Pentecostalism is a movement born from an egalitarian community, even from the very beginning. The earliest believers in Jesus’ message were mostly the marginalized: women, slaves, the poor, lepers and other outcasts, Samaritans (the contemporary equivalent of ethnic minorities), widows, the lonely and forgotten. Who else would be so eager for a gospel of hope and redemption?
Featured
Categories Bible & Theology
What is Pentecostalism?
Categories Bible & Theology
You Don’t Have the Right! Religious Freedom and COVID-19
If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it is that everyone is keen to protect what is theirs. We hoard toilet paper, stockpile ammo, and demand our rights. Yet, perhaps this pandemic is also an opportunity for some Christians to relearn and relive a core gospel truth: that real freedom only comes when we cease fighting for ourselves and start living for others.
Categories Ethics
Leviticus 25, Covid 19 and the triumph of Hope
Originally posted at Radical Impact Covid19 shook most assumptions we have held about the proper functioning of our world. It affected how we relate with our loved ones, when and how …
Categories Ethics
Basics: What do we do with other religions?
Pentecostalism grew due to the work of enthusiastic believers, spreading the message of God’s liberating Spirit around their communities and world. At its core, Pentecostalism is evangelical, professing salvation through …
Categories Bible & TheologyResources
Pentecostal History 101 : Tongues
Pentecostal History 101 is a thematic dive into the history of the pentecostal movement. Each post picks up a historical theme and asks what that history means for today. At …
Categories Bible & TheologyEthics
Basics: Have we gotten evangelism and missions wrong?
With mission trip season in full bloom, we’d be wise to step back and survey Pentecostal-Christian faith related to evangelism and missions. What is the “Great Commission” and why do …
Categories Everyday Living
Basics: Do Christians have to tithe?
This series of posts is dedicated to (re)considering basics of Christian faith, and today we examine one regularly misconstrued topic: tithing. Tithing Mandate? The Church persistently preaches that Christians must …
Categories Everyday LivingUncategorized
Dear Rachel
Last week, the world lost one of its most powerful and needed voices for truth. Rachel Held Evans gained prominence as a progressive Christian blogger, author, and speaker who abandoned …
Categories AcademicsBible & Theology
Global Pentecostalism – Of, For & By the Poor: Final Thoughts
Harvey Cox and others have observed that Pentecostalism’s gift to the world was the gift of the poor. Perhaps something of the inverse can also be said: A gift from the poor to the world has been the Pentecostal movement.
Categories Bible & Theology
Basics: Palm Sunday
My next few posts are dedicated to Christian basics like Palm Sunday (today’s topic), the validity of tithing, evangelism, and inter-religious interaction. Communal Beginning with Palm Sunday, we are presented …
Categories AcademicsBible & Theology
Global Pentecostalism – Of, For & By the Poor: Challenges and Developments
Here, I will divide my observations into two categories. First, those challenges that I see as primarily internal to the Pentecostal movement and then I will move finally to the issue of the so-called “prosperity gospel”.