INTRODUCTION In this essay we will look into how a pastor who already has worked for 20 years in the ministry without seeing a continual church growth, can now start experiencing a steady church growth nonetheless. We will describe what can consist of possible problems which can hinder this steady church growth which has been exemplified to us in
the Book of Acts: “
And the Lord added to the church
daily
those who were being saved
”
(Acts 2:47b, NKJV). From this verse, we can clearly see that it is the will of God that His universal Church and His local churches experience a continual growth, because God is the One
“
who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth
”
(1 Timothy 2:4, NKJV) and
He is “
not
willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9b
, NKJV). The way we will approach the problem hindering a steady church growth, is by looking at the full context of our Acts 2:47b example, as found in Acts chapter 2; how do we ideally get a steady, daily church growth? We could look at many other passages in the Scriptures but, as a Pentecostal, I believe that we can at least derive our present-day practical theology from the Book of Acts. Its historical narrative approach is especially useful, since pastors need to know how to approach this issue on a practical level. Not everything can be dealt with in a 2000 word essay. We will summarize these principles from Acts 2. After this, we will specifically look into two revivals that followed this principle and we will look into a previous comparison of the growth of churches that put a high emphasis on, and yearn for the spiritual gifts versus those that do not, as a means of confirming our theory.
2
May this essay help pastors to take heed unto themselves and to their flock over which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers, so that they can feed the Church of God (Acts 20:28)
A STEADY CHURCH GROWTH AS EXEMPLIFIED IN ACTS CHAPTER 2 True Church Growth Defined and the Problem Addressed According to church growth specialist Charles Peter Wagner, missiologist Donald McGavran
defined church growth as “all that is involved in bringing men and
women who do not have a personal relationship to Jesus Christ into fellowship with Him and into responsible church
membership”.
3
According to Wagner,
McGavran’s definition was
an attempt to get back to
the Christian missionary’s core responsibility of maki
ng disciples of Jesus Christ.
4
Jesus did not ask us to look at church growth from a purely quantitative perspective but rather from a qualitative perspective.
This is the only valuable way of looking at Jesus’s command,
found in Matthew 28, to go and make
disciples
. We do not want a worthless church which is
“three miles wide and one inch deep”
5
as evangelist Leonard Ravenhill put it. Besides, it is interesting to note that even mega-
church pastor Rick Warren states that a pastor’s church will
not grow large if he only cares about church attendance.
6
Or, in other words: “Focusing on growth alone misses the point”.
7
Also, pastor Igjin Kim, while writing on the history leading up to one of the biggest local churches in the world
8
, wrote: “Well
-organized human efforts
which do not wait for God’s participation fail in heavenly business.”
9
3
Charles Peter Wagner,
Your Church Can Grow
(California: Regal Books, 1976), 12.
4
Ibid.
5
Leonard Ravenhill, “Who’s Touching the Ark?,” accessed February 24, 2017.
http://www.ravenhill.org/touchark.htm .
6
Richard Duane Warren,
The Purpose Driven Church
(Michigan: Zondervan, 1995), 48.
7
Ibid, 17.
8
I am writing about Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea. This mega-church is part of the Assemblies of God, a denomination that believes in the initial physical evidence of speaking in tongues. Be sure to read
the section entitled “
Greater Growth in Churches that Emphasise Spiritual Gifts
” below
.
9
Ig-Jin Kim,
History and Theology of Korean Pentecostalism: Sunbogeum (Pure Gospel) Pentecostalism
(Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum, 2003), 41.
With all the previous in mind,
we need to decide that “
w
e are going to do it God’s way”
10
. We want to make true disciples
, in accordance to Jesus’
great commission, as the apostles did in their days. According to the Bible, our church should grow, as we make true disciples. Therefore, the pastor who has a slacking church, after 20 years of experience in his ministerial calling, obviously has some unnatural problems. It is clear that his church (and therefore he himself as well) does not experience the Acts 2:47b life of a daily church growth. We will look into the solutions by taking the self-same chapter of the Book of Acts as our example. Solutions to Hindrances for a Steady Church Growth as found in Acts 2 Having addressed some of the issues that might hinder the growth of a church, we will now look into the very practical examples, given to us in Acts chapter 2, through which we can help improve the churches, as they help us to solve those previously mentioned issues. Starting at verse 1 we see that the disciples, as one unified group
11
, were obediently waiting
for Jesus’ promised move of His Holy Spirit
, as He had told them to.
12
This “single
-minded
obedience”
13
to, expectancy of and thirst for
14
God
’s Spirit to
come upon them were, and still are, necessities to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and enjoy a subsequent church growth.
10
R
avenhill, “Ark”
.
11
For more on Christ’s wish for a united Christian body, read his prayer in John chapter 17.
12
Read Acts 1 for the full context. For Jesus’ promise read especially verses 4
-5 and verse 8 (of Acts 1).
