John Ashcroft's resistance to the wiretapping program put forth by the White House is a classically Pentecostal way of approaching a problem: strictly by the book, no matter how unhappy it makes people. Pentecostal churches are best known for exuberant worship, but are have been traditional centres for very strict legalism. Ashcroft's Assemblies of God …
Pentecost: Nothing Like a Newbie
It goes without saying that USA Today's article on Pentecostalism was intensely interesting. But the real shocker came with the cover photo. The Earnests--whom my wife and I know very well--have only been members of our church, the North Cleveland Church of God, for about a year. Before that they were at a Baptist church. …
The Epistle Dedicatory to the Authorised (King James) Bible
Today many of the millions of Authorised (King James) Bibles printed and distributed lack the preface of the translators to the most important translation of God's Word in the English language. We present it here for the following reasons: It shows clearly that the Authorised Version is a product of the Church of England, which …
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We Are Donkeys. Yes, We Are. (A Good Friday Reflection)
As Good Friday comes upon us, one passage of Scripture that bothers many is as follows: “Now, at the Feast, the Governor was accustomed to grant the people the release of any one prisoner whom they might choose. At that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So, when the people had collected, Pilate …
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There Are No Real Noncombatants
The wounding of U.S. Army Chaplain Barron K. Wester in Iraq is a reminder that there are no "noncombatants" in either physical warfare, or spiritual warfare for that matter. His account of his wounding says it all: Our unit has been in the process of setting up new forward outposts in the heart of Baghdad. …
Overcoming Obstacles: A Reminder For Us All
Back in 2000 there was a funeral for Nadezhda Shatova, a Ukrainian Pentecostal living in California. As noted below, on the surface there wasn't anything extraordinary about it. But one of her relatives shared the testimony about their lives--and the persecutions they suffered in the old Soviet Union--and this account was put into the piece …
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Sell All or Shut Up
“And a man came up to Jesus, and said: “Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain Immortal life?” “Why ask me about goodness?” answered Jesus. “There is but One who is good. If you want to enter the Life, keep the commandments.” “What commandments?” asked the man. “These,” answered Jesus:--“‘Thou shalt not kill. …
The Book of Mormon Does Not Teach Mormonism
As Election 2008 continues unabated, the issue of Mitt Romney's religion continues to surface, both on the right (where Evangelicals don't like the idea of a Mormon President) and the left (who don't like the idea of religious people period.) We expect to see considerable discussion about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day …
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Anglican Evangelicalism: The Limitations of Augustinian Theology
In a previous post, we discussed the problems of Anglo-Catholics in their walk to Rome. We've spent a fair amount of time on that; now let's look at the weakness of the other branch of orthodox Anglicanism, the evangelical wing. Our contention is that Evangelical Anglicans need to take a hard look at their adherence …
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Eternity is Still What Matters
In our posting on the "contract on the Episcopalians," we referenced a comment by the new Presiding Bishop about her disparagement of the importance of eternal life. It's probably worthwhile to reproduce that particular dialogue (ADG is the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; KJS is of course Katherine Jefferts-Schori): ADG: That reminds me of something else you said. …
Positive Infinity 