This week, more on Azusa Street, from Jack Hayford and S. David Moore's The Charismatic Century.

Picking back up on page 81, we learn that the revival's beginning in early 1906, at the Apostolic Faith Mission on Azusa Street came at a time of robust growth for Los Angeles. The city had grown to about 230,000, and at least a third of them attended church, with more attending the "newer sectarian groups." (82) 

Before William Seymour arrived in town, the authors tell us that many believers in the city - inspired by accounts of the 1904-05 revival in Wales - had been praying for a similar revival in L.A. A Baptist pastor, Joseph Smale, traveled to Wales in 1905 to see it for himself, and came back with a fervor for renewal that forced him to leave his church to start a new church with an emphasis on evangelical preaching and teaching and Pentecostal life and service. Frank Bartleman, one of the historians of Azusa Street, had corresponded with the leader of the Wales revival, Evan Roberts, and was a member of Smale's new church. (82-83)

By the summer of 1906, revival was spreading across the area, with Smale's church being one of several new churches that had sprung up in response to the ongoings at Azusa Street. (83)

Seymour, facing the struggles of trying to pastor the revival, wrote to his mentor, Charles Parham, reporting on the events in California and asking him to come west to help "set things in order." Seymour began to organize the revival and set up a "Board of Twelve" to provide leadership and local control for the Apostolic Faith Mission: in turn, he received some criticism, particularly from certain holiness groups, but also from more mainstream churches. Also, Bartleman, distrusting of religious institutions and denominations, chose to leave. (84)

Seymour eagerly awaited Parham's arrival, which would come that October. Parham had heard the positive reports from Seymour as well as other reports bringing up excessive emotionalism; mindful of past criticisms of his revival in Topeka, Parham was ready to assert his control over the revival. On attending his first meeting, he observed what he thought to be extreme behaviors of worshippers, calling them "animalism" and telling Seymour and the congregation that "God is sick to His stomach" at such behavior.

Parham believed that mission workers were manipulating people who came forward seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit and that the tongues at Azusa Street were the work of emotional hypnotism; he also did not want his work ridiculed for the work of "fanatics" who accepted "chattering, jabbering wind-sucking, and jerking fits" as evidence of Spirit baptism. (85-86)

Parham was also put off at mingling between whites and African-Americans at the revival and, years later, wrote of his disgust as men and women, black and white, "knelt together or fell across one another" and used a racial epithet in describing a white woman of "culture" shaking in "freak imitation of Holocaust" being thrown back into the arms of a black man. (86)

So, Parham tried to take over the work: he was resisted by Seymour and his leadership team, and was asked to leave. In disgust, he started his L.A. mission five blocks away at the Women's Christian Temperance Hall. Moore says

It would be a fair assessment to say that Parham lost his place of influence over the young emerging Pentecostal movement with his stance in the fall of 1906. (86)

Parham's work closed in 1907, after a scandal emerged about his alleged indiscretion. (86) 

Seymour and his leadership team established a new organization separate from Parham, and affirmed in the December 1906 issue of The Apostolic Faith newspaper that Parham was not the leader of the "movement of Azusa Mission." The article also said that in the past Parham was the leader, before a time of "waiting on the Lord" and their movement was led not by any man, but the Lord, with Seymour being the "humble pastor of the flock." A variation of this statement (one common assertion being "The Holy Spirit is our founder") would be the standard position taken by early generations of Pentecostals. (86-87)

The authors assert that this is not true, in the sense that Parham and Seymour had key roles in the formation of modern Pentecostalism, but it is true that Pentecostalism has had "multiple companies of creative, savvy leaders" to propel it "into the force that it is". (87) 

Next: More on Seymour's role in leading the revival, and the revival spreads and comes to its end. 

Bonus

Here are some additional resources to read regarding Azusa Street:

A history of the revival from the Assemblies of God.

A website for the revival.

Wikipedia article on services and worship at Azusa Street.

Note: This is a expanded version of something I recently posted over at Phoenix Preacher.

Long, long ago I heard the admonition that one does not want to know how bologna is made.

I much more recently heard that analogy used in regards to church politics.

