Reflections of an Undeconstructed Pentecostal
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy inspired the nation:
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.
Continue reading “To Boldly Go”
I was recently invited to speak about engaging in global mission as a local church pastor. Here are my brief remarks.
In the Fall of 1980, I was pastoring a small church in Attapulgus, Georgia. I was just a few months into the pastorate, when I invited a young evangelist – Phillip Kirkland – to come preach a revival. One night during the altar service he prophesied these words to me: “God has anointed you to preach the gospel throughout the world and God will raise you up to be a Pentecostal leader.” I was from a small town, pastoring in a small town, and never anticipated ministry beyond small town Georgia . . .
Continue reading “My Testimony – Reflecting on a Pastor’s Global Mission”
“For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me“ (John 17:19-21).
As a teen attending a Pentecostal church in the 1970s I consistently heard bold pronouncements about the dead Baptists, the apostate Methodists, and above all the “great whore” – the Catholic Church. The concept of ecumenism was most often presented as a diabolical scheme to form a “one-world” church led by the “false prophet” for the purpose of worshiping the notorious antichrist. As a young pastor in the 1980’s I discovered that these sentiments were firmly entrenched traditions in Pentecostal churches.
Continue reading “Is Your Church Too Small?”
