 If I were to ask you about the most messed-up church, what name would come to mind? What if I began naming some of the problems in this church? They were defined by their charismatic, sophisticated leaders, devoted more to their preacher than Christ. They tolerated forms of sexual immorality declared deviant by the most pagan of their neighbors. They had no problem partaking in the idolatrous worship of others, irrespective of how it affected their brothers and sisters in Christ. They would have church potlucks where the rich got drunk and gorged themselves, while the poor had nothing to eat. But gifted? This church was gifted. They had some of the most on-fire, Pentecostal services known. They especially liked to exercise the gift of tongues when they all gathered together. They would all pray in tongues. They were full of the Holy Ghost, or at least full of the Ghost. I’m not sure how holy they were. And Paul, frankly, was scared of Pentecostal worship with the Spirit but no holiness and transformation. I'm talking, of course, about the church at Corinth. Paul spends three chapters of 1 Corinthians dealing with Pentecostal worship, especially sorting through the proper exercise of the gifts of the Spirit. In doing so, he emphasizes equality, love, and ordered care as the proper environment for Pentecostal worship. Equality over status and position. Love over power and giftedness. And ordered care over charismatic chaos. Holy love was at the center of true, Spirit-filled worship. I wonder, just wonder, what the Wesleyan roots of Pentecostalism might teach us about biblical Pentecostal worship. Wesleyans, you see, believe in heart purity that removes the selfish bent within the sinful heart of humans, so that we can truly love God and others. Was that why Paul put Agape love at the center of Pentecostal worship? Can selfish hearts be truly Pentecostal? How much of our Pentecostal/Charismatic worship is what Paul described in 1 Corinthians 13:1 as “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." Could it be that these three themes of chapters 12, 13, and 14 define Pentecostal worship? Equality Over personalityOne of the most revolutionary aspects of Pentecostalism has been its leveling of the playing field. The societal barriers of gender, race, and class often melt away in the fires of revival. Surely, reading the stories of Azusa Street, you see how blacks and whites, rich and poor, male and female worshipped together in that building at 312 Azusa Street. Interesting that Paul would ground the Corinthian church in their unity in the Spirit.
 Paul points to the unity of the gifts in the Spirit of God as grounds for an equal recognition of all members of the church. Comparing the church to a body, Paul suggests that no one member of the body is any more important than the other. There’s an absurdity in suggesting that one spiritual gift or manifestation is more important than any other; one member with the gifts of healing and the other member with the gifts of helps are equal in the Spirit, empowered for the common good of the body. Think about how revolutionary this would’ve been to the Corinthians, who identified with their leaders. “I follow Paul. I follow Peter. I follow Apollos. Well, I follow Jesus.” This was common to the culture around them, for there were often public speakers in Greek culture who would travel and gather crowds by their slick speech and gifted oratory. It was only natural, then, that the Corinthians would platform their favorite preacher. Into a church divided by personality and platform, Paul emphasized gifting from the Spirit for the common good. There was a unity and an equality in the Spirit that militated against the cult of personality. No part of the body could be exalted over another. No one gift could be more important than the other.
Instead of gathering around personality, Paul emphasizes a pursuit of equality and unity in the Spirit, working individually in the Spirit for the common good of all. My gift is from the same source, the Holy Spirit, and is aimed at the same goal, the common good of the community. We’re all working together, aiming at a transformed community. Care over ChaosJumping over to chapter 14, Paul tackles the issue of chaos in worship. It seems that the Corinthian church had a habit of gathering and all speaking in tongues, all at once, with no interpretation. Paul says that the environment created in this setting was one of confusion and chaos.
When the outsider comes into the meeting, Paul says that the chaos created by the unrestrained gifts of the Spirit leads them to say that Christians are out of their minds. Does that mean, then, that the gifts of the Spirit have no place in corporate worship? Some Pentecostals, turned off by the experience of chaos in Pentecostal/Charismatic worship, have tried to relegate the gifts of the Spirit to the back room. They’ve disallowed the expression of public tongues and interpretation, prophecy, and ministry at the altars where someone might fall out in the Spirit. Is this the intention of a Spirit-filled church? Surely, their heart for the outside is commendable, as they do not want an unbeliever turned off from the gospel by chaos. Yet, Paul’s answer to chaos was not to turn off all Spiritual gifts. It was ordered care for the body. Rather than focus on the gift of tongues, Paul told the church to pursue prophecy, delivering a Spirit-inspired message in the language of the people. Why? “On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation” (1 Corinthians 14:3 ESV). Prophetic ministry brings upbuilding and encouragement to the people, caring for them. Care for others, in the Spirit’s power, dictates the public exercise of the gifts of the Spirit. It’s not that tongues can’t happen, with interpretation. An interpreted tongue brings the same positive care and encouragement as prophecy, though tongues have a different aim. What dictates is care. How can I care for others in the Spirit’s power? tHE cOMMUNITY OF eMPOWERED lOVE If care is to overcome chaos and equality is to overcome personality, holy love should stand at the center of Pentecostal worship. What good are my spiritual gifts if I don’t have love? What good is my tongue if it just appears to outsiders as chaos? But what if love tempered my exercise of the gifts so that instead of seeing a chaotic community built on the loudest personalities, I saw a caring community built on Christ? Imagine with me a Spirit-empowered community of empowered love. Listen to the community Paul describes:
Imagine coming into a community confused, not knowing what to do or where to go, and then someone, without knowledge of your situation, is given a word of wisdom or knowledge supernaturally. In a moment, the Spirit cuts through the confusion and brings supernatural peace. Imagine coming in sick, with a body filled with disease, and a brother or sister lays hands on you and prays the prayer of faith. The Spirit gives a gift of healing, and in a moment, the tide turns as you begin a healing journey. Imagine needing a miracle, and instantaneously, you rise from a wheelchair or throw crutches to the wind as a kingdom miracle is manifest in your midst. Imagine coming in discouraged, and the Spirit gives a prophetic word that is spot on for your situation or a tongue and interpretation that declares the greatness of God—imagine knowing that God sees, hears, and knows you personally.
This, my friends, is what love has to do with it. Love compels us to be a gifted community where all prophesy, all pray for one another, all hear from God, so that we can care for one another. This is a community of empowered love. This Valentine's weekend, consider what the Spirit might want to do to your love. Think about how the Spirit might empower you to love your brother, your sister, or your neighbor. Think about what the gifts of the Spirit are really about, and ask God to fill you with holy love, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Maybe that filling will empower us to love supernaturally and truly live Pentecostal lives in the power He has for us.
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 It’s something we do all the time. Each day, we go to our closet or dresser and pull out what we will wear for the day. We may or may not think deeply about the clothing we wear each day. Some of us have uniforms for school or work that dictate our options. Others of us have days off where we get to put on our favorite t-shirt and sweats as we hang around the house. Clothing. When we turn to the scriptures, we find that the clothing metaphor is an important one, particularly in two ways that I think are deeply connected. Baptiezd, or "Clothed" in the Holy SpiritAt the end of Jesus’ ministry, he instructed His disciples to be clothed with power from on high. As followers of Jesus in the Pentecostal tradition, we rightly see this as Jesus’ promise of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. He was getting ready to leave earth and prepare His disciples for life after His ascension, and he told His disciples to wait for the right clothing for their mission.
