All posts by pcpjwriter

PCPJ is a multicultural, gender inclusive, and ecumenical organization that promotes peace, justice, and reconciliation work among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians around the world.
Economic Justice

Mary and Money

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by Paul Alexander. Originally posted at Evangelicals for Social Action.

Jesus’ mom rocks. In Luke 1, Mary has the nerve to say that, because God is at work in the world, “The hungry have been filled with good things and the rich sent away empty-handed.” Very few people have the courage to say that God is at work to send the rich away with empty hands. Neither Democrats nor Republicans dare talk this way about rich people. (Full disclosure: I am rich.)

When a young Palestinian Jewish girl in occupied Galilee is filled with the Spirit to carry, birth, and rear the Messiah, amazingly bold things get declared. This teenage phenom from the backside of the Roman Empire made a claim that can be reacted to in at least two ways. Continue reading Mary and Money →

Nonviolence, Reviews

Biblical Accuracy and Nonviolence in Paul: Apostle of Christ – Movie Review

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by Craig Keener, originally posted on his blog.

Here are my first impressions of Paul: Apostle of Christ. First of all, I am very grateful that such films are being made. That gratitude overwhelms reservations on any other points. As you might guess (because I am a biblical scholar), movies about biblical themes are my favorite, and among the few kinds of movies I must see.

The various scenes of Rome are splendidly done; they make ancient Rome look like ancient Rome. For modern viewers far removed from the world of the New Testament, this provides an invaluable benefit. The film also dramatically captures the horror of people being murdered for their faith (or because the powerful in society deem them expendable). I appreciated the numerous echoes of Paul’s letters (and a crack about the Corinthians), although sometimes when Paul tells Luke to write something down it comes from Paul’s earlier letters, not from Acts. Continue reading Biblical Accuracy and Nonviolence in Paul: Apostle of Christ – Movie Review →

Spirituality

The Key to Awakening

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by Andrew Meakin.

Frank Bartleman was a discontented church-hopper, seemingly looking in vain for a perfect church. He ended up at the Azusa Street revival.

William J Seymour was broke and homeless, dependant on the hospitality and support of others when God used him to initiate the Azusa Street revival.

Evan Roberts was a Bible School dropout, diagnosed by a psychologist as having ‘religious mania’. He went on to be the primary leader in the Welsh Revival of 1905.

Seek God with your whole heart and let history be your judge.

It takes discernment to tell a visionary from a delusional.

I felt God challenge me. If I’d actually met intercessory-prayer firebrands like Leonard Ravenhill or Frank Bartleman before they were well-known would I have wanted to be their friend or would I have dismissed them as legalistic and critical?

Pastors, I believe this is a word for this hour. Many of you have people in your church who are like uranium rocks. Knowing they could blow up the church if ever used, you see the risk as too great so you simply leave them in the ground. But nuclear energy can also be used to power a city if properly utilised! Continue reading The Key to Awakening →

Spirituality

Challenging Prosperity Theology and Legalism in Africa

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by Bob Ekblad, originally published on his blog.

For the past two weeks Gracie and I have ministered alongside our African partners to run four-day trainings for pastors and leaders in Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. We have been delighted to see widespread negative images of God dramatically give way to our teachings and group Bible studies on God’s love and grace, exciting us to further equip people to proclaim good news.

Negative images of God are common in places of poverty and hardship. Christians, Muslims and adherents of traditional African religions are all inclined towards legalism and performance. Known “sinners” usually do not feel welcomed in church services, until they first make required changes. Once inside the church they will often hear messages of condemnation, and promises that a life of purity and sacrifice will lead to financial and personal success. Continue reading Challenging Prosperity Theology and Legalism in Africa →

Spirituality

Reinventing Pentecostal Prophetic Ministry in the Philippines

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by Hadje C. Sadje.

“Sociologically, (Pentecostalism) it was a religion of the poor, marginalized, and dispossessed, who had little interest in matters of theology or church politics.” – Alister McGrath, Christianity’s Dangerous Idea (2007): 436-437.

Introduction

Notably without a question mark, the quotation above expresses the truth about Filipino Pentecostal/Charismatic movements are more attractive to poor and marginalized. According to Julie C. Ma and Wonsuk Ma (2010), a Korean couple who spent the 13 years working as missionaries in the Philippines, argue that such daily struggle has made Filipino people turn to religions which promise divine answers, and Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity has presented the most attractive message. For instance, they both describe that the nine-million strong El Shaddai Catholic Charismatic group in the Philippines exemplifies the flight of poverty-stricken masses to the miracle-performing God (p. 239). Continue reading Reinventing Pentecostal Prophetic Ministry in the Philippines →

Nonviolence, Spirituality

Hijacked Pentecostalism

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by Sam Lee. Originally published at his blog.

