blogpastor – Page 163

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My Pentecostal heritage

30 May 2014 blogpastor Leave a comment

I have always been thankful for my Pentecostal heritage. Like a river of life, it has enriched, fertilized and nourished my spirituality. I have many reasons to be grateful and here are just a few of them:

The Pentecostal experience has made the reality of God’s presence and activity in my life is undeniable and unforgettable.

It gave me a vision of how great and alive and loving our God is.

I have a deep assurance of faith and never doubted the reality of God throughout my Christian life.

I have experienced the spiritual empowerment and abilities of God’s Spirit in diverse ways.

I am glad to be part of such a vast and enriching spiritual movement.The Pentecostal movement has resulted in the salvation of millions of unbelievers around the world as well as impacted social concerns like political oppression, poverty, racism, unemployment, and even the green movement.

Pentecostals and Charismatics: the main difference

28 May 2014 blogpastor Leave a comment

“In 2011, there were an estimated 584 million Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians worldwide. They made up 8.5 percent of the world’s population and 27 percent of all Christians. There were 279 million Pentecostals and over 300 million Charismatics. Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity is second in size only to the Roman Catholic Church.” (Source: David Barrett, “Christian World Communions: Five Overviews of Global Christianity, AD 1800-2025,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Volume 33, No. 1, January 2009, 31.)

Pentecostals are Christians who believe that the gifts of the Spirit described in the New Testament like the gift of tongues, healing, and casting out demons, are available and expected to be experienced by God’s people today. Our worship is characterized by lively responses to a palpable sense of God’s presence. We are so named after what happened to the disciples on the Day of Pentecost (read Acts 2) and our insistence that the essence of such experiences are to be normative for today.

Charismatics are believers who originally worship in mainline churches such as Methodists, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. They had Pentecostal experiences and hold almost similar beliefs and practices as Pentecostals, but continue to attend and serve in their traditional churches.

Admittedly, there is considerable overlap in usage of both terms and such strict definitions have become porous and interchangeable in the recent decade or two. Who cares anyway? Probably the theologian and the researcher.

Reminder: 8 June is Pentecost Sunday.

Neglected Pentecost

24 May 2014 blogpastor Leave a comment

Why do we neglect Pentecost? We celebrate Good Friday and Easter, and even Palm Sunday. We have Lent but do we have “Pent”? The mainline churches have the church calender and lectionary that give at least a nodding acknowledgement to Pentecost Sunday. The shame is that it is the independent and Pentecostal churches that ignore this important opportunity to shed light on the vital and vitalizing ministry of the Holy Spirit, and to rejoice and give thanks for their precious heritage. I plead guilty. Perhaps we need to start a “Pent” – 10 days of waiting expectantly and praying for the Spirit’s empowering. Here are 10 suggestions:

We could encourage members to take extended time to pray in silence every day for 10 days until Pentecost Sunday.
Or encourage that members follow a 10 days reading plan that include all the relevant Scriptures in Old and New Testament about the coming person and work of the Spirit.
Be on the alert to the Spirit’s prompting to share the good news of grace to anyoneHhe directs during this period.
Be sensitive to give a prophetic word of encouragement, comfort and strengthening to someone who is weary and burdened.
Meet with other Christians in school, homes or workplace to pray with during the 10 days.
Reflect on your spiritual gift and how it has developed and how it has been deployed. What is God doing through your grace-gift?
Exalt Jesus in worship because that’s what the Spirit came to do. Use the gift of tongues, spiritual songs and hymns.
Pray for 10 nationalities living or working in Singapore: Vietnamese, Chinese and Indian nationals, Thais, Myanmese, Indonesians, Malaysians, Bangladeshis, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Sri Lankans, Taiwanese, and whoever else.
If you are a pastor, how about preaching a sermons series on the Holy Spirit and open the altar for prayer at the end.
Write a personal letter to the Holy Spirit appreciating Him for his faithful help and presence in your life.