Reflections on Estrelda Alexander’s Black Fire

Estrelda Alexander’s Black Fire tells a compelling story of the Pentecostal Movement, specifically that of Pentecostal believers of African descent in North America. Like many Pentecostal historians, she begins by comparing the physical earthquake in San Francisco in April 1906 with the spiritual earthquake of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in the same year. The reader is to be reminded of the words of God spoken by an ancient prophet: “I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the nations . . .” (Haggai 2:6-7). The birth of twentieth century Pentecostalism was indeed a profound shaking – a shaking of ecclesiastical structures, a shaking of socio-political sensibilities in North America, a shaking that would be felt in all the nations of the earth.

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Reflections on Phoebe Palmer’s The Way of Holiness

Phoebe Palmer (1807-1874) was a prominent nineteenth century evangelist in the Wesleyan tradition. She came to the Christian faith in the midst of the Holiness revivals that followed the Great Awakening (1730s – 1740s) and the Cain Ridge Communion (1801). The spirituality of these American revival movements emphasized emotional and intense religious experiences that signified the reality of one’s conversion. This divine assurance was the foundation and motivation for the convert to go on to Christian perfection.

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Holiness: The Beauty of Perfection by Dale M. Coulter – A Review

Many of us have traveled the journey of being converted to Christ in Pentecostal churches only to suffer from fear and guilt imposed by passionate preachers with bad theology. That was my story. I was converted at fifteen years old and Spirit-filled about a year later. Between conversion and Spirit-baptism I struggled with sanctification. I loved Jesus, enjoyed reading Scripture, and had a passion for ministry. But I struggled with temptations common to all teenagers.

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