{"id":25385,"date":"2020-01-13T20:45:14","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T04:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=25385"},"modified":"2020-01-13T20:45:14","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T04:45:14","slug":"mining-is-a-messy-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/mining-is-a-messy-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Mining is a Messy Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cListen to me, you who pursue righteousness, You who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn And to the quarry from which you were dug.\u201d (Isaiah 51:1 NASB) Though I have previously studied church history I must admit that I, like many, have tended to localize and personalize it without considering how deep my roots truly run. David Bebbington in his book Evangelicalism In Modern Britain<\/em> unfolds the historical foundation and changes in Evangelicalism, as well as, its influence on modern Christianity along with those items that influenced its development. His four qualities of Evangelicalism, a changed life (conversionism), living out the gospel (activism), the importance of the Bible as the word of God (biblicism) and the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross (crucientrism) grounded his readers in connecting the dots while exploring the many facets of the evangelical movement.[1]<\/a> With the many changes over \u00a0the past 40 years since the 1980\u2019s in the areas of technology, human rights and other aspects of the culture I wonder what the biggest influence on Evangelicalism has been? How has the redefinition of community due to the onslaught of social medal effected Evangelicalism?<\/p>\n

Though I was raised Lutheran a major portion of my life of faith has been within the Charismatic and Pentecostal aspects of Evangelicalism. In the early 1970\u2019s my family became involved in the Charismatic movement. At that time, they didn\u2019t have formal organized Charismatic churches. We attended Atonement Lutheran Church on Sundays and attended a small house church during the week. It wasn\u2019t until the late 1970\u2019s that I attended an Assembly of Gods Pentecostal church for the first time. Not having a Charismatic Church in the area at the time, along with, the Lutheran Church no longer tolerating those of the Charismatic persuasion a Pentecostal church was the only alternative for individuals that embraced specific gifts of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

As Bebbington described the influences surrounding the Charismatic Movement in Britain I couldn\u2019t help but grin when he brought up Earn Baxter and the \u201cFt. Lauderdale Five\u201d[2]<\/a> which consisted of Derek Prince, Ern Baxter, Charles Simpson, Bob Mumford and Don Basham. These men were known influencers during my limited time spent in the Charismatic movement. If my memory serves me correctly due to the infancy of the America Charismatic body much of their teaching was done via cassette tape and distributed through a monthly tape club. Though I had transitioned to the Assembly of God Church before this time, little did I know they would start what was to become the shepherding movement which tended to over emphasized discipleship and submission to spiritual leaders. In the early 1980\u2019s Bob Mumford and Derek Prince disassociated themselves from the discipleship process and both eventually offered a public statement of repentance for their involvement in the shepherding movement.[3]<\/a> Though I have fond memories of that spiritual period of my life I recognize mistakes were made and still exist with the Charismatic Church. Yet for many it was a time of hope as the current events of the period were focused on civil unrest, the dismantling of the Vietnam War machine and the political aftermath of Watergate.<\/p>\n

After reading through Bebbington\u2019s book looking at the effects of Evangelicalism on history, as well as, the effects of historical events on Evangelicalism I couldn\u2019t help but notice that contrary to what some may want to believe the growth of Christianity wasn\u2019t and still isn\u2019t a logical progressive series of events and choices. Growth was often brought about through cultural change and what could be described as times of chaos and turmoil. As I look back at the spiritual rock of which I was hewn and quarry from which I was personally dug I can appreciate my spiritual heritage despite the mistakes and short comings that accompanied it. \u00a0I appreciate my Lutheran background and that I was required to learn the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. I can\u2019t count the number of times when I was asked about the foundations of my faith that I end up summarizing the creeds in one fashion or another. I appreciate my time in the Charismatic Movement and the lessons I learned. My time in the Assembly of God and Four-Square Pentecostal Churches has been priceless to me. They say, \u201chindsight is 20\/20\u201d. As I look back at my spiritual pilgrimage a few things become obvious. First, I wouldn\u2019t change any of it. Things that happened along my journey needed to happen in order to make me who I am and to bring me to a reliance on God. Second, the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line when it comes to one\u2019s spiritual life. Things get messy, choices are made, broken people despite their faith in Jesus do stupid things. A life in Christ is not one of perfection but one of becoming like Jesus. Third, my journey is mine and mine alone. God knows my design and make up. I can\u2019t always control what happens to me, but I can control what happens in me.<\/p>\n

J.I. Packer in 1980 when looking theological at the Charismatic Movement stated \u201cNo type of Christian spirituality is free from dangers, weaknesses and threats to maturity arising from its very strengths, and it is not as if Christian maturity (which includes all-around liveliness of response to God, as well as sobriety of judgement) was overwhelmingly visible in non-charismatic circles today.\u201d[4]<\/a> I admit I wish that all of Christianity was clean and precise. I wish I could say that churches don\u2019t make mistakes or could be assured that the future church will do it better, but I can\u2019t. As an adjunct professor I walk in the classroom annually to face students that look at the world through a black and white set of lenses. Part of my task is to assist them in seeing the many shades of grey knowing that part of my battle is vying for the hearts and souls of my students. The world would love to convince them that truth of the gospel is but a myth and Jesus just a man. \u00a0Despite the challenges the church has faced and will face I do understand \u201cwe have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.\u201d (2 Corinthians 4:7 NASB) This life, isn\u2019t about me. As a good friend of mine always says \u201cThank God for Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> D.W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism In Modern Britain: A History From the 1730s to the 1980s <\/em>(New York, Routledge, 1989), 3<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Bebbington, 232<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shepherding_Movement offers a fairly decent explanation of these events.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> J.I.Packer, 1980, \u201cTheological Reflections on the Charismatic Movement Part 1.\u201d Churchman 94\/1, http:\/\/churchsociety.org\/docs\/churchman\/094\/Cman_094_1_Packer.pdf, accessed January 13, 2020<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cListen to me, you who pursue righteousness, You who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn And to the quarry from which you were dug.\u201d (Isaiah 51:1 NASB) Though I have previously studied church history I must admit that I, like many, have tended to localize and personalize it without […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"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":[12,33,1602,1419],"class_list":["post-25385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bebbington","tag-dmin","tag-dminlgp10","tag-evangelicalism-in-modern-britain","cohort-lgp10"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25385","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\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25386,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25385\/revisions\/25386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}