Many people in Spirit-filled communities can feel like they don’t belong. They identify as Spirit-filled, yet there own experience doesn’t seem to match up with those of their community. They might feel like they don’t shout enough, dance right, tongue-talk enough, or vote right. Truthfully, this experience can be a gut-wrenching crisis of identity. “If these people are Pentecostal… then what am I?”
Categories AcademicsBible & Theology
Global Pentecostalism – Of, For & By the Poor: First Things
Pentecostal churches are not “sects,” “steered by U.S. capital and the CIA”. They have sprung up out of the ground everywhere, like mushrooms. They are an independent popular movement of the poor. They have something to say to the whole of Christendom on earth, and have liberating experiences to pass on to all men and women.
Categories Arts & Culture
Church Planting: Entrepreneurs Encouraged to Apply!
Over the past few weeks, two blog posts – both from the Send Institute – have been written about church planting and entrepreneurialism. Their basic point is this: church planting …
Categories Arts & Culture
Black History Month
“If you don’t know Black history, then you don’t know American history. If you don’t know American history, then you don’t know America. If you don’t know America, then you …
Categories Bible & Theology
‘Do It Again, Lord!’: Pentecostalism is Nothing but Participating in the Acts 2 Story
When I was a teenager, I sometimes traveled with my father as he and a team of leaders organized, led, and taught three-day discipleship training camps for students every summer …
Categories Arts & CultureEveryday Living
Oh I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
Article originally posted on State of Formation. I had just finished morning prayer at the local Episcopal church near my office, a place where I go to find strength and renewal in the …
Categories Bible & Theology
Pentecostalism is Nothing
I want to consider a very basic question in this post: What exactly is Pentecostalism? And, perhaps surprisingly, I’m going to argue that it is, in fact, nothing. Something Over the …
Categories Everyday Living
Presence in the Mess
“And His name shall be called Immanuel, God with us.” Earlier this week I asked our kids about their favorite Christmas traditions, and as I started to share some of …
Categories Bible & TheologyEveryday Living
The Charismatic Anglican
As I left a lot of my past Christianity behind, I also brought a lot with me. I believe we must always carry the beautiful things we pick up along the way into the future.
Categories Bible & Theology
What is Pentecostalism?
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?