Waking Jonah

[Part 60 of a 60-Part series. Click here for Part 1.]

This is the final episode in the series “Why I Am a Pentecostal“… I hope it has been thought provoking for you!

I will provide my own personal testimony about this in the near future, but in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions. Also, I highly recommend the following messages for further study on the distinctives of Pentecostal doctrine…

(*All messages can be found in the New Life Church Sermon Archive.)

05/19/10 | “The Oneness of God,” Pastor Bernard
05/26/10 | “The Identity of Jesus Christ,” Pastor Bernard
06/02/10 | “The New Birth,” Pastor Shaw
06/09/10 | “Speaking in Tongues: Initial Evidence of Spirit Baptism,” Pastor Shaw
08/08/10 | “Be Filled with the Spirit, Part 1,” Pastor Shaw
08/08/10 | “Be Filled with the Spirit, Part 2,” Pastor Shaw

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: The hermeneutical spiral – constant interaction with the text; What’s unique about Pentecostals and restorationists is that we bring something a little different–we bring an experience of the Spirit of God; Not only are we gaining understanding, but we are also gaining experience; Then we bring that experience/spiritual encounter with God back to the text; The role of history–History documents the extent to which people have been faithful to the Word of God; If we lifted up 2,000 years of history and set it aside, and then took your experience and your belief and put it side by side with only the New Testament… does it fit? Does it match?; Like the Apostle Paul asked the Ephesians, we can feel very confident asking… have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? That’s not a question we get from 2,000 years of church history, it’s a question we get from the New Testament (see Acts 19:1-7)

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 59 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: In Acts 2:37 they ask the big question… “What do we have to do?”; If the Apostles understood this the way moderns understand it, they would have said “Repeat the prayer after me, and say with your mouth Jesus Christ is Lord, and you’re done”; But in Acts 2:38 Peter said that to call on the name of the Lord and be saved you must repent of your sins, get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and then you will receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost; The “whoever will call on the name of the Lord” is not a formula for salvation, it’s a statement of the availability of God’s salvation–whoever calls on the name of the Lord is going to be saved; Romans 10:12 – “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”; If you come with an 18th Century Calvinist understanding of this, you get a doctrine that says conversion is you confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and Savior, therefore you’re saved; But if you have a restorationist hermeneutic and say “what did the Apostles do?…”; The passage in Romans is written to people that are already saved–Paul isn’t walking them through conversion, but pointing them back to the assurance of their conversion; We actually see such a conversion in Acts 2, with the same verse being quoted; We take the Apostles’ example and understand Romans 10 through the lens of how the Apostles preached those very same verses when they preached to sinners

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 58 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: Romans 10:1-13; Often used as a formula for salvation… if you confess that Jesus Christ is Lord with your mouth then you’re saved; The question is, how did the Apostles do this?; Paul is quoting several passages from the Old Testament; Romans 10:13 – “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved“; Scholars believe Paul is specifically referring to a baptismal confession (in the waters of baptism, people are calling on the name of Jesus Christ, affirming Him as their Savior); Paul quotes from the Old Testament prophet Joel – “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (quotation from Joel 2); We also see this in Acts 2–Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost, tells them that these people speaking with tongues is the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy that God is going to pour out His Spirit on all flesh… and that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 57 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: Hermeneutics – the art and science of how we interpret texts; There are different ways of going about reading different kinds of texts; The way restorationists approach Scripture: 1) A literal interpretation if and when possible (a command to “repent” would be interpreted literally), 2) Scripture is always above the history that followed it (it doesn’t matter what any subsequent theologian claims… what does the New Testament say?), 3) Apostolic pattern; Matthew 28:19, The Great Commission – “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost“–only Scripture in the New Testament that makes any sort of allusion to that; In the book of Acts, you have repeated accounts of people being baptized invoking the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, never the language in Matthew 28:19; In the Epistles we learn that the practice was to baptize invoking the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; Many references to Jesus’ name baptism, but no references to being baptized in “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”; If anybody knew what Jesus meant in Matthew 28:19, it was the Apostles; Trinitarian ideology was informed by Greek philosophy/understanding; Trinitarian language comes from the councils and creeds; Who gets to better understand Matthew 28:19?–the 1st Century Apostles who come from a Jewish background, or 4th Century Greek scholars?; When the Apostles go to baptize, they either disobey Jesus Christ throughout the rest of the New Testament, or they carried out His command exactly as He commanded it; We give preference to the Apostolic pattern… not to 3rd/4th Century patterns

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 56 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: The Apostles and their associates had a fear that there would be a departing; 2 Timothy 3:13-14 – “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them“; It’s a backwards look–it’s already been established; The New Testament writers have this sense that people will continually be tempted to be led away from the foundational doctrinal principles; 2 Timothy 4:3-4 – “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.“‘; Appeal to teach the word and doctrine that had already been delivered into the church; Cleave to the teachings, resist the change; 2 Peter 3:15-18 – “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.“; The concern is that they will be led away doctrinally; Jude 3 – “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints“; It’s a past tense thing, even for the New Testament writers–it’s not something to be fleshed out, developed, and evolved over the centuries

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 55 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: 2 Peter 1:3 – “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue“; Peter is writing before there is even a recognized New Testament, and he is admonishing the church that the teaching of the Apostles is adequate and sufficient; The early church recognized the danger in departing from the teaching of the Apostles–there is an attempt to look backwards to the doctrine that is already living in the church, not look forward to the ongoing development of new theology; When it comes to basic doctrinal principles, it’s always a look backwards to what was originally taught; Colossians 2:6-10 – “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power“; If you only have the New Testament, and you stop right there and believe that… how in the world can you get what we get out of creeds and councils?–it’s not possible

