After I attended the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS) this past week, I worshipped in a Church of God (Cleveland, TN) (=COG) church on Sunday. My experience illustrated the words of Pentecostal theologian Keith Warrington—Pentecostal theology is a theology of encounter. Since I have many American and Canadian friends within the COG, I’m almost […]
This is an important one for any pastor, worship leader, and others who have a leadership role for corporate worship services. In this video I interview Dr. Josh Samuel from Master’s College & Seminary in Ontario, Canada. A fair amount of our discussion focused on how we can facilitate authentic experiences of the Holy Spirit in corporate worship.
This is something that Christians sometimes debate. But here is the definitive answer to this question.
In this short video, I share some thoughts on how non-trans Christians should respond to transgender and queer people. If you’re interested in a longer reflection on this topic, you might listen to an hour-long talk I did on this previously […]
“Leadership” seems like a buzz word among Christians these days. Between the newness of the study of “leadership,”[1] and the fact that there is nothing inherently Christian about “leadership,” some Christians express concern that the emphasis on leadership makes churches unknowingly bring secular business theories (by which they mean anti-Christian theories) into the church. One […]
In today’s video, I interview Dr. Sam Storms from Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma. I ask him about how he transitioned his previous church from being a cessationist church to one that practices all of the spiritual gifts. He also shares advice for other church leaders who seek to encourage their church […]
It was early Sunday morning, and we were driving down the highway just outside the city to an “Apostolic” church that is a part of the largest Oneness denomination in the world—the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI). This was about to be my first experience in a Oneness worship service. As we turned into the church driveway, I thought that this could be [. . .]
In today’s video, I interview theologian Dr. Mark Cartledge from Regent University (Virginia). I ask him about what makes Pentecostal and Charismatic theology of worship unique and what implications this has for worship leaders.
Earlier in the summer my family visited a tourist church. I call it a “tourist church” because the church was in the heart of the downtown of a major tourist destination and also because about half of the people attending the church that morning were tourists. I know because the pastor asked the congregation at […]
Some Pentecostals are proud to say that Pentecostals affirm women in ministry. They might point to the leadership of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles (one of the most influential centers of early North American Pentecostalism), where about half of the leaders were women. As Pentecostal denominations formed, some churches continued to give prominent place to women leaders. Most, however, placed restrictions on women’s ministry and leadership in some form […]