Pentecostal versus Charismatic versus Prosperity Gospel Yes, today these labels overlap. But that was not always the case. Here’s the story. The modern Pentecostal movement in America was born in 1906 at the Azusa Street Revival near downtown Los Angeles. People spoke in tongues and some identified that as the “initial, physical evidence” of the “second blessing,” the “infilling of the Holy Spirit.” The movement then went on to birth numerous denominations including the Assemblies of God. The mostly Black... Read more

The Liberal View of the Bible Here I continue discussion of my book Against Liberal Theology: Putting the Brakes on Progressive Christianity. The subject here is Chapter 3: Liberal Theology and the Bible. If you have read the chapter, you are welcome to comment (following my stated guidelines below). If you have not read the chapter, you are welcome to ask a question that is clearly on topic. A problem here is that there is no “orthodox” (small “o”) doctrine... Read more

The Sin of Shutting Down USAID According to reliable news reports, Elon Musk has called USAID (United States Agency for International Development) a “tremendous fraud” and a barrel of worms. I know people who work for USAID and it is perhaps America’s greatest agency, saving millions of people, including children, from starvation in places like Sudan and Haiti. So far as I can discover, no evidence has emerged to support Musk’s (and others’) claims about USAID. So why is this... Read more

Walter Lippmann and Liberal Theology Conservative Presbyterian theologian J. Gresham Machen’s book Christianity and Liberalism was published in 1923. There he argued that liberal theology is incompatible with biblical, orthodox Christianity and even with Christianity at all. He argued that it is a different religion and liberal theologians should admit it. Soon after that, renowned public intellectual Walter Lippmann, a secular humanist, publicly agreed with Machen. Of course, numerous conservative Christians have agreed with both Machen and Lippmann. That is... Read more

The Prescience of Tony Campolo: He Warned Us The year was 1985. The “Reagan Era” was in full swing. Conservative Christians were shouting Reagan’s praises. In the midst of the noise evangelical writer and speaker Tony Campolo (d. 2024) wrote a chapter that warned about the future. The book was strangely titled: We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Partly Right. The book is about secular thinkers often labeled “the enemy” by conservative Christians in America and how they... Read more

Being in “Inner Exile” What is “inner exile?” I learned the phrase from President George Brushaber of Bethel College and University (now Bethel University) who used it to describe faculty members (and possibly staff) who have “check out” of the institution but who still function in it. In other words, it is a disposition, a posture toward “home” or “community” or “the leadership.” Immediately when I heard George (we were on a first name basis) say that, I knew what... Read more