For more information on the disciples’ subsequent obedie
nce in waiting together, in a united spirit of prayer and supplication, see verses 12-14 (of Acts 1).
13
Wagner,
Church
, 30. Also, in Acts 5:32b, Luke describes the necessity of obedience towards the Holy
Spirit: “(…) the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him” (NKJV).
14
In the words of Acts 1:14b: “(…) with one accord in prayer and supplication (…)” (KJV).
The following verses (verses 2-3) describe a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
This is the result of the Holy Spirit’s sovereign response
to their humility.
The Holy Spirit’s
supernatural response to their attitude of humility, resulted in them being filled with the Holy Spirit
15
, by which the apostles spoke in languages that were unknown to them (verse 4). The Holy Spirit drove the obedient followers of Jesus to run outside and speak to the many ethnicities there present (verse 6). This unstoppable desire for evangelism
16
is also a necessity for a fluent church growth. That this speaking in many different languages was indeed not a natural occurrence was observed by the observant non-believers (verses 5-12).
17
Right after this, Peter countered the voice of mockery by using the opportunity to share the Gospel by preaching the word of God (verses 14-40).
18
It is important to note that
Peter’
s preaching included the following elements: refuting their pity excuse (verse 15), explaining the supernatural which was going on (verse 16-20), pointing to Jesus Christ as the miracle-worker
19
and crucified and resurrected Saviour (verses 20-36) and, after this, pointing to the
unbelievers’ sins (verse 36, 38, 40).
15
Wagner states that Christ wants the lost to be saved and therefore Christ gives “an all
-important
resource for doing it, namely the Holy Spirit.” Wagner,
Growth
, 37. See George W. Peters,
A Theology of Church Growth
(Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 223 for a similar comment. Smith Wigglesworth also said in one of his
sermons: “
The Lord wants all saved people to receive power from on High
–
power to witness, power to act, power to live, and power to show forth the divine manifestation of God within
”.
Roberts Liardon and Smith Wigglesworth,
Smith Wigglesworth: The Complete Collection of His Life Teachings
(Oklahoma: Albury Publishing, 1996), 842. On the witnessing aspect, see the next footnote.
16
According to Robert P. Menzies, this desire for evangelism should be the natural result of the Pentecost-
indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the individual believer’s life.
See Robert P. Menzies,
Empowered for Witness
(London: T & T Clark International, 2004), 173-201, 256. Also read footnote 26. For an opposing view, see Gonzalo Haya Prats,
Koinonia
, vol. 47,
Impulsados Por El Esp
i ́
ritu
(Salamanca: Secretariado Trinitario, 2011), 200.
17
Although some mocked away the clear voice of their conscience by falsely accusing the apostles of being drunkards (verse 13).
18
According to William P. Atkinson, “The very reception of the Spirit granted the boldness.” William
P. Atkinson,
“
Miraculous Elements in Lukan Theology
”
(Paper presented at the
“Christian and European Secularism”
Colloquium of Continental Theological Seminary, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Vlaams-Brabant, February 27, 2017).
19
During his speech at the
“Christian and European Secularism”
Colloquium, William P. Atkinson also pointed out that, in Acts chapter 2, before Peter mentioned anything else
about Jesus, he pointed to Jesus’
miracle workings. Ibid.
The natural outcome of all the previous was that the people felt convicted (verse 37) and repented of their sins (verse 38, 41), after which they joined the church
en massse
(verse 41-47). This was the birth of a revival which kept on growing (verse 47). Brief Summary of the Discovered Principles The Christians must come together as a unified group of holy saints, having a yearning,
receptive and obedient heart towards God’s Holy Spirit
. From this attitude of humility onwards, which is present in the congregation, the pastor should place a greater emphasis on obediently speaking in tongues, as the Holy Spirit gives inspiration. This results in an unstoppable desire for evangelism. The natural, expected result of this Spirit-driven evangelism is the continuous growth of the church.
20
Such are the observed requirements for the local church to get its natural church growth running again. Let us investigate whether our theory for a spontaneous church growth matches the facts by looking into recent-historical examples.
20
While I was writing this essay, I came to realise that Baptist Reverend Joseph Smale held very similar views to mine. Also Pentecostal Frank Bartleman, an early leader of the original Azusa Street movement
–
Pentecostals, pay attention as to not lose this original Pentecostal way of looking at revival! – testified to these same views; he attended a Christian gathering with pastor Smale being the organizer and he stated about this
meeting: “I found this meeting of an exact piece with my own vision, burden, and desire, and spent two hours in
the church in prayer, before the evening service. Meetings were being held every day and night there and God
was present.”
Frank Bartleman,
Azusa Street
(New Jersey: Logos International, 1981), 13. He received the same view as put forth in this essay, as advise for starting a revival, from Welsh-revivalist Evan Roberts. The full letter reads
: “
My dear brother in the faith: Many thanks for your kind letter. I am impressed of your sincerity and honesty of purpose. Congregate the people together who are willing to make a total surrender. Pray and wait.
