How can the Pentecostal Forum be improved?

[Biblicist]

another way is to start new threads of interesting topics .

OR if you want to get things hopping .... pretend to be a cessationist and get Biblicist2 going haha

When I started reading your post, before my eye got to my name, I quickly chuckled and when I did see my name I think I almost choked as recent events have certainly proven that my long term resilience for those who want to soar with the eagles but where they talk like a Dromaius novaehollandiae (I'm too polite to use its English name "Emu" which refers to a flightless bird) tends to eventually come to its breaking point.

Having now said this, about two years ago there was a very thoughtful and interesting cessationist who came onto the forum and I really enjoyed talking with him; as he was thoughtful he is probably now a charismatic or a Pentecostal. When it comes to the less astute cessationist, I've found that as they generally harden themselves to the ministry and person of the Holy Spirit, that our interactions with them should help other cessationist (or quasi-cessationist) visitors to see themselves in a mirror where their cessationst worldview comes from the 19th century fascination with rationalism and humanism that is often attributed to the humanist David Hume.

Ps. I should have posted this in the charismatic forum so that some cessationists could fire back at me.

 

[Biblicist]

There should be something for everyone. We are not all academic professors,but every one can contribute something! Are you getting excited at what God can do?

I agree, as for me, as I really like your user name, I could very easily change my own user name to mr.average as I am probably as average as one could get where I certainly have no formal academic qualifications.

When I travel over to some of the general forums, when I look at some of the topics I often have to jump over to Google before I can understand not only what the topic heading means but with some of what is being posted. When it comes to the things of the Spirit (Pnuematology), this is an area that has intrigued me from my earliest months even as an unwitting-cessationist, where I only knew that I had been a cessationist once I started to speak in tongues; the more senior members of the congregation where I gave my heart to the Lord very quickly let me know about this. As a newbie Christian, having just got my head around what it meant to be an Evangelical (never heard of the word previously), then I was quite impressed that I could add in another technical word to my christianese vocabulary.

Over the past five years I've been able to access some pretty impressive online material from the secular university that I have a part time administative role; this surprisingly gave me academic access where I was able to source some amazing scholarly material by respected Christian academics. As I mentioned, it is a secular university so its theological sources are a bit limited which is why I have made the decision to buy the better peer-reviewed contemporary commentaries and source specialist books by well respected scholars.

So in a way I'm cheating. Where I should be spreading my time across more areas of Biblical interest, I admittedly spend most of my time in the area of Pneumatology and other related fields so this probably gives the false (very false) impression that I know more than I do. Even though I probably have an above average knowledge regarding Pneumatology, across the board my knowledge certainly has more holes than a seive and as one well known reporter said here in Australia about himself "I know very little about a lot of things".

With my not so well chosen user name of Biblicist, this came about when I started with this forum where I had to choose a name rather quickly; prior to this time on a previous now defunct forum I used my real name but as I live in an increasingly christo-phobic culture, I thought that it would be wise to choose something a bit safer so that I do not give an opportunity for a fellow workmate to employ a bit of hate-speech against me.

The next time that I jump onto a forum I think that I would definately like to use mr.average!

 

[quietbloke]

I find your contributions very interesting 'Biblicist2'

 

[quietbloke]

I think that one way to improve the Forum is too improve ourselves. We all need improvement,especially me and you!

 

[Dave-W]

When it comes to the less astute cessationist, I've found that as they generally harden themselves to the ministry and person of the Holy Spirit, that our interactions with them should help other cessationist (or quasi-cessationist) visitors to see themselves in a mirror where their cessationst worldview comes from the 19th century fascination with rationalism and humanism that is often attributed to the humanist David Hume.

If you want to understand the roots of cessationism in the church, read up on the Montanists of the last half of the 2nd century and how the church decided to deal with them.

 

[Biblicist]

If you want to understand the roots of cessationism in the church, read up on the Montanists of the last half of the 2nd century and how the church decided to deal with them.

Even though many commentators (both cessationist and even Continuist) have pointed to the Montanists as an example of where prophecy has gone to undesired extremes, I find it hard to believe that the Montanists were the only ones who prophesied during this time. It's often been said that "the victors are the ones who write (or re-write) history" and in this case as the church had been controlled by humanist forces for many centuries, we should not be surprised that these 'forces' had chosen to be selective with what they recorded.

As for cessationism, we can probably go back even further by looking at Paul's letter to the churches in the Galatian region of modern day Turkey, it seems that they were beginning to move into cessationism where this is the only letter that Paul did not bother to provide a standard benediction at the end, some commentators have said that this could be that "Paul had nothing to be thankful about when it came to the Galatians". We only have to look at the Book of Revelations which was written only a few decades after Galatians to see that the church (at least in the region of modern day Turkey) was in severe strife.

 

[Willie T]

How can this Pentecostal Forum improve?
Perhaps........................ learn what it means to love others more than yourself?

 

[Dave-W]

Even though many commentators (both cessationist and even Continuist) have pointed to the Montanists as an example of where prophecy has gone to undesired extremes, I find it hard to believe that the Montanists were the only ones who prophesied during this time.

Quite right. But the Montanists' extremes became such a problem that the church as a whole (following the declaration of the Roman patriarch) decided to disallow prophecy and the other gifts of the Spirit.

 

[quietbloke]

How can this Pentecostal Forum improve?
Perhaps........................ learn what it means to love others more than yourself?

'Hands up for love!' We all have a part to play!

 

[Biblicist]

But the Montanists' . . .

As interesting as our discussion is, we are admittedly digressing from the point of the thread where "Quietbloke" might soon become a vocalbloke if we keep going.,

 

[quietbloke]

As interesting as our discussion is, we are admittedly digressing from the point of the thread where "Quietbloke" might soon become a vocalbloke if we keep going.,

Lol 'Biblicist!' and 'DaveWOhev!' Love you guys!

 

[FreeinChrist]

Biblicist, the place to make suggestions for changing a particular forum is in the
Member Services Center (MSC)

This forum has this: Pentecostal/Assemblies of God Statement of Faith which includes:
1. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a special experience following salvation that empowers believers for witnessing and effective service, just as it did in New Testament times. The initial physical evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is ‘Speaking in Tongues,’ as experienced on the Day of Pentecost and referenced throughout Acts and the Epistles.

This statement is in line with stated beliefs of Pentecostal and Assemblies of God churches.

So discussion in this thread needs to stick to the OP and what members here can do.

 

[Biblicist]

Biblicist, the place to make suggestions for changing a particular forum is in the
Member Services Center (MSC)

This forum has this: Pentecostal/Assemblies of God Statement of Faith which includes:
1. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a special experience following salvation that empowers believers for witnessing and effective service, just as it did in New Testament times. The initial physical evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is ‘Speaking in Tongues,’ as experienced on the Day of Pentecost and referenced throughout Acts and the Epistles.

This statement is in line with stated beliefs of Pentecostal and Assemblies of God churches.

So discussion in this thread needs to stick to the OP and what members here can do.

This would mean that as a Pentecostal that my time on the forum is probably over, if there is no place for Pentecostals to post (other than if you are a part of the AoG) then there is probably no value with remaining here.

 

[quietbloke]

Every one is welcome here whether they are Pentecostal or not but postings should be in line with the rules of the Pentecostal Forum.

 

[quietbloke]

It's good to see new faces on the Pentecostal Forum. Keep praying and sharing!

 

[quietbloke]

Post to build in love!