There many of us who deeply cherish our Pentecostal heritage. By that term, I'm referring to the value it placed on divine encounters, a real/experiential sense of God's manifest presence, worship that included body & soul, and a profound sense of expectation.
By "Pentecostal heritage" I think of boldness, courage, passion, emotional/expressive freedom, and the holy audacity to genuinely believe that A) God really did the stuff in the Bible, and B) he could do it in our time.
At its best, Pentecostal heritage refers to a faith that is passionate about Jesus, prayer, Scripture, corporate worship, and global mission. It's radically open to and hungry for the mystical, which includes all sorts of supernatural expressions.
But Houston, WE HAVE A PROBLEM! This openness is inherently vulnerable. While we were busy casting out demons, the principalities & powers of moralism and Republican politics having seemingly creeped in and took many of us hostage. #AngelOfLight
"Spirit of Jezebel"? We now prostitute the gifts of the Spirit in the service of carnal kingdoms. We peddle conspiracy theories as unwitting participants in a satanic strategy to discredit the move and power of the Spirit.
15 yrs ago I was ready to abandon my Pentecostal heritage over prosperity preaching and dispensationalism—both of which pale in comparison to the utter nonsense being passed off as "prophetic" today.
Where is the remnant?
Where are the men & women who deny Trump AND Biden their loyalty? Who see the explicit brokenness in Republican AND Democratic politics? Who recognize the sham of the loudest, shiniest voices among us?
Where are the men & women who deny Trump AND Biden their loyalty? Who see the explicit brokenness in Republican AND Democratic politics? Who recognize the sham of the loudest, shiniest voices among us?
Where is the remnant?
The men & women who refuse to give up their shout, their passion, their baptism of fire, or their manifestations gifts?
The men & women who reject the ignorance and pride of denying our *continuity* w/the historic Church (catholic)?
The men & women who refuse to give up their shout, their passion, their baptism of fire, or their manifestations gifts?
The men & women who reject the ignorance and pride of denying our *continuity* w/the historic Church (catholic)?
Where is the remnant that will move the movement forward by repentance? That will anchor truth in the creeds of the Church? That will tether its "words of knowledge" in the wisdom of the Fathers & Mothers of the Church?
We should have more in common with many #EasternOrthodox #WeslyanMethodists and #CharismaticCatholics than we do with the hucksters passing off political propaganda as prophetic utterance.
We don't have to abandon our forms OR our pathos to be faithful. I'm at the point where I think we do have to call out (literal) nonsense as we see it. I don't think the loudest, brashest, or gaudiest among us get to define "Pentecostal" (or Charismatic).
We don't have to go the way of leftist/"progressive" theology either. That solves nothing—it only generates a mirror image of the problem many us decry. "Social gospel" liberalism failed 100 yrs ago, and I think it will fail again.
Many of the hip(-ster) churches/speakers we see on social media wouldn't have much notoriety or influence apart from social media. Their churches probably have the staying power of your local Unitarian Church. (you don't know what or where that is, eh?)
There has to be a BETTER WAY FORWARD! Pentecostal in all the best ways, which will require intentional and public repentance from all its associated sins.
Maybe we keep the passion, the expectancy, the wildness, the Gifts...
Lose the AmericanISM.
Maybe we keep the passion, the expectancy, the wildness, the Gifts...
Lose the AmericanISM.
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