Believe God’s promises. Hold daily meetings. May God b
less you, is my earnest prayer. Yours in Christ, Evan Roberts.
”
Ibid., 15. This theory for revival was building up in
Smale’s new Baptist church, as well as in several
Methodist churches. As
Methodist church member Florence Crawford described it: “
The young men in the First Methodist Church were holding all night prayer meetings. God was laying it on the hearts of the people to pray for the outpouring of the Spirit.
”
It was no coincidence that Seymour, who was about to start the Azusa Street Revival, walked right into this expectant and longing atmosphere.
Hence, God’s revival could start.
Cecil M. Robeck,
The Azusa Street Mission and Revival
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006), 57-60. For a chronological summary on the Azusa Street revival and Smale and Bartleman’s experiences, read
Darrin J. Rodgers, “This
Week in AG History —
March 11, 1916,”
Pentecostal Evangel News, last modified March 9, 2017, accessed March 10, 2017, http://penews.org/features/this-week-in-ag-history–march-11-1916. Smale was a Baptist and Crawford was a Methodist so this Pentecostal view was held among other denominations as well. A striking example of living such an interdenominational, Pentecostal revival is the Pyongyang revival, which we will study below in great extent. Notice the enormous similarity which both revivals (Azusa Street and Pyongyang) have with the Pentecostal revival as found in Acts 2
Modern Pentecost-like Revivals According to the Discovered Acts 2 PrinciplesIntroductionFor Pentecostals, the revival of Acts chapter 2 is not just an historical event. They often like toclaim that
the “this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel” of
Acts 2:16, pointing toJoel 2:28-32, which is found within the context of the narrative theology of Acts, is applicableto our current situations. In other words, Pentecostals believe that there is a link between the1
st
century Pentecost and 20 and 21
st
century Pentecosts.
21
The following part of my essaywill give 2 examples of such Pentecosts; namely, the Azusa street revival and the Pyongyangrevival, also known as the Korean Pentecost.The Azusa Street RevivalIn 1904, many American Christians were already praying for revival in Los Angeles
22
and in1906, on a small black holiness church in Azusa Street, a revival was sparked.
“What
appeared to be new and spontaneous was actually the end result of much prayer and
preparation.”
23
Even the mocking journalist of the
Los Angeles Times described it as a “(…)
nerve-racking attitude of
prayer and supplication
” and described that the adherents believedthat they had received “the gift of tongues”.
24
21
Atkinson, ‘Miraculous Elements”
.
22
Robeck,
Azusa Street
, 57. For part of what happened in between 1904 and the Azusa Street revival,see footnote 20.
23
Vinson Synan,
The Century of the Holy Spirit
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), 40. This
concept is backed up by an unknown author who strongly ascribed to the Azusa Street revival: “The RevivalBegins…,” Azusa Street, accessed February 28, 2017,
In the Azusa Street Revival, the Christian adherents humbled themselves and wereexpectantly praying for a move of the Holy Spirit
25
and He manifested Himself in that they prayed in tongues, that the building seemed on fire
26
and that this was followed by healingmiracles which accompanied the evangelism that was going on in these meetings.
27
Thechronology is the same.
28
To look at the fruits of this revival, one has only to look at the
25
Frank
Bartleman testifies: ‘He [God] sent me to a number of meetings with a solemn exhortation torepent and seek Him. At “Azusa Mission” we had a powerful time. The saints humbled themselves. A coloredsister both spoke and sang in “tongues.” The very atmospher
e of
Heaven was there.’
Bartleman,
Azusa Street
,51-52. For part of the history of prayerfully expecting a revival in Los Angeles, before the Azusa Street revival,see footnote 20. See also Bartleman,
Azusa Street
, 43. His whole testimony of how a filling of the Holy Spiritevidenced through speaking tongues occurred, would be too long to quote here but it will be interesting to citehis understanding of the matter:
‘
There was a general spirit of humility manifested in the meeting. They weretaken up with God. Evidently the Lord had found the little company at last, outside as always, through whom hecould have right of way. There was not a mission in the country where this could be done. All were in the handsof men. The Spirit could not work. Others far more pretentious had failed. That which man esteems had been
passed by once more and the Spirit born again in a humble “stable,” outside ecclesiastical establishments
asusual. A body must be prepared in repentance and humility, for every outpouring of the Spirit.
’
26
Tommy Welchel,
Azusa Street: They Told Me Their Stories
(Oklahoma: Dare2Dream Books, 2006),35. There was no actual fire. It was a Spiritual Holy Ghost fire. This phenomenon can be compared to thetongues of fire in Acts 2:3.
27
Roberts Liardon,
The Great Azusa Street Revival
(Oklahoma: Wilmington Group Publishers, 2006),23. Miracles are also a witness of the power of God to the people. That the expected result of the gifts of theSpirit is evangelism can be seen through the following statement:
‘
The gift of languages is given with thecommission,
“
Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.
