Speaking in Tongues and the Mission of God Ad Gentes

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Richard Bliese
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Missio Dei ◽  
Mission Of God ◽  
Speaking In Tongues ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
God's Mission ◽  
Full Immersion ◽  
The Church ◽  
New View

AbstractThe Pentecostal and Charismatic movements have assisted many denominations, including Lutherans, with the call to mission by challenging them with a new view of the Holy Spirit. A full immersion in these movements along with a firm grounding in the tradition will lead to a fuller grasp of what the Spirit is doing in the world. This article reviews two prominent Lutheran theologians who have shaped a whole generation of leaders concerning the Holy Spirit: Robert Jenson and Larry Christenson. In response to their work, I will explore how the work of the Spirit can be understood when framed within God's mission (the missio Dei). The call to mission is central. The church emerges as it engages in the missionary activity of witness and sanctification. This is the story of Acts. It is the story of the Spirit. The church's missionary call is to speak in tongues.

scholarly journals A missional perspective on funerals and bereavement counselling

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Kotze ◽  
C.J.P. Niemandt
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Missio Dei ◽  
Missional Ecclesiology ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
God's Mission ◽  
Kingdom Of Christ ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

This article deals with the importance of a missional approach to the funeral and bereavement counselling process in congregational praxis in the midst of a context of secularisation. The creation of a missional perspective on the funeral and bereavement counselling could support the nature and praxis of a congregation in a secular society, especially if the congregation finds its relevance in the expression of the missio Dei. The basic theoretical research for missional ecclesiology, which is the systematic study directed toward greater knowledge of the fundamental aspects of missional ecclesiology (National Science Foundation 1953:38), is based on the premise that God is the source of all missions. The expression missio Dei means to join God in the mission he is already busy with in the world. As the one who sends, God the Father sends the Son, the Son sends the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit sends the church. The church only participates in the mission God is already busy with. It is a mission that uses both words and deeds and brings hope in the midst of tragedy. It is the hope of the kingdom of God and the incarnation of Christ that can already be experienced and expressed in the present. It is also the hope of the transformation of everything to form a new heaven and earth. Hope and mission can therefore not be separated. The concretisation of the expression of the kingdom of Christ in the world is hope, and a strong emphasis is therefore placed on mission as action in hope. Hope must be present where tragedy reigns, and the funeral and bereavement counselling can be used as a vehicle for this hope. Hope can then become an instrument of healing. The church can thus participate in God’s mission in the midst of tragedy and make an impact on society by taking on a missional character of hope.

scholarly journals Menuju Gereja Apostolik Transformatif

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Gernaida K. R. Pakpahan ◽  
Frans Pantan ◽  
Epafras Djohan Handojo
Keyword(s):  
Church Growth ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Leadership Training ◽  
Senior Pastors ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
God's Mission ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
The Church ◽  
Apostolic Church

Peter Wagner, as an expert on church growth, stated that the Apostolic church is a church that is experiencing rapid growth. This claim is made because many Apostolic churches have been built around the world. The church continued the spirit of the apostles at the time of the early church's birth. However, it is important to conduct an in-depth study regarding the realization in the field; whether a thriving Apostolic church is carrying out God's mission or the personal ambition of a charismatic church leader. This study analyzes how the church which is said to be an Apostolic church runs its organization so that it experiences significant growth. The research method used is descriptive qualitative. The researcher tries to explore the phenomena and data obtained through respondents about the transformative apostolic church that was developed in the ministry of the Indonesian Bethel Church of Gatot Subroto. In conclusion, GBI Gatot Subroto is a transformative apostolic church, because of several things, such as a visionary church, senior pastors or mentor pastors as apostolic leaders, divine authority and the work of the Holy Spirit have an impact, the church as a center for leadership training and discipleship across generations implements apostolic ministry followed by other gifts/services, prioritizing mission, and focusing on the Kingdom of God.AbstrakPeter Wagner, sebagai salah satu ahli pertumbuhan gereja, menyatakan bahwa gereja Apostolik adalah gereja yang mengalami pertumbuhan secara pesat. Klaim ini disampaikan karena banyak-nya terbangun gereja-gereja beraliran Apostolik di seluruh dunia. Gereja tersebut melanjutkan semangat para rasul pada masa lahirnya gereja mula-mula. Namun, penting untuk dilakukan kajian mendalam terkait realisasi di lapangan; apakah gereja Apostolik yang berkembang menja-lankan misi Allah atau ambisi pribadi dari pemimpin gereja yang berkharismatik. Penelitian ini menganalisis bagaimana gereja yang dikatakan sebagai gereja Apostolik menjalankan organisa-sinya, sehingga mengalami pertumbuhan yang signifikan. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah kualitatif deskriptif. Peneliti berusaha mengeksplorasi fenomena dan data-data yang diperoleh melalui responden tentang gereja apostolik transformatif yang dikembangkan dalam pelayanan Gereja Bethel Indonesia Gatot Subroto. Kesimpu-lannya, GBI Gatot Subroto adalah gereja apostolik transformatif, karena beberapa hal, seperti: gereja yang visioner, gembala senior atau gembala pembina sebagai pemimpin kerasulan, otoritas Ilahi dan pekerjaan Roh Kudus berdampak, gereja sebagai pusat pelatihan kepemimpinan dan pemuridan lintas generasi, menerap-kan jawatan rasuli diikuti karunia-karunia/jawatan lainnya, memprioritaskan misi, dan berfokus pada Kerajaan Allah.

