Tongues is NOT the Only Sign of Spirit Baptism, PART 2

Tongues Initial Evidence Spirit Baptism

On more than one occasion, someone has misinterpreted my previous blog post, “Tongues is NOT the Only Sign of Spirit Baptism.” To be clear, my blog post was not a denial of the Pentecostal doctrine of initial evidence. The “initial” in “initial evidence” does not mean “only.” I don’t think you will find […]

Pentecostal Theology of Preaching

Lee Roy Martin Theology of Preaching

In today’s video, I interview Dr. Lee Roy Martin from Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, TN. I ask him about what unique emphases Pentecostals make to a theology of preaching and what Pentecostals mean by “anointed preaching.” […]

Tales of Visiting a Oneness United Pentecostal Church

Oneness Pentecostal Pulpit

It was early Sunday morning, and we were driving down the highway just outside the city to an “Apostolic” church that is a part of the largest Oneness denomination in the world—the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI). This was about to be my first experience in a Oneness worship service. As we turned into the church driveway, I thought that this could be [. . .]

Faith Today interview with Andrew Gabriel

Faith Today Andrew Gabriel

I recently did an interview with Faith Today magazine about the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement and Spirit-filled living. The interview was published earlier this month in the March-April edition of the magazine.You can listen to the podcast of the interview or read the interview online here […]

Highlights from the Society for Pentecostal Studies 2019 Annual Meeting (SPS 2019)

SPS 2019 PAOC Statement of Faith

Throughout the week many people expressed what I felt: they look forward to SPS all year. They find it an energizing place where they are encouraged as they learn from and worship with friends, old and new—professors, students, and others with a general interest in Pentecostal-Charismatic studies […]

Speaking in Tongues as Encoded Spiritual Information (Non-Language)

Speaking in Tongues Encoding Information

Linguists who analyze glossolalia (speaking in tongues) generally conclude that in many cases it does not fully meet the characteristics of human language. Critics sometimes use this finding to dismiss tongues completely. In contrast, an examination of what constitutes spiritual information can help us affirm tongues as Spirit-enabled communication […]

Pentecostal Women in Ministry: Ambiguity and Affirmation in the PAOC

Pentecostal Preaching Woman

Some Pentecostals are proud to say that Pentecostals affirm women in ministry. They might point to the leadership of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles (one of the most influential centers of early North American Pentecostalism), where about half of the leaders were women. As Pentecostal denominations formed, some churches continued to give prominent place to women leaders. Most, however, placed restrictions on women’s ministry and leadership in some form […]

Eschatology in Current Pentecostal Theology [video]

Pentecostal Eschatology Peter Althouse

In today’s video, I interview theologian Dr. Peter Althouse from Southeastern University, Florida. I asked him about how Pentecostals have historically thought about eschatology (last days / end times) and about how Pentecostal theologians are thinking about eschatology in current […]

The Changing of the PAOC’s Statement of Faith … Again [with Video]

History of the PAOC Statement of Faith SOFET

The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) is in a process of again refreshing its Statement of Fundamental and Essential Truths (SOFET). The denomination has a long history of refreshing its statement of faith, even with minor revisions as recent as 2014. This time the PAOC’s Theological Study Commission has begun steps toward refreshing the whole […]

#MeToo and the Church

#PentecostalSistersToo

God silent

The lid began coming off last Fall: #metoo. We heard numerous, painful stories from seemingly all walks of life. We Pentecostal women waited for the response of our leaders. It seemed to me to be low-hanging fruit; I mean, how hard is it to name the sin of rape? But….crickets. […]