Pentecostalism is one of the fastest growing Christian movements in our world today, especially in the global South. Some Christians in the West admire this growth.  Most of them witness the decline of the organized Christianity in their own countries, while Pentecostalism attracts millions of people in the global South.  As I have been observing, the Western Christians often romanticize the growing Pentecostalism in the South!

As a full time Pentecostal (Non-Western) pastor and a sociologist I have several reasons to be concerned about the current condition of Pentecostalism in the South:

There is an emerging radicalism among the Pentecostals in the South. This radicalism does more harm than good, especially in the Non-Western world. Radicalism that is proclaimed from the pulpits of the fundamentalist Pentecostals offers no room for dialogue, and communication with those who are different. Such Pentecostals do not easily accept peoples from other Christian denominations, let alone those from other faiths.

Continue reading Hijacked Pentecostalism →

Economic Justice

Sell Everything You Have, and Give It to the Poor!

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by Bram Cools, originally published on his blog.

Recently I’ve been finishing an older collection of songs with titles like ‘sell everything you have and give it to the poor’. (downloadlink to Safe Happy Christian Music for the Conservative Middleclass).
People have asked me before why I wrote the song, and what I think about the bible verses that it’s based on, so maybe it’s a good idea to clarify a bit with some bible study about Christ and money, or riches in general.

Let’s start with the song, which can be listened here. Music-wise it’s basically a very simple folk song in an American style, so simple that anyone who has had a few lessons on a guitar can easily play it (please do! It’s only G, C and D). The lyrics are a simple retelling of a story in the gospels that is often called ‘the rich young ruler’ in English, a passage found in all three synoptic gospels (Mark 10:17-27, Matthew 19:16-22, Luke 18:18-34): Continue reading Sell Everything You Have, and Give It to the Poor! →

Gender Equality

How Women Ministers Fueled the Growth of the World’s Largest Church

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By Darrin J. Rodgers. Originally published on PE-News, 02 November 2017 and on Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

cho-david
Pastor Yonggi Cho

Yoido Full Gospel Church (YFGC), with 830,000 members, is well-known for being the largest church in the world. The Assemblies of God congregation, located in Seoul, South Korea, was started by Yonggi Cho in 1958. However, some readers may be surprised to learn that the congregation’s growth is due in large part to the ministry of women. In a 1979 Pentecostal Evangel article, Yonggi Cho shared how the Holy Spirit prompted him to train and empower women ministers — despite the negative view of Korean culture toward women leaders. These women became the backbone of the church’s cell group structure.

Yonggi Cho’s ministry in Seoul began with dreams and visions. As a newly minted Bible college graduate, he had a dream that he was going to someday pastor the largest church in Korea. People scoffed at this dream, which he believed God had given to him. He worked very hard, and after six months he had used all of his sermons and wore himself out. Continue reading How Women Ministers Fueled the Growth of the World’s Largest Church →

PCPJ

Become a PCPJ Member!

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PCPJ is an international organization that seeks to equip and inspire a Spirit-filled movement that makes the world a better place. If you share this vision and wants to help us our, you’re very welcome to join us!

Members will be able to impact where the organization is heading, their contributions to PCPJ media channels will be prioritized and they will be given special offers and tips.

The annual membership fee is 10 US dollars, which you can pay here. Then, simply fill in the form below.

If you have any questions on membership or PCPJ, contact Micael at micael@pcpj.org.

Gender Equality, Politics

Why Supporting an Accused Pedophile is Disastrous for White Evangelicals

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15288626_10153979189852633_6841051641861289023_o-1.jpgby Aaron Taylor.

Sometime in the latter part of the first century, during the peak of the Roman Empire’s power and decadence, Jesus appeared to his beloved disciple John while he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos. John’s vision led to the writing of what we now know as the Book of Revelation. Between 666, seven-headed dragons, and the whore of Babylon, Revelation’s imagery is cryptic and notoriously hard to interpret, but there’s one passage that stands out as particularly relevant for Americans living in 2017.

Jesus tells the Church at Ephesus they’ve lost sight of their first love, and that if they don’t repent, He’ll quickly remove their candlestick (Rev 2:1). As a person raised in the Protestant faith, I don’t believe that anyone—not even the Pope—has the infallible ability to speak for Jesus today, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t make an educated guess as to what He might be thinking. So I’ll give it a try: I think Jesus is removing the candlestick of white evangelical Christianity. Continue reading Why Supporting an Accused Pedophile is Disastrous for White Evangelicals →