Spiritual generosity: Biblical hospitality in the story of Lydia (Acts 16:14–16, 40)

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-63
Author(s):  
Jody B. Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Good News ◽  
Missio Dei ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Mission Of God ◽  
Cultural Boundaries ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Sacrifice ◽  
The Church

The sending of the church to spread the good news of the gospel often crosses cultural and social boundaries. This means that Christians must be sensitive to the needs of others and provide a level of hospitality to others as a means of offering respect and humbly entering their world. Hospitality is grounded in generously giving to others and receiving the blessings they offer in return. This article discusses the connection between spiritual generosity that is experienced through the work of the Holy Spirit and an example of biblical hospitality shown in the story of Lydia found in Acts 16. The context of the exchange between Lydia, a well-to-do business woman and her friends and the Pharisee-turned-follower of Christ, Paul and his missionary companions provides a biblical example of the work of the Holy Spirit in both parties. Spiritual generosity comes from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that indwells all believers, allowing the crossing of cultural boundaries to provide hospitality as a means of sharing the love of God through Christ. Hospitality is connected to spiritual generosity that assists Christians in accomplishing the missio Dei, the mission of God as a means of experiencing the kingdom of God on earth through the church. The Lydia–Paul story provides an example of how the generosity shown to humanity through the sacrifice of Christ and given to us through the Holy Spirit is directly connected to the need to extend hospitality to others as a means of accomplishing the missio Dei.

Missiology as Global Conversation of (Contextual) Theologies

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-53
Author(s):  
Kirsteen Kim
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Missio Dei ◽  
Contextual Theology ◽  
Mission Of God ◽  
Cultural Perspectives ◽  
Creation Theology ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Church

AbstractMissiology and contextual theology are related but not equivalent. Missiology arose from the study of mission activity in the former mission fields of Africa, Asia and Latin America but has come to be understood as the study of the mission of God in the whole world in which the church participates. Global and cross-cultural perspectives are essential to missiology and these challenge all theological parochialism. There is a danger that contextual theology degenerates into relativism, but in mission all theologies are challenged to recognize their own contextuality and at the same time their common Christian confession. Grounded in an understanding of missio Dei that includes a creation theology of the Holy Spirit, missiology can and should affirm contextual theologizing while encouraging and facilitating theologians from different contexts to pursue a global conversation. "Conversation" is preferred over "dialogue" because there are many partners from around the world, various means of conversing, and widely varying access to social power among the participants.

Encountering the Gospel through Confirmation

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
Terri Martinson Elton ◽  
Richard Osmer
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
God's Mission ◽  
Bear Witness ◽  
The Church

Confirmation is a ministry aimed at strengthening young people's understanding of faith, deepening their experience in Christian community, and equipping them to discern their calling to join in God's mission in the world. As the church engages in confirmation, young people encounter the gospel anew and congregations bear witness to the redemptive love of God and the covenant of grace into which all Christians are baptized. Learning from and with each other, within and across denominations, enhances confirmation as a discipleship ministry for young people. But it does more than that. As the body of Christ comes together to help young people encounter the gospel anew, lives are changed and become open to the Holy Spirit. Embracing our call to share the gospel and cultivate faith within young people not only serves the church today, it invests in the future.

Ghanaian Pentecostal Churches’ Mission Approaches

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter White ◽  
Cornelius J.P. Niemandt
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Mission Of God ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
God's Mission ◽  
World Council ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
The Church

Mission is first and foremost about God and God’s historical redemptive initiative on behalf of creation. In this regard, the Third Lausanne Congress affirms that the Church is called to witness to Christ today by sharing in God’s mission of love through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. The World Council of Churches states that ‘all Christians, churches and congregations are called to be vibrant messengers of the gospel of Jesus Christ’. How the Church participates in the mission of God is a question on which one should reflect. This article therefore discusses the mission approaches of Ghanaian Pentecostal churches. The article begins with a description of the Ghanaian mission strategic plan, their spiritual approach to mission, and then proceeds with other approaches in the light of Walls’ ‘five marks of mission’ (i.e. evangelism, discipleship, responding to the social needs of people through love, transforming the unjust structures of society, and safe-guarding the integrity of creation) and Krintzinger’s (and others’) holistic mission approach (i.e. kerygmatic, diaconal, fellowship, and liturgical). This article argues that mission should be approached with a careful strategy.