We find here that Jesus connects witness and power. The clothing of the power of the Holy Spirit was an essential element of the disciples’ witness in the world. It was so essential that Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem without it. They needed to wear the Holy Spirit's power if they were going to effectively live for Christ in the world. Clothed with CharacterThe baptism in the Holy Spirit is so often emphasized as a power for ministry. Gifts, power, signs, wonders—things rightly seen throughout the story of the church in Acts. And yet, there’s an interesting connection that comes through the apostles’ instructions in the epistles. Multiple times, as Paul was writing the churches, he picked up on this metaphor of clothing to call the believers to live the life Christ makes possible. In Romans 13, as he’s instructing the church to live in a way that honors the new day brought in by Christ:
In these verses, the instruction “put on” comes from the same Greek root as “clothed.” Paul might have said, “The day is at hand, so let’s dress for the new day. Let’s dress like Christ.” Be clothed with the character of Christ. Put on Christ. I find it interesting that the same word that Christ uses to describe the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for witness is the word used here to describe the putting on of New Creation life. Clothe yourselves with the character of Christ, living in light of the New Creation in Christ. A New IdentitySee, when we come to Christ, we take on a new identity. We become sons and daughters of God. And when we declare that change to the world in the waters of baptism, we take on a new identity, a new clothing.
Once again, we see the idea of “put on,” clothed. Paul teaches that in the waters of baptism, we are clothed with Christ, we are given new clothing, if you will, that identifies us with the resurrected, New Creation life that Christ has made possible. This is why Paul would talk about the fact that anyone who is in Christ is a New Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Paul seems to call believers to remember their clothing when they live out their lives in this world. In Ephesians and Colossians, Paul uses the same language to describe putting on the new self:
“Renewed in the spirit of your minds…renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” The call to renewal begins in our thinking, and it begins in thinking in line with our original creation in God’s image, to represent Him and live for Him in this world. As we are renewed in our thinking, it changes the way we think and the way we live. The renewed mind produces a renewed life that dresses differently than it used to. We are to put off the sin, corruption, and desires of the old life and begin to live in line with the New Day, the New Creation that Christ has brought about. A New PowerSo how are these two ideas of the clothing of New Creation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit connected? I believe the infilling or Baptism in the Holy Spirit is empowerment for renewal. It’s not simply about signs and wonders, gifts of the Spirit, and verbal witness, though those are important. It’s a divine empowerment and transformation to live like Christ. It’s clothing that looks like Jesus, aligns with our baptismal identity, and radiates Christ’s New Creation to the world. It’s transformational.
James Mongomery Boice, in his Bible Studies Magazine in May 1989, offers the best definition of the understanding of the meaning of the Word baptize, especially as it relates to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Pulling on a pickle recipe from Nicander, a poet and physician who lived in 200 B.C., Boice notes how Nicander said that the cucumber was to be dipped (bapto) in water before being “baptized” in the vinegar solution. This baptism would bring about the permanent transformation from cucumber to pickle.[1] What if this is the picture of being “clothed” with the power of the Holy Spirit? A permanent clothing in New Creation life that empowers us to live in the light of the day? An empowerment for holiness? A transformation of who we are? As we step into a new year tomorrow, I want to challenge us to look at our clothing. What are we wearing? Has the power of the Holy Spirit transformed who we are? Have we “put on” Christ? Have we truly been “clothed with power from on high?” Perhaps this day is a day of reflection. Am I dressed like the New Creation? Let’s check out our closets, metaphorically speaking, examine our lives, and make sure we’re dressed like the New Creations we are in Christ. Let us make sure we’re clothed with God’s transforming presence. Let’s make sure we are living in the light of holiness that He has made possible in the empowerment of the Spirit. [1]James Montgomery Boice, Bible Studies Magazine 21(5) (May 1989). https://www.bibestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/baptizo.html. This common definition and picture is widely attested all over the internet. A little research has seemed to indicate that Bible Studies Magazine was a monthly magazine published “The Bible Studi Hour,” Dr. Boice’s teaching ministry. Older issues are seen on Amazon and other web sites, but I have yet to come across the May 1989 issue.  One of the most interesting aspects of the Christmas story is the way in which the incarnation takes place among the vulnerable. Once again, we see how the incarnation brings God’s presence into the most broken places of human experience. Over the past couple of weeks, we have looked at some of the beautiful truths of Emmanuel and the meaning of God’s incarnate presence. Today, I want to continue looking at Jesus’ incarnation and particularly his identification with the persecuted and the mistreated. See, on the heels of the worship of the Magi, Jesus and His family are displaced due to acts of political violence and danger against children. In this story, Christ becomes an exile due to an act of violence against infants. I want to suggest that Emmanuel understands exile and infanticide, two major issues facing our nation today. Exile Emmanuel understands exile. Exile is defined as “the state of being barred from one’s native country, typically from political or punitive reasons.”[1] There are many reasons why someone flees their native country, often because they find their life in danger. Even today, millions flee their homeland because of impending danger. These exiles are often a source of great political discourse. Should we welcome them? Are they welcome? Why? When? Where? How? Questions that surround the issue of welcoming refugees and exiles in our modern world. I want to suggest to you that the Christmas story shows us a Christ who can identify with those exiled from their homeland because of threats to their life.
Jesus and His family are exiled from Israel because of the threat of Herod, who began to seek his life and wanted to kill him because He threatened Herod’s political power. Notice the leading of the Lord, here. An angel showed up to Joseph and told Him about the coming threat and their need to flee. Divine agency was behind this displacement. How would you feel if you needed to move? Many different issues cause people to be displaced. Even in our nation, severe natural disasters such as tornadoes or floods can displace people from their homes, even if it’s just for a time. Some in other nations face violence like Jesus and His family, and they must flee to safer locations for the sake of their life. Sometimes, people are forced to flee jobs, relationships, and other situations that are not safe for them. And I think the Christmas story reminds us that Jesus knows what it is to be displaced. He knows what it is to be an exile. He knows what it is to flee His homeland for safety and live in another land. What’s interesting to me is the way that exile identity becomes central to Christian identity. Look at what the Apostle Peter wrote:
Peter highlights the fact that Christians are often exiles in a foreign land. And if you’ve grown up in church, you’ve probably spoken of this reality. “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.” That statement is a recognition that you are a foreigner living in a land that is not home. You are an exile. Your citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20), but you live in this world. You are in this world, but not of it (John 17:16). We, as believers, are a people living in a foreign land. I think the challenge for us this Christmas is to recognize that Jesus, Emmanuel, is with us in exile. He is with us in displacement. He understands what it means to live in a land where you don’t quite belong, to leave behind the comforts of home for safety in the leading of the Lord. He knows what it is to live in exile. How should this change our perspective on exiles? When people are fleeing persecution and danger, how should we treat them? Should it make a difference when we realize that our Savior was exiled and that we are exiles? I believe it should. Emmanuel is the God of exiles. Emmanuel understands exiles. Infanticide Not only is Emmanuel the God of the exiles, but He’s also the God of those who have experienced all-out attacks on their people, particularly their infants. Once Herod realized that He had been outsmarted, he set out to kill all baby boys two years old and under. Herod threatened an entire generation because He was trying to thwart the threat of God’s Kingdom. See, Jesus was a threat to his political power, and thus, He must be eliminated. And so, we see an entire cross-section of Hebrew boys eliminated because of the political ambitions of their leaders.
