“… the prophet makes clear that [Amos’ audience] celebrate a different god, one they might call Yahweh but one who was nevertheless a deity of their own making. It was a god of blessing and goodness, with no rough edges.

“Theirs was worship disconnected from reality and the living God.”

“Prophetic Anticipation Builds: Unblemished Red Heifers for Temple Ceremony Soon Come of Age” CBN (March 17, 2023).

Messianic teacher Kevin Williams writes: “In case you follow such things, it looks like we are about a year away from a potential Red Heifer update. The article says during the spring of 2024, but based on the other things in the article, I think the fall feasts are more likely. The article is intriguing though, regarding nine pure priests, the secured location, and the notion that the next temple will be ‘a house of prayer for all nations.’”

Richard R. Hammar, “Expanding Abuse Victims’ Rights and What It Means for Churches” Church Law & Tax.

From this landing page, Attorney and CPA, Richard Hammar launches a 4-part series on what the expansion of abuse victims’ rights means for churches.

“50,000 mosques have closed in Iran – Are Iranians seeking truth outside of Islam?” AllArab.News (August 16, 2023).

Here is exciting confirmation that God is doing something in Iran. Thanks to Iran Alive Ministries for pointing out this story of how 50,000 out of Iran’s 75,000 mosques have closed.

Image: Steven Coffey

Sam Storms, “Why Are Charismatics So Weird?” Enjoying God Blog (August 21, 2023).

No thinking Pentecostal/charismatic has ever denied that some that identify with that label do bizarre things and teach strange doctrines. Retired pastor and scholar Sam Storms argues that when cessationists (those who say the miraculous ministry of the Holy Spirit has ceased) hold up these undeniably bizarre examples as if they represent all Pentecostal/charismatics they are being deceitful and not acting like Christ.

Daniel K. Williams, “Evangelicals’ Theology of the Church Must Be Born Again: The ‘Great Dechurching’ is an opportunity for our tradition to rediscover a more enduring ecclesiology” Christianity Today (August 24, 2023).

PR

Andrew Wilson has written a highly readable, engaging volume seeking the integration of the streams that are regularly treated as contrastive: sacrament and Spirit. It is not that these are actually contrastive, but too many folks imagine they are distinct. Those who worship with candles, lectionaries, church calendars, and vestments versus those who worship with shouts, dancing, speaking in tongues, and altar calls. Yet Wilson contends these are not contradictory and nor should they be. While he is not proposing an explicit apologetic for these two streams to be joined, he is offering an implicit one. Even more so he is speaking to those who already may think these should be found together and offering them support toward a more biblical reflection of integration as basic to the church. The movements of this book are simple (though not simplistic): (ch. 1) Spirit and sacrament, (chs. 2-3) charis “gift” and chara “joy”, (chs. 4-5) eucharistic and charismatic. The intent is a proposed (ch. 6) “eucharismatic” (eucharistic/sacramental and Spirit-ed/charismatic) expression and experience for the life of the local church. This new term (eucharismatic) is intended to bring the two expressions into a fruitful intertwining as expressive of the fuller life of the church.

One of the many values of this volume is its positive framing of church expressions that are often put into juxtaposition as if antithetical. A similar sort of distinction was noted fifteen years ago in Sam Storm’s testimony and articulation Convergence: Spiritual Journeys of a Charismatic Calvinist (Enjoying God Ministries, 2005) that juxtaposed “Calvinist” and “Charismatic” as poles that deserve to be brought together. Wilson’s own vision is less narrow by opening up to those which are sacramental/historic/liturgical and those which are charismatic/Pentecostal/renewal (with none of these terms intended as intentionally limiting to what might be offered). Wilson contends that the church that is committed to embodied life expresses itself in dress, smells, sounds, tastes, and movements that consider the whole person as incorporated into the life of the worshiping community. The integration of all of these as gifts and joy makes of a meaningful contribution to reflecting on the life of the church as it seeks faithful expression in local (and global) contexts.

Wilson does not dictate what the eucharismatic life and church looks like as this is a work of the Spirit in the context of specific congregations seeking to live faithfully in their contexts. However, he reminds his readers that just as “the church encompasses the whole body of Christ—cerebral and emotion, high and low context, introvert and extrovert, spontaneous and controlled, Asian, African, American, European, and so on—then local churches need to worship in ways that help everyone find joy in God, through Christ, by the Spirit” (57, original emphasis). This is enabled both by the many tongues of Pentecost and the many prayers and liturgies of the church historic and global.

As a full-time pastor of 22 years and one who still serves pastors globally through teaching, mentoring, and discipleship I will be recommending this book to fellow pastors and those I disciple in the pastorate. This book would serve a local church or group of pastors seeking to reflect on these issues (whether they consider themselves more “eucharistic” or more “charismatic” or even already a bit of a blend). It has the great potential to offer language for carrying forward conversations and seeking further reflection on this field of study. This book is precisely the kind of entry level work on the subject to spur further readings and deeper reflections perhaps moving to engage other works which likewise seek to integrate such things at a more advanced and detailed level of reflection.