I suspect that includes, in various denominations and networks of independent pastors, discussions about how to make bologna, and perhaps who to make it with. You know, which men of God make good, Godly bologna, and which ones have bologna that is anathema, or from the pit of hell, or merely from the world.

I’m sure that there are great disagreements amongst these leaders about who makes good bologna, and who doesn’t, and how best to make good bologna.

I know there are discussions, seminars, books, podcasts and such by leaders about how to make great bologna that will get to their target audience, a specific demographic.  Resources about being culturally relevant and how to make the best use of pop culture and secular business practices by church leaders and managers.

Meanwhile, church attendance is falling off and there are tons of antedoctal stories about people getting screwed over and screwed up by “godly” Christians and in “godly” churches.

There's barely any recognition overall about people hurt by the church, and almost no resources of any kind about how to help these folks. 

When that pop culture, family friendly, upper middle class, Southern Baptist, charismatic, Calvary, megachurch, evangelical, fundamentalist flavored loaf of bologna makes to the shelves - do we have the guts to wonder about how it was made, and what cost somebody might have paid that they shouldn't have had to pay?  

Maybe it’s finally time to change just how we make bologna in the church.

I have got to stop reading the news. I keep on telling myself this but I am nonetheless a news fiend. Today, I read something that made my jaw drop a few times. The headline caught me right away: “Annual Polygamy Summit.” What in the world is that?

It was held in St. George, Utah and the big topic of discussion with the law enforcement officials present was whether or not the communities practicing polygamy would be subject to raids, such as happened recently in Texas. While I can understand that in part, I was taken aback by how much approval polygamy was getting in the context of the article. And then I read this:

Some polygamists are trying to distance themselves from the FLDS, abuse, and underage marriages; instead promoting what they believe is a lifestyle between consenting adults and one they want decriminalized. Ann Wilde, with the Principle Voices of Polygamy, said, "What we are hoping that people will understand, we are an alternative lifestyle that should be considered fairly and equally as far as civil rights goes."

ACK… two of the phrases that accompany unrepentant sin in the same paragraph: consenting adults and alternative lifestyle. I was blown away. When does sin remain sin?

But then I thought about it. Do I do this? Do I get involved in gossip and tearing down of people when I let my friends vent their frustrations to me? Do I scoff at other people because they can’t possibly know as much as I do about a subject? I do. And I do these things without thinking but it is sin all the same. I have let some sin become familiar in my life and it is not often I see what I am doing as sin.

That’s one of the reasons I love Jesus. He always sends His Spirit to convict me of my sin and since He is consistent about it, I get the hint eventually. That’s why although I can recognize the sin that I wrote about above but I really cannot cast a stone. I may not be in a plural marriage (and neither would I promote that) but I have plenty of sin on my own that needs to be dealt with.

Does that mean not taking a stand on such things as underage marriage and adultery? Of course not. We just need to remember we are still sinners and that we need grace and humility every day. In short, we need to stop making our pet sins OK in our lives and in the lives of others. No wonder we don’t look any different from the world; we are doing the same things they are and with as much consideration for our eternal souls.

Grace is not cheap. Blood, rich and precious, was spilled for our souls and we need to remind ourselves of that daily at the foot of the cross. In terms of lifestyle, the alternative of living a life apart from Christ is death. Our society is very soft on sin and accountability. Christians, let's go against the flow and live openly the godly lifestyle we were intended to.

Pray without ceasing, ~1 Thessalonians 5:17

Please let us know how we can pray for you.  

How was church this weekend? 

To all our moms

HAPPY MOM'S DAY!! 

A farm needs to have objectives.  The produce may grow on its own for a while, but before long, the weeds, pests, elements, and entropy take their toll. The owner of the farm may be an inspiring speaker and leader, but unless he can organize the workers and coordinate their efforts, the farm will fall into ruin.

So far, we have talked about the importance of setting corporate objectives. For a farm, this could be something like “grow and sell delicious apples.”  For a church it might be, “Help followers of Jesus grow in spiritual maturity.”

