Daniel Tomberlin – Page 79 – Daniel Tomberlin

March 4, 2012October 6, 2014

Wind of Terror, Wind of Glory

This article originally appeared in Christianity Today (October 2004). I have added a new introductory paragraph here.

A few years ago I received a call from my brother very early one Sunday morning. In a voice that sounded very distressed he said, “Dan, I need you.” I ask, “Tim, what’s wrong?” He explained to me that his eighteen year old daughter, Danielle, had been killed in an automobile crash. I immediately left Bainbridge for the three hour drive to Baxley to be with my brother. The night was very dark – no moon and no stars. It seemed as if the whole world had been overcome by the dense, dark night. When I arrived at Tim’s home we embraced and wept together. Then Tim asked, “Dan, why did God take my baby from me?”

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March 2, 2012March 12, 2012

Why are Young People Leaving the Church?

My wife and I are the proud parents of two wonderful young men, both in their twenties. I vividly recall the first time I buckled Aaron in his car seat and realized, “O my God, I’m totally responsible for another human being!” The day Aaron was born, I became a man. When we stood in an altar and dedicated our sons to God, Sharon and I took that very seriously. We determined that we were going to disciple our children. As they grew older, it became a battle of the wills, but I knew what was at stake – their eternal salvation. Parenting is a tough gig; it’s definitely not for wimps. What was my greatest concern during my parenting years? I did not want my sons to depart from the church, or the faith.

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February 28, 2012December 14, 2012

Pentecostal Sacraments: A Review from Brother Jeffrey Gros

Bro. Jeffrey Gros, FSC. President, Society for Pentecostal Studies; Dean, Catholic Institute for Ecumenical Leadership

The Pentecostal and liturgical movements are among the most important transformative renewal events of the 20th century. For the most part, their mutual influence has been marginal and minimal, with Pentecostals seeking to restore biblical worship devoid of dead ritualism, and the liturgical movement drawing first on the ancient patristic heritage and more recently on the rich cultural diversity of the Church catholic. This volume will be welcome addition to the emerging literature that seeks to discern the Spirit in both and their mutual enrichment.

The Pentecostal community inherited an “ordinance” approach to the dominical two sacraments in the evangelical Protestant canon, many adding foot washing. This author treats these three, adding anointing and baptism in the Holy Spirit, which those familiar with the sacramental heritage in theology and the liturgical practice of the classical Pentecostal churches will immediately recognize. These are included in this Pentecostal theological treatment, if not yet to the ecumenical canon of sacramental thinking. In the context of foot washing the author treats confession, reconciliation and ministry, all important sacramental rites in the wider ecumenical discussion.

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February 28, 2012October 28, 2022

Pentecostals, Tradition, and Hermenuetics

From their earliest days, Pentecostals have been committed to the study of Scripture. It was in the study of God’s Word they found validation for the Holy Spirit’s outpouring they were experiencing. For many early Pentecostals, it was this single-minded devotion to Scripture that assured a latter-day restoration of the New Testament church. Therefore, the Spirit-renewed church would be “the church of the Bible.” As the church of the Bible, the Spirit renewed church should reflect the life, doctrine, and polity of the apostolic church. Pentecostals justified their faith and practice by the Bible. Speaking in tongues was the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit because it was “the Bible evidence.” Converts were to receive water baptism; believers were to partake of the Lord’s Supper and wash the saints’ feet; church members were to practice tithing; the sick were to be prayed for and receive divine healing—all because“it’s in the Bible.”

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February 26, 2012November 11, 2014

A Witness to Unity

The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called the altar Witness; “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God” (Joshua 22:34).

After the partial conquest of Canaan, Joshua began to assign territories of inheritance to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. The people of these tribes were faithful to the covenant of Moses; they were obedient to the commands of Joshua; and they maintained the solidarity of the community. Because of their faithfulness, they now entered into the rest of the Lord.

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February 23, 2012November 11, 2014

Forty Days with God

A message for Lent

The Lenten season lasts forty days, beginning with Ash Wednesday. Forty is a number that is deeply rooted in the biblical tradition. For forty days and nights as the rains fell upon the earth, the future of humanity, and of all life on the earth, was protected within the confines of the ark of Noah. The inhabitants of the ark remained for forty more days as they waited for the flood waters to recede.

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February 21, 2012November 11, 2014

Sound an Alarm!

Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the Lord is coming; Surely it is near… (Joel 2:1).

While preaching to American soldiers in Bataan during World War II, U. S. Army chaplain W. T. Cummings said, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” His point to those young soldiers was that when we are faced with the certainty of dying, then the certainty of God becomes more real.

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