Sound familiar? This was not the first time a move like this had been done in the history of the People of God. If you remember the story of Moses, Pharaoh had gone after the infants of Israel due to their multiplication. It was out of that story that Moses was put in a basket and rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter. But an entire generation was killed because a political leader wanted to protect their power and influence. Lest we think that we are a more advanced and sophisticated society, I suggest that the same ambitions that lead Pharoah and Herod lie behind the present-day abortion industry. What would drive a woman to abort the baby growing in her womb? What would lead a couple to end the life they created just as it’s getting started? Is it not that threat the baby makes to their own power and agency? Is it not the baby’s threat to their ambitions and goals? I in no way want to downplay the difficult decisions that couples face in their pregnancy journey, yet I want to challenge us to consider the political and spiritual implications that lie behind the decisions we make. Emmanuel understands the difficulties of less-than-ideal births, less-than-ideal parents, and relationships. Emmanuel understands the pain of women losing their children. Emmanuel understands the cultural pressure that seeks to abort the next generation to protect their power and influence. Emmanuel understands the weeping of mothers and fathers whose children have died in infanticide. Emmanuel understands. Perhaps you’ve had an abortion and now weep over what you’ve done. Emmanuel understands. Emmanuel is with you in the pain and weeping of a cultural moment where millions of the next generation are being extinguished. Emmanuel UNderstandsEmmanuel understands what it is to be an exile, and He understands the pain of a culture of death. He understands when a culture seeks to extinguish the next generation and knows what it is like to flee such a culture, living as an exile from your homeland. Perhaps the lesson for us this Christmas is to embody Emmanuel. What if we chose to live as exiles in a foreign land? What if we chose to reject a culture of death and come alongside those weeping for the next generation? What if we identify with the vulnerable like our Savior, and become His presence in this broken world? What if we walked alongside those displaced from home? What if we walked alongside those battling the culture of death? What if we became a living incarnation of the presence of Jesus, the God of the Exile and the God of the Vulnerable? Let us remember, this Christmas, that Emmanuel understands.
[1]“Exile,” Oxford Languages,” Available from: https://www.google.com/search?q=exile+definition&oq=exile+definition&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDc5NDhqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8; accessed 24 December 2025.  How Christmas Gets PoliticalAs we continue looking at the story of Christmas through Matthew’s gospel, I find it interesting that Matthew gets political. When most of us think of Christmas, probably politics is the last think on our minds. I mean, what advice do most people give about attending family gatherings? Don’t talk about politics or religion! What if I told you that Christmas inadvertently requires both? Christmas is a political story. The Pursuit of the KingAs you continue reading the story of Matthew’s gospel, he turns toward a familiar part of the Christmas narrative, the visit of the Magi. Shortly after Jesus’ birth, he is visited by a group of Magi from the east: Matthew 2:1–2 (ESV) Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Notice the initial question after the birth narrative and declaration of Emmanuel, God with us: “Where is He who has been born the king of the Jews?” A King. A Leader. A Politician. The Magi come to Herod, the acting ruler of the Jews, and ask about the king. Where’s the king? These magi had seen within the stars the sign of the birth of the king, and came to find him. Scholars have noted that probably what happened was a sign in the sky bringing the planets Mars and Jupiter together, something that happened three times in 7 B.C.[1] Jupiter was thought to be a royal planet, and Saturn the planet of the Jews, so the conjunction of these two in the night sky was thought to signal that a new king of the Jews was to be born.[2] Michael Green suggests, “So this conjunction of planets, giving the impression of one very bright star, would have meant to the competent astronomer that a new age was beginning, in which the sovereignty of the world would shift to Judea.”[3] They came searching for a new political leader who was thought to be coming on the world scene. A Threat to Power Herod, hearing news of the king, is intrigued, and not in a good way: Matthew 2:3–4 (ESV) When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. Herod is troubled, a fitting response when you hear that your replacement has been born. This is often how humans respond when they discover a threat to their power. They, too, become troubled and seek to understand how to keep their power and control. He sends the wise men on a mission, “Go, find the child, and let me know where He is that I, too, can go and worship.” Was that really what was in Herod’s heart? Was that truly his desire? He also seeks the timing of Christ’s birth to calculate his age. Herod wasn’t seeking to adore the King; he was agitated at the threat to his throne. Adoration or Agitation?The Magi go on their way, and finding the child at home with his parents, they fall in worship and open their treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They are filled with adoration in the presence of the new born King. They worship. After they arise, they are warned in a dream to return home another way because of what Herod had planned to do to the Christ child.
Herod, on the other hand, is filled with agitation. When the men do not return to him, he begins a murderous plot to kill all males born within the past two years. Herod is agitated that there might be another King who might take his power, sovereignty, and control away from him. He responds with violence and infanticide. Mary and Joseph are warned in a dream to flee to Egypt to protect Jesus’ life. All of this is inherently political. Who is the true king? Who wields true power? Who deserves worship and adoration? Christmas is inherently political because it announces the birth of the King, the King of all the World. It brings us all to the point of decision where we must decide. Will we respond in worship and adoration or agitation? See, there’s really only one response when you come face to face with the reality of Christ’s Kingdom. You can fall in adoration and worship, or you can try to maintain power and control over your life. Christ’s Kingdom is a threat to our selfishness and pride. It comes in to announce that we are no longer in full control over our lives, that we are not the kings and queens we think we are. There’s only one King, and His name is Jesus. We must check ourselves, lest we respond like Herod. In agitation, do we seek to eliminate the threat to our power and control? Do we fight the sovereign right of Jesus to rule and reign over our lives? Do we seek to track down all the ways He threatens our power and tighten our grip on the reins? Or do we respond like the Magi? Do we bow down in surrender and worship? Do we open our treasures and offer ourselves sacrificially to the King of kings and Lord of lords? Do we bow in adoration to the only One worthy? This Christmas, we are faced with a question. When we encounter the reality of the New Born King, will we respond in agitation or adoration? Will we worship or worry? Will we give Christ our allegiance or some other king and kingdom? Christmas is inherently political. Who has your allegiance? [1]Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1-15 (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 10. [2]Ibid. [3]Michael Green, The Message of Matthew: The Kingdom of Heaven, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 69.  Grace in an Unlikely Space. If there’s one thing that has struck me this holiday season, especially as I consider the Scripture’s Christmas story, it’s the reality of grace appearing in an unlikely space. One thing we celebrate every year is the coming of God in the flesh, the incarnation, or enfleshment of God. One of the most beautiful words that captures the depth of this moment and the miracle it celebrates is the word, the name Emmanuel, which means God with us. Matthew borrows this Old Testament prophecy to explain what was going on some 2,000 years ago when the virgin Mary and her fiancé Joseph had a series of angelic encounters, and supernatural experiences leading to a miraculous pregnancy with the Christ child.
