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.

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 46 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: This story shows us how a group of people went on a journey, trying to get back to what the Scripture says; They found out that when they obeyed Scripture, it lead them to an understanding that Spirit baptism is evidenced with tongues, it’s part of the “new birth”, and the only way people were baptized was invoking the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; Parham, Seymour, Azusa Street, Ewart, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Augustine–we glean from their insights, but our ultimate and sole authority is Scripture; Scripture is our starting point and our ending point; History of the United Pentecostal Church; Authentic practices, experiences, and beliefs revealed in the Bible; The ultimate conversation is not about the Reformation, or Azusa Street, or any other street… it’s about what has God revealed to us in His Word, and how we can be faithful to it

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 45 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: Quote from Edith Blumhofer, Assemblies of God Pentecostal scholar (Assemblies of God are trinitarian and do not believe that Spirit baptism is essential); If you follow the restorationist hermeneutic (understanding of Scripture) that Pentecostalism started with, oneness Pentecostals follow it more rigidly than the rest; Pentecostalism is trying to restore the apostles’ doctrine, but trinitarian Pentecostals borrowed a whole bunch of things from mainline Christianity; Oneness Pentecostals backed up and evaluated all of it through the lens of Scripture; History is not our authority for doctrine–all history does is show us the extent to which people have been faithful to Scripture; The authority rests on Scripture

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 44 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: Frank Ewart said the apostles’ practice (of baptizing in Jesus’ name) was linked to their understanding that Jesus Christ was God manifested in flesh, not just one person of God manifested in flesh; Ewart claimed that the name of Jesus Christ was invoked in baptism by the apostles in full obedience to Matthew 28:19–they knew exactly what they were doing; We only have record of people being baptized in the New Testament in the name of Jesus; On April 15th, 1914, Ewart preached his first message on Acts 2:38, declaring that repentance, baptism in Jesus’ name, and the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of tongues is New Testament salvation; He also associated the name of Jesus in baptism with the “oneness” of God; Divergence in Pentecostal history between trinitarian Pentecostals and oneness Pentecostals; Ewart and his fellow minister, Glen Cook, re-baptized each other in Jesus’ name; Standing against an established tradition–the Anabaptists got killed for doing this stuff; 300 years earlier in Europe, Frank Ewart and Glen Cook would have been killed

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 42 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: William Durham got the conversation going for people trying to get back to what Scripture says–back to what New Testament salvation is; The next big issue in the Pentecostal movement–”the new issue”; The entire Pentecostal movement is founded on restorationist principles; Charles Parham asked the question, “What does the Bible say about Spirit baptism?”; Processing everything through Scripture instead of history and creeds; The “new issue” leads to Jesus’ name baptism and an acknowledgment of the “oneness” of God; Christocentric worship, theology, and vocabulary; Exaltation/elevation of the name of Jesus; Before the “new issue”, there were already some who baptized invoking the name of Jesus Christ–Charles Parham, Andrew Urshan, etc.

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 41 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: William Durham began preaching what he called the “finished work of Calvary”; Said that sanctification (holiness) is actually part of the “new birth” experience–there is no second experience of sanctification; Challenged the entire Holiness movement establishment and theology by saying there is no “saved and sanctified”; Believed that you get saved, and the power of God’s grace in that saving act is power to sanctify you; Durham said that what Jesus purchased for us in salvation is enough, there’s nothing else we can get except the salvation that Jesus brings; Durham collapses sanctification back into the “new birth”, but he still keeps Spirit baptism as a second experience; Went from three works of grace down to two; Still affirmed Acts 2:38 as the fullest sense of salvation–said that a person who was really living for God wouldn’t just be saved, but would go on to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost; Theological division in the Pentecostal movement–denominations that went with Durham’s theology think of the Holy Ghost as an “added blessing” (not essential for salvation); Practical outcomes of theology about the baptism of the Spirit; The average United Pentecostal Church has around 90% of teens and adults filled with the baptism of the Holy Ghost

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 40 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: William Durham was a Baptist minister–came from the Baptist tradition; He receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Azusa Street; Durham comes to three conclusions after receiving the baptism of the Spirit with the evidence of tongues: 1) The baptism of the Holy Spirit was a different kind of experience–unlike anything he had experienced before, 2) He couldn’t claim the baptism of the Spirit, he had to wait until He came, 3) Speaking in tongues was the sign of this experience