We’ve taken time to describe some (but not all) characteristics of a mature disciple, but I think the farm illustration may be easier for us to work with for now.  The farmer spent some time thinking about what it meant to grow and sell delicious apples.  The apples should have an ideal appearance, a distinctive and pleasant taste, freedom from worms, and be in abundant supply. There are things that he will have to do to ensure that each tree will produce such fruit.  But that’s not enough: the trees will rot in the orchard if he doesn’t have an efficient means of picking them and getting them to the market on time.

If the farmer lives by himself on the farm, and only has a few apple trees, he might decide on a day-to-day basis what to do on the farm. “Well, I think it’s time to spray for bugs.” “Maybe I’ll mend that fence today.” This would normally involve some forethought, or he might end up without a running truck, or be missing some supplies at a crucial time. 

[more…]

(Image from Wikipedia) 

In Jack Hayford and S. David Moore's book The Charismatic Century, we arrive at the event that probably kickstarted the charismatic and Pentecostal movements in the United States: Azusa Street.

This week, we'll take a look at the revival, focusing on what would happen in the various meetings. Next week, we'll look at the revival's growth, and its lasting influence.

On February 22, 1906, William Seymour - a black man who had learned from the teachings of Charles Parham, despite being forced to sit outside the doorway due to Jim Crow laws - arrived in Los Angeles to pastor the Ninth and Santa Fe mission congregation.

Seymour was born in Louisiana in 1870 to two former slaves and was raised a Baptist. He lived in Indianapolis as a very young child, and then moved to Cincinnati, where he grew up. Like Parham, Seymour struggled with a call to preach, then contracted smallpox and lost sight in one eye, and attached significance to the illnesses in that he felt like God was judging him for entering the ministry.

He moved to Houston, Texas, in 1902 or 1903, then went to Mississippi in 1904 or 1905 to get direction from African-American church leader Charles Price Jones (a founder of the Church of God in Christ). Seymour returned to Houston in 1905 and  was asked to take over a small holiness church by its pastor, Lucy Farrow, who introduced Seymour to Parham. Seymour "embraced the notion" from Parham that baptism in the Holy Spirit is distinct from sanctification and evidence by speaking in tongues.

Seymour soon met L.A. native Neeley Terry (who was visiting Houston), and when she returned home she encouraged the small holiness mission she worshipped in to invite Seymour to assist with its work. Julia Hutchins contacted Seymour with an invitation to come to L.A. and, against Parham's advice, he accepted. (74-76)

Seymour's first sermon at Hutchins' church came from Acts 2:4 and he preached what Parham had in Houston, the message that speaking in tongues was Biblical evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Seymour told the church that sanctification was the second step, after salvation, in cleansing the heart and preparing it for a "mighty Spirit baptism" with tongues as evidence; unless you spoke in tongues, you weren't filled with the Spirit.

The congregation's leadership did not agree with Seymour's message. Hutchins arranged a meeting with Southern California Holiness Association leaders, who determined that Seymour's message was counter to holiness doctrine, and Seymour found himself locked out of the church. He found a temporary home with members of the church and ended up continuing his meetings in another man's home. (72)

Over a few weeks Seymour and his small group earnestly prayed for a Los Angeles-area revival. Before a meeting in early April, Seymour prayed for Mr. Edward Lee -  the man who, with his wife, had housed Seymour after he lost his pastorate.

Lee, who was ill but didn't want to miss the prayer meeting, broke out speaking in tongues. At the meeting, as Lee and Seymour told the people of Lee's experience, several people fell to the floor and themselves began speaking in tongues.

Crowds began to gather at the nightly meetings at 214 (now 216) North Bonnie Brae Street. Soon the decision was made to move to 312 Azusa Street, in the black section of L.A. near downtown. The building was in disrepair, but the people worked quickly to clean it up, and services were ready by Easter. The second story of the building was designated as an upper room for Spirit baptism.