Have you ever stopped to consider where this God came from? Have you ever admired the stopping points of grace in this Christmas story? For I fear that sometimes there’s a level of scandal and political incorrectness that we might scrub from the story in our polished narrations of the incarnation of grace. If we look at it, however, the incarnation meets humanity in the midst of great brokenness. Christ came, not in the polished white-picket fence life of the middle class in the West, but in the brokenness of scandal and political upheaval of the 1st century Middle East. Think with me, if you will, about the first movement of Matthew’s telling of the story. Disobedient Immorality Feel this as you read these words of the great evangelist:
When Mary was engaged, before they consummated the marriage, Mary found herself pregnant. For the Judeo-Christian worldview, Mary gave off the appearance of grave immorality. She was pregnant outside of wedlock. She was found to be with child. To make matters worse, there’s a sense in which the scandal goes to the next level, because Joseph, her fiancé, was not the father! Is that where we would expect to find the incarnate God? Is that where Emmanuel meets us? Relational Unfaithfulness
When word comes to Joseph that his fiancé was pregnant, he responds as many might respond, with a desire to break off the relationship. Matthew carefully chooses important language to let us know that Joseph was a man of character, a righteous man. He was a man of God! And so, desiring to treat his beloved with honor and respect, and not willing to subject her to open shame, he plans a quiet divorce. You see, in the first century, engagement was a serious commitment of a man to a woman, and unlike dating and engagement in the modern West, breaking off an engagement required filing for divorce. Joseph had in mind to divorce her quietly. The marriage contract had already been drawn up, they were legally joined, and to break off the engagement, they needed to go through the pain of divorce. Here we come face to face with the realities of relational betrayal. For all Joseph thought, his beloved had been unfaithful. How else would she be pregnant? How else would she be with child? Joseph was well aware of the necessary processes for a child to be conceived, and so he would’ve been wrestling with the idea that the woman he had selected for his wife had chosen to be unfaithful. Emmanuel came to dwell in a story that gave the appearance of unfaithfulness. A Divine Encounter
It was as Joseph encountered the presence of God through angelic visitation that he heard a word about God’s work in bringing forth the Messiah. God had conceived this child supernaturally through the Holy Spirit; he had nothing to worry about. This Child would be the Savior of His people. He would be the deliverer from sin. Emmanuel: THe Miracle in the MessEmmanuel, God with us, was God with us in the midst of the scandal and in the midst of the pain. An angel met with Joseph. There, in the feelings of shame and sadness, the questions, the embarrassment, and there he encountered the grace of God.
Now, on this side of the story, we see the supernatural miracle of the virgin birth and the obedience of Joseph and Mary to God’s divine plan. But put yourself in their shoes. Would you say yes to God if it meant the appearances of disobedient immorality? Would you say yes to God if you had to bear the open shame of an unfaithful spouse? While Joseph and Mary would’ve seen the miracle, the World would’ve only seen the mess. While Joseph and Mary embraced the miracle, many in the World would’ve gossiped about the mess. While Mary and Joseph encountered the divine in the midst of a miracle, the world would’ve shunned them for their disobedience in making a mess. I wonder, this Christmas, if maybe there’s a miracle to embrace in the messy areas of our lives? Could there be, in this story, an invitation to embrace the miracle when the world sees a mistake? An invitation to embrace the miracle in what the world calls a mishap? Maybe your life feels a bit messy today. Maybe this Christmas, all you can see are your mistakes. But maybe, just maybe, Emmanuel is inviting you to meet Him in the mess. To embrace Him in the chaos, to honor Him as Savior, and to encounter Emmanuel even when your life feels like it doesn’t qualify for divine visitation. For that is who He is, Emmanuel, God with us, with us in the mess.  Our world is hungry. Our world is thirsty, and thirsty for hope. The past few years have brought quite a bit of turmoil to our world and our nation. Controversial elections, racial tensions, a global pandemic, and even natural disasters and storms have set this world into a search for hope. People look for hope, seek for hope, and long for rest in all the wrong places. Some seek it in alcohol, others in relationships, drugs, and a host of other things humanity uses to mask the hopelessness and the pain that they feel. Into this world, we as the people of God have been sent with a message of hope. Yes, we proclaim a message that culminates in the Blessed Hope. Paul wrote to Titus, stating that we are “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:13-14). I love what the prophet Zechariah wrote to the people of Israel who were looking for their coming King, “Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double” (Zechariah 9:12 ESV). Prisoners of hope. I believe that God wants us to be empowered by the message of the Return and Reign of Christ, and to be able to see how the hope of the world is the hope of His return. If you look at Isaiah 11:1-16, I want to break down some great truths of Christ’s reign that offer hope to the world. See, we believe in the Soon Coming King. This is one of the pillars of the Pentecostal message, that Jesus is Coming Again. He’s coming to rescue and resurrect His people in the rapture of the church, but He’s also coming to rule and reign on earth in what we call the Millennium. The truth of Christ’s reign is proclaimed throughout the Scripture. While we see it explicitly mentioned in the book of Revelation, I believe many of the Old Testament prophets also proclaimed the reality of the Messiah’s reign on earth, a reign to which we still look today. That reign, that reality, is truly a message of hope to the world. And church, we should live today as prisoners of that hope. Jesus is coming again, and He will rule and reign. There are three truths related to Christ’s return that I believe should empower us to be bearers of hope in a hopeless world, empowered to share how the hope of the world is the hope of His return. There are three realities, three hopes of the blessed hope, that should enable us to truly live as prisoners of hope. The Hope of Justice, the Hope of Peace, and the Hope of Rescue. The realities of the past few years, with the turmoil and struggle that have been loosed in our nation, really stand in line with a host of issues that nations have faced for years. This portion of Isaiah was written to address King Ahaz.[1] Ahaz reigned from 735-715 BC, and one of the greatest threats He faced was that of Tiglath Pileser, head of the Assyrian Empire.[2] After a period of relative peace, there was a resurgence of violent military activity that threatened Ahaz’s kingdom.[3] Pileser’s reign sent the region into a tailspin and rocked the boat, if you will, shaking the confidence and peace of King Ahaz and threatening to utterly destroy the nation to the core.[4] It was into this time of upheaval and uncertainty that Isaiah closes the section with this prophecy of the coming of God’s Messiah. Into the instability of the nation, Isaiah prophesies a message of hope that would come when God’s ideal King came and reigned over Israel. This same message rings true today as we look at the instability of our world. The passage opens with a contrast between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. Notice that Isaiah speaks of a righteous branch that would come out of the stump of Jesse. This picture is meant to bring contrast between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world.  Anyone ever cut down a tree? What’s left? A stump. Isaiah uses this picture to compare the two kingdoms. Earlier in chapter 10, Isaiah spoke of the King of Assyria as a tree whose “proud” branches would be loped off and forests destroyed.[5] In contrast to the strength, size, and pride of trees and forests, the Kingdom of God is pictured as arising as a branch out of a stump. This speaks to the humble beginnings of the Kingdom of Christ, something antithetical to the ways of pride and power in this world.[6]
