This is Pastor Privileged Monthly, where you get an insider’s end-of-the-month view of what it takes to be a Pentecostal pastor-theologian, with leadership lessons for you.
In this edition:
For Free Subscribers:
👉Center for Pastor Theologians Podcast: Joseph Lear on becoming a pastor-theologian.
👉Promo for Tyler Bream’s “The Unified Story of Scripture (through Baptism)”
For My Supporters:
👉Book update on Tongue On Fire: Recovering the Spirit and Power of Pentecostal Proclamation (it’s a FUN one 😏😎😉)
👉Office Hours
The Center for Pastor Theologians’ “Becoming a Pastor Theologian” with me.
In September, Joel Lawrence invited me to talk about my journey as a pastor and academic. Joel is one of the most generous and hospitable people I know, so it’s worth listening even to just get an introduction to his leadership as president of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
I’m linking the Apple Podcast version, but it’s available wherever you get your podcasts.
Additionally, here’s a little snippet I wrote about my book, Resurrecting Worship: A Pentecostal Liturgy for Slow Burn Revival for promotion at CPT.
Revival For All of Us
What does revival look like? And how does the church seek it? I grew up in Pentecostalism, which is typically associated with what I like to call “heave metal revivalism,” where the move of God is necessarily big, loud, intense, and characterized by emotional outburst. As an ordained Assemblies of God minister, I still believe that happens. But my book, Resurrecting Worship: A Pentecostal Liturgy for Slow Burn Revival, takes a different approach. It’s in the title: I believe God’s reviving work can and will happen with intentional, faithful, long-haul worship. And I believe it because I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes.
Resurrecting Worship puts flesh and bones on the question of revival by telling the story of an almost-dead congregation that I was appointed to pastor in 2016. The church had been without a pastor for over a year, and there was only a handful of the faithful left. The building was in desperate need of renovation. And it was situated deep in the liberal University of Iowa neighborhood with whom the church had a history of antagonism.
I was convinced that marketing campaigns or managerial innovation weren’t going to rebuild the church, let alone force a move of the Holy Spirit. Instead, we needed theological and pastoral answers that were at once faithful to the Scriptures and grounded in the practices of the church that have sustained it through every wind and wave of history.
As I put it in the book, the struggling church in America doesn’t need the fire of dried brush that ignites today and is gone tomorrow. We need the slow-burning coals that can survive under the ashes, ready to be fanned into flame when God sees fit.
“Pentecostal” and “liturgy” are not words that are normally associated with each other… KEEP READING at the Center for Pastor Theologians website.
The Unity of the Bible
Keep an eye out Monday morning for a guest post on Pastoral Theology by my friend Tyler Bream. He loves the Bible as much as I do, so I think you’re going to enjoy his perspective.
👉Don’t forget that one of the perks of being a supporting subscriber is the opportunity to write a guest post. If you’re already supporting and want to write something, but want a little coaching on your idea and the writing process please reach out. I’d enjoy the collaboration 😇