Pentecostal Theological Formation and Education for Tomorrow (Sec 1) Part III of us of Pentecostal (original) (raw)
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Contemporary Pentecostal Issues: Challenges and Opportunities
WORLD ASSEMBLIES OF GOD CONGRESS, 2000
CONTEMPORARY PENTECOSTAL ISSUES: Challenges and Opportunities by Chin Do Kham, D.Min., Ph.D, was presented during the WORLD ASSEMBLIES OF GOD CONGRESS (August 8, 2000, Indianapolis, USA). Modern Pentecostal movement is one century old. The 20th century is called “Pentecostal Century.” It has become mature in age with rich experiences, a hundred years of history to learn from, and unprecedented phenomenal growth. From a humble beginning at the turn of the 20th century, it has become a powerful influence on global Christianity today. Like any other movement, the Pentecostal movement seems to have aging symptoms. There are many issues facing Pentecostals today. It is important to recognize those issues coming in the form of challenges and opportunities. We must not be panic or ignorant. There is an urgent need for us to reevaluate our past successes and failures and turn challenges into opportunities. This will require honest self-assessment. Instead of being self-defensive or reactionary, we must develop a teachable and learning spirit. The world is entering into the 21st century (a new millennium) with unprecedented challenges and opportunities. In light of social, cultural, political, economic changes facing us today, the business cannot be done as usual. There is a need to have a close look at how far we have come, where we stand now, and where we are going. Together, we will look back and thank the Lord for the incredible outpouring of Pentecostal revival upon the earth. We will also attempt to look at ourselves in the mirror of truth and make an honest assessment on where we stand today. We will then try to look at the future of Pentecostals as we listen to what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to His church within the contemporary setting. The topic “Contemporary Pentecostal Issues” is a very important, broad, and essential topic we need to address. I feel humbled to stand before you, knowing that there are many who are more qualified to speak on this topic than I. Due to the limited time we have today, I will limit my presentation to a few significant issues facing Pentecostals today. I will, however, avoid speaking on doctrinal issues. I am attempting to look at the Pentecostal movement objectively as an insider and participant observer. To achieve this goal, I would like to pose some questions for us to ponder: • What is Pentecostalism? • Who are the Pentecostals? • Have we lost Pentecostal identity? • Are Pentecostals thriving or surviving? • Have we departed from our Pentecostal roots or are we digging deeper with maturity? • Are we still dependent on the Lord and His Spirit as before or have we become complacent with mechanism? • Do we take pride and glory from our past victories without facing reality with current issues? • How do we appropriate the early Pentecostal passion, belief, and practice while still being relevant to contemporary society? • Are we following the leading of the Spirit with integrity and Christian character or are we drawn into the sea of materialism? • As we have been praying for renewal and revival in our churches, are we prepared and willing to pay the price? Are we ready to answer the questions these revivals and spiritual manifestations bring? • Are classical Pentecostal denominations too institutionalized and legalistic? • Are Pentecostal/Charismatic independent churches too independent, trying to be relevant to contemporary society with untried new approaches, methodologies, ministerial functions, and organizational structures? • How do we keep the balance between being seeker sensitive and Holy Spirit sensitive? • How do we keep the balance between bureaucratic institutional structure and flexibility to allow the priesthood of believers with different ministry gifts to function . • In light of new independent Pentecostal/Charismatic churches rising every day, are classical Pentecostal denominations losing their unique place and confidence? • Do we know how to handle current revival issues? • Where are the Pentecostal scholars when the church is facing heresies and confusion? • Are Pentecostal scholars doing theology in isolation from the church or within the community of faith, with the people of God and for the people of God? Have they earned recognition from the Pentecostal community or are they still the suspects? What must be done? • Have we thought through on how to do missions in the new millennium in light of changing missions strategies? • How can we overcome the tension between western mission agencies and national churches? • How can we perpetuate and enhance our Pentecostal missionary legacy? • How can we constructively interact with false teachers and prophets? • Are we prepared to make appropriate responses to the challenges of postmodernity? • Are our Bible schools Pentecostal enough? Or are we no longer different from non-Pentecostal schools? • Have we reached the plateau? Where do we go from here? • Are Pentecostals prepared to enter the 21st century? • What kind of Pentecostal legacy are we passing to the next generation?