Reviewed by Rick Wadholm Jr

Publisher’s page: https://zondervanacademic.com/products/spirit-and-sacrament

Pastor-scholar Tony Richie says there is no Jewish-Christian-Muslim God. Nor is there a simple answer to the “Same God” question.

When people realize I participate in interreligious dialogue and cooperative efforts they often ask me some version of the question in the main title of this post.[1] If I manage to mention that I have written a couple of books on Christian theology of religions from a Pentecostal perspective, I can almost certainly count on that question coming up. Actually, it usually centers more on two of the three “Abrahamic religions” (world religions tracing their origins to the biblical patriarch Abraham). They ask whether the Christian Trinity and the Muslim Allah is the same God. Almost always they want a simple, straightforward yes or no response. There is complexity implied in saying there is no Jewish-Christian-Muslim God, and it is not what they want to hear. To an extent, they are correct. There’s no such thing as a Jewish-Christian-Muslim God! Before unpacking what I mean by that bold statement I’ll briefly provide some important background.

Abraham’s well at Beersheba

Identifying or distinguishing a common deity is also important for Christian theologies of the other Abrahamic religion: Islam.[3] Islamist scholar Ataullah Siddiqui explains that “The divide between Islam and Christianity that most needs bridging derives from their different understandings of God and relationship with him”.[4] Christians may reasonably ask if it could be that just as Christians share with Judaism the worship of the same God, although through vastly differing faiths with different names for God and differing views of God’s nature, this same possibility exists for Islam. In other words, is it at least possible that Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the same God? If so, then one thing is certain: they certainly have greatly different conceptions of God and how God ought to be served and worshiped.

Editor’s Note: This academic paper by Paul Palma was first presented at the 2013 meeting of the Center for Renewal Studies. Less technical readers may want to start with the more accessible conclusion.

Introduction

The early Pentecostal movement expanded among those seeking a more dynamic and vital religious experience. For some this entailed transition through one or more pre-Pentecostal traditions. The first Italian Pentecostals were Roman Catholic converts who transitioned through Protestant and independent Holiness stages before arriving to the Pentecostal movement. The guiding motivation for their progress from one denomination to the next was dissatisfaction with conventional orthodoxy and the pursuit of an intuitive, affective spirituality.

Religious Trajectory of the Italian Pentecostals

The Italian Pentecostal movement formed among a community of immigrants in the first decade of the twentieth century. Italians entered America as nominal and devout Catholics. Growing anticlericalism and distrust for American Catholicism, dominated at that time by the Irish Church, forced many Italians to veer from their ethnoreligious roots. Some ventured to Protestant churches. The first Italian Pentecostals were Presbyterians-turned evangelical Holiness believers. The movement of Italians to increasingly revivalistic churches provides the conceptual framework for understanding the spiritual formation of the first Italian Pentecostals.

The creation of the Italian Evangelical Mission in Chicago at the turn of the twentieth century redefined Italian ethnoreligious identity. Beginning as a community of independent Holiness believers, this congregation emerged from the spiritual vacancy created by a neglectful American Catholic Church and the rigid demands of mainline Protestantism. Luigi Francescon and Pietro Ottolini assumed the leadership responsibilities of the Evangelical Mission. Francescon emigrated in 1890 and converted among a group of Waldensians before cofounding the First Italian Presbyterian Church of Chicago. Ottolini emigrated in 1891, converted from Catholicism through an independent evangelist, and later joined the First Italian Presbyterian Church.[2]

PneumaReview.com invites you to read this paper by Professor Eugen Jugaru and discuss the connection between joy and suffering.

Abstract

Suffering for the Christian faith and Christian worship exuberance, paradoxically have a common ground: a joy beyond understanding which comes from the Holy Spirit. The reality of this unusual and passionate experience: joy in sufferings and worship, was experienced by Christians in Romania, a country that for 45 years was ruled by a fierce atheist Communist regime. Their experiences were similar to the first-century Christians who after being beaten for breaking the interdiction to spread the Gospel, “rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His (Christ’s) name” (Acts. 5:40-41). Two Christians remained examples for Romanian Christians by their determination in persecution, Richard Wurmbrand and Nicolae Steinhardt.

Also during the persecution in Romania, believers who were not imprisoned have also experienced a deep presence of the Holy Spirit in worship. These moments flooded their hearts with unimaginable joy which gave them power to forgive their enemies and to receive strength to face courageously the atheist regime.