”’
Clara Lum, Glen A. Cook andFlorence Crawford
, “Pentecost has come,”
The Apostolic Faith
1, no. 1 (September 1906): 1. Also RobertMenzies agrees with this concept. See, the previously referred to Menzies,
Empowered
, 173-201, 256.
“Perhaps
the most far-reaching legacy of Azusa Street is its teaching and practice of Holy-Spirit empowerment forevangelism. Above all, Azusa Street was a missionary movement. Many missionaries were coming and goingduring the revival. A few months after the meetings began, the
Apostolic Faith
reported Pentecostal revivals in
New York, London, Oslo, Stockholm, and India. (…)In the end, Azusa Street pilgrims spread the news
worldwide, thousands of churches were planted, and millions of people were converted. Today, it is estimatedthat most conversions from paganism occur under Pentecostal and charismatic evangelism efforts.
”
Vinson
Synan, “The Lasting Legacies of the Azusa Street Revival,”
ngeles Being Visited by a Revival ofBible Salvation and
Pentecost as Recorded in the Book of Acts
”
(emphasis mine).By this note, it is not my intentto claim that there did not happen any speaking in tongues after miracles or anything in that regard. Quite on thecontrary. What I claim is that the ignition and consequences are the same. For a non-chronologic retelling of thefacts, see Frank Bartleman,
Way of Faith
(August, 1906) I was unable to find that primary source and itsmetadata but it is quoted by Bartleman himself in Bartleman,
Azusa Street
, 64. For a totally different source, onecan check out the non-Christian Spiritualist describing the events of Azusa Street in a non-chronological way aswell. See Craig Lawton,
Physic Development
(Texas: Lulu, 2012), 117.
continual growth of the Assemblies of God denomination and other Pentecostal denominations.
29
Notice also that William Seymour, who was acknowledged to be the pastor of the revival
30
was a black man
31
and there were mostly whites and blacks assembled together. Therefore,the pattern which we are investigating in this essay is not confined to a certain ethnicity orcultural background, since God is not a respecter of persons.
32
Since, the Azusa Street Revivalis a well-known fact among Pentecostals, I will move on to the next, lesser known inter-denominational revival in the Far-East, which is most interesting for my hypothesis.
33
29
For quite recent statistics, see my essay Cross Theology
, “Influence”, 7
-9. For a summary on thisessay, read the
“
Greater Growth in Churches that Emphasise Spiritual Gifts
” section
below.
30
Robeck,
Azusa Street
, 17, 90.
31
Welchel,
Stories
, 28.
32
Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11. This can also be extracted from the fact that all people groups present atthe Acts 2 Pentecost heard
“
them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God
”
(Acts 2:11, KJV) and thatGod made all human beings from the same ancestors anyway (Acts 17:26, Genesis 5). A note on this fact: thereader should understand how remarkable it was for God to use Seymour as an important key-figure for theAzusa Street revival. Racism towards blacks was still rampant in those days in the United States of America andSeymour was the son of former slaves in the American South, so he came from a very low class. Robeck,
AzusaStreet
, 17. The great Pentecostal scholar Vinson Synan wrote strikingly, in accordance with my conclusion:
“
Azusa Street belongs to the whole body of Christ. Seymour cannot be claimed by African-Americans alone, or by Pentecostals alone; he belongs to the whole body of Christ
—
of all nations, races, and peoples. And the baptism in the Holy Spirit, with the accompanying gifts and graces, does not belong only to Pentecostals, but tothe
whole body of Christ.”
Synan, “Lasting Legacies
,
”
Enrichment Journal
. Also Lum, Cook and Crawfordwrote in their
previously quoted article: “This Pentecostal movement is too large
to be confined in anydenomination or sect. It works outside, drawing all together in one bond of love, one church, one body of
Christ.”
Lum, Cook and Crawford,
“Pentecost
,
”
Apostolic Faith
, 1.
33
For more information on the exact pattern proposed in this essay, as witnessed in the Azusa Streetrevival, see footnote 20.
The Pyongyang RevivalOne year after the start of the Azusa Street revival
, the Koreans received their “KoreanPentecost”.
The people came together prayerfully and desiring, above all else, a move of
God’s Spirit.
34
The following excerpts by William Blair, a Presbyterian missionary, will do justice
35
to its historical situation:
“
Just as on the day of Pentecost, they were all together in one place,
of one accord praying ‘and suddenly there
came from heaven the sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they weresitting.
’
God is not always in the whirlwind, neither does He always speak in a still small voice. He came to us inPyengyang [sic.] that night with the sound of weeping.
