{"id":10657,"date":"2016-12-01T12:02:50","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T20:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/?p=10657"},"modified":"2016-12-01T12:02:50","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T20:02:50","slug":"the-s-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-s-factor\/","title":{"rendered":"The “S” Factor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"S-Factor-2015-Logo\"<\/a>Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pentecostals and charismatics are viewed as a unique breed of Christianity that can be either tolerated, dismissed or embraced by other Christians.\u00a0 Anyone from these two groups would trace their roots back a couple thousand years to Acts 2. \u00a0A \u201cpurist\u201d from a Pentecostal or Charismatic background, would see their mission and foundation equivalent to New Testament Church that was birthed from an Upper Room experience on the Day of Pentecost.<\/p>\n

The ebb and flow of the Pentecostal movement has now moved to cataclysmic.\u00a0 \u201cAccording to the World Encyclopedia of Christianity, <\/em>approximately a quarter of the world\u2019s Christians fit this description.\u00a0 Remarkably, whereas in 1970 less than 10 percent of Christians identified with Pentecostalism, by 2025, fully one-third may by Pentecostal.\u00a0 Since religious trends typically move at a glacial pace, this is a relatively abrupt shift in the character of the Christian community.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Miller and Yamamori spent four years researching the \u201cchurch\u2019s response to urban poverty in the developing world.\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 The basis of the research was from four hundred letters that were sent to \u201cmission experts, denominational executives, and other informed people asking for nominations of churches to study.\u00a0 Four criteria were listed in the letter to guide selection:\u00a0 1.\u00a0 be fast growing, 2. he located in the developing world, 3. have social programs addressing needs in their communities, and 4. be indigenous movements that were self-supporting not dependent on outside contributions.\u00a0 To our astonishment, nearly 85 per cent of the churches that were nominated were Pentecostal or charismatic.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

The book takes you on a world-wide quest that ranges from Singapore to Uganda, from South Africa to Thailand, from Hong Kong to Poland, from Brazil to India, and from the Philippines to Kenya.\u00a0 These countries are diverse in culture, language, religion, and economy.\u00a0 The common thread that yielded their success in ministry has been a reliance on the Holy Spirit and His manifestations.<\/p>\n

\"worshippage\"<\/a>Miller and Yamamori\u2019s research take the expression of the Holy Spirit into two areas:\u00a0 worship and speaking in tongues.\u00a0 \u201cIn some ways, this could be the lead chapter of this book, since we believe that the root of Pentecostalism social engagement is the experience of collective worship.\u00a0 It is the divine-human encounter that empowers people to help their immediate neighbor as well as engage in various community-building activities.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 In my lifetime I have watched as worship has moved from stoic to inspirational and from singing \u201cabout\u201d God to singing \u201cto\u201d God as an integral part of worship.<\/p>\n

Miller and Yamamori reference the French sociologist, agnostic, Emile Durkheim with an interesting twist on Pentecostal worship.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIn especially well-performed rituals, group members experience what Durkheim called \u2018collective effervescence\u2019 in which their individuality falls away they feel such union with the group that they come to believe that, indeed, there is \u2018something more\u2019 than the sum of the individuals who are present.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"tongues\"<\/a>Worship is the easy of the two expressions.\u00a0 Speaking in tongues is the manifestation that seems to be the stumbling block for the non-Pentecostal\/charismatic.\u00a0 It can easily be dismissed as gibberish, demonic, lack of sound teaching, and mindless activity for underprivileged people; especially those who adhere to the doctrine of cessationism.<\/p>\n

To the Pentecostal and charismatic, the ability to communicate outside of one\u2019s native language, is a deeper expression of the heart to God in intimacy.\u00a0 It may seem irrational but in their research, it was a common expression throughout the world.\u00a0 \u201cFor people accustomed to rational, linear thought patterns, speaking in tongues may make little sense, because the phenomenon is decidedly no-rational \u2013 although not necessarily irrational.\u00a0 Obviously human experience is filled with numerous non-rational\u00a0activities such as laughing, crying, or dreaming, yet we would scarcely think of removing these experiences from the human repertoire.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Miller and Yamamori use a term for Pentecostals and charismatics that depicts their dependency on the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 They call this dependency the \u201cS\u201d factor.\u00a0 The \u201cS\u201d factor sounds like another television drama mixed with sci-fi spin.\u00a0 The \u201cS\u201d factor seems to be a combination of James Bond, NCIS, and MacGyver.<\/p>\n

The \u201cS\u201d factor is the contributing agent of change in people\u2019s lives from drugs, prostitution, poverty, and other vices that can ruin and damage the human potential.\u00a0 Visiting St. Stephens Society, observing Jackie Pullinger, her staff, and the participants, one would have to conclude that there is a strong \u201cS\u201d factor prevalent and alive.\u00a0 The human nature promotes self-medication and preservation.\u00a0 The \u201cS\u201d factor reminds me that there is someone much bigger than me and my circumstances who is calling me into an intimate relationship with Him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori, Global Pentecostalism:\u00a0 The New Face of Christian Social Engagement, <\/em>(Los Angeles:\u00a0 University of California Press:\u00a0 2007), 18-19.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., 5.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., 6-7.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 132.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 133.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid., 147.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction Pentecostals and charismatics are viewed as a unique breed of Christianity that can be either tolerated, dismissed or embraced by other Christians.\u00a0 Anyone from these two groups would trace their roots back a couple thousand years to Acts 2. \u00a0A \u201cpurist\u201d from a Pentecostal or Charismatic background, would see their mission and foundation equivalent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[255,771,256],"class_list":["post-10657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-miller","tag-s-factor","tag-yamamori","cohort-lgp6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10657\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}