In this first volume of the “Growing Pentecostal Disciples” series, Tony Richie takes us on a journey into what divine guidance is, why it is so vital, and how it works in the life of a believer!
In Week One we are introduced to divine guidance throughout the Scriptures and history right up into our present time. Week Two explores how believers are guided by the Holy Spirit, Scripture, the Church, through prayer, and in holy love. In Week Three Dr. Richie teaches us the attributes that characterize believers who are guided by God, while Week Four displays the multiple benefits of living with divine guidance. A Guided People will illuminate and encourage you in your walk with Jesus.
R. Hollis Gause (1925-2015) is a well-known Pentecostal biblical and theological scholar whose life and work has proven to be an important for numerous students and colleagues working in the emerging discipline of Pentecostal theology. This monograph is a slightly revised version of his 1975 Emory PhD dissertation, which continues to be one of the only full-length treatments of Luke’s Transfiguration account to date. In this original analysis, Gause offers an overview of the text’s history of interpretation, a literary reading of the text (that both critiques previous redactional approaches and anticipates the emerging field of narrative analysis), and an extensive theological analysis of the significance of the Transfiguration for both Luke and the broader Christian tradition. Those familiar with the work of R. Hollis Gause will note the way in which this work was foundational for much of his later thought and work. The inclusion of this volume as part of the Centre for Pentecostal Theology Classics Series makes this significant work available to wider audience.R. Hollis Gause (PhD, Emory University; DLitt, Lee College; DD, Pentecostal Theological Seminary) was Founding Academic Dean and Director, as well as Professor of New Testament and Theology, at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, TN USA.
A Gifted People — A Pentecostal Study for the Use of the Gifts of the Spirit
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This fresh translation of the book of Job from the Hebrew text stays as close as possible to the original language, while at the same time offering a readable English text. The book of Job is both challenging and inspiring. Job’s experience of suffering is legendary, and it is an experience with which everyone can identify and sympathize. The biblical text is presented in its poetic form, so that the reader can observe the verse structures, figures of speech, and unique characteristics of this ancient masterpiece.
Samson, Delilah, Gideon, and Jephthah are familiar names in modern culture; but most people are not fully acquainted with the biblical book in which they appear as characters. The book of Judges recounts the difficult period in Israel’s story between the death of Joshua and the birth of Samuel. In Joshua’s time, the Israelites were obedient and faithful, and God rewarded their faithfulness with His blessings. After Joshua died, however, the Israelites drifted away from the Lord and forgot their covenant obligations. The book of Judges narrates Israel’s downward spiral from victory to defeat, from unity to fragmentation, and from faithfulness to idolatry. Judges concludes on a tragic note: ‘In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes’ (Judg. 21.25). Judges, therefore, serves as a profound warning to the people of God that we cannot rest upon the victories of the past – we must continue to be faithful in the present.
This study of the book of Judges is written for a popular audience: laity, pastors, and students. Arranged in eleven easy-to-read lessons, the work includes an expositional study of Judges along with discussion questions and student handouts. The format allows the study to be used by an individual, in a small group, or in a church class.
Handouts and PowerPoint presentations may be downloaded free of charge at http://pentecostaltheology.org under ‘Resources’.
The book of Psalms is sometimes referred to as the songbook of Israel, and both Jews and Christians have consistently witnessed to the power of the Psalms to give voice to their prayers and their expressions of worship. The Psalms have this power because, they are Israel’s words directed to God in worshipful and prayerful response to his presence and actions among them. The Psalms provide examples of prayer and worship, and they have much to say about our worship today. The Psalms are cited often in the New Testament, where many of them are associated with the life of Jesus the Messiah. The importance of the Psalms is illustrated further by their continued use throughout history both in public liturgy and in private devotions.
The poetry of the Psalms gives witness to both the greatest joys of life and to its greatest agonies. For example, the emotions of the psalmist range from despair to elation and every feeling between those extremes.
This study of the book of Psalms is written for a popular audience: laity, pastors, and students. Arranged in nine easy-to-read lessons, the work includes an expositional study of Judges along with discussion questions and student handouts. The format allows the study to be used by an individual, in a small group, or in a church class.
Handouts and PowerPoint presentations may be downloaded free of charge at http://pentecostaltheology.org under ‘Resources’.
