 |
| ||||||
 |
|
|
| Theology | |
|
THE FUTURE: A STRATEGY FOR RECONCILIATION An excerpt by Vinson Synan, Ph.D. Confronting The Powers of Evil Together. One of our lesser known strengths is the fact that we Pentecostals are heirs to a great and authentic tradition of Spirit-filled social reform that has made major advances in the struggle for justice and righteousness in this present world. This tradition ranges from John Wesley’s struggle against slavery, to the abolitionist movements before the Civil War, to the work of the Salvation Army in our day. Although we owe much to our Methodist and Holiness forebears, Pentecostals have contributed much through such ministries as David Wilkerson’s Teen Challenge and such ministries as CBN’s Operation Blessing. By not supporting the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, many Pentecostals missed a golden opportunity to contribute our gifts to solving the nation’s vexing problem of racial discrimination. As sad as that may be, there is nothing we can do to change the past. We must now look resolutely toward the future. There is much yet to be done because Satan, as we know, will increasingly attempt to destroy all he can before the return of the Lord. To use the words of Walter Wink, we must now join forces to confront, engage, resist and defeat the enemy. But we do not struggle alone for “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4). In fact, the great news of the 1990s is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the black churches, beyond the traditional pentecostal bodies. This new wave of revival is now sweeping through the mainline historic black denominations including the National Baptists, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME, Zion) churches. One of the leaders in this new wave is Paul Morton, founder of the Full Gospel Baptist movement. His roots in the Church of God in Christ have prepared him to lead a new and powerful move of the Holy Spirit in his denomination. In
the matters of social justice and civic equality, we must not sit
back and let the secular world take the lead. We must create the
Spirit-filled agenda of bringing Kingdom blessing and justice to our
world. The baptism in the Holy Spirit can still do more to stop
crime and disorder than any social programs that man can devise. Return to Homepage |
|
|
CSCO, P.O. Box 60123, Dayton, OH 45406; email: