The Pentecostal Movement

  

Pentecostals .

(Zec 4:6 KJV) Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Isa 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. 22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. 23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.

(John 14:23 KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Complete and total reliance on the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Christ, and leading, the gifts of the holy spirit is what generally seperates the  Pentecostal Christians from the rest of Christendom

(Rom 8:9 KJV) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

(1 Cor 2:16 KJV) For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.

John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

The Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places continual emphasis on the individual, personal need of the Baptism, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as shown in the New Testament Biblical account initially on the Day of Pentecost. Pentecostal Christians do differ significantly from other Christian groups, denominations because they do define specifically a real Christian is a person who has been baptized with the Holy spirit as evidenced by their speaking, praying in tongues, glossolalia, interpretation of tongues, which is prophecy, and the persons who thus now also has access to the miraculous, spiritual gifts of the Holy spirit as a result too.

There is no denying the fact that Pentecostal Christians believe glossolalia is a spiritual gift from God, proof of the “infilling” of the Holy Spirit. Some denominations do not even allow people to preach or become members until they demonstrate the ability to speak in tongues. It’s proof that they have been both “saved” and “sanctified.” Pentecostals in generally rejected the belief of many fundamentalists that God had ceased to reveal himself directly to man. Pentecostal do belive that God speaks personally, individually to true Believers of Jesus Christ, outside of the Bible now as well. The charismatic movement in Roman Catholic and mainstream Protestant denominations represents the same spirit. Speaking in tongues is not universal among Pentecostal Christians still because many persons now there too have still not received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, they are merely Pentecostal church adherents, observers.

The origins of Pentecostals originates from the early Christian days, as indicated in the Book of acts, new testament and they have continued historically as well, including during the 19th-century Holiness movement and also the 1906 revival meetings at the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles, California..  

“Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity in Africa is over a hundred years old. Today the continent has one of the fastest growing and diverse forms of Pentecostalism in the world. Mega churches in West Africa, segregated churches in South Africa and enormous gatherings of hundreds of thousands of people are features of this phenomenon, but essentially some of the most fascinating features include Pentecostalism’s ability to adapt to different contexts and its relationship with African governments. 

 

 Statistics are notoriously difficult to calculate and verify, and even more so in Africa. But the estimates we have for Christian affiliation at the beginning of the twenty-first century reveal some amazing trends that any casual observer of Christianity in Africa will not find so incredible. According to one estimate, 11% of Africa’s population (including the predominantly Muslim north) was ‘Charismatic’ in 2000. Even if this figure is only roughly approximate, the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements undoubtedly are fast becoming dominant forms of Christianity on the continent. This has been developing for over a century and Africa now has its own distinct contribution to make to the shape of global Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity. 

 

NOW NUMBERING OVER 500 million, and probably the fastest growing religious movement in the world, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians are transforming the global religious demographic, especially in Latin America and Africa. They comprise nearly half of Brazil’s population, and 25 percent of the United States is Pentecostal or Charismatic. “

 
http://www.sundayschoolcourses.com/denominations/denominations.htm#_Toc147897237

Formed:	ad
Theology and practice:	Evangelical, Spirit-filled, charismatic, fundamentalist, often Free Will, divine healing, speaking in tongues as a sign of baptism by the Holy Spirit, eschatological.  Early in the movement, many were pacifistic.  (Note: only a very tiny portion of Pentecostals are involved in snake handling)
Baptism:	Believer’s, immersion.  Baptism by the Holy Spirit. Will sometimes do rebaptisms for back-sliders.
Sacraments:	Baptism and Communion
Form of government:	(Very) decentralized
Worship:	Non-Liturgical
Famous members[21]:	Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, John Ashcroft, James Watt, Elvis Presley, Denzel Washington, Anthony Quinn, Pat Boone, Aimee Semple McPherson, Al Sharpton

The Pentecostal movement is the largest Protestant denomination in the world today, by some accounts[22], approaching 500,000,000 adherents.  (Note: not all Pentecostal churches have formal membership programs).

The Pentecostal movement had its beginnings in the Holiness movement of the mid-19^th century.  The Holiness movement itself grew out of the Spirit-filled Methodist tradition, and resulted in a second wave (the first wave occurred in the 18^th century) of revival meetings sweeping throughout the United States.  One church denomination that came directly out of the Holiness movement is the Church of the Nazarene (1,500,000 members in 2006).  The Church of the Nazarene Web site lists these as the attributes of the Wesleyan-Holiness Churches[23]:

• Born out of the 19th-century holiness revivals
• Accepted pietism emphasis
• Reemphasis on sanctification as second work
• Possibility of a sinless life
• Sanctification both instantaneous and progressive
• Revival oriented
• Missionary minded
• Simple worship
• Conservative in theology
• Emphasis on personal ethics
• Appeal to the poor

In the late 19^th century, a Kansas college student named Charles Fox Parham promulgated a theory of glossolalia – speaking in tongues – as evidence of baptism of the Holy Spirit.  In time, his theory would spread like wildfire across the Midwest, and make its way all the way to Los Angeles.

In 1903, a southern Holiness preacher named William J. Seymour opened the Azusa Street Revival.  His first sermon was on the Pentecost (Acts 2:4), and the modern Pentecostal movement was born.

Pentecostalism reached a mass audience in the 1910s and 1920s when Aimee Semple McPherson became a national sensation as a Pentecostal revivalist.  She drove around in a “gospel car”, with signs on it such as “Where will you spend eternity?”

Key Events

Date	Event
1867	National Holiness Camp Meeting Association formed
1896	Speaking in tongues occurs at a Holiness meeting in North Carolina
1900	Charles Fox Parham opens a Bible school in Topeka, Kansas
1901	Speaking in tongues occurs at a Holiness meeting in Topeka, Kansas
1903	A revival in Galena, Kansas gains thousands of converts to Charles Parham’s message
1905	The Great Revival in Wales published, introducing a larger audience to what would become Pentecostalism
1906	The Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, led by William J. Seymour becomes the foundation of the modern Pentecostal movement
1906	First General Assembly of the Church of God, in Cleveland Tennessee
1907	Pentecostal Assemblies of the World organized
1910	Tennessee preacher George W. Hensley handles a rattlesnake in front of his congregation
1913	Pentecostal-Holiness meeting held in Arroyo Seco, Califo rnia, attended primarily by Pentecostal pastors
1914	First General Counsel of the Assemblies of God; receives ordained women into fellowship
1919	Aimee Semple McPherson becomes a national sensation as a Pentecostal revivalist.  She drove around in a “gospel car”, with signs on it such as “Where will you spend eternity?”
1922	Death of William J. Seymour
1926	Aimee Semple McPherson somewhat discredited in what may have been a phony kidnapping
1943	Pentecostal churches join the National Association of Evangelicals
1998	Largest church in the world is the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Korea – 240,000 attend weekly worship[24]
2006	Assemblies of God has 12,100 churches in the U.S.; 236,022 churches and outstations in 191 other nations[25]

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