Asian Journal Pentecostal Studies, 2023
Pentecostal Theological Education in the Majority World: The Graduate and Post-Graduate Level is the first volume of a three-volume series to be published by APTS Press to bring Pentecostal perspectives on Majority World theological education to the marketplace of ideas. The second and third volumes will address undergraduate and nonformal Pentecostal theological education. The authors in the first volume write primarily from a classical Pentecostal experience, but, in the words of Rick Wadholm, their ideas pertain more broadly to “the global Spiritmovement with emphasis upon the baptism in the Holy Spirit and charismatic expressions as pertaining to the life of the Spirit” (2). The authors speak from a wide range of experiences in the Majority World and the West, including Ethiopia (Gary Munson and Temesgen Kahsay), the Philippines (Dave Johnson), India (Josfin Raj), South Africa (Peter White), Spanish-speaking Latin America (Jeremiah Campbell), Australia (Dean O’Keefe and Jacqueline Grey), Europe (Danial Topf), Asia in general (Vee J. D-Davidson), and the Asian American experience (Amos Yong).
Fall 2014 The Pentecostal Educator 8 Aims of Christian Education
2015
Abstract: This paper considers the aims or purposes of education from Old Testament times through the New Testament, St Augustine, Luther and into the present era. It shows how Christian education functions within and beyond the church, and considers the transmission of the faith and engagement with secular knowledge and wider society. It considers Pentecostalism and the educational institutions it founded and its later diversification, especially in the United States. It briefly touches on the distinctives of Pentecostal doctrine, experience and mission.
Pentecostalism: A New but Big Kid on the Global Christian Block
Pentecostal Education, 2022
As the second part of the series, this study begins with a survey of five major Christian families, and global Pentecostalism with its place in global Christianity in its three broad categories. The next discussion presents an overview of Pentecostal Christianity in each continent, observing the widening gap between the global North and South. The last major part probes the causes of the exponential growth of Pentecostal Christianity.
Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies, 2021
Historically speaking, Pentecostals are no strangers to theological education. Granted, some early Pentecostals were skeptical toward an overly intellectual approach to the faith, but Bible schools and training institutes have played a prominent role in Pentecostalism right from the beginning of the movement. After all, it was at Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, founded by Pentecostal pioneer Charles F. Parham (1873 1929), that Agnes N. Ozman (1870-1937) first spoke in tongues in 1901, thereby setting an important milestone for the Pentecostal movement. Similarly, Pandita Ramabai (1858 1929), the key figure of the 1905 Mukti Revival in India, “formed what she called a ‘Bible school’ of 200 young women to pray in groups called ‘Praying Bands’ and to be trained in witnessing to their faith. These Praying Bands spread the revival wherever they went, and some remarkable healings were reported.” Other institutions of theological education were also started all over the world as early Pentecostals were eager to equip large numbers of workers and send them out quickly, an endeavor that was often propelled by a sense of eschatological urgency.
Pentecostal theology is marked by an inherent struggle for both self-realization as well as unity and ecumenical integration. A realistic portrayal of worldwide Pentecostalism is confronted with homogenous and romanticized depictions or false stereotypes. Global Pentecostalism and Pentecostalism in the west are intertwined in a significant theological and ecumenical manner that allows an ecumenical perspective focused on the west to shed light on the unity of Pentecostal theology, the relationship of Pentecostal theology to the ecumenical traditions, and the integration of Pentecostal theology in broader Christian commitments to social justice, peace, and the conservation of the creation. A particular point of convergence exists between western and worldwide Pentecostal theology in the social activism of the movement. Contemporary Pentecostalism is in transition towards becoming a diversified contributor to the shape of global Christianity and the renewal of the theological agenda.