While I appreciate the fact that some sermons don’t lend themselves to having an altar call, it seems to me (and others that I talk to) that altar calls are becoming less common in Pentecostal churches today (at least in North America). At first less frequent altar calls might seem to be a problem, but is it? […]
Each year for my Church history class I have my students attend Orthodox or Catholic worship services and write a reflection paper on their experience. As I have graded their assignments, I have been struck by their observations regarding worship. These served as important reminders for me. 1. Worship should involve reverence for God A […]
GOD IS IMPASSIBLE AND IMPASSIONED: TOWARD A THEOLOGY OF DIVINE EMOTION. By Rob Lister. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013. Pp. 333. $22.99. Lister joins the ranks of those who are challenging the contemporary theological tendency to reject the doctrine of divine impassibility. Lister directs his work primarily at an evangelical audience, choosing not to engage contextual […]
I had a friend ask me for some suggested reading on Christian evaluations of homosexuality (from more than one perspective). I thought I would share my response here. The links in the titles take you to Amazon. Some of the books are also available for partial viewing on googlebooks (for example, see here). BOOKS […]
The PAOC currently has an initiative to encourage “Every Day Faith” (see their web page here). The idea is that people would Pray, Read, Give, and Share every day. This year at my college (Horizon College and Seminary) I led my small group through a discussion series of “Every […]
The PAOC has published another booklet: His Witnesses: Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World (2013). It would be too much to discuss all thirteen essays here, so I offer only a few reflections and highlights. David Wells (the PAOC general superintendent) expresses the impetus for this timely book: church life has many aspects that can […]
FORSAKEN: THE TRINITY AND THE CROSS, AND WHY IT MATTERS. By Thomas H. McCall. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012. Pp. 171. $20.00. McCall’s primary concern is to critique the teaching (of Moltmann, but also many who follow him) that at the death of Christ there was a rupture in the Trinity. McCall argues that […]
Does sin separate us from God? How could one be separated from an omnipresent God? If you try to think of a scripture that states “sin separates you from God” (or something like it), you will have a hard time. If sin separated us from God, wouldn’t that mean that there isn’t much hope? We would have been stuck in […]
My course, “Pentecostalism and the Church in Canada” will be running online from Jan-May. Feel free to share the video around: Course Description This course provides an overview of the history of Pentecostalism, including the historical antecedents of Pentecostalism, the early growth of Pentecostalism in North America, and global developments in Pentecostalism. The course […]
All of the experiences of being filled by the Spirit (and Spirit baptism in particular) may be expressed with the metaphor of the intensity of the Spirit.