”
36
34
Graham Lee,
“How the spirit came to Pyong
-yang,
”
The Korea Mission Field
, no. 3 (1907): 33-37and Boo-Woong Yoo,
Korean Pentecostalism: Its History and Theology
(Frankfurt am Main: P. Lang, 1988), 77is a clear source which testifies of how the Koreans assembled together, as in the Jerusalemite Pentecost, with ahumble, holy attitude before God, with a prayerful and yearning Spirit. The name Lee, you can find written as
“I”
(
이
, South Korea),
“Yi”
(
彝
, China),
“Li” (
李
, China)
or “Rhee”
(
리
, North Korea)). It is a common name inKorea as well as in China. All this to say that it is not clear to me where Graham Lee originally came from. Myguess is that he came from what is now North Korea. (Koreans often choose a Western name for foreigners.
Therefore his first name appears here as “Graham”.)
Whatever the case, it is clear that, in the case of thePyongyang revival, the testimony of the Far-Easterners (non-Westerners) is more important, since they describewhat happened from their own experiences and yet their descriptions are yet so similar to the descriptions used
in the West (Azusa Street,…) and the Middle
-East (Acts 2). I have been to Korea, joining hands with variousChristian denominations, and up until this day, the Korean Christians will testify clearly of what happened withgreat pride. Their testimonies confirm the argument I make in this essay. Also the missionaries, back in the day,
had been praying for the Holy Spirit’s power to come down upon them and the congregation.
This was also donein a collective, pure form of humility. A letter, dated January 15, 1907, from G.S. McCune in L.G. Paik,
The Korean Information Papers
(New York: Presbyterian Board of Foreign Mission, 1907), 369. Already in 1904,Korean Christians began praying for revival. Lillias H. Underwood,
Underwood of Korea
(Seoul: Book onDemand Limited, 2015), 224-225. Also American churches were praying for a revival in Korea. Yung Jae Kim,
A History of Korean Church
(Seoul: Emmao, 1992), 111-112.
35
William Blair is an incredibly reliable source for our essay because he seems to be rather wary ofexcesses within charismatic experiences in other parts of this book, even to the point of stating things like:
“What shall we do? If we let them go on like this some will go crazy” and “We may have our theories of the
desirability or undesirability of public confession of sin. I have had mine; but I know now that when the Spirit of
God falls upon guilty souls, there will be confession, and no power on earth can stop it.”
William Newton Blairand Bruce F. Hunt,
The Korean Pentecost and the Sufferings Which Followed
(Edinburgh: Banner of TruthTrust, 1977), 74.
Bruce Hunt’s introduction contains elements that are rather wary of the “tongues movement”,as he called it. He wrote as well: “When many people today are talking of and praying for revival, and staid
Presbyterians, Methodists and Episcopalians are being impressed by the glossolalia (tongues) movement and
mass attracted to reputed ‘faith healers’”. Ibid., 8.
Showing his adversity towards charismatic excesses.
36
Ibid., 71. Also Lord William Cecil, an
Englishman
and a
Baptist
, described how
“
a rush of powerfrom without seemed to take hold of the meeting.
”
William Cecil in
The Baptist Missionary Magazine
88, no. 2(February 1908): 58. Englishmen and Baptists often seem to be more reluctant and sceptical when it comes to themiraculous. Whatever the case, His testimony clearly shows that the experience was the same for the Americans,Europeans, Koreans,
…
present in the meeting. His written testimony of the experience, is also said to have beenwritten in the London Times. Yoo,
Korean Pentecostalism
, 79. I was unable to find that article.
He furthermore described what was happening during the revival as: “It seemed as if the roof
was lifted from the building and the Spirit of God came down from heaven in a mighty
avalanche of power upon us.”
37
and, going back in his memories, he wrote as well: “I can yet
hear that fearful sound of hundreds of men pleading with God for life, for mercy. The crywent out
over the city till the heathen were in consternation.”
38
The Holy Spirit moved uponthem so that they would speak in tongues in unison.
39
Does not this sound an awful lot likethe Acts 2 and Azusa Street experiences? Notice that we are talking here about the Korean people and the Presbyterian church. I state again that God is not a respecter of persons (Acts10:34) and that He works with any ethnicity and within any Christian denomination. Also,concerning the Korean revival, I should write, with a Spirit of gladness, that the Koreans didnot miss out on the
spontaneous and continuous growth of the church; “
The Christiansreturned to their homes in the country taking the Pentecostal fire with them. Everywhere thestory was told the same Spirit flamed forth and spread till practically every church, not only in North Korea, but throughout the entire peninsula had received its share of the blessing
”
.
40
After this notice, Blair goes on to declare personal testimonies of Christians of that time,across the Korean peninsula, of
how God’s Spirit worked through
them, through which their
colleagues, parents,… got saved.
41
37
Blair and Hunt,
Korean Pentecost
, 73.
38
Ibid.
39
Ibid., 43. Methodist Episcopal Church Report for 1907, 420-421. In this footnote, we have referred toPresbyterians and Methodists giving the same witness. In this essay, we have also quoted Baptists and otherdenominations. The variety of denominations and ethnical backgrounds is believed to be a strong backing forthis essay.