I will be presenting the reality of joy beyond understanding in suffering and worship due to the presence and empowering of the Holy Spirit through the use of written narrative testimonies of Richard Wurmbrand and Nicolae Steinhardt as well as other written testimonies of Christians within the Pentecostal churches of Romania during the same period under the Communist regime. I will be providing an interpretive layer on the materials that will connect their responses to the work of the Spirit. By using current writings and observation I then will reveal the diminishing of this experience in contemporary post-Communism as reflected in the Christian experience in Romania.

Introduction

The theme of joy, whether it is viewed from a Christian perspective based on soteriological or pneumatological elements or whether from secular perspective, is a current topic due to general pessimism which seems to mark the contemporary generation. While we enjoy many of the products and services that did not benefited our parents it seems that there is an unseen enemy of joy that does not allow us to live our lives with great confidence and profound optimism. Joy of life today is overshadowed by the burden of stress, by the assault of various news media, especially negative news, by the fear of sickness or by anxiety of an unsure future due to multiple crises.

In this paper I will be presenting the idea that there can be a real and a deep joy, a joy beyond understanding, beyond the comprehension of our mind and reason, a joy in suffering and in worship, in prayers and songs for those who have accepted the Christian perspective on life. As an example to support this thesis I present the testimonies of several Christians from different denominations, who experienced a joy beyond understanding when they were imprisoned. Their experience can teach us today about the joy beyond understanding, a real joy that surpass difficulties of the life and can help us today when we have freedom and rights, but consequently less joy.

What is joy beyond understanding and how does this kind of joy manifest itself?

Joy beyond understanding is that state of spiritual exaltation that makes a person who has it to forget the difficulties of the life and to experience God’s presence in a very strong, real and personal way.

Joy beyond understanding and comprehension does not depend on the circumstances of life, it is rooted in God’s continual presence and grace, for it is a work of the Holy Spirit. Usually joy is that personal feeling due to certain achievements or because of good news received, but joy beyond understanding does not depend on such external input. Joy beyond understanding cannot be expressed well in words; it can be experienced, felt but not fully communicated in words.

The manifestation of joy beyond understanding can be expressed by a shining upon the face or even by tears of joy. Personally, I think that a smile and laughter can be a manifestation of joy, but does not suggests in the best way the depth of joy, it is not so deep as the tears of joy which cannot be stopped. I watched TV programs broadcasting live emotional meetings between people who have not met for many years, between life partners or between parents and children, and in most of these exciting meetings protagonists could not retain tears of joy.

The joy beyond understanding does not comes from a human predisposition toward happiness or, as I related before from the satisfaction of personal achievement, but its source is divine, it is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:20-22). When Paul contrasts the works of the flesh and the fruit of Holy Spirit, he revealed that among the items and fruit of the Spirit is also joy (Greek chara).

Responding to the “Other Significant Article” review of John Mortensen’s “How Then Shall We Write?”

Editor’s Note: that link to the full issue is http://vineyardusa.org/site/files/cutting-edge/06-Spring-Worship.pdf [updated Dec 11, 2104]

I followed the link included at the end of the brief review for the article: John Mortensen, “How Then Shall We Write? A Guide to Composing Better Music for Worship” Cutting Edge (Spring, 2006), pages 6-9. The whole issue looks great. I am reading the article by Matt Redman and I was blessed by both, but wanted to ask some questions.

John Mortensen wrote: “These days a sense of self-congratulation seems to pervade many songs. We seem to be impressed, not with our works (because that would be heresy) but at least with the admirable way we’ve responded to grace. This trend is also evident in the many songs of outrageous promise: Forever I’ll love You, Forever I’ll stand, I will sing of Your love forever, Over oceans deep I will follow, and so on. That last promise sounds like the one Peter made. One wonders whether we might be singing in praise of our own competence” (page 7).

I would like you to clarify for me a little about the “word thing.” I think that some of these songs with an “outrageous promise” are also actually expressing a personal hope and spiritual goal that they are reaching for.

I was thinking about what you said about ingredients in writing new music. There are some huge, beautiful pieces of music out there that change time signature and meter—almost like many songs blended into one—but yet are single songs. These are spectacular to listen to, even though the lyrics are secular. A couple of examples I can think of are by the band Genesis: “Behind the Lines” from the album Duke; “Los Endos” from Trick of the Tail. Would something like this be ‘too much’ to put into a worship set, if written with scriptural lyrics?”

— Skip

Response from John Mortensen

1. Yes, it is always possible to construe or interpret “self-congratulatory” songs as hopeful rather than arrogant, and certainly most songs will be received and understood by the people with a variety of interpretations. Nevertheless I stick with my point for two reasons: First, the American church is in danger of too much triumphalism, but not in danger of too much humility. Second, we live in a culture that is overwhelmed with the exaggerated claims of advertising and marketing. Our own song lyrics should be remarkably different from that: poetic, beautiful, honest, proportional, humane.

