Blog 5 – The free flow of the Spirit

Reading the history of the Azusa Street inspired me of how the early Pentecostal believers allow the Spirit to move freely in their midst during the service. They spent tremendous hours in prayer, and they called it “tarrying meeting.” They are willing to press on praying until they sense the Spirit is moving among them. The leaders also allow the believers to sing in tongues, share testimonies, ask questions, and they allow other manifestations with close observation. While providing much space for manifestations, they do ensure certain order is in place.

I long to see this exuberant religious experiences take place in our local Pentecostal churches. Man’s order should give way to the sovereign move of the Spirit. The very least that we can do as a starting point, is to pray, really spend time in praying and interceding, and get rid of the fast consumer attitude in religious practices. For only when we are connected to God, we will know His will and submit to His way of dealing with His people. Our people need the fresh touch of God!

Blog 4: Studying the History of Global Pentecostalism Part II

To continue from the previous blog, I believe it is no doubt that we must be reminded of the heritage of the classical Pentecostalism which started in Los Angeles—its African American spirituality, interracial fellowship, equality, ecumenical origins and ethos, the earnestness for evangelism and mission and so forth. These lessons shall continue to inspire us for the theological and spiritual renewal of our day.

On the other hand, we must also extend the historical research to the revivals that broke out in many parts of the world. These revivals took place independent of the Azusa Street and in some cases even predated it, like the accounts of Sadhu Sundar Singh of India (1889-1929) and John Sung of China (1901-1944). Besides, it is often that the native charismatic leaders led these revivals or expand it independently after the initial contact with missionaries. Many “indigenous Pentecostal churches” arose due to the sovereign move of the Holy Spirit and the nature of Pentecostalism which emphasizes on the supernatural encounter with God. Therefore, a more extensive revision of the history will inspire us in Asia to not overemphasize on the American forms of Pentecostalism as normative, but to learn from the local pioneers, and to better comprehend the contextualization of Pentecostal gospel in our region. These are the gems of our history.

Blog 3: Studying the History of Global Pentecostalism Part I

I believe there are several reasons why we should concern about the writing of Global Pentecostal history:

1.       To uphold the authenticity of history (correct any flaws)

2.       The recognize and enhance the knowledge of our identity and root

3.       To learn from the past as guidelines for today, and to gain future directions

4.       To gain a clearer view of the global Pentecostal movement, that God is the God of all nations.

5.       To refine our theology so to improve Pentecostal scholarship at large.

I am greatly inspired by Alan Anderson in his findings written in “The Origins of Pentecostalism and its Global Spread in the early Twentieth Century.” Anderson asserted a new approach to the problem of origins, which is to study the history from “below”—the perspective of the poor and powerless/the natives; rather than from “above”—the rich and powerful/the “westerners.” Truly, the Holy Spirit in His sovereignty has poured out the “latter rains” regardless of persons and places. The dynamic movement of God through history shall not be limited in a box by our fallible mindset. To fail to appreciate the multi-dimensional and multi-cultural manner in which the Holy Spirit had worked is to make God less than a God of all nations.  There are more lessons that we can learn from a less bias historical research ("less" because there is no "unbias" history). I will expand on this view further in the coming Blog.

A glimpse of responsibility and potential

           In my previous post, I asked whether we have been faithful to fulfilling the responsibility and to achieving the potential of being Pentecostals today. I think we can refer to history to get a glimpse of the answer.

           The history prior to Pentecostal revival in 1900s reminds us of our roots in Fundamentalist and Holiness Movements. These movements started during a period when the society was facing political-economical corruptions and moral deteriorations; new ideas arising which jeopardized the orthodox Christianity; and churches were in the state of complacency, lack of earnestness and vitality to meet the changing needs of the society. God in His faithfulness has raised groups of Christians to pray earnestly for spiritual revival, and hence sparked the Pentecostal revivals.

Does the condition of the society where Pentecostal revival began resemble ours today? Our society is facing corruption and moral decay; postmodernism as a worldview and lifestyle is moving globally; and yet churches are regressing in setting the standard for holiness. I would like to see the church making effort to be relevant to society, but a lot of damage has already been done in the name of relevance. A recent Hollywood music video by a pastor of a fast growing Charismatic Church makes me wonder how far a church can go to reach out by compromising their moral standards. Although evangelism is part of the church’s main responsibility, it cannot and should not be done by forsaking the demand of the holiness of God. 

Bearing in mind our responsibility and potentiality as Pentecostal Christians, we really have to humble ourselves before the Lord and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit for creative ideas on how to reach out to the changing world in a biblical ways. It has to be done on God's way, not our way.

Our identity as the Pentecostals

It is important to understand and be reminded of our identity as Pentecostals if the Pentecostal churches want to remain faithful to the responsibility ordained by God and serve to its full potential. In terms of responsibility, we need to defend and teach the historic truth of God which the early church believed and practiced, taking seriously the person and work of the Holy Spirit. In terms of potential, we are to be transformed and sanctified to reflect the image of the Holy God, attracting souls from the tainted world to enter into the holiness of God.

I have a question, "Are we faithful in fulfilling the responsibility and achieving the potentiality of being Pentecostals today?" There is no straight answer however, I will explore this further in my subsequent posting. But first and foremost, I believe many ordinary Christians today do not know the distinctive doctrines of Pentecostalism. If we do not know who we are and what we believe in, the Pentecostal heritage is at risk. Even worse, some church members may fall into false doctrines. Perhaps, local Pentecostal churches should re-emphasize the teachings on Pentecostal doctrines via sermons, Sunday school, small study groups and interactive seminars. We need to encourage our congregations to exercise spiritual gifts, and to practice these gifts with spiritual understanding.

And I believe when leaders grow, the church grows. Church leaders must raise their concerns in this area. Case in point, I have not seen a full attendance for the Chinese Pentecostal Convention that has been organized by AOG Malaysia and BCM annually. May us rise up to the unique call of God given especially to the Pentecostal churches.