The group, known as the Apostolic Faith Mission, held its first meeting in April. A Los Angeles Daily Times article on April 18 mentioned the people as preaching "the wildest doctrines…(working) themselves into a state of mad excitement in their pecuilar zeal…(spending) hours swaying forth and back in a nerve-wracking attitude of prayer and supplication. They claim to have 'the gift of tongues' and to be able to comprehend the babel." (p. 76-77)

While the Los Angeles Daily Times article was negative, other accounts would be more sympathetic towards the revival. Holiness preacher Frank Bartleman was one who gave a more positive account, going so far as to say the revival showed the "Spirit born again in a humble 'stable', outside ecclesiastical establishments as usual." (78).

The writers of The Charismatic Century noted that if the early meetings lacked large numbers they never lacked enthusiasm. (78) For example, the meetings began about 10 a.m. and went on late into the evening, sometimes until 2 or 3 a.m.; several altar calls were made each day, with salvations and baptism of the Holy Spirit at each one; the meetings becan with testimonies, singing and prayer, followed by a sermon by Seymour that sometimes lasted an hour, usually much shorter than that; and people jumped, shouted, shook, jerked, danced, sang and spoke in tongues. (78)

Sometimes, the entire congregation was silent, and Seymour did his best to make room for the Holy Spirit to move. (78)

After the meetings, the people would rise and "flock to the altars…coming to the altar they fall prostrate under the power of God and often come out speaking in tongues." (79) Sick people would be taken upstairs to a special room to be prayed for; others would go to a separate room for the baptism of the Spirit. Spontaneity was the order of the day; no formal offerings were taken, though metal "mailboxes" were set up along walls inside the building with a simple note: "settle with the Lord". (79)

By summer the revival was attracting 350 people on several occasions and sometimes 700. The racial and socioeconomic mix was diverse, with Bartleman summarizing it by writing "The 'color line' was washed away by the blood". (79-80) However, more white people than non-white came, although the revival's leader, Seymour, was African-American.

There were stories of tongues being spoken in actual human languages; this was consistent with what Seymour was taught by his mentor, William Parham, about tongues being a tool to enable missionaries to proclaim the gospel in human languages never learned. Though Parham's theory was largely disproved by reports of missionaries coming back from the field having failed in their attempts to use tongues to bypass learning a language, the Azusa Street revival still asserted that God gave, through tongues, the ability to learn various foreign languages including Greek, Hebrew, native American languages and the deaf mute language. (81)

A Note from ERunner:

E-Fest update….   I have some pretty concrete information that I hope works for everyone interested in attending.  Be there or be square!

We are going to meet on Saturday, June 21st at Poiema Chapel.  Directions will be forthcoming as mapquest may not do the trick!  We are looking at folks arriving around 11 and possibly eating at noon or so. Food will be catered so we will have to decide how to satisfy everyone which I'm thinking won't be too difficult.

Last year Oden was kind enough to lead us in worship and maybe he will again. Maybe a Pastor who attends might want to bring a little something to share with us?? 

We will be working now on seeking to verify our list so please respond here even if you already have. Indicate if you are bringing anyone which is totally acceptable. If $$  is an issue for you, please e-mail me at erunner54@yahoo.com and we will get that taken care of.

If you are wondering what this kind of gathering will be like, please attend and find out. Last year we were all very at home and comfortable and being at our church should make folks even more comfortable this year.

Bob Sweat has asked to share a new song he has written for us all!  Maybe Oden will have open mike!

Any questions….  fire away. Looking forward to a great time with all who attend.

~ERunner 

Continuing our profile of a mature disciple, let’s examine some of the other characteristics that were listed last week. We’ve already discussed how a mature follower of Jesus:

• Can rightly divide the Word
• Ignores the world’s influence
• Is stable
• Is focused on Jesus

Remember that as a part of our exercise of setting objectives for a church body, we’re not yet easy to start talking about how to help believers get there, just what the target is.  We also want to make sure that these targets are measurable, so we can gauge our progress, and to make them as definite and as objective as we can, so as to avoid confusion.

So let’s continue the list – a spiritually mature follower of Jesus:

Is continually growing closer to Jesus

This is true, but it can also lead us to a circular loop where we really don’t define what we’re talking about.  A disciple who is growing in spiritual maturity is one who is growing closer to Jesus, so I think it’s best if we left this item out of our final list of objectives.