This brief commentary is intended as a guide to anyone who reads the book of Psalms. It begins with an introduction to the Psalms, with pointers for how to approach the book of Psalms. It then proceeds though the Psalter, commenting on each psalm in turn. The comments are not extensive, and they do not answer every question, but they focus on essential elements of the biblical text. Notes are included that address important concepts and terms that occur in the Psalms. Should a reader wish to delve deeper into the study of the Psalms, they may consult any of the lengthier commentaries listed at the end of the book.
Should a Christian doctrine of salvation be concerned with this life or the life to come? With forgiveness of sins or deliverance of sinners? With the saving of the soul or the healing of the body? Should it focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ or on the presence and power of Holy Spirit? To all these questions (and more), Tony Richie’s Saved, Delivered, and Healed: Introducing a Pentecostal Doctrine of Salvation answers “Yes!” Then it proceeds to present from the Scriptures, from Pentecostal theology and spirituality, and from decades of pastoral and personal experiences and academic insights an energetic and holistic view of salvation grounded in the wisdom, goodness, and power of God. Its constant focus is God’s ultimate redemptive purpose in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit for the lives of real human beings living in the real world. If you have ever wondered what Christian salvation actually means and how it actually works, then this book is for you.
In earlier years multiple generations learned how to pray by watching and listening to others pray at the altar, but in a time of social distancing and isolation, we have lost much of this way of learning how to pray. Praying With Jesus is an excellent guidebook which, for thirty days, leads the believer into the act of praying and is based upon the example of Jesus Himself and the Lord’s Prayer!
A Fruitful People: A Pentecostal Study on Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit.
In this volume of the Discipling Pentecostals series, Wilmer Estrada-Carassquillo unfolds, from the Word, the ninefold fruit of the Spirit with an eye toward discipleship and a truly Pentecostal approach to Scripture. The author teaches and gives application to the fruit of the Spirit as first, solidly based in the Word, second, guided by the Spirit, and third, lived out within the community for believers.
In Week One, the importance of preparing one’s heart in order to receive the seed of the Word of God is explored in depth. In Week Two, the first trio of aspects of the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace—is studied. While Week Three digs deeply into patience, kindness, and goodness, Week Four rounds out A Fruitful People by examining and applying the final triad of faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Believers will indeed learn how to walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit while they also live by the Spirit!
When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He announced the arrival of His kingdom; and He revealed the radical nature and character of Kingdom living. As citizens of the Kingdom, Christians are blessed and happy when they live according to the eight teachings of Jesus that we call the Beatitudes. These Kingdom blessings are the key to finding the abundant life that Jesus gives (John 10:10). Through the Beatitudes, Jesus explains that God’s people do not behave like the world, and they do not judge the quality of life according to the standards of the world.
Christians are expected to become disciples of Jesus Christ, which means they embody His character and attributes. This study will challenge all believers to engage in deep self-examination and to refocus on the important goal of following Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2). The Beatitudes point us in the direction of the full and happy life that everyone desires. This study offers practical insight for every Christian who desires a deep and fulfilling relationship with God and healthy relationships with other people.
In this first volume of the Discipling Pentecostals series, Lee Roy Martin gives to us a rich, scriptural, and decidedly Pentecostal understanding of the vital prayer life of a Christian disciple. A Praying People is a journey into the transformative power of passionate praying!
In week One we are shown the absolute priority of praying to the Father in heaven—about everything. Week Two explores the various purposes of praying. In week Three, Dr. Martin teaches us the practical methods of praying with spiritual power that is truly Pentecostal in nature. Finally, Week Four provides the disciple of Christ a usable understanding of the practice of praying. A Praying People is the key which unlocks the door to the other five, powerful volumes in the Discipling Pentecostals series.
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What are the Pentecostal movement’s original and ongoing theological “essentials”? In other words, what is Pentecostal theology really all about anyway? This work by Tony Richie, Lecturer in Theology at Pentecostal Theological Seminary, realizes that Pentecostal theology is at its heart a working theology undergirding and energizing believers’ worship of God in prayer and praise, in holy living, and in witness to a personal experience of the risen Lord and Savior manifested in the continuing power of the Holy Spirit. Thus Pentecostal theology often occurs in the vitality of local churches, house fellowships, and various mission settings in America and around the world. Yet Richie demonstrates that the intellectual undergirdings of Pentecostal theology are certainly substantive. This work is truly "Pentecostal" in its robust integration of cognition, affective experience, and authentic praxis. As such, Essentials of Pentecostal Theology is applicable for both Church and Academy.