40
Blair and Hunt,
Korean Pentecost
, 75. Notice that this non-Pentecostal minister used the word
“Pentecostal”, not in a denominational sense, but rather as a means by which he indicated that he (as well), saw
the striking similarity between the Pyongyang revival and the Pentecost-revival described in Acts 2. Another
Korean Presbyterian minister wrote: “The Great Revival or Pentecost swept all the country, in particular the North, and affected the early church in Korea.”
Yoo,
Korean Pentecostalism
, 74.
41
On the incredible and lasting numerical growth, theologian Boo-Wong Yoo writes:
“Without this
revival the young Christian Church of Korea would not have experienced the remarkable growth upon which it
Greater Growth in Churches that Emphasise Spiritual GiftsAs I documented in one of my previous essays, churches that have a greater emphasis on the practice of speaking in tongues (in both known languages
42
and unknown languages
43
),factually experience a greater church growth.
44
Also, Craig Keener has extensivelydocumented the fact that modern miracles have had an enormous impact on the amount ofconversions, especially in non-Western areas.
45
Hence, it is clear that the churches, regardlessof the denominations they belong to, or the colour of their
members’
skins, need to find theirway back to the supernatural, Pentecostal way of living.
can look back.”
Yoo,
Korean Pentecostalism
, 58. Similarly, Paik stated that
“
Korean Christians of today look back on the movement as the source of their spiritual life.
”
L.G. Paik,
The Korean Information Papers
, 374. Dr.A. J. Brown made a clear statement, in 1909, which described the continual growth of the revival, even 2 yearsafter the Holy Spirit fire ignited:
“Every year it has seemed that the movement must have reached its climax and
that there would certainly be a reaction; but every year has seen the movement broadening and deepening until itnow looks as if Korea would be the first of the non-Christian nations to become evangelized.
”
Arthur JudsonBrown,
Report on a second visit to China, Japan and Korea
(Michigan: University of Michigan Library, 1909),20. In 1907, Dr. John R. Mott, a Methodist, was already excited, believing that if the evangelism was sustainedand grown, Korea would be the first Christian nation outside of the West.
John R. Mott, “Annual report of the
Board of Missions Methodist Episcopal Church South,
”
The Korean Mission Field
, no. 4 (1908): 65. Aninteresting note beyond this essay might be that it has not yet been remarked upon by the previous authors whichhave been quoted in this work, that, according to a Canadian Missionary by the title of Goforth from Honan, thisrevival was taken to Mukden and Hailuncheng (China) with the same manifestations and results. Kyong BaeMin,
Korean Church History
(Seoul: New Teaching Press, 1994), 279. Goforth reached hundreds of thousandsof Chinese people according to Roberts Liardon,
God’s Generals: the Missionaries
(Pennsylvania: WhitakerHouse, 2014), 100.
42
As described in Acts 2.
43
As described in 1 Corinthians 14.
44
I refer to my previously mentioned essay; Cross Theology
, “Influence, 7
-9. Some interestingstatements by others include:
“I believe that Pentecostalism has grown beyond a mere passing
movement to become a major tradition of Christianity. … In fact, when I did my first research on Pentecostalism around 1965,there were barely 50,000,000 Pentecostals in the world.
”
Vinson Synan,
The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition:Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century
(Kindle Locations 17-19). Kindle Edition. (Cambridge:William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) and
“The
worldwide growth of the Pentecostal movement stands asa testimony to the wisdom of its classical doctrinal formulation concerning the baptism in the Holy Spirit
evidenced by speaking in tongues.” Robert P. Menzies
and William W. Menzies,
Spirit and Power: Foundationsof Pentecostal Experience,
(Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), 255. In it is interesting to note that I
forgot that in this paper, I already made similar statements to the one this essay proves. I wrote: “
My personalopinion is that the higher numbers of members
are the result of a stronger reliance of the Holy Spirit’s power
(leading to better witnessing, perseverance, etc.) from the baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by the Speakingin Tongues.
”.
Cross Theology
, “Influence,” 9.
45
Craig S. Keener,
Miracles
. 2 volumes, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2011.This source was pointed outto me by Atkinson during his speech at CTS. He concluded that if a person has received a miracle from God, heor she is immune to criticism from unbelievers
. In his own words: “The person can argue till he is blue in theface but the person who had an experience [miraculous encounter] is immune to a person with an argument”.
Atkinson,
“
Miraculous
”
.
ONCLUSIONPentecostal and non-Pentecostal pastors alike have an enormous responsibility to make truedisciples: they have to return, together with their congregations,
to the early church’s
Pentecost experience, by putting an emphasis on unity in holiness, a prayed-on thirst andhumility to obediently receive the (Acts 2) filling of the Holy Spirit, resulting in speaking inlanguages that are unknown to them, and the subsequent desire for evangelism. The naturalresult of this evangelism, which preaches Jesus as the one who is the miracle-workingSaviour, and which is driven on by the Holy Spirit, accompanied by miracle-working powers,is a spontaneous and massive church growth, which keeps on growing, as we have shownfrom past examples.