Is nurturing

Mature followers of Jesus should be helping other believers along in their walk.  A sign of maturity is the willingness to help the less mature. In a church setting this could be measured by examining how many (or what percentage) of people are participating in growth or discipleship programs, especially where they have a chance to mentor or interact with those younger in the faith.

Admonishes others

Admonishing a brother should probably be done in private, so I think we should leave this off of our list of corporate objectives.

Prays

How can we measure how well our church is helping its members spend more and better time in prayer? This is also a fairly private thing, but it could be gauged by responses to surveys or a count of prayer and praise submissions.

Studies Scripture

A survey might help us here as well, or perhaps a count of study guides sold in the church bookstore, or attendance at Bible studies.  These wouldn’t be perfect measures due to the many factors that could influence changing patterns, but they could help us identify areas requiring attention.

Tells others about Christ

Evangelism is an important part of discipleship.  We could count how many conversions are reported that are the result of personal witnessing, or how many are attending evangelism classes.  This should be one of the most important roles of the organized church: teaching believers how to share their faith.  Sadly, we rely far too much on the Sunday sermon and the altar call, and special events aimed at getting new faces in the door.  Instead of teaching people how be catchers of fish, we try to get them to act as aquatic traffic directors who politely point the fish the way to the nets.

Is humble

This is a tough one.  Is there a risk of falling if we try to measure our increasing humility?  This is probably something best taught be example.  And what American church aspires to be known for its humility?  No – we want to show off our prosperity, success and blessings of God for our wise choices, so that we can “win” others to Christ.

Has the heart of a servant

We could measure servanthood by personal contributions of time and money, but I fear that the risks of accompanying pride and avarice could make this a counter-productive objective.

Is teachable

I suppose that teachable students will learn in time, so I think this attribute is better measured by other attributes.

 Is content

Contentment is hard to measure.  This might be another case where we want to look at the absence of the negative: restless, random movements, failed efforts, high small group turnover, project participation that quickly falls off, etc.

Own up to and seek to right their mistakes

I’m not sure we want to keep statistics on people’s mistakes, so while this may be a good objective, I think it’s best covered under other discipleship or teaching objectives.

Is patient

Another one that may be better to track by it’s opposite, but I’m also not sure we want to track evidence of people’s impatience.

Listens

Count the number of people who fall asleep during the service?

Encourages

How can we better encourage people to become encouragers? I’d encourage you to think about this one some more…

Richard Phillips, the senior minister of Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina, has written a short book on the five points of Calvinism and sovereignty of God titled What's So Great About the Doctrines of Grace which serves as an explanation and defense of those six topics.

Phillips loves the five points of Calvinism, or "doctrines of grace," because of what he said is their marvelous theme: "the sovereign grace of God for unworthy sinners." (pg. xi)

It is with this theme in mind that Phillips addresses what he believes is so great about the sovereignty of God and each of the five points of Calvinism.

In this short book, Phillips tells his readers what is so great about those five points - total depravity; unconditional election; limited atonement; irresistible grace; and the perseverance of the saints - and the sovereignty of God, another doctrine central to Calvinistic/Reformed ideology.

He's writing to people interested in or scared by Reformed theology, and Phillips aims to explain the basics in a brief and direct manner while accomplishing two things: present each doctrine as truth according to the one source that all Christians are supposed to default to regarding any subject - Scripture - and to help other Christians "feel the power of these precious truths in their lives." (xii)

This is also intended to be a short but concise explanation of Reformed theology for someone looking to know what it is (really) all about.

Does he do this? Yes.

Phillips's book works well as a brief, comprehensive primer on Calvinistic/Reformed theology. He thoroughly explains, in less than 100 pages, each of the five points of Calvinism, as well as the sovereignty of God, and  just why they are so "great".

He is more than thorough on each of the six topics for someone looking to understand the basics of Reformed theology or brush up on those basics.

If you have the spare $$, go check it out at your local bookstore or at Amazon, christianbook.com, Monergism (buy from the PP homepage) or the publisher, Reformation Trust.