WHAT IS PENTECOSTALISM ?

Pentecostalism is a renewal movement in the Christian church.  It started in the early 1900^s with the Azusa Street revival of 1906 in America. At the revival Evang. William J-Seymour preached about baptism in the Holy Spirit and the Gift of speaking in tongues.  However, others have said that speaking in tongues may have started as early as 1896 and 1901 when the Apostolic Faith movement began. 

The first person to be widely considered to speak in tongues was Agnes Ozman a student of Charles Parham’s Bible School in Topeka, Kansas. It is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit and the direct experience of the presence of God by the believer.

They believe that faith must be powerfully experiential and not something found merely through ritual or thinking. 

It is energetic and dynamic and its members believe they are driven by the power of God moving within them.

Their churches stress the importance of conversions that amount to a Baptism in the Spirit.

This fills the believer with the Holy Spirit which gives the believer the strength to live a truly Christian life.

The direct experience of God is revealed by gifts of the spirit such as speaking in tongues, prophecy and healing.

Pentecostals believe their movement is returning Christianity to a pure and simple form of Christianity that has much in common with the very earliest stage in the life of the Christian church. 

Denominations and a Movement

Pentecostalism is not a church in itself but a movement that includes many different churches. It is also a movement of renewal or revival within other denominations. 

It is not always easy to see if a church is Pentecostal because many Pentecostal denominations don’t include the word “Pentecostal” in their name. 

It is strong in the Black churches and the American and Australian mega churches such as Hillsong church. One of the world’s largest Churches. The Yoido Full Gospel church in Seoul South Korea where up to 250,000 people attend each Sunday is a Pentecostal church.

Bible Based: Though often to be rooted in experience rather than theology Pentecostals base their theology on the text of the Bible which they believe to be the word of God and totally without error. 

 The Day of Pentecost: Pentecostalism gets its name from the day of Pentecost when according to the Bible the Holy Spirit descended on the Disciples of Jesus, leading them to speak in many languages as evidence that, they had been baptized in the spirit. Pentecostals believe this was not a one-off event but something that can and does happen every day. 

As at March 2006, there were just under 1million Pentecostals in the UK and over 20million in USA. During the last 3 decades of the 20^th Century there are now over 250million (some say 500million) Pentecostals around the world who make up more than 10% of all Christians.

It is particularly strong in the developing world where it poses a serious challenge to other more established denominations.

The story of Pentecost can be found in Acts of the Apostle chapter 2: 1-4, 14-21. 

There Peter quoted the prophecy that was found in the book of Joel 2: 28-29

They differ from fundamentalists in the importance of the believer’s direct experience of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

They believe baptism in the spirit is an essential part of salvation. It is an experience in which the believers give control of themselves to the Holy Spirit. It began among the poor and disadvantaged people in USA at the start of the 20^th Century. Its root goes back to the 18^th Century Wesleyan Holiness tradition, the 19^th Century Holiness movement and the late Victoria Keswich Higher life movement.

Wesleyan Holiness movement was a reaction against the formality and ritualism of the traditional Christian churches of the time. It taught that Christians needed to be transformed by a personal experience of the truth of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Members of this Methodist Tradition experienced baptism in the Holy Spirit (which was given that name in 1771 by John Fletcher)

Appeal in the developing world

The Appeal of Pentecostalism

It offers attractive spiritual certainties in a world where religious truths are under attack because a direct experience of God is unarguable to those who receive it. If it happens to you, you know it. 

Appeal to the poor.

It began among the poor and disadvantaged in North America.

The tradition of being both of the poor and for the poor has given the movement a particular appeal among the poor in S. America and Africa where its growth is particularly rooted in continuing anger at widespread poverty and inequality.

Adaptability

Pentecostalism adapts easily to local tradition and incorporates local music and other cultural elements in worship, enabling people to retain elements of their own spirituality when they more to a Pentecostal church. This adaptability has enabled non-Pentecostal churches to include Pentecostal elements.

Developing World Pentecostalism

Pentecostalism is particularly strong in S. America, Africa, Asia with a unique character in each continent which is one of the reasons why it is so successful. 

Developing world Pentecostalism has been particularly successful among the poor partly due to energetic missionary work by Pentecostal churches and partly due to History, Politics and flexibility.

History

Pentecostalism grew out of African-American churches with their emphasis on the interconnection of mind and spirit which it displayed in its highly physical worship, and in healing speaking in tongues and the acceptance of dreams and visions as valuable tools of spiritual insight. 

Politics

Politically and socially it originated in churches filled with people who were poor and oppressed and has never forgotten those roots. Its early leaders were working class Christians with similar life experience to the people they led. This has given it a great appeal in parts of the world where people continue to suffer from poverty and injustice.

It approaches the predicament of the poor very practically, as churches work as mutual aid communities to deal with poverty and sickness and provide alternative solutions to problems that might otherwise be solved with witchcraft or other superstitious practices.

Flexibility

Pentecostalism is spontaneous and oral rather than anchored in liturgical text, thus allowing members of the congregation to play their roles easily.

Today the Pentecostals are all over Nigeria and many of them have turned the religion of Christianity to a lucrative money-making business.

Preaching the message of Salvation to a society that actually needs Emancipation they hoodwink their believers to take away their hard-earned money and also play on their vulnerability.

The Truth is each individual has a one-on-one relationship with the Creator and a direct access to Olodumare without going through a Deity.

Olodumare is the same as God in the Trinity and the Creator as expounded in the Bible.

As a Christian you need to access God in the Trinity through Jesus Christ.

To a non-believer, you do not need any intermediary to have access to the Throne of Grace. All you need is faith and a pure heart. Shalom.

Evang. Solomon Ayodeji Ogunjobi

Déjà vu