46
46
For present-day examples, the reader is, again, kindly referred to Cross Theology
, “Influence”, 7
-9.
BIBLIOGRAPHYAtkinson, William P.
“Miraculous Elements in Lukan Theology
.
”
Paper presented at the
“Christian and European Secularism”
colloquium of Continental TheologicalSeminary, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Vlaams-Brabant, February 27, 2017.
The Baptist Missionary Magazine
88, no. 2 (February 1908): 58.Bartleman, Frank.
Azusa Street
. New Jersey: Logos International, 1981.Blair, William Newton and Hunt, Bruce F.
The Korean Pentecost and the Sufferings Which Followed
. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1977.Brown, Arthur Judson.
Report on a second visit to China, Japan and Korea
. Michigan:University of Michigan Library, 1909.Cook, Glen A., Crawford, Florence, and Lum, Clara.
“Pentecost has come.”
The Apostolic Faith
1, no. 1 (September 1906): 1.
Cross Theology. “The Influence the Different Interpretations the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
have had on the
Development of the Pentecostal Movement.” Paper, Continental
Theological Seminary, 2015.
Hyatt, Eddie L. “Lucy Farrow: the Forgotten Apostle.”
Troy Day, not if it includes repentance as a condition of belief for justification/ regeneration; as believers have no assurance about the quality of their repentance. But if repentance follows belief, as in 1 John 1:9, then it can be a good model i guess.
As a counselor/elder in AU and Phils (and i’m sure it applies to USA too) i personally find denominations who teach repentance as a condition of believing/ regeneration salvation always have problems with assurance of salvation; because pastors and members never know 100% when/if they will go to ‘heaven’. They never know if their faith will persevere. I believe such denominations need to repent of this wrong teaching, and then God will heal their denomination. Acts 2, they really meant to ask, “Men and brethren, in view of the fact that our King ( read Biblical soteriology) has already come and our people did not realize it and He has been crucified, rejected, what, then, are we going to do?”
Do get the point. It was not a question with them simply of their individual salvation.
They were not considering that alone.
It was a question as to the fate of the nation (read denomination) to which they belonged.
What was to happen? What next? What shall we do? Is there any way the Christ (read Biblical soteriology) who has been rejected can appear again and the people be given another opportunity? Is there any way by which the sentence can be revoked?
What shall we do?
Peter said, “One thing you can do is repent.”
Repent! What does that mean?
“Repent” means literally a change of mind about your Biblical soteriology, and so Peter says, “Repent, change your attitude.” IMHO.
Troy Day Unique situation as they were all Jews who knew both the Scriptures and the miraculous ministry of Jesus (v22); and still murdered him; so needed to repent AFTER BELIEVING, not as a condition of believing. Acts 2:37-38
Peter did not speak to an uninformed multitude. The apostle Peter presented a case for Jesus as Messiah from the OT that they could both follow and correlate with contemporary events and past Jewish history. By the time Peter had clarified the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension and they had correlated it with the events at Pentecost (cf. vv 29-35), everything fell into place. They unequivocally identified Jesus as the Messiah—and so believed in Him. Now they wanted to know what to do to reestablish fellowship with Him.
2:38. Repentance provided the answer to their dilemma. They needed to reestablish their relationship with the Messiah they had just believed in. Peter does not here require additional conditions for eternal life. Belief in Jesus counts as the singular condition for guaranteed eternal life in both the OT and the NT. Apparently in the case of those who had had the privilege of seeing Jesus’ earthly ministry (cf. v 22), and yet disbelieved both Him and John (cf. Luke 7:31-35), God required a public identification with Jesus by baptism (and a corresponding rescinding of participation in the sin of that generation). Much like the way God requires confession of sins in order for Christians to maintain and enjoy fellowship with Him, in these unique cases God required repentance and baptism for the initiation of the Christian life.
RichardAnna Boyce
The problem of adding repentance and turning away from sin as a CONDITION of believing/ regeneration, means that believers then have no assurance they were saved properly by repenting enough. Repentance is compulsory for believers (after regeneration) to earn rewards in the Millennium…… Acts 2:3738
2:37. Lord and Christ, the last words the audience hears applied to Jesus, finally awaken them to the truth of His identity as the Messiah. Luke records that they were cut to the heart—a reaction that underscores their utmost conviction regarding Jesus as Messiah and their role in His death. Their sensitized conscience (borne from the conviction that they had crucified the Savior) leads to a question that reveals their belief in Jesus. They asked “Men and brethen, what shall we do?” Their question and Peter’s answer indicate that they had believed in Jesus.
