{"id":10725,"date":"2016-12-01T16:00:33","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T00:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/?p=10725"},"modified":"2016-12-01T16:00:33","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02T00:00:33","slug":"the-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-engine\/","title":{"rendered":"The Engine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe major engine driving this transformation [of the demographics of Christendom] is Pentecostalism…The engine of Pentecostalism is its worship.\u201d This is the bold claim of Drs. Donald Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori in their book, Global Pentecostalism: The new Face of Christian Social Engagement.<\/em> [1]<\/p>\n

In a well documented and readable volume these two men present the findings of a four year, twenty nation study of the Pentecostal movement and its holistic ministry. As they trace a brief history of Pentecostals they describe the distinctives of an emergent movement within Pentecostalism. They created \u201ca new term to define ths movement, which is Progressive Pentecostalism,\u201d defining Progressive Pentecostals as, \u201cChristians who claim to be inspired by the Holy spirit and the life of Jesus and seek to holistically address the spiritual, physical, and social needs of people in their community.\u201d [2]<\/p>\n

Miller and Yamamori state, \u201c…the thesis of this book is that some of the most innovative social programs in the world are being initiated by fast-growing Pentecostal churches.\u201d [3] The authors distinguish this work as being \u201cdifferent from either the Social Gospel or Liberation Theology. With a few exceptions, it is relatively nonpolitical.\u201d [4]<\/p>\n

Their intent in writing is clear. \u201cThe central question of this book is whether Pentecostalism in all of its different manifestations can have an impact on the many problems facing our world, and especially developing nations. Our answer to this question is a qualified \u2018yes,\u2019…\u201d [5]<\/p>\n

As Miller and Yamamori praise the Progressive Pentecostal movement, one odd aspect of their writing is that at least three times, they repeat a similar phrase: \u201cAt the risk of being accused of having gone native<\/em><\/strong> [emphasis mine]…\u201d [6] For some reason they seem to feel the need to make sure their readers don\u2019t think they\u2019ve been swept up into the Pentecostal movement. Whether this is restated defensively, or in order to maintain an air of objectivity is not clear. But they seem to need to be clear on this point.<\/p>\n

The authors wrote, \u201c…we see a blend of functional and substantive reasons for the growth of the movement. Some of these explanations fit neatly in the deprivation box of religion as a compensation for the misery and pain of life.\u201d [7]<\/p>\n

Since 2005 I have made four trips to Uganda and two to Liberia and have observed an intriguing ecstacy in the worship life of Christians. I have watched and contemplated what I see, trying to understand their rapture. This past August, during a personally emotionally low period half way through my month in Uganda it became clearer, when I found myself alone and isolated from virtually everything familiar and comfortable. It was then that I realized the down side of living a life filled with material blessing.<\/p>\n

My language to describe this phenomenon and analysis of worship would not follow the line of \u201cdeprivation\u201d as though God were saying, \u201cyou\u2019ve had a tough life and have been good. Here\u2019s your reward; here\u2019s some compensation.\u201d Rather, the spiritually deep connection I observe occurs in life-contexts of few, or no \u201cdistractions.\u201d What we might call \u201cdeprivation\u201d is also the absence of the myriad of things that vie for our attention in wealthy America. We humans see what is in front of us. If what we see is material blessing, then that is what we look at. Absent the distraction of wealth, we are forced to look beyond material blessing and have less that \u201cgets in the way\u201d of seeing God.<\/p>\n

My conclusion is not that the misery is simply replaced with an emotional high or a distraction, but rather that without pleasure and comfort, the worshipers actually experience God at a deeper and more profound level.<\/p>\n

A second point of personal connection came in the description of Kampala Pentecostal Church. \u201c…church members have created a series of villages…and the houses were arranged in circular clusters of eight homes, with the doors facing inward toward a large central lawn.\u201d Each home had eight children and a single mom to care for them. [8] \u201cThe formula for healing these children is quite simple: unconditional love offered within a structured environment.\u201d [9]<\/p>\n

In 2006 we saw this exact model in an orphanage outside Kampala, operated by an American missionary couple. Mr. and Mrs. Danger were careful to create a healthy environment that was close to the standard of living likely to be experienced by the children once they \u201caged out\u201d of the orphanage. Our experience with orphans in Uganda affirms \u201c…and most important, help these children think about their future.\u201d [10]<\/p>\n

It was also gratifying to read of Miller\u2019s and Yamamori\u2019s meeting with Jackie Pullinger. I read Chasing the Dragon perhaps a decade ago. Meeting Jackie Pullinger in Hong Kong last year was a profoundly moving experience.<\/p>\n

Our cohort was also treated to a reunion with one of our books from last year. \u201cMax Weber…prepared the way in his classic volume The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.\u201d [12] Our current authors nicely summarized the work of Weber. They remind us of \u201ctwo key concepts that emerged out of the Protestant Reformation.\u201d From Matin Luther we gain the value of \u201ccalling,\u201d showing that all professions are of value, and from John Calvin the reminder of salvation being a matter of God\u2019s grace and that the reward for hard work can exhibit the signs of election. [13]<\/p>\n

Yamamori and Miller connect Weber to their work by stating, \u201c…the lifestyle of Pentecostals does not differ substantially from Weber\u2019s description of the Puritans…Furthermore, their businesses gain a reputation for honest transactions…\u201d [14] They add an interesting comment about the life of Pentecostals: \u201cThe warmth of their community life compensates for the denial associated with their moral discipline.\u201d [15]<\/p>\n

Throughout this book I was continually reminded of Jeremiah 29:7 and the prophet\u2019s call to seek the welfare of the city and to pray to the Lord on its behalf. What Global Pentecostalism<\/em> reports is as clear a presentation of Jeremiah as I have seen.<\/p>\n

[1] Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori, Global Pentecostalism: The new Face of Christian Social Engagement<\/em> (Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2007) 17, 23.
\n[2] Ibid., 2.
\n[3] Ibid., 6.
\n[4] Ibid., 4.
\n[5] Ibid., 31
\n[6] Ibid., 219
\n[7] Ibid., 22
\n[8] Ibid., 69.
\n[9] Ibid., 70.
\n[10] Ibid., 69.
\n[11] Ibid., 28.
\n[12] Ibid., 162
\n[13] Ibid., 163
\n[14] Ibid., 164-165
\n[15] Ibid., 172<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe major engine driving this transformation [of the demographics of Christendom] is Pentecostalism…The engine of Pentecostalism is its worship.\u201d This is the bold claim of Drs. Donald Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori in their book, Global Pentecostalism: The new Face of Christian Social Engagement. [1] In a well documented and readable volume these two men present […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"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":[772,255,260,773,256],"class_list":["post-10725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-holistic","tag-miller","tag-pentecostalism","tag-progressive","tag-yamamori","cohort-lgp6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10725","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\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}