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One for the Road – “Downward Spiral”
Sometimes…things spin out of control. What starts as an insignificant difference of opinion…escalates into an all-out battle. And people get hurt. This downward spiral is illustrated in Samson’s statement: “I merely did to them what they did to me.” Back and forth…each argument more heated than the former. What is needed is for someone to halt the downward spiral — someone to speak of…
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A Lukan Paradigm of Witness: Community as a Form of Witness (Part II), AJPS
A Lukan Paradigm of Witness: Community as a Form of Witness Part II by Lora Angeline B. Embudo Exegetical Analysis of Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-35 Acts 2:42 Acts 2:1-41 narrates the first episode of the outpouring of the Spirit (Pentecost…
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A Lukan Paradigm of Witness: Community as a Form of Witness (Part I), AJPS
A Lukan Paradigm of Witness: Community as a Form of Witness Part I by Lora Angeline B. Embudo Introduction This paper on a Lukan paradigm of witness is divided into two parts. Part I will first present a survey…
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Luke’s Understanding of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Pentecostal Perspective
By Robert Menzies – Not long ago a Chinese house church leader commented, “When Chinese believers read the book of Acts, we see in it our own experience; when foreign Christians read the book of Acts, they see in it inspiring stories.” My Chinese friend’s point was clear: their experience of opposition and persecution impacts how they read Luke’s narrative….
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Review of John C. Nugent, Endangered Gospel: How Fixing the World is Killing the Church
Title: Endangered Gospel: How Fixing the World is Killing the Church Author: John C. Nugent Genre: Theology Publisher: Cascade Books Release Date: 2016 Pages: 244 Synopsis: For centuries, Christians sought to rescue people from this world. Today, we're trying to fix it. While this shift is helpful in some ways, in other ways it can be quite dangerous. Endangered Gospel flips the script on this conversation by stressing the core gospel truth that rather than ushering in a new world through social activism, God's people already are the new world in Christ. It's not our job to make this world a better place, but to be the better place God has already made in this world. That's good news! If we let go of this truth, we become servants of the world and not God. We also lose the great joy and abundant life that God intended us to have in community. Jesus himself said that the world will know we are Christians by our love for one another--not the fervor of our activism. Social action makes us feel relevant and alive, but it can't be the center of our new life in Christ. Endangered Gospel explores how we might enthusiastically embrace the social dimensions of the gospel without divorcing them from the church or forcing them on the world. Read this book, hear the gospel story afresh, and embrace the good news of God's kingdom! By Robert P. Menzies – This provocative and stimulating book highlights the central role that the church plays in God’s redemptive plan. Nugent brilliantly retells the biblical story, from creation to consummation, and describes how first Israel and then the church are called, as God’s people, to embrace, display, and proclaim God’s kingdom. Christians are not called or empowered to…
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One for the Road – “Nominalist”
Nominalist. A person who claims a name…but doesn’t live up to it. An example would be people who identify themselves as Christians…but have little passion for righteousness. Their devotion is nominal…at best. Here’s a challenge. Use a graph to indicate the highs and lows of your devotion to Christ – from your conversion to now. How does it look? Sadly…some people have little desire…
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The Gift
By Robert Menzies | As I stepped through the wooden gate that framed the entrance to the mud brick home, I felt like I was walking back in time. The rickety dwelling was not much different from many that had existed three hundred years ago. Auntie Xu also had a timeless quality about her. She was clearly well…
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Mormonism: The Gospel In Debate
By Grant Sinclair The following is a fictitious debate between representatives of the Christian and Mormon faith. There is no intention to mock or belittle individuals in this entertaining presentation. The purpose is to instruct in an alternate style. All references to Mormon as well as Christian beliefs are based on fact. Note: This originally appeared in my master’s thesis, entitled,…
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Review of Luke Timothy Johnson’s Prophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church
By Robert P. Menzies, Kunming, China. The modern Pentecostal movement was birthed in an environment that welcomed prophetic inspiration and encouraged the work of the Spirit. Early Pentecostals lifted up the experiences that shaped the life of the early church as a model for their lives and ministry. Thus, the narrative of Acts, filled as it is with prophetic outbursts,…
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Signs and Wonders, Then and Now: Miracle-working, commissioning and discipleship
Title: Signs and Wonders, Then and Now: Miracle-Working, Commissioning and Discipleship Author: by Keith J. Hacking Publisher: Nottingham: Apollos/IVP Release Date: 2006 Pages: 301 Source: ISBN 9781844741496 Synopsis: ‘Signs and wonders’, such as healing and exorcisms, are characteristic emphases associated with the ‘Third Wave’ of contemporary charismatic renewal, which has been particularly influential in the church, across the denominations and around the world. Exponents of such emphases claim to reflect a model for Christian discipleship that they find presented in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts by Jesus and his followers, in which ‘signs and wonders’ are normative for the church today. Keith Hacking's contention is that Third Wave commentators too often fail to grapple adequately with important historical, literary and theological issues that arise from the biblical text. From an engaging and thorough analysis of the relevant material in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts, he offers an approach that more accurately reflects the evidence and that, therefore, is more appropriate for informing contemporary theology and practice. Reviewed by Robert P. Menzies, Kunming, China. In 1970 James Dunn published his widely influential critique of Pentecostal theology, Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Now, one of Dunn’s Ph.D. students, Keith Hacking, has attempted to provide something similar for the theology of ‘signs and wonders’ associated with the Third Wave movement. The term ‘Third Wave’ refers to a movement of…
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