Old in the New

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

high-octane low church

NBC Nightly News recently aired Rev. Eugene Rivers' description of Pentecostalism and its appeal to the poor. Rev. Rivers is pastor of Azusa Christian Community in Boston. While I do not accept his emphasis on movement from "poverty to prosperity", I understand that as a white middle-class AG Pentecostal I have my own biases when it comes to the social implications of Gospel. I would like to think that Pentecostalism can be socially-concerned without being "prosperity" driven. I cannot endorse a prosperity-Gospel in the vein of Osteen or Roberts, but I do believe that a Spirit-driven Gospel must confront materialism and the systemic oppression of the poor.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free
    to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
Luke 4:18-19

HT: Paul Grabill of Beside the Point & Jeff Leake of FutureAG.

Labels: pentecostalism

Friday, July 27, 2007

Assemblies of God at the Crossroads

Fearful of incurring the wrath of the Grand Lord of Biblioblogdom, I have been hesitant to overtly mention my ecclesiastical affiliation on this blog. Still, I cannot deny my true identity. I am . . . (brace yourself) . . . a Pentecostal, and . . . (gasp) . . . a member of an Assemblies of God church.

Anyway, the Assemblies of God General Council will be held August 8-11, 2007 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Recently Rev. Thomas E. Trask stepped down from his position as the General Superintendent of the denomination.* So, this year's meeting is particularly important, as we will be choosing a new General Superintendent.

The gravity of this situation has caused a few blogs to form. Both Future AG and AG Leadership Change are worth checking out if you're curious.

I write this post to express our need for prayer.** The AG needs wisdom in choosing who will fill this important position.

PS: I reserve the right to speak tongue-in-cheek. If we can't laugh about doctrinal differences, then we are taking ourselves too seriously!

Labels: ag, pentecostalism

Musings, resources and research related to my interests in early Jewish and Christian literature, librarianship, etc.

: Name: James Darlack; Location: Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States

A graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I currently serve as the reference librarian at the seminary’s Goddard Library. I am interested in the study of the New Testament and Second Temple Judaism. In seminary I have concentrated my studies both on the Epistle of James and the use of the Old Testament in later Jewish and Christian literature.

View my complete profile