.edu (October 2, 2023).

Demonic possession, deliverance ministry, and spiritual warfare continue to be controversial subjects among Pentecostal/charismatic believers. In his presidential blog, President Sunquist of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary addresses how the school will seek to allow more diverse perspectives on this topic while remaining true to Scripture. “I’ve come to see that the spiritual experience of Christians in Brazil, Nigeria, or China is vastly different from that of most U.S. Christians. As a seminary we have made it seminal to our identity that we teach from a thoroughly biblical and global perspective. We teach from all of the Bible and for all the nations.”

Image: Alexandr Podvalny

Craig Keener, “A backstory to the 2023 Asbury Revival” CraigKeener.com (December 6, 2023).

Brad East, “Doubt Is a Ladder, Not a Home: Churches should welcome questions. That doesn’t require embracing perpetual doubt” Christianity Today (February 20, 2024).
 

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Messianic teacher Kevin Williams offers a compelling reason to trust in God alone.

First, I must confess that I believed in God at a very young age. Only the Almighty knows who the two men were who visited my house those many years ago. I came home from the park one summer’s eve to find them talking with my mother about a personal savior who lived, died, and rose again to removed sins and let mankind enter into a personal and eternal relationship with Him.

Adults seem to have a difficult time admitting that they do things wrong—that they sin against their Creator. But an 8 or 9 year-old boy knows he does things wrong. He knows because he plots wrong things, because he willingly takes that “triple-dare,” because he often gets caught doing wrong, and because he is often told by his parents, teachers, and authority figures that his behavior is wrong. To a child, being wrong is a part of life.

To my young, unclogged mind, the idea of a God who would eliminate all the wrong things—all my sins—was very appealing. So I accepted what they had to say at face value. I didn’t understand all the implications to what I was agreeing to, nor would I for many years to come. But I knew deep down inside that it was the right thing to do and I have never regretted that night’s decision.

Many years have passed since that small boy, and I have a pre-school son of my own. Believe it or not, from time to time, I have to tell him in no uncertain terms that he does things that are wrong. One day, I hope and pray that he will place his trust in God’s Messiah as I have.

But I am no longer a boy. I no longer think like a lad (though I’m told I act like one on occasion). Many things through the years have challenged me and my faith. Sometimes, blind faith is enough. Other times, faith is the way-station that keeps us safe until introspection and revelation bring us to understanding.

So why do I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? I could discuss many things: miracles witnessed, prayers answered, and unexplained healings. Not to mention the marvelous work called the Bible and the fact that it was written over a 4,000 year period by people from all variety of backgrounds and cultural experiences. Yet despite this, it has a continuity that mathematically defies the odds. All of those things are important to me, but the overriding incentive is the same reason I had when I was little boy: God is a God of promises.

I have no doubt that there are those who, even as they read this, say to themselves, “Yea? Well He never kept any promises to me!” I don’t know your circumstances and I cannot speak to them. What I can speak to are the promises of God to the Hebrew people—the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the great panorama of time.