In this humble kingdom, God promises to do something new. Notice that Isaiah says that this is arising from the root of Jesse. Jesse was David’s Father, and God made a covenant with David that one of his descendants would rule and reign forever, but rather than speaking of a son of David, here, Isaiah goes back to Jesse. Why? Because so many sons of David had wicked kingdoms that mirrored the kingdoms of this world rather than God’s Kingdom, so God’s going to go back to Jesse and start with a New David, the Lord Jesus Christ.[7] God’s doing a new thing and building a New Kingdom. We need the hope of the blessed hope. So let’s unpack the hopes of the blessed hope, the hope of Christ’s coming reign. The Hope of Justice The first reality that Isaiah highlights about the reign of the Messiah, the Hope of Christ, is the hope of justice. One of the great tragedies of the kingdoms of this world is the prevalence of injustice. Unjust judges, law courts that accept bribes, the rich and powerful paying off the system—a host of injustice pervades the world as we know it. Can I tell you a secret? It won’t change until a New King comes, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every kingdom of this world will be plagued by injustice, but when He comes, He will rule and reign with justice. Notice what Isaiah says. He speaks of this King being endowed by the Spirit for the task of judging rightly. In the Old Testament, the judges were spoken of as being anointed by the Spirit with the authority of God to make decisions. Later, this authority was transferred to the kings, who were understood to have been anointed to be agents of God, in the same sense as judges and prophets.[8] This coming King would be anointed to judge the world with equity and justice because of His empowerment by the Holy Spirit. Righteousness, here, means “what is right, just, normal; rightness, justness, of weights and measures.”[9] Equity, here, refers to a “level place, uprightness… level place (free from obstacles), fig. for place of safety, comfort, and prosperity…uprightness in government.”[10] How often do we see level playing fields in judgment today? This is the hope of Justice. Though the kingdoms of this world are full of injustice, there’s coming a kingdom of perfect justice. And this Perfect King will come and bring judgment. Now, one of the great realities of His reign is that He will bring justice and judgment to the wicked. The injustices of this world will be settled at the judgment seat when Christ meets out His perfect justice. Those who perverted justice, those who have mistreated others, and those who have carried out atrocities will be judged. They will have their day. Their sin, if not paid for by the cross, will be judged by Christ, and justice will be served. This is why God tells us, “It is mine to avenge, I will repay,” says the Lord. We can respond to injustice with forgiveness and grace, because we know that the accounts will be settled by the King when He comes. This is the hope of the blessed hope. The Hope of Peace Secondly, there’s the hope of peace. Not only will Christ’s rule be characterized by supernatural justice, but he will be empowered to bring about supernatural peace. There’s a series of pairs in verses 6 through 8 that illustrate the sort of peace that Christ is going to bring. What you’ll notice is that there are seeming enemies paired together—wolf and lamb, leopard and goat, calf and lion, cow and bear—all dwelling together in peace.[11] Further, it seems that there’s almost a return to the garden of Eden, as meat eaters begin eating plants again and no longer live by what Chisholm calls “the rule of tooth and claw.”[12] Often, much like our expectations today, people of the Ancient Near East looked forward to a day where a political leader would bring about that return to Eden, a time of paradise and perfection, a time of peace.[13] In fact, one Sumerian myth, Enki and Ninhursag, describe a situation where lions do not kill and wolves do not snatch the lamb.[14] This is the power of Christ, and the absolute transformation of the world that will take place when He comes to reign. Paradise will be restored, and there will be a removal of the curse that causes tension and harm within our world. Isaiah prophesies that no harm will be done.[15] Notice specifically how the passage speaks of a child playing over the adder’s den and playing with the cobra. Scholars believe this is a reference back to Genesis 3:15 where the seed of the woman will crush the seed of the serpent. That enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent is overcome.[16] Christ will remove and reverse the curse, bringing about a supernatural peace. In a world ravaged by war and natural disaster, doesn’t the hope of peace sound amazing? Friends, this is the hope of the blessed hope. There will be a complete renovation of the world that will bring about a supernatural peace such that no harm will be done in all the Kingdom. This is the hope of peace. The hope of the blessed hope. The Hope of Rescue In addition to the hope of justice and peace, Isaiah prophesies the hope of rescue. Praise God! In a world of injustice and turmoil, there’s a promise of rescue. Notice how Isaiah prophesies the gathering of a righteous remnant. See, in Isaiah’s time, the nation had been taken captive, but Isaiah’s hope is that a remnant will return and inherit the promise. The nation was taken captive in 722 B.C. by Assyria and removed from their homeland, deported to Mesopotamia.[17] Their homeland destroyed and living in a foreign land, Isaiah foretells and prophesies that a remnant would return home. When the King comes, He calls forth the remnant of God’s people from all nations and rescues them from their captivity.[18] The section is marked off by a literary device called an inclusio, where the author mentions something at the beginning of a passage and the end of a passage to emphasize the point. In this section, there’s a reference to the Lord’s Hand, Assyria, and Egypt in verse 11 and again in verses 15-16.[19] Isaiah is pulling on the idea of the Exodus, where the hand of the Lord wrought mighty works to bring God’s people out of Egypt and into the land of promise. This is a second exodus, not of Israel out of Egypt but of God’s people out of the nations of the world.[20] In a very real sense, the exodus and deliverance, and the captivity and deliverance of Israel become types and shadows of a Greater Exodus and Greater Deliverance of God’s People out of the sin and death of a fallen world. This is the return to Eden. Christ will call forth and gather His people and rescue them from the fallen world. And Revelation tells us that we will rule and reign with Him. One scholar calls this move in Isaiah a “Back to the Future” move, where Isaiah uses the past experience of Exodus as a picture of the presence and power of God that will bring about their future deliverance.[21] This New David, who initiates a New Creation, initiates a New Exodus by calling forth His people from out of the nations to which they had been scattered. There will be three groups of people represented in these people: the nations (that’s you and me), faithful Israel, and faithful Judah (those believing Jews who trust Christ as their Messiah).