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 54 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: After Jesus invests them with authority, the Apostles stand up in unison/agreement on the day of Pentecost; Ephesians 2:19-20 – “…built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone“; The Apostles are part of the foundation of the church; You don’t get Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Parham, Seymour, or anybody else in this foundation… you get the apostles, and prophets, and Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone; There is an Apostolic authority–we give preference to the Apostles; The early church themselves had a pattern of appealing to the Apostles; Acts 2:42 – “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine…“; The Apostles got their doctrine from Jesus Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit; The early church recognized the authority that was vested in the Apostolic community; Jude 17 – “remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ“; Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, appeals to the Apostolic authority in that band of Apostles; The authority for New Testament doctrine lies in the teaching and proclamation of the Apostles

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 53 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: The way we do theology is that we give preference to the Apostles; Justification by faith; Sanctification; New Testament; Apostolic authority – the Apostles had an authority that no other group of ministers had–it was invested in them by Jesus Christ; Matthew 10:40 – “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.“; Accounts of baptism in the New Testament; Matthew 28:19 – Great Commission account; Jesus didn’t write the book of Matthew–you don’t get the choice to believe Jesus or the Apostles… you pretty much get to believe the Apostles; How do we “receive” the Apostles?–We receive their writings; John 17:20 – “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word“; Saving faith in Jesus Christ comes to us through the words of the Apostles, not the words of creeds and church traditions; Acts 2:14-47 – First sermon of the Christian church; Peter stands up authoritatively with the 11 Apostles in full agreement; You can’t pit Peter against other writings in the New Testament; You have the choice to accept or not accept the New Testament

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 52 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: We’re left with three choices: 1) The Apostles’ Christianity/doctrine was incomplete and some later understanding of Christianity was complete, 2) Today’s Christianity has evolved to be complete/accurate/right, 3) The Apostles’ Christianity was complete, and therefore modifications of that are departures from authentic/true Christianity; Apostolic doctrine and practice are the model; History is very important, but when we’re talking about authentic Christian doctrine and experience, history is not the authority… the New Testament is; The Restorationist position is that the Apostles’ Christianity was complete

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 51 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: There are many versions of baptism today–submersion, immersion, sprinkling, pouring, infant baptism, trine baptism, Matthew 28:19, etc.; How far can you go changing the model until the model is no longer the model?; Restorationists say it’s better if you don’t tweak the model at all–it’s better if you just obey the model you have in Scripture, because we don’t have the authority to change the model; To what degree can you change the model and still have authentic Christianity?; Speaking in tongues as the initial evidence of people receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit–If you throw that out the window, on what authority can you claim anyone has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit?; If you’re going to tweak the model, on what/who’s authority do you get to change it?; Protestant Reformation; Catholic Church; Martin Luther; Reformation inside the Catholic Church; If the church today looked exactly like it did when Luther stepped on the scene, to what extent would that sort of Christianity be authentic?; Common tradition of Christianity vs. a primitive/restorationist model that leapfrogs over history back into the New Testament

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 50 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: Restorationists would say the model for the “new birth” and Christian living is in the New Testament, and that’s what we should follow; If you don’t embrace that teaching, on what authority do you get to say that the normative experiences of the New Testament are no longer valid?; Speaking in tongues is a normative experience in the book of Acts, and seems to be linked with the reception of the Holy Spirit; If you say that speaking in tongues was for the apostles but not for today, on what authority can you say that?; Epistemology – How can you know something is true and on what authority?; Those questions go away when you simply lift up the New Testament as your model and follow it obediently; To what degree can you change the model and still have authentic Christianity?; Scholars admit that the New Testament pattern/model of baptism is submersion in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ–to what extent can you change the model and it still be authentic Christian experience?

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 49 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: Restorationists would say that the model for the normal Christian experience is the New Testament; You don’t stop at the Pentecostal movement in 1901 or 1906, John Wesley, the Calvinist Awakenings, Calvin, Luther, or creeds and councils–you go to where the original Christian experience is documented (the New Testament); What is the model for normative Christian doctrine and experience, and who gets to decide? – Only the Scripture has the authority to answer that question; If there were no model, it would be up to every individual, church, and tradition to come up with what they feel is the normal Christian experience/doctrine; Unfortunately that is exactly what has happened over time

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 48 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Restoring the Apostles’ Doctrine
Date: 5/5/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: Restoring the Apostles’ doctrine; Restorationism (Primitivism) – appealing to what is primitive/ancient/old/original; Model/example for normative Christianity; All of Christian belief and practice–in one way or another–is built upon the New Testament; Logically speaking, the normative Christian experience is in the New Testament; Individual, unique experiences with God cannot be lifted up as the “norm”

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 47 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: The Pentecostal Movement
Date: 4/28/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: Challenge to take the Bible prayerfully and ask, “God, what do you want for my life?”; This is not a conversation about you and church history, it’s a conversation about you, the Bible, and God; You don’t seek to be faithful to a tradition, you seek to be faithful to this Revelation; Ask the question, “Is it in this Book, and does God want me to have it?”; If you pray that way, God will lead you exactly to what you need–God will reveal Himself to you; Restorationism – Restoring the Apostles’ doctrine; The Protestant Reformation said “sola scriptura” (Scripture alone) as well, but that’s not what they did; Principles about coming to Scripture and not tainting it by human reasoning or ideas

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Rodney Shaw