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In this unique study, Tom Biller provides both a Christian perspective on the use of medication and up-to-date scientific information about psychotropic medication that will help Christians accept medications as appropriate treatment for mental illness. Society has often operated with a division between ‘real’ physical illnesses and mental illnesses, but this book explains that such a division is artificial. This book reveals that the physiological principles that allow successful treatment of asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and other medical conditions also work to treat psychiatric conditions. In addition to the clear explanation of how medications work, Biller provides extensive guidelines on the value and limitation of specific medications.
The book is a resource for Christian counselors, pastoral counselors, and secular counselors who work with Christian patients in a clinical setting. Additionally, any person with an interest in mental health treatment who would like to have an introductory book providing information about psychotropic medication could benefit from this book.
Owen (Tom) A. Biller (EdD, PhD, FICPPM/FACAPP/FSICPP) is Associate Professor of Counseling at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, Cleveland, TN USA. He is a Clinical and Counseling Health Service Provider, Psychologist, Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Board Certified Master Diplomate-Fellow in Psychopharmacology of the Prescribing Psychologists’ Register, Fellow American College of Advanced Practice Psychologists, and Diplomate-Fellow in Forensic Psychology by the International College of Professional Psychology.
In her new book, Visions of God in Ezekiel, Rebecca Basdeo Hill examines the connection between the glory of YHWH and the holiness of YHWH in the book of Ezekiel. Focusing primarily on Ezekiel’s three major visions found in chapters 1-3, 8-11, and 40-48, Dr. Hill unveils the beauty of YHWH’s glory and holiness. She develops and proposes a Pentecostal hermeneutic of ‘seeing’ and ‘hearing’ as a critically informed and appropriate strategy for biblical interpretation. The conclusion of this research states that (1) the presence and absence of YHWH is the presence and absence of YHWH’s holiness; (2) an encounter with the glory of YHWH is an encounter with the holiness of YHWH; (3) the glory and holiness of YHWH depict the sovereignty and power of YHWH; (4) experiencing the glory and holiness of YHWH require seeing and hearing the word of YHWH; (5) the Spirit of YHWH gives access to YHWH’s holy presence; (6) disregarding the holiness of YHWH and the holy things of YHWH is a willful breach of the glorious presence of YHWH; (7) YHWH will depart when we violate YHWH’s holy splendor; (8) YHWH manifests his glory and holiness in his judgment of us; (9) YHWH demonstrates his glory and holiness in his salvation and love for us; and (10) YHWH’s holy presence is immediate, near, and universal. Visions of God in Ezekiel is available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle formats.
Rebecca Basdeo Hill is a Lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, Tennessee, USA. She is a native of Trinidad, where she grew up in a pastor’s home. Her education includes the BA from Lee University, the MDiv from the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, and the DTh from the University of South Africa. She is married to Jason Hill, and they have served together as youth pastors.
In this inspiring new book, Pentecostal historian Cornelis van der Laan tells the remarkable story of Margaretha Adriana Alt, the mother of the Indonesian Pentecostal Mission. Beginning with her origins in the Netherlands, conversion experience, early training in music and nursing, and her romantic relationship, van der Laan traces her journey to Indonesia. Surrendering fully to the call of God upon her life, she cancels her engagement to be married and devotes her life to caring for those on the margins of society. Experiencing Spirit baptism, Alt becomes an early and very influential leader in the burgeoning Pentecostal movement, where she would encounter obstacles to and prejudices against women in ministry. Her ministry would include the establishment of orphanages, Christian communities, schools, imprisonment, publishing, poetry and hymnody, as well as considerable evangelistic work. The use of period photography helps to tell this compelling story of this most extraordinary person. Cornelis van der Laan (PhD, University of Birmingham) is the Professor of Pentecostalism at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The book, entitled Margaretha Adriana Alt, is published by CPT Press and is available on amazon.com.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a sacramental encounter. The embodied spirituality of Pentecostalism, expressed in the doctrine of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, suggests that Pentecostalism is essentially sacramental. Sacraments are spiritual graces and those who participate in faith encounter the “real presence” of Christ through the Holy Spirit. As we approach the altar to participate in sacramental worship, we do so “in the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit makes us aware of heavenly realities, and we experience heavenly mysteries.
