Reflections of an Undeconstructed Pentecostal
Amy Peeler, Women and the Gender of God (Eerdmans, October 2022), 286 pages. $24.99.
Years ago, the late Hollis Gause and Kimberly Alexander published Women in Leadership: A Pentecostal Perspective (2006). In conversations about that book, I’ve often said that its weakness is that it does not offer a serious consideration of the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a paradigm for women in ministry. Amy Peeler has done just that.
Continue reading “Women and the Gender of God – A Review”
It was a joy to travel to Seoul, Korea to attend the 26th Pentecostal World Conference. The PWC is a triennial conference hosted by the Pentecostal World Fellowship. I would like to share just a few reflections.
Continue reading “Reflecting on the 2022 Pentecostal World Conference”
It has become common for postmodern social justice advocates to demonize the immigration of Europeans into the Americas. This view represents a narrow and contextualized view of human history. From a biblical perspective, human migration is the command of God – humans were to cultivate the earth, and propagate the species. When humans sought to settle in the plains of Shinar, God scattered them across the globe.
Continue reading “Columbus Day Reflections”
In the Lord’s Supper believers are partakers of the divine nature. Through Christ’s priestly ministry, humanity is sanctified so we can receive the Spirit (Heb. 10:22; 1 Peter 1:2). The Holy Spirit comes through the intercession of Jesus (John 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:7; Acts 2:33). Through the Spirit, Christ comes to believers in the bread and cup.
Continue reading “The Lord’s Supper – Participating in the Divine Nature”
…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith… (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV).
Hebrews is an ancient Christian sermon that was delivered to Jewish Christians weary of persecution and losing confidence in the Gospel. Some were beginning to “drift away” (2:1); some were tempted by “an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (3:12). Many stopped attending worship services (10:25) and others failed to grow in spiritual maturity favoring the milk of babes over solid food (5:12-13). The spiritual condition of these believers is described as hands hanging down, feeble knees, and lame feet (12:12-13). They had no strength to worship, no stamina to serve, no direction for ministry.
Continue reading “Looking Unto Jesus”
Psalm 73 is a wisdom psalm that is expressed in the language of lament. Wisdom literature seeks to answer the questions of life, and tries to explains God’s role in human affairs. The writer of this psalm has come to a crisis of faith and in this crisis, he cries out. The ancient Hebrew theologians tried to answer the most perplexing of questions: If God is good, why does evil abound? Why do good people suffer and evil people prosper?
Continue reading “Is God really Good? Can God be Trusted?”
One of the most important disciplines I learned while pursuing my education was peer review. All assignments were graded by my professors. Occasionally, a professor would submit assignments to fellow classmates for their review. In fact, in the preaching class I teach at Pentecostal Theological Seminary the final project, the student’s presentation of a sermon, is graded through the process of peer review in which fellow students listen and critique the sermon.
Continue reading “The Discipline of Peer Review”