Author: Daniel Tomberlin

BS, MDiv, DMin. Ordained bishop in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN); pastor for 37 years; Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministries at Pentecostal Theological Seminary (Cleveland TN).
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Celebrating Sacraments at the Pentecostal Altar

In Pentecostal Sacraments (2010, 2015) I suggested that the church’s worship should be an integration of the Spirit, the Word, and Sacraments. For liturgical worshipers, the Spirit is present in the sacraments. For reformed worshipers, the Spirit is present in the Word. Pentecostal worshipers emphasize an unmediated personal encounter with the Holy Spirit. Each worship tradition standing alone has shortcomings. Liturgical worship without the Word and the Spirit may lead to dead formalism. Reformed worship without sacraments and the Spirit may lead to sterile intellectualism. Pentecostal worship without sacraments and the Word may lead to shallow emotionalism. Since the publication of Pentecostal Sacraments, others have called for the integration of Word, Sacrament, and Spirit in Christian worship.

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Religious Freedom is Essential to the Mission of Christ

Religious freedom is an inalienable human right granted by God in creation (Genesis 2). Religious freedom is an expression of free will. In the Garden of Eden, God granted to the first humans the freedom of choice – the choice to believe, the choice to be obedient, and the choice to rebel. The Apostle Paul affirmed that all humans, Jew and Gentile, have a religious conscience that prompts an intuitive search for God (Romans 2:15; Acts 17:24-28). Because religious freedom is granted by God, this is a freedom that is not derived from the state and should not be suppressed by the state.

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R.M. Evans on Women in Ministry

The question of women in ministry has been ongoing since the earliest days of the Church of God. R.M. Evans, Church of God missionary to the Bahamas, published the following article in the October 15, 1910 issue of The Evening Light and Church of God Evangel (page 3). A.J. Tomlinson editorialized that Evans’ teaching was “good for us.” (I have reproduced the text with only one correction – a misspelled word.)

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