On the 27th June, Stephen White spoke on the Pentecostal/charismatic movement.
At the Global Christian Forum in Accra, Ghana, 16-20 April 2024, Dr. Gina Zurlo, co-director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, pointed to the surprising statistic that today 44% of Protestant Christians reside in Africa:
“The Pentecostal Charismatic Movement, originating in the early 20th century, has become a hallmark of Global South faith, encompassing diverse manifestations within classical Pentecostalism, the Catholic Charismatic Movement, and other charismatic movements. Wherever Christianity spread, and in the 20th century, the Pentecostal charismatic movement spread with it. It appears that the future of global Christianity seems to be Pentecostal.”
The Pentecostal Charismatic movement hails back to the founding of the church on the Jewish Harvest Festival Feast of Weeks, 50 days after Passover (7 weeks or 50 days Pentecostal in Greek) when Jesus died and rose again. From that time many miracles were performed by the Apostles and other members of the church. The first one was speaking the gospel in languages understood by Jews from other parts of the world gathered for the festival.
In St Paul’s first recorded letter to the Corinthian church, about 55AD, he lists the charismatic gifts and places some restrictions on how they should be used in orderly church meetings.
After the completion of the recognized New Testament books recordings of miraculous signs seemed to lapse until just over 100 years ago when they burst out at the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles in 1906.
Since then, the Pentecostal Charismatic movement has spread widely particularly in Africa and Latin America, as well as in Australia and the USA.
R.T. Kendall, former minister at Westminster Chapel in London, has said that the Word Churches and Spirit Churches have much to learn from each other, and both recent Popes have encouraged their flock to encourage the charismatic movement in the Catholic church.
Stephen White has had a career as a physicist and is now retired. He has been a very supportive member of the Reasonable Faith Adelaide committee for a number of years.
On the 13th June 2024, Trevor Harris spoke on fulfilled prophecies.
Biblical prophecy demonstrates a truth about God and the future. It reveals that God is not defined or limited by time as we know it.
God said to Isaiah that he would declare “the end” from “the beginning”. Many biblical prophets were not welcomed by the populace in their lifetime, but their writings are found in the Scriptures because their truth was vindicated.
Trevor discussed the following questions:
What does it mean that “The Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus”? (Rev 19:10)
What is the evidence and probability that these prophecies were fulfilled?
How many OT prophecies are found in the NT?
Why is there a swell in interest in modern times for prophetic topics?
Why are some people describing recent events as “end times”?
Trevor Harris has an Honours degree in Architecture and a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning. He has practiced in these areas for 45 years. Twenty years ago, he formed a company called ‘Key-line Christian Research’ which is dedicated to identifying and researching Bible sites and their history. This has included extensive field trips to the Middle East.
On Thursday, the 23rd of May Gordon Stanger spoke on “We are saved (Thank God). Now what?”.
Here is a summary:
For the most part today’s Christian disciples are a pale and insipid shadow of the powerful and dynamic discipleship that we read about in the book of Acts. Is it commonplace for us to go into hostile places to teach people about Christ, and to validate our testimony by the power of God in practical and dramatic ways? Do we:
Heal the blind and the lame,
Cleanse the sick,
Cast out demons,
Raise the dead,
hear God and act upon his word on a daily basis, or
utilize the gifts of prophesy, discernment, and words of knowledge?
Generally, no, we don’t. Are we, Jesus’s contemporary disciples, actively involved in spiritual warfare? If not, then what is the meaning of “Deliver us from evil?”
Outside the church the dominant culture has a one-word summary of the church – irrelevant! So much of church leadership is tradition-bound, inward looking, self-serving, status-quo-retaining and bereft of the Holy Spirit’s power. It is largely tepid, clueless and faithless.
Inside the church we do a lot of good stuff with loving intent. But the good can be the enemy of the best. Fund-raising car boot sales, social outreach, and all manner of good works are all very well, but that’s not at the heart of what Jesus trained and commissioned his disciples to do.
There’s a lot more than just being saved. We are commissioned as foot-soldiers of the Lord’s army, to do his bidding for His kingdom. I’m still a novice in this warfare, but I suggest that His disciples engage in much more proactive activities that will involve closeness to the Lord, deeper faith, faster personal growth, advancement of the Kingdom, and many other benefits. The days of “irrelevance” are over!
Dr Gordon Stanger is a geologist, hydrologist, water resources specialist, and a climate-change impact analyst. He is an RFA committee member and is semi-retired.
Tom Daly introduced us to the ideas captured in Justin Brierley’s latest book, and podcast series “The Surprising Rebirth of Faith in God.” In a world where the arguments of the New Atheism have seemingly grown stale, Brierley presents his thesis that amidst academia, intellectual circles, scientific communities, and the realms of art, there’s a surprising resurgence in the exploration of Christianity’s narrative.
This resurgence isn’t merely about religious (Christian) belief, but more broadly about renewed search for meaning and purpose for those of us living in the modern Western world. Tom will present highlights, adding his own observations and presenting some of the intriguing and encouraging observations Justin is making based on his many years hosting talks between Christians and Atheists.
In the 1960s movie Pollyanna, a cheerful young orphan girl by that name convinced the local minister to preach on the many ‘Glad’ passages from the Bible. It is a trend that has been going on for at least a century as we do not want to disturb people who come to church about their sin or the coming judgement – they might be offended and not come back. But is this how the Christian faith started – do all atheists have a similar optimistic view as Pollyanna?
The presentation attempted to answer these questions and looked at instances of powerful conviction of sin in recent times. The presentation is available on YouTube.
Stephen White has had a career as a physicist and is now retired. He has been a very supportive member of the Reasonable Faith Adelaide committee for a number of years.
