About ApostolicPentecostal.Com
The Miracle of Pentecost
"And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Cor 3:18, NRSV).
Transformation into the image of Christ, is a dominant theme in Holy Scripture. God desires us to become like Jesus! Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Penectostals continue the ministry of Jesus upon the earth.
A poem by St. Teresa of Avila expresses the ethos of Pentecostal faith and life.
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
ApostolicPentecostal.com provides online resources and training for pastors to enable them to continue the ministry of Jesus, be transformed into the image of Christ, and shepherd their churches to become the body of Christ that witnesses to the reality of God's salvation and fulfills the great commission.
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Proclaiming Jesus
"They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread" (Luke 24:32-35, NRSV).
Luke’s narrative of the encounter of Jesus with two disciples on the road to Emmaus continues to set hearts on fire for Jesus today. It speaks loudly to 21st-century seekers of truth desiring to encounter and know Jesus and his significance for life.
The two disciples were walking away from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Their journey took them away from the great salvation events that had just occurred in Jerusalem, the crucifixion and resurrection. They were walking away from salvation! Like Adam and Eve and all sinners, they were going in the wrong direction.
But, look what happens! Just like in Genesis 3, the Lord God comes to walk with them. Although the disciples knew the facts about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, they did not understand and walked away.
Only an encounter with Jesus created faith, brought understanding, and returned them to Jerusalem, to proclaim the resurrection and appearance of Jesus. "Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures" (Luke 24:27, NRSV).
By meeting Jesus, they learned the story of salvation.
ApostolicPentecostal.Com proclaims Jesus and desires all to encounter Jesus, understand the fullness of salvation he brings, and discover the meaning of life.
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Engaging Culture
“Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” ( Acts 17:22-23, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul did not shy away from engaging the cultures of his day. In Athens, he spoke in the synagogue, in the marketplace, and in front of the Aerogapus. Paul chose to engage the ideas of the leading philosophers, the Stoics, and Epicureans. The speech before the Aerogapus is decidedly different from other speeches in Acts.
In Antioch, Paul addressed Israelites by chronicling the history of the descendants of Abraham and showing its culmination in the salvation brought by Jesus Christ (Acts 13:16-47). Upon encountering disciples of John the Baptist in Ephesus, Paul spoke to them about the importance of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2-4). For his discourse in Rome, Paul testified to the kingdom of God, attempting to convince them about Jesus from the law of Moses and the prophets (Acts 28:23).
Paul contextualized the message of Jesus, presenting the gospel in words and concepts appropriate for the audience he was addressing. Paul did not affirm the false gods of the Athenians but challenged them. When Paul proclaimed, “the God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands,” the message to the Athenians was clear (Acts 17:24). The Parthenon temple dedicated to the goddess Athena was not the dwelling place of the one true God revealed in Jesus. The massive sculpture of Athena was not the image of a deity. They represented “times of human ignorance” that needed replacing with the gospel’s message (Acts 17:30-31).
ApostolicPentecostal.Com believes in “Acts 29,” the continuing ministry of Jesus Christ in the world through the Holy Spirit that engages and evangelizes cultures. Like Paul, we seek to contextualize our message, to communicate the gospel in words and concepts appropriate for the culture in which it is proclaimed, that the culture might encounter Jesus, hear his voice, and be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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