scholarly journals The use of the term ‘DNA’ as a missiological metaphor in contemporary Church narratives

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Missio Dei ◽  
Local Churches ◽  
The Gift ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
God's Mission ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Large Churches ◽  
The Church

Missiologists propose that the Church and mission are inseparable as the Church has its very being because there is mission, and it is the Missio Dei which constitutes the Church. In recent history the Anglican Church has interpreted this as the essential ‘DNA’ of the local church which is to be a missional community. The church’s mission therefore is presented as the gift of participating through the Holy Spirit in the Son’s mission from the Father to the world. In other words, it is proposed that the Church is both the fruit of God’s mission and the agent of His mission. But, in order to communicate this relationship between Church and mission in a postmodern context, the use of new metaphors and new terminologies, which are derived from our contemporary context, is shaping new ways of thinking. An exploration of the development of missional churches considers the significance of developing and embedding what has become referred to as missional DNA or mDNA at every level of the organisation of the Church. This mDNA is the outward model of missional behaviour that compels the whole church to reach a lost world. It can be seen from evidence-based, case study research amongst large churches in the UK that there is consistency in the adoption and use of the term DNA by its leadership in reference to the local church’s values and its attitude towards mission. This article explores the hypothesis that the term DNA is commonly accepted amongst local churches as a contributor to a contemporary language that forms the narrative of the Church and explores its feasibility and shortcomings as an adopted missiological metaphor.

John Carroll and the Appeal to Evidence: A Pragmatic Defense of Principle

1988 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-309
Author(s):  
Joseph M. McShane
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Religious Liberty ◽  
Divine Providence ◽  
Active Intervention ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
New Republic ◽  
John Carroll ◽  
The Church

Throughout his career John Carroll supported the American religious settlement with surprising and consistent enthusiasm. Indeed, his enthusiasm for the religious liberty of the new republic seemed to be boundless. Thus he never tired of celebrating and advertising its benefits. He assured American Catholics that it was “a signal instance of [God's] mercy” and a product of the active intervention of Divine Providence and the Holy Spirit, who have “tutored the minds of men” in such a way that Catholics could now freely worship God according to the “dictates of conscience.” Flushed with pride, he even predicted that if America were wise enough to abide by the terms of this providential arrangement, the nation would become a beacon to the world, proving that “general and equal toleration…is the most effectual method to bring all denominations of Christians to an unity of faith.” Finally, confident that the extraordinary freedom accorded American Catholics would make the American church “the most flourishing portion of the church,” he urged European states and churches to follow America's inspired lead.

For the Sake of the World: Stephen B. Bevans and Johannes C. Hoekendijk in Dialogue

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-32
Author(s):  
Dale T. Irvin
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Key Points ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Inside Out ◽  
The Church

In his 1998 article titled “God Inside Out: Toward a Missionary Theology of the Holy Spirit,” Stephen Bevans referred to Johannes Hoekendijk’s 1964 publication The Church Inside Out as his starting point. This article follows Bevans’s lead in exploring Hoekendijk’s legacy and contribution to theology and mission today. At key points I draw the connection of Hoekendijk’s thinking with that of Bevans, highlighting in the end the manner in which they both agree that the church itself is not of ultimate importance to God, but the world into which the Spirit still sends us in mission.

Luke's Understanding of Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Pentecostal Dialogues with the Reformed Tradition

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-101
Author(s):  
Robert P. Menzies
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Good News ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Reformed Tradition ◽  
Spirit Baptism ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Church

AbstractIn this article, Menzies notes that Reformed theologians have tended to read Luke's writings in the light of Paul's epistles. As a result, their theological reflection on the Spirit has centered more on his work in the Word and sacraments, the 'inner witness' of the Spirit, and less on his mission to the world. Additionally, this methodology has encouraged Reformed scholars to associate the Pentecostal gift (i.e. Spirit baptism) with conversion and regeneration. However, through an examination of key passages in Luke-Acts, Menzies argues that Luke has a unique contribution to make to a holistic biblical theology of the Spirit. Luke's understanding of baptism in the Holy Spirit is different from that of Paul. It is missiological rather than soteriological in nature. The Spirit of Pentecost is, in reality, the Spirit for others - the Spirit that compels and empowers the church to bring the 'good news' of Jesus to a lost and dying world. It is this Lukan, missiological perspective that shapes a Pentecostal understanding of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Menzies concludes that the clarity and vigor of Luke's message is lost when his narrative is read through Pauline lenses. Luke has a distinctive voice and it is a voice the church needs to hear.

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