Between now and the end of August, Ann and I will be away, mainly on cruise around the world. Somebody has to do it. In the meantime, Brian Schroeder will takeover most of my activities. I still hope to participate in most of the meetings via Zoom and will prepare the meeting announcements. However, Brian will host the live meetings, record the meetings, control the zoom sessions and upload the recordings onto YouTube. A lot of this is pretty tricky. I am very grateful to Brian for doing this. Please pray for him and support him in whatever way you can.
The wrath of God is not a popular or frequent topic for Sunday sermons. There is more focus on the positive aspects of the Biblical message. Why upset people? Will it offend people? Will it help build a church? Is it an apologetic liability?
However, it is mentioned frequently in the Bible and is a common theme from Old Testament prophets.
It is also a common topic of ridicule cited by Christianity’s opponents. Thus their criticisms should be considered and answered carefully. Otherwise, we fiddle while Rome burns.
Also, is the Biblical teaching on the wrath of God part of the whole counsel of God, and is our proclamation deficient if we ignore or suppress it?
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He was an electrical engineer and then became a lecturer, researcher, and research supervisor at the University of South Australia. He is now mostly retired but continues with part-time research. He is also learning New Testament Greek, attends Ingle Farm Baptist Church and is blessed with a wife, 4 children and 8 grandchildren.
Here is Gordon’s summary of what he will be presenting:
Jesus’s instructions to His disciples are: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!” Most Christians in the Western world dismiss Matthew 10:8 as absurd and out-of-date babble from another age. They have enough faith to be saved, but zero faith for going further. For many, being led by, and abiding in the Holy Spirit, are evidently nothing but words without power. There are mainstream conservative denominations which, in direct contradiction to our Lord’s instructions, teach that wielding our Lord’s authority is unsound emotional foolery. For example, in the Lutheran church, pastors who get interested in healing and deliverance risk being hauled before their district authorities and held to stern account, or even expelled from their church duties! Demonstrating ‘kingdom authority’ is dismissed as ‘schwarmerei’ (fanatical rubbish). Other traditional churches have a similar attitude. Fortunately, a growing number of Christians recognize the contemporary reality and scriptural authenticity of the authority that they discover in Christ.
Dr Gordon Stanger is a geologist, hydrologist, water resources specialist, and a climate-change impact analyst. He is an RFA committee member and is semi-retired.
The Bible, along with Christianity, is regularly portrayed as being anti-women, misogynistic, responsible for the suppression & oppression of women, and a tool of “the patriarchy” to subjugate women.
On the other hand, Christianity is often accused and derided for appealing more to women than men. Churches seem to have a higher proportion of women than men and this was also true in the early church. So – what is going on? If the stereotype is true, why are women attracted to Christianity more than men are? What are we missing in all this?
Brian’s presentation answers the above questions and will also address the following issues:
What has been the historical norm for relationships between men & women?
What has been the Christian heritage?
How should the Greco/Roman culture be taken into account when interpreting the Bible?
Has Christian teaching and practices failed women?
What are the current popular opinions within Western culture?
Are they a reliable guide for what is right?
What is a Biblical perspective?
What is the difference between authority and value?
Should we preference responsibility or rights?
What is the created order for male and female?
Was Moses enlightened compared with other nations?
What were Paul’s teachings on relationships between men/women and husbands/wives?
Brian Schroeder is a Reasonable Faith committee member. He has BSc and BA degrees from Adelaide University (Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics), and an MA in Theology.
The format will be a presentation followed by open discussion, which will include both local and remote participants. The total meeting duration will be approximately 90 minutes. We follow this with a small supper to encourage social interaction.
When I was a young Christian (in my teens), I thought I knew what the gospel was. It was an explanation of how a person became a Christian. I joined a church youth group, and we explained the gospel to people on Rundle Street using a booklet containing the 4 spiritual laws:
God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life,
Man is sinful and separated from God,
Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin, and
We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord to be saved.
Eventually, I suspected this definition was simplistic and so I went back to reading the Bible to find out what it said about what the gospel was.
The Sermon on the Mount
Carl Bloch, 1890
So, I did a word search on ‘gospel’, especially in the 4 gospels. I found this approach to be frustrating. There are numerous mentions of Jesus preaching the gospel in the 4 gospels, but the meaning seemed to be assumed rather than defined. Try it yourself and you will see what I mean. However, others have asked the same question as me and there are good answers. The gospel includes how a person becomes a Christian, but there is much more. It also describes how we live in this world and what is our ultimate aim and destiny. It is very important.
Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He was a practising electrical engineer and then became a lecturer, researcher, and research supervisor at the University of South Australia. He is now mostly retired but continues with part-time research. He is also learning New Testament Greek, attends Ingle Farm Baptist Church and is blessed with a wife, 4 children and 8 grandchildren.
On Wednesday the 22nd November 2023 we were privileged to have Ken Samples, from Reasons to Believe (RTB), to speak to us on the big world view questions.
This presentation addressed the following questions:
1. What in the world is a worldview?
2. What does the Bible say about worldviews?
3. What are the four prevalent worldviews today?
4. How do we test worldviews for truth?
5. What makes the Christian worldview unique?
6. Are we experiencing a clash of worldviews today?
This is based on Ken’s Textbook, A World of Difference: Putting Christian Truth-Claims to the Worldview Test (Baker Books, 2007) by Kenneth Richard Samples.
Kenneth Richard Samples earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy and social science from Concordia University and his M.A. in theological studies from Talbot School of Theology. He is a senior research scholar at Reasons To Believe (RTB). He uses his knowledge to help others find the answers to life’s questions and encourages believers to develop a logically defensible faith and challenges sceptics to engage Christianity at a philosophical level.