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In this study of the book of Psalms, Lee Roy Martin advances a rhetorical approach to interpretation that appreciates the forms, the figurative language, and the affective dimension of the biblical text. He argues that the function of poetry is to evoke (and provoke) the passions and to form the affections. The study of the Psalms, therefore, can benefit from a hermeneutic that appreciates the affective component of the text and that takes full advantage...
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This short but powerful volume addresses the important role of sanctification in the lives of believers. It aims to motivate Christians and aid them in advancing on their journey toward holy love and Christlikeness. Randy Howard and Tony Richie speak as third-generation ministers in the Holiness-Pentecostal tradition where sanctification as a second blessing has been securely anchored for several generations. Unfortunately, the experience of sanctification, teaching on sanctification, and the pursuit of holiness have all but disappeared from the contemporary church. Advancing a conversation on how holiness and sanctification is a critical need of the Church, Howard and Richie suggest ways that holiness might be freshly packaged for a new day, new presentation, new culture, and new generation. This exploration is aided by taking a new look at John Wesley’s contagious vision and passion for holiness and sanctification. Believers, churches, pastors, and leaders will find in these pages constructive ideas, practical recommendations, and concrete steps toward the pursuit of holiness and sanctification.
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This work develops a Classical Pentecostal theology of religions that utilizes their tradition of testimony as a pneumatological paradigm for interreligious encounter and dialogue. The author shows that Pentecostals have the opportunity of using their historic practice of personal testimony as a public form of Spirit-inspired speech for engaging in interfaith conversations. This study examines the contemporary setting of cultural diversity and religious plurality that is fast becoming typically descriptive of a world increasingly characterized by globalization with a focus on issues involving Pentecostals, especially with its strong heritage of evangelism and missions, generally conservative ethical and theological history, and undeniable multicultural variety. Its context is the United States, but its conversation is global.
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A topic of ever increasing importance, theology of religions requires Spirit-gifted and Spirit-attuned reflection, reasoning, and discernment. Religiously motivated violence is precipitating an international security crisis. Even in relatively peaceful environs, globalization has contributed to the unprecedented co-existence of peoples of cultural diversity and religious plurality. In particular, global Pentecostalism blends diverse social, racial, economic, and national groups together with diverse religious and intellectual traditions. Such complexities point to a need for an intentional and articulate Pentecostal theology of religions as a consistent and coherent guide for living and ministering in a world of multiple religious faiths. The conversation of this book is framed by the transformative encounter of the Jewish Christian apostle, Peter, and the Gentile pagan convert, Cornelius (Acts 10). It confronts straightforwardly the reality of non-Christian religions and calls for a substantive Pentecostal response. It rejects the relativistic ideology of religious pluralism. More than that, drawing from classical Pentecostal heritage and engaging leading contemporary theologians, it presents a viable alternative to pluralistic philosophy. The result is a distinctively Pentecostal theology of religions marked by high Christology and robust pneumatology with a strong sense of ecclesial mission through evangelism and dialogue.
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For most Pentecostal churches, the altar call is the central event of the worship service. Sinners are encouraged to come forward to the altar to "pray through" to salvation. Believers are encouraged to come to the altar to pray for sanctification, or to "pray through" to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. During the altar service, those who are sick, or otherwise in need, are encouraged to come to the altar. There the church elders will anoint with oil, lay their hands upon the sick, and pray for healing.
Witness is a spiritually enriching study of the Book of Daniel that can be used by an individual, a small group, or a church class. Using a “hands-on” approach to Bible study, the readers will discover the riches of Daniel as they are guided step-by-step through the Scripture.
In this ground-breaking work, Daniel Alvarez draws upon his significant pastoral experience and his academic training to develop a Pentecostal theology of immigration. Seeking to place the concepts of mestizaje (‘intermixture’) and hibridez (‘racial and cultural intermixture’) into conversation in order to construct a pneumatological approach to the issue of immigration; specifically, undocumented immigration. Through dialogue with mestizaje the author seeks to come to terms with undocumented immigration and to propose a genesis of a theology of undocumented immigration....