[22] Together, we will become a New People, a new humanity living in a New World with our King, Jesus. In this New World, there will be perfect justice and perfect peace. What a message of hope in a fallen world! Justice in a world of injustice, peace in a world of turmoil, and rescue from a broken system brought on by the curse of sin. This, my friends, is the hope of the blessed hope. This blog was adapted from a message preached at a Midweek Service in the Fall of 2023 at Abundant Life Assembly of God in Marion, IL. [1]Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 428. [2]David D. Pettus, “Ahaz, King of Judah,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [3]Ibid. [4]Andrew H. Bartelt, “Second Sunday of Advent, Year A,” in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, Volume One (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 320. [5]Jamieson, Faussett, & Brown, 443. [6]Gary V. Smith, Isaiah 1–39, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, The New American Commentary (Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2007), 270–271. [7]Robert B. Chisholm Jr., Handbook on the Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 44. [8]Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), Is 11:2. [9]Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 841. [10]Brown, Driver, & Briggs, 449. [11]Jamieson, Faussett, & Brown, 443. [12]Chisholm, 44–45; J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 20, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 118. [13]Smith, 269. [14]Matthews, Chavalas, and Walton, Isaiah 11:6-8. [15]Smith, 273. [16]Motyer, 118. [17]Chisholm, 45. [18]Chisholm, 45. [19]Motyer, 119-120. [20]Motyer, 120; Chisholm, 45. [21]Chisholm, 46. [22]Smith, 276.  If you’re familiar with Pentecostalism, you probably know that one of our distinctive teachings is the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial, physical sign of speaking in other tongues. We believe that when one comes into the full experience of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, they will begin speaking in a language they’ve never learned. For many Christians, this can be a stumbling block for coming into Pentecostalism. Are tongues really evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit? One of the clearest scriptures about doctrine of evidential tongues lies at the climax the book of Acts. Acts 1:8 is often viewed as an outline and overview of the book of Acts: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” After their own Pentecostal experience, the apostles and believers began sharing the gospel, but for the first seven chapters of Acts, they hadn’t left Jerusalem! Up until the stoning of Stephen, they stayed close to home. After Stephen’s stoning, they were scattered about, preaching the gospel wherever they went. But Acts 11:19 tells us that these scattered believers only went about preaching the gospel to Jews. Their witness was limited to the Jewish people. Acts 10 highlights one of the greatest barriers they had yet to overcome. Peter, an obedient Jew, had never been unclean, so when God began to ask him to eat unclean foods he protested, “No Lord, I’ve never eaten anything unclean.” Three times, this happened. Immediately, Peter was asked to go to the home of Cornelius, a Gentile. No Distinction For a Jew to enter a Gentile home, they would be deemed unclean. Jews and Gentiles didn’t fellowship like that. But Peter, following the Lord, goes to the home of Cornelius and declares what God was teaching him. “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34–35 ESV), Peter said, and goes on to preach the gospel to them. Before he finishes preaching, the Holy Spirit interrupts. “While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles” (10:44–45). How did they know that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles? “For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God” (10:46). The evidence of tongues demonstrated to the Jews that Gentiles had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. For the first time, they realized that God truly wanted to save non-Jews and welcome them into his family. God bore witness to what Peter was learning, God accepts all nations. Evidential tongues bore witness that God accepts all peoples into His family. One scholar noted that in the Old Testament, the presence of God was the distinguishing marker of Israel, making them distinct from all the other nations. Now, God was declaring, through all the languages of the world, that that blessing now dwelt on all who came to Christ, regardless of their nationality. Evidential tongues served to evidence that God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile, but welcomed all into His family. Speaking in Tongues was a declaration that all nations were acceptable to God and welcomed into His presence. A Lasting Defense Immediately on the heels of this experience, Peter is called on to defend himself for violating the Jewish law and eating with Gentiles. What was his defense? “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” Acts 11:15–17 (ESV) The baptism in the Spirit with evidential tongues was his defense for taking the gospel to non-Jews, and preaching the gospel to the nations. Four chapters later, the question of whether non-Jews needed to become Jews in order to fully follow Christ came up again. As Paul and Barnabas were preaching the gospel among the nations, Gentiles were being saved, and some thought they needed to become Jews and follow the law. What was Peter’s defense? “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Acts 15:8–9 (ESV)  A Declaration of God’s Heart
So what’s the big deal about speaking in tongues? It’s a declaration of God’s heart that all peoples be saved and come into the Kingdom. It’s a living demonstration that God wants all nations, tribes, and peoples to worship Him and know Him. One of the phrases that shows up throughout Acts 11 and 15 is “no distinction.” What better way to show that than filling His people with His Spirit, and giving them the languages of the world to declare His praise? If you’ve struggled with the idea of tongues as evidence of being Baptized in the Spirit, ask God to fill your heart for the nations and a passion for the mission of reaching the lost. Praise Him, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll find your praise coming out in a language you’ve never learned. Ask God to allow His heart to become His heart, and allow that heart to come out of your lips in worship, prayer, and praise. Ask God to fill you with His Spirit, and the sign will follow.  She was a British educator in the late 1800s, inspired by a painting by John Ruskin. In this painting, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is pictured as descending upon, not only the disciplines of theology, but the seven liberal arts and sciences. Her name was Charlotte Mason. Mason explains the painting this way:
But the Florentine mind of the middle ages went further than this: it believed not only that the seven Liberal Arts were fully under the direct outpouring of the Holy Ghost, but that every fruitful idea, every original conception, whether in Euclid, or grammar, or music, was a direct inspiration from the Holy Spirit, without any thought at all as to whether the person so inspired named himself by the name of God, or recognized whence his inspiration came.[1] Every thought, idea, and original thought were believed to be inspired by the Spirit. Advancements in science, observations in nature, business ideas and principles—these are rooted in the Spirit of Pentecost, Who is the source of all knowledge and ideas. This idea of Charlotte Mason is called The Great Recognition. The Great Recognition For Charlotte Mason, the Great Recognition held that the Holy Ghost was the True Teacher, and that every good educator merely partners with Him in revealing the good, true, and beautiful ideas that are present in today’s world. Mason developed a powerful method of education, but her thoughts are somewhat unknown today, except in the homeschool movements and some small Christian school organizations. Mason’s method took the teacher off of center stage in order to make room for the Spirit. In many, many ways, Mason was years ahead of her time, truly a prophetess of education. Central to her ideas, especially in the education of children, was the cultivation of habits through the transformation of the mind. With insights into neuroscience years ahead of her time, Mason developed a pedagogy that cultivated habits of attention, imagination, and good work in children, preparing them for a life of learning long after their time in a classroom came to an end. Pentecostals Meet Charlotte Mason Pentecostals, meet Charlotte Mason. I’d like to introduce Pentecostals to the thoughts and methods of this British educator and her Spirit-dependent pedagogy. Now, Charlotte Mason was an Anglican, so she would not be a theological Pentecostal, yet I believe her philosophy of education falls right in line with what modern Pentecostal scholars are beginning to articulate. See, I believe Mason developed a pedagogy that aligns with Pentecostal epistemology. Cheryl Bridges-Johns and Jackie David Johns were some of the first Pentecostal theologians to put forth a distinctive approach to knowing for Pentecostals. In their article on a Pentecostal approach to group Bible study, they develop this idea of Pentecostal epistemology where “to know is to encounter.”