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The author
Micael Grenholm, a Swedish charismactivist, apologist and author.
Sign Our Open Letter to Donald Trump
It’s time for Pentecostal and charismatic leaders that are critical to Trump’s bizarre presidency to speak up.
We call upon all sorts of leaders – pastors, scholars, CEOs, politicians, NGO representatives and others – that are part of the Pentecostal-charismatic movement to sign our open letter to president Donald Trump. The letter will be sent to the White House on the anniversary of his inauguration, January 20th.
This is not a partisan letter. Regardless of our political affiliation and opinions, we feel that Trump has taken politics to such extremes that Christians on both the right and the left of the political spectrum together should say “No!”.
The areas we at Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice have identified as important to speak up about are:
- The demonization of immigrants and minorities;
- the reckless nuclear war rhetoric;
- the loosening of environmental protection;
- the belittling and abuse of women;
- the disrespect of indigenous people;
- the inequalities between rich and poor; and
- the dishonesty and lying.
To read the letter and sign it, go here.
Together, we and the Holy Spirit can change the world.
Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice is a multicultural, gender inclusive, and ecumenical organization that promotes peace, justice, and reconciliation work among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians around the world. If you like what we do, please join our Facebook forum, and sign up for our newsletter!
Nine Common Beliefs about Pentecostals & Charismatics that are Totally False
Originally published at pcpj.org.
Ever since rev. Campbell Morgan called Pentecostalism “the last vomit of Satan” and the Los Angeles Times warned the public about the “new sect of fanatics [that] is breaking loose” from Azusa Street, Spirit-filled Christians have had a bad rap. Other Christians as well as non-Christians oftentimes find us weird, and sometimes a bit dangerous. A lot of those perceptions are based on myths and misconceptions. Here are nine common beliefs about Pentecostals and Charismatics that are totally wrong.
1. It’s a small movement
Depending on where you’re located, the Pentecostal and Charismatic (P&C) movement might seem pretty small. But when you look at it on a global level, it turns out that 600 million people are P&Cs. 200 million are Pentecostals, 100 million are charismatic Catholics, and 300 million are charismatics in a big variety of denominations and churches. Since the number of P&Cs amounted to around zero in the beginning of the 20th century, the P&C movement is commonly described as the fastest growing religious movement in the world.
2. It’s a Cult
I’ve heard surprisingly many casually state “All of Pentecostalism is a cult”, to which I like to respond “That’s about as true as the statement ‘The moon is a tomato’.” Cult is not synonymous with “religion I don’t like”, it has an academic meaning of an isolated group with an authoritarian leader, and while there surely are several sad examples of charismatic churches that have developed into cults it is simply ridiculous to claim that we all would be part of some sort of Jonestown. At least that’s what my Leader tells me and he’s always infallible when he drinks goat blood.
Do They Care More About Patriotism than African Americans?
A lot of great content is being published at PCPJ right now, including this piece by professor Cecil M. Robeck Jr. on the history of women leadership in the Pentecostal movement, and this personal post by Rachel Stella on what a “good Christian woman” is supposed to be. But I want to repost our amazing writer and artist Ramone Romero’s article on American football, patriotism and racism:
Black Lives Don’t Matter As Much As the National Anthem
by Ramone Romero.
It seems sometimes that in the national debate about #TakeAKnee the focus has become about “the flag” and “the anthem”, and it is often being forgotten that #TakeAKnee is a protest about the systemic injustices of law enforcement against people of color.
Yet even if that is forgotten in the news and chatter, this is still intensely about race.
The #TakeAKnee protests in the NFL (and spreading across the sports world) are offensive precisely because they began with black athletes.
The offense people are taking as disrespect to the flag, the anthem and to “America” itself comes because these are black athletes protesting.
How dare they interrupt the anthem?
How dare they not salute the flag in the way we want?
How dare they draw any amount of attention to themselves?
How dare they interrupt our holy moment of nationalistic worship?
When Paul Took Luke’s Job
Paul healing Publius’ father
Earlier this year my friend Faith Totushek explained on Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice why she is a Holy Spirit Activist – or as I like to call it, a charismactivist:
“From beginning to end, we see an amazing God who longs for the world and the people he created to flourish and find life. And time and time again, this God seeks to partner with us as his agents. And he empowers this people with his presence through the Holy Spirit giving gifts, insight, truth, endurance—whatever is needed to accomplish the purposes displayed in the Bible.”
In other words, God doesn’t leave us alone with the big task of loving people and promote life and happiness. He partners with us by bestowing His Spirit upon us. Peter writes: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10). Serving people is one of the main purposes of God’s gifts of grace, or charismata as they are known in Greek.
One of many Biblical examples of this can be found in the last chapter of the book of Acts. Paul is a prisoner of the Roman empire and his guards are taking him to Rome so that he can speak to the emperor. Their ship is wrecked on an island, probably Malta, and God miraculously saves Paul’s life after he is bitten by a poisonous snake. Not only that, God miraculously gives other people life as well through the hands of Paul: (more…)
A Dream Coming True
For seven years, I have been arguing that signs and wonders should be combined with peace and justice and that the charismatic and activist streams of Christianity should unite. Early on I discovered Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice (PCPJ), and became a joyful member. PCPJ stands for what I stand for, and so it was easy for me to stand with them and promote their website on my website.
Recently, Brian Pipkin from PCPJ contacted me and asked me if I could help them create content for the PCPJ website and Facebook page. Of course I said yes! This is a dream coming true for me, I get to participate in an organization that I love, using gifts that God really has equipped me with.
Please check out the existing articles at the PCPJ website, including this political Christmas reflection by Craig Keener, author of Miracles, and this piece by Eric Gaboruel on Pentecostal veganism. And don’t forget to like the Facebook page and join the Facebook group if your a facebooker.
Without spoiling anything, I can assure you that many more interesting articles will show up on the website. If you like the Holy Spirit and activism and wants to contribute somehow as well, just tell me!
PCPJ – Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace and Justice
PCPJ is naturally one of my favourite organizations. It’s a network primarily based in the US but with members all over the world that basically consists of Pentecostals and Charismatics that work for peace and justice. Their website is filled with good articles about activism, they have a great journal called Pax Pneuma and their founder Paul Alexander (featured in the video clip above) has written several awesome books, for example Peace to War: Shifting Alligeanced in the Assemblies of God and Pentecostals and Nonviolence: Reclaiming a Heritage. As I’ve written here, although being quite nationalist and war-praising today, the Pentecostal movement was pacifist in its beginning, and PCPJ wants to restore that.
I highly recommend you to check this organization up and, if you like what they stand for, to join them. It’ll cost you 30 dollars a year and you’ll get a free book or t-shirt (yay!). For more info about the network’s history, check this Wikipedia article. Please pray for more power from the Spirit to the PCPJ in order to nourish an activist awakening among the millions of Charismatics around the world.
Charismactivism 