Tag Archives: Easter

Spirituality

Christus Victor – Happy Easter

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I wanted to wish all members, fans, and readers of PCPJ a happy Easter. Even though secular culture tends to emphasize Christmas, the most important day in the Church calendar is actually Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord. It is in the events of Easter that Christ becomes the victor. Our Lord has looked sin, injustice, death, and imperial power right in the face, and He defeated them. These things led to His torture and execution, and Jesus rose from the dead anyway. In Easter, Jesus is declared the Lord of lords and the King of kings. He is more powerful than Herod and Caesar, principalities and powers. He has defeated even death itself.

2020 and 2021 have been dominated by the powers of sin and death it seems. In the United States, the news cycle has been suffocating due to COVID-19, the presidential election, political corruption, police brutality, the protests and counter-protests, wars and rumors of wars. It has been a dark year. We couldn’t even properly celebrate Easter last year. But Christ is victor.

Continue reading Christus Victor – Happy Easter →
Spirituality

Christ Has Risen; Jesus Is Lord!

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Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, or as many Christians call it, Resurrection Sunday or Pascha, for the Western Christian Church. Considering the importance of the day, I wanted to share a reflection on what exactly this holy day should mean to Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians who care about peace and justice.

I have been looking at the passages related to the resurrection of Jesus in the Bible. There are some very important teachings that are of direct relevance to Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians. I have been meditating upon these passages, and I am really beginning to realize just how important they are, and just how central the resurrection is to Christianity (cf. 1 Cor. 15:14). Continue reading Christ Has Risen; Jesus Is Lord! →

Spirituality

The Role of Suffering in the Charismatic Movement

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This Good Friday, millions of Christians over the world contemplate about the sufferings of Christ as he died for our sins. In my experience, it is not so common among Pentecostals and Charismatics to talk about suffering as something achievable. Rather, our emphasis on healing has often made us think that pain is always evil. And while I am convinced that we should always pray and work to alleviate involuntarily suffering, we should also be ready to suffer for Christ’s sake – and even count it as a joy! (Mt 5:11-12)

After all, we follow a crucified God who told us to take up our crosses and follow Him (Lk 14:27). He told us that we should expect persecution and turn the other cheek when attacked (Mt 5:39). We are also told in the Scriptures that we will experience spiritual trials and hardships (Jam 1:2ff.).

This may seem hard to sync with the Kingdom message of fighting suffering through healing, deliverance, poverty reduction and peacemaking. But it is one of the Kingdom paradoxes – while we should alleviate suffering, we should be ready to suffer. We should not seek suffering or be happy when others suffer, but when we are affected by suffering, which undoubtedly will happen from time to time, we should not interpret it as being abandoned by God but see it as a humiliating experience for us to identify ourselves with Christ. Continue reading The Role of Suffering in the Charismatic Movement →