[2] They contrast a Greek conception of knowledge, where one learns about something, with a Hebraic understanding that is relational. For Pentecostals, to know God is to encounter Him, not simply learn about Him. In a similar vein, Mason’s educational philosophy held that education is the science of relations.[3] Pentecostal Education Pentecostals, so often, have not put forth a vision of education rooted in their unique understanding of God and the Spirit. Instead, they often followed the educational vision of their evangelical and fundamentalist counterparts, rooted as they were in the intellectual ideas of the enlightenment and scientific approach to the world. Sure, our Bible schools had a hidden curriculum where the gifts of the Spirit interrupted the classroom, but our general teaching methods were not intentionally cultivated to make room for the Spirit. What if we truly welcomed the Holy Spirit into the heart if the teaching moment? A Pentecostal Method of Education Modern scholars such as Amos Yong, James K. A. Smith, and the Johns have really opened up a dialogue about what Pentecostal education should look like. My doctoral work really introduced me to the thoughts of these Pentecostals and put forth a challenge that Pentecostal epistemology necessitates an intentional Pentecostal approach to teaching. My past two years in a Charlotte Mason school have put some flesh on the bones of a Spirit-dependent learning environment, shaped by a Pentecostal epistemology. I’ve seen Charlotte Mason’s philosophy at work, as her profoundly simple philosophy has filled the minds and hearts of students with living ideas across a very broad curriculum. As I’ve done so, I’ve found so many parallels with my research into Pentecostal education. What if Pentecostals taught from the foundation of The Great Recognition? What if we truly believed the Spirit was THE teacher, and our job was to cultivate an environment in which He was filling the minds of our students with great ideas? What if we too often get in the way when we teach, instead of putting great books into the hands of our students and letting the Spirit develop their minds? What if we were intentionally Pentecostal in the classroom? What if we let the outpoured Spirit breathe upon every book and every idea, from Systematic Theology to Introduction to Biology, from Homiletics to English Grammar? Perhaps this Divine Breath would reignite the minds and hearts of students with life-changing, world-shaking ideas that might just change the culture. Lord, let it be. [1]Charlotte Mason, “The Great Recognition,” The Parents Review, 7 (1896); https://www.amblesideonline.org/PR/PR07p052GreatRecognition.shtml. [2]Jackie David Johns and Cheryl Bridges Johns, “Yielding to the Spirit: A Pentecostal Approach to Group Bible Study,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 1, no. 1 (1992): 110. [3]M. Owen, “Education is the Science of Relations,” The Parent’s Review 16, no. 1 (1905). https://charlottemasonpoetry.org/education-is-the-science-of-relations/.  I’m odd and I know it. A Pentecostal who appreciates the church calendar? Who among the Pentecostals recognizes the seasons of the church calendar? Who among the Pentecostals uses the lectionary? And sacraments? About 5 years ago, I discovered the liturgical year and the lectionary. Probably through my engagement with scholars like Scot McKnight and N. T. Wright, I discovered a different approach to church life shaped by the story of Christ: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and the Season After Pentecost. Some of those terms you’ve probably heard, others may be new or foreign if you come from a Pentecostal background. Pentecostals and liturgy are not often thought of together, yet Andrew Wilson wrote a book a few years ago that suggests that charismatic experience and the liturgy are not enemies. In fact, he argues for what he calls “Eucharismatic Worship,”[1] based on his study of 1 Corinthians, particularly chs. 11-14, that when the church comes together, there’s the presence of the Charismatic and the Eucharistic. Chapter 11 gives instruction on the practice of the sacrament of communion while 12-14 deal with the manifestation of the spiritual gifts. Thus, Paul believed that the Lord’s Supper and Prophecy, Communion and Speaking in Tongues, belonged together in the worship of the church. Thus, the eucharist and the charismatic are both elements of a Biblical worship service. Further, Paul recognized the timing of Pentecost as he set his travel schedule with the Corinthians (1 Cor. 16:8-9). This recognition of the feast of Pentecostal suggests that the worship calendar informed his travel schedule. Did Paul use a liturgical calendar? Are such practices Pentecostal, though? A Rejection of Formalism Early Pentecostals, especially in the Assemblies of God, struggled with the perceived deadness and ritualism they perceived in the liturgical churches. Their stance against religious formalism led them to distance themselves, even in their language, from the ideas of liturgy and sacraments, choosing rather to refer to them as ordinances and ceremonies.[2] In his article on Pentecostal liturgy, J. C. Holsinger highlights that despite this rejection, ceremonies and ordinances are still important elements of a culture. He points specifically to the marriage ceremony where couples repeat very similar words as they affirm their vows to one another. He states, “one of the most valuable purposes of ceremony—to educate and reaffirm important truths held in common, not just to provide a private or personal experience.”[3] Too often, however, as Holsinger notes, we have become such an individualistic culture that our church landscape has been so focused on individual spiritual experience that we’ve missed the larger, culture-shaping ordinances and ceremonies that remind us who we are as the community of God. Even in affirming these things, Holsinger still looks down on the idea of “liturgy” and “liturgical” worship.  Other Pentecostals have often recognized that sometimes the liturgical practices can, in a sense, be used to cover otherwise pagan lifestyles. Blanche King writes of those who practice the season of Lent first engaging in all sorts of gluttony and immortality before entering into a time of consecration and reflection in Lent.[4] He also suggests that the times of consecration and repentance in such liturgical seasons of Lent are present in Pentecostal revivals and thus unnecessary in the Pentecostal church. Perhaps he’s right. But what if we do need structured times of remembrance to shape our imaginations and lead us into the various seasons of a healthy Christian life? What if there are seasons, ordinances, and practices that, if present on a regular basis, remind us of who we are? An Embrace of the Reminder While I would say that the majority of Pentecostals probably follow the perspectives above in a rejection of liturgy and ritual, that cannot be said of all. As I was combing the pages of past Pentecostal periodicals on the subject, there are small articles and suggestions that the church calendar and her seasons can actually become part of a Pentecostal community. In April 1956, the Pentecostal Holiness Advocate included an editorial on the Church calendar, explaining the various times and seasons. Within that article, there’s an interesting, balanced perspective on these issues: “Our church does not go in for the paraphernalia of high church ritualism. And it's well we don't. But by the same token it is entirely possible to swing so far from this that we reach the other extreme of missing many significant and spiritual events.”[5] After the highlights of Easter, Eastertide continues to celebrate the 40 days Jesus walked with the disciples, leading up to Pentecost. In another editorial, the Advocate suggests that Pentecostals embrace this season to engage in active discipleship in Pentecostal doctrine: encourage reading, preach a series of sermons, plan prayer meetings, and conduct revivals.[6] What if we fully embraced the seasons of the church calendar and found Pentecostal expressions of discipleship within each season? There are many Pentecostals, hungry for a rooted, historical faith, that have truly been moving towards more liturgical practices. In fact, there are many former Pentecostals who have transitioned to the Anglican denomination and style of worship. Known as the Convergence Movement, there are whole denominations of Charismatic Anglicans uniting Charismatic experience of the Holy Spirit with Anglican, High-Church liturgy. William DeArteaga has observed this movement and writes of the growth of these new expressions of Charismatic Christianity. He notes some important issues, however, as many of these new Charismatic Anglicans have a tendency to emphasize the liturgy over the Charismatic. He writes:
Does Liturgy always lead to formalism? Is it possible to embrace structured remembrance in pursuit of revival? A Piece of Our Heritage There’s a forgotten link in Pentecostal history that might suggest that there’s a place for liturgy in the midst of revival fire. I know, I know. That sounds like a contradiction. What does the Anglican Prayer Book have to do with Pentecostal revival? Well, just ask John Wesley about that. DeArteaga notes that John Wesley remained a committed Anglican throughout his life, and oversaw the kindling of revival that birthed the Methodist movement globally. His revivals were marked by manifestations of the Holy Spirit that mirrored those of Toronto or Brownsville, where openness led of bodily experiences of the Spirit’s power such as laughing in the Spirit or falling under the power.[8] In fact, the Wesley brothers pursued an openness to the Spirit while at the same time distancing themselves from emotionalism and fanaticism. While the early Wesleyan revivals were very Pentecostal, they were also very liturgical or sacramental. The Wesleyan holy clubs were nicknamed “The Sacramentarians” because they took communion weekly.[9] Wesley used the Book of Common Prayer to guide the worship of the Methodists, but edited it to leave more room for the Spirit. Later holiness leaders followed suit. Phineas Bresee, the founder of the Church of the Nazarene, followed much of the Methodist Discipline in organizing his worship, but as his biographer put it, “While the Nazarenes respected traditional forms of worship and sometimes drew on them, they were interested primarily in the spiritual vitality that had produced those historic forms.”[10] Nazarenes originally called themselves the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, but later dropped Pentecostal because they did not embrace the Pentecostal distinctive of evidential tongues. Bresee’s first church, founded in 1898, was nicknamed “The Glory Barn.” There was a pursuit of Spiritual fulness and fire, even if they rejected the evidential doctrine of tongues. Today, there are Nazarenes who are fully evangelical in their worship and yet embrace elements of the liturgical worship such as the use of the lectionary in preaching. In my opinion, they offer some of the best examples of evangelical, sacramental worship in the Wesleyan spirit. Pentecostals and Liturgy I want to suggest that Pentecostals be open to the Spirit in the ordinances and liturgy of worship. Perhaps an embrace of the church calendar could structure our life together and aid us in forming disciples of Christ. What would Liturgical, Classical Pentecostal worship look like? What could it be like for the fires of Pentecost to burn bright in churches that build their life together around the story of Christ? What could the power of the Spirit bring to the baptismal waters and communion tables if the real presence of Christ were recognized? I, in no way, want to argue for cold formalism or dead ritualism. I do, however, wonder if our Wesleyan heritage could inform our worship where structured fires burn strategically. What if the next Pentecostal revival was a controlled burn? Could the liturgy help form people for Pentecostal fullness? [1]Andrew Wilson, Spirit and Sacrament: An Invitation to Eucharismatic Worship (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018). [2]J. C. Holsinger, “Pentecostal Liturgy?,” Advance, 30, no. 5 (1994): 38. [3]Holsinger, 38. [4]Blanche L. King, “The ‘Lenten Season’—Is it Past?,” Pentecostal Holiness Advocate, 46, no. 50 (1963): 2. [5]Dallas M. Tarkenton, “The Church Calendar,” Pentecostal Holiness Advocate, 39, no. 48 (1956): 2. [6]Dallas M. Tarkenton, “Easter to Pentecost,” Pentecostal Holiness Advocate, 39, no. 44 (1956): 2. [7]William DeArteaga, “The Wesleyan Revival as a Model for the Convergence Movement,” Refleks, 5, no. 1 (2006): 79. [8]DeArteaga, 85. [9]DeArteaga, 85. [10]Carl Bangs, Phineas F. Bresee: His Life in Methodism, the Holiness Movement, and the Church of the Nazarene (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1995), 231.  As Pentecostal people, we love the power of the Spirit of God. Pentecostals are a people defined by a desire to see people step into the New Testament experience of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism began with hungry people desiring more of the Holy Spirit, and specifically to find out the biblical sign they had been brought into Fullness of the Spirit. Students at Charles Parham’s Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas read the book of Acts, and came to believe that speaking in other tongues was the initial physical sign one had been baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Power for Service Many of these early Pentecostals were baptized in the Holy Spirit, packed their bags in a coffin, and headed overseas to give their lives as missionaries for Christ. The missional, service impulse that flooded their souls with the filling of the Spirit was exceptional. Early leaders emphasized that Spirit-baptism brought power for witness and service, and rightly so, for Acts 1:8 clearly states “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (ESV). Power to be a witness is a primary purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Power for Life If you look a bit further back to the roots of this movement, you’ll find the holiness movement. Just before the outbreak of the modern classical Pentecostal movement, many Holiness people were preaching the baptism in the Holy Spirit as power for life, power for sanctification. The Holiness Movement emphasized that through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians could be made holy and transformed inwardly. Through the Spirit, Christians had the power to love God and love neighbor as God desired. This, they believed, was the fruit of the fullness of the Spirit—a life of love. Paul taught this fruit of transformation in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). Both/And Pentecostals – Life and Service If you look at the confession of faith of the Assemblies of God, the Statement of Fundamental Truths, our belief in the baptism in the Holy Spirit embraces both. Speaking of the Baptism of the Spirit, we believe that “With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry.”[1] Life and service. I believe much harm has come in modern Pentecostalism because we’ve forgotten our roots. We miss that dynamic combination of both life and witness, holiness and service, in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Fullness of the Spirit will bring much more than just speaking in tongues. It will also help you live a holy life. The Baptism in the Spirit brings spiritual power both to make you holy in your life and anoint your lips of witness. Church, let’s embrace a both/and faith from our heritage. Let us never be content with power for service without a transformed life. May we see the enduement of power as power for both life and witness, and may our lives and lips both be anointed to testify to the transforming grace of God. This article was originally written for publication in The Epistle, the publication of Abundant Life Assembly of God. [1]“Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths,” Assemblies of God USA, available from: https://ag.org/Beliefs/Statement-of-Fundamental-Truths; accessed 27 March 2025. |
Dr. jake TrueDr. Jake True is a chaplain, pastor, and scholar in Southern Illinois. He loves exploring Pentecostal learning and discipleship, with an emphasis on the role of the Spirit in education. Archives
February 2026
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