2. I do remember Genesis, but not so much the particular songs you mention. This seems like a discussion that could become technical, and perhaps a piano and manuscript paper are needed before we can go much further.

Thanks for sending in these remarks.

— John

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.

From the Worship Leader series.

I like the “Five Step Discipleship model” I learned from John Wimber:

1. Lead worship with a worship leader in training in attendance.
2. Have that person play alongside you while you lead.
3. Have that person lead while you play alongside him or her.
4. Talk about the worship time afterward.
5. Finish the process by letting them lead alone.

As long as you’re a page ahead of the people you’re leading, you have something to say!

Copyright Stan Myers. Used with permission.

Be committed to building God’s kingdom, not your own. If there’s only one weekly meeting in your church, you might have to share your space! Co-lead with an apprentice. Gradually increase his or her levels of responsibility.

Worship leaders have more authority when their lives match their songs. Outstanding worshippers in the Bible are also noted for their acts of service to God. Furthermore, when the church sees someone who is “going for it” in God’s kingdom they are more willing to follow that person in worship.

At the Anaheim Vineyard, we have a gifted worship leader named Mike Kinnen. Mike spearheaded worship in a local church plant. He had lots of responsibilities that were new to him, like raising up a worship band and worship with a P.A. system. Then, he raised up other worship leaders and left them doing it in his place. I like to work with risk-takers who don’t quit even when the going gets tough.

You can’t lead people that don’t want to follow you. The most fruitful mentoring relationships I’ve have are those in which there is mutual admiration between the two parties. If a person has the skills, experience, knowledge, perspective and character that I admire, I’ll have a reason to pursue them.

The best worship band leaders are good pastors and leaders. Worship team members need to be cared for as people, not just deployed as musicians. If a young leader has a compassionate heart and is a good people person, he or she can be trained to pastor.

Give someone a little responsibility and see how it goes. It is important to determine if the worship trainee is “faithful with the little things.” Even if God speaks to you powerfully about a person’ calling, a proven track record will confirm what god has shown you before you give someone a permanent position.

The Classroom

The basics of worship and worship leading can be taught once or twice a year through a six or eight session course. Worship leaders and take more advance course once they are leading. When they find out what they don’t know, they’re more teachable.!

Cutting Edge 2:1 (1998)

Jeff Bailey, “Worship and Spirituality in the New World” Cutting Edge (Vol 4, No 2, Summer 2000), pages 16-18.

Jeff Bailey, co-editor of Vineyard Churches’ (USA) church planting magazine Cutting Edge, has been interviewing and conversing with a number of postmodern theologians in the last few issues. In the July 2000 issue of Cutting Edge, Bailey talks with Robert Webber about the postmodern threshold Webber sees Christianity crossing.

Webber recently took a post at Northern Baptist Seminary in Lombard, Illinois, having served as the professor of historical theology at Wheaton College for over 30 years. He is best known for extensive studies on worship including over 20 books, a monthly column in Worship Leader magazine and editing the Complete Library of Christian Worship.

Webber says that as Christianity enters post-modernism, theology must be rethought and ancient forms of worship must be reclaimed. He believes that postmoderns are looking for more visible and tangible ways of expressing faith, including symbols that touch spiritual realities. He says, “Christians in the postmodern world will succeed, not by watering down the faith, but by being a counter-cultural community that invites people to be shaped by the story of Israel and Jesus” (p. 16). However, from the excerpts given in this article, the ancient forms of worship he is suggesting reclaiming have more the flavor of early Gentile Christianity than the earliest Messianic Judaism.

Webber says that spirituality must be properly understood as turning our backs on evil and embracing Christlikeness, the essence of true humanity. One of the ways to become spiritual is then to rightly read the Bible. Too many of us have been duped into thinking that we cannot really understand what the author intended and therefore we do not read it to learn what God is saying to us. The Bible is God’s Word, it is what He intended. Therefore, we do need to do our homework on the background of the passage we are studying, but then we also need to read devotionally. For example, if we believed that out in front of where we lived was buried one billion dollars in gold, we would be making tremendous effort to locate it. We know that God’s Word is treasure, and we must go digging for the wealth it contains. Webber says, “As long as our interpretation doesn’t contradict the faith or ethics of the Church, I think we can say that we’ve heard from God” (p. 17).

Webber has some deep criticisms of modern evangelicalism. He says, “Evangelicalism is all about power: how to get it, how to use it, how to build big churches, how to have political influence … the opposite of what Jesus is all about. I often tell people, ‘Find out what church growth is telling you to do, and then do the opposite’” (p. 18). While evangelicalism may be experiencing much confusion as it transitions (or fails to transition) into a post-modern world, Webber’s definition is too biting for me. Anyone who is seeking power instead of serving in love is in the wrong. I, for one, cannot simply equate evangelicalism with power-mongering.