Now they wanted to know what to do to reestablish fellowship with Him.
2:38. Repentance provided the answer to their dilemma. They needed to reestablish their relationship with the Messiah they had just believed in. Peter does not here require additional conditions for eternal life. Belief in Jesus counts as the singular condition for guaranteed eternal life in both the OT and the NT. Much like the way God requires confession of sins in order for Christian believers to maintain and enjoy fellowship with Him, in these unique cases God required repentance and baptism for the initiation of the Christian life.
The Gentile Cornelius and those in his household who believed received the Holy Spirit before their baptism (10:43-48; 11:15-18). Palestinian Jews, however, believed in Jesus and received eternal life before receiving the Holy Spirit (2:37-39). The initial Samaritans who believed—after the Crucifixion—also received the Holy Spirit after their baptism as well as the laying on of hands by the apostles Peter and John (cf. 8:14-17). Repentance, although required for fellowship, did not constitute a condition for eternal life, since Peter recommended it to believers in Jesus already. Likewise, baptism was not a condition for eternal life.
Furthermore these conditions do not hold today, since no one of that particular generation, who murdered God, remains.
(from The Grace New Testament Commentary, Copyright © 2010 by Grace Evangelical Society. All rights reserved.)
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce do you think the Acts 2 model dont work?
RichardAnna Boyce
Troy Day, not if it includes repentance as a condition of belief for justification/ regeneration; as believers have no assurance about the quality of their repentance. But if repentance follows belief, as in 1 John 1:9, then it can be a good model i guess.
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce do you have ANY proof Acts 2 church growth approach will not work today? Is there any example for it not working in AUs or US?
RichardAnna Boyce
As a counselor/elder in AU and Phils (and i’m sure it applies to USA too) i personally find denominations who teach repentance as a condition of believing/ regeneration salvation always have problems with assurance of salvation; because pastors and members never know 100% when/if they will go to ‘heaven’. They never know if their faith will persevere. I believe such denominations need to repent of this wrong teaching, and then God will heal their denomination. Acts 2, they really meant to ask, “Men and brethren, in view of the fact that our King ( read Biblical soteriology) has already come and our people did not realize it and He has been crucified, rejected, what, then, are we going to do?”
Do get the point. It was not a question with them simply of their individual salvation.
They were not considering that alone.
It was a question as to the fate of the nation (read denomination) to which they belonged.
What was to happen? What next? What shall we do? Is there any way the Christ (read Biblical soteriology) who has been rejected can appear again and the people be given another opportunity? Is there any way by which the sentence can be revoked?
What shall we do?
Peter said, “One thing you can do is repent.”
Repent! What does that mean?
“Repent” means literally a change of mind about your Biblical soteriology, and so Peter says, “Repent, change your attitude.” IMHO.
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce what else could be proposed apart from the Bible – Acts 2 in particular
RichardAnna Boyce
Gospel of John evangelism, and Epistles belief system to give pastors and members assurance of salvation; with Acts 2 offered for Pentecostal.
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce Luke has a great approach too Seems to be working great with 3 and 5 000 increments growth
RichardAnna Boyce
Troy Day Unique situation as they were all Jews who knew both the Scriptures and the miraculous ministry of Jesus (v22); and still murdered him; so needed to repent AFTER BELIEVING, not as a condition of believing. Acts 2:37-38
Peter did not speak to an uninformed multitude. The apostle Peter presented a case for Jesus as Messiah from the OT that they could both follow and correlate with contemporary events and past Jewish history. By the time Peter had clarified the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension and they had correlated it with the events at Pentecost (cf. vv 29-35), everything fell into place. They unequivocally identified Jesus as the Messiah—and so believed in Him. Now they wanted to know what to do to reestablish fellowship with Him.
2:38. Repentance provided the answer to their dilemma. They needed to reestablish their relationship with the Messiah they had just believed in. Peter does not here require additional conditions for eternal life. Belief in Jesus counts as the singular condition for guaranteed eternal life in both the OT and the NT. Apparently in the case of those who had had the privilege of seeing Jesus’ earthly ministry (cf. v 22), and yet disbelieved both Him and John (cf. Luke 7:31-35), God required a public identification with Jesus by baptism (and a corresponding rescinding of participation in the sin of that generation). Much like the way God requires confession of sins in order for Christians to maintain and enjoy fellowship with Him, in these unique cases God required repentance and baptism for the initiation of the Christian life.
Philip Williams
What’s a Calvinist like Tim Keller doing in a Pentecostal forum?
Varnel Watson
being discussed on revival Pentecostal Acts 2 and WHY calvinists do evangelism to start with
Link Hudson
What is a post mil doing in a Pentecostal forum??
Varnel Watson
What are 2 post-Trubs doing in a Pentecostal forum
FINISH THE JOKE
2 post-Trubs into a bar…
Varnel Watson
this is a pretty good model Neil Steven Lawrence