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 39 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: Azusa Street; William Seymour; Started in 1906 and lasted until 1909; Services every single day; Mixed congregation; Holiness churches; People from all around the world heard about the Azusa Street Revival; Missionaries came, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and took the message back to their countries; The Pentecostal message spread around the world from Azusa Street; Charles Parham was arguably the “father” of the Pentecostal movement, but the work at Azusa Street under William Seymour propelled it into a global, world-wide movement; The baptism of the Spirit became the normal, accepted experience of those who came seeking it–it became normalized; “Saved/Sanctified/Filled with the Spirit” message about to change; First controversy in the Pentecostal movement; Trying to get back to what the Bible says; Jesus’ name baptism

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 38 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: Parham began traveling and preaching a “saved-sanctified-filled with the Spirit” message; No objective criteria for getting sanctified; William Seymour–holiness preacher, grandson of slaves; Parham agreed to allow Seymour to sit out in the hallway of his Bible college in Houston; Seymour heard and embraced the doctrine of being able to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost with tongues, but he had not received it; He made a trip to Los Angeles and began preaching this message; They had prayer meetings in various houses and then moved to the Azusa Street Mission; One of the owners of the houses received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and it sparked the great Azusa Street revival

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 37 of an ongoing series]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: The Pentecostal Movement
Date: 4/28/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: Holiness movement started using “Pentecostal” as an adjective (Pentecostal experience, etc.); Rallying cry of “Back to Pentecost”; Speaking with other tongues; Experiences with God; Baptism of the Holy Spirit language; Sanctification; Charles Parham – holiness preacher; Parham looked at scripture and felt like there was a distinct experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit; He asked his bible college students to determine what is the New Testament evidence that a person is filled/baptized with the Holy Spirit; After study and prayer, they came to the conclusion that it was speaking with other tongues; They began to pray and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues; Parham began to travel and teach this–there were notable revivals in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Houston, etc.

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 36 of an ongoing series]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: The Pentecostal Movement
Date: 4/28/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: The historic church made sharp turns away from New Testament teachings; Protestant Reformation; Martin Luther; Attempts to restore the Christian faith; Martin Luther didn’t attempt to restore Christian doctrine all the way back to pre-council/pre-creed days… he made assumptions about the first 700-800 years of the church; After Luther, additional reformers tried to get even farther back, closer to the New Testament; Reformed theology; Anabaptists; Efforts to continue to restore Christianity; Holiness Movement; John Wesley; Justification; Sanctification; Experiences with God that empower you to overcome sin on a daily basis; Baptism in the Spirit

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 33 of an ongoing series]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Early American Christianity to the Holiness Movement
Date: 4/21/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: Early Pentecostal movement emerged from the Holiness movement; Charles Finney; Baptism in the Spirit; Holiness preachers; Charles Parham; Attempt to get back to Scripture and away from tradition; What is the New Testament evidence that someone has been filled/baptized with the Holy Spirit?… speaking with other tongues; They began seeking after (and receiving) the baptism of the Spirit; Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ; Strong cry that began at the Reformation of getting back to Scripture, back to the Word of God; Claims of orthodoxy: Who is right?; Authentic, genuine Christianity has to start and end with the New Testament; Pushing back against tradition and history, and getting back to what the Apostles preached; Severe and harsh reaction by the established churches against people who are simply trying to ask, “What does the Bible teach?”

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Rodney Shaw

[Part 32 of an ongoing series]

Ministry: New Life Church of Austin, TX
Full Podcast: Early American Christianity to the Holiness Movement
Date: 4/21/10
Speaker: Rodney Shaw
Topics: Wesley starts the Methodist movement and it becomes the biggest denomination in the United States; Wesley dies and the Methodist church moves away from his teachings; Revivalist group springs up called the Holiness Movement; Holiness Movement emerges right after the civil war; Sudden sense that we need to live holy lives; Revival of sanctification; The Methodist church puts the group out and it becomes the Holiness Movement; They begin to use terms like “baptism of the Spirit” and “filled with the Spirit”; Reports of people speaking with other tongues; Started using language that moved them back closer to the book of Acts; New Testament baptism of the Spirit evidenced by speaking in tongues; People began to think about the baptism of the Holy Ghost; The cry of “Back to Pentecost! Back to Pentecost!”; They knew they needed the power of the Spirit in their lives

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Rodney Shaw