In the next series of posts, I’ll be summarizing and evaluating certain chapters in (although this first one is just a summary):

Patterson, Eric, and Edmund Rybarczyk, eds. The Future of Pentecostalism in the United States. New York: Lexington Books, 2007.

So I’ll begin with chapter 1:

Rybarczyk, Edmund J. “Introduction: American Pentecostalism: Challenges and Temptations.” In The Future of Pentecostalism in the United States, by Eric Patterson and Edmund Rybarczyk, eds. New York: Lexington Books, 2007.

In this chapter, Rybarczyk provides the reader with a very brief overview of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement.  Due to this book being written with the centennial of the Azusa Street Revival in mind, he primarily focuses on Azusa when talking about the beginnings of the movement.  He also quickly summarizes the various trajectories within the Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement (P/C Movement): Classical Pentecostals, Charismatics, Third Wave.

So here’s what I got:

HP Pavillion dv5-1235dx

I would have loved a MAC, but look at the comparison with a refurbished Macbook:

@$1000 Macbook: 13″ Screen; 120 GB Hardrive; 1 GB RAM + I’d have to buy the MAC edition of Office

@$720 HP Pavillion dv5-1235dx:  15″ Screen; 320 GB Hardrive; 4 GB RAM

In sum: I went with a 2-3x more powerful machine for $300 cheaper!

If I had the money I would have went with a MAC, but hey, I’m a poor college student.

So my cheap Acer laptop died yesterday (it served its purpose, though I had planned it to last a bit longer), something to do with the motherboard…

Anyways, now I’m looking for new laptop, and I’m faced with the nearly three decade long debate: PC or MAC? Mind you, funds are low, so that has a lot to do with my decision…got any recommendations? If you say PC, which one?

Come back to see what I get within the next day or two…

So, the New York Times says:

Does hydrogen peroxide really make a difference?  According to most studies of its effectiveness, not really. Parents and school nurses might insist otherwise, but researchers have found that hydrogen peroxide has little ability to reduce bacteria in wounds and can actually inflame healthy skin cells that surround a cut or a scrape, increasing the amount of time wounds take to heal.

I was raised using this stuff for all my scraps and cuts, and now I find out that all that agonizing stinging sensation, which I believed was a worthwhile sacrifice for a better good, was actually bunch of junk!  I’ve been liberated from hydrogen peroxide, and now you are too!

Gary B. McGee

I’m sad to say that one of my professors at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Dr. Gary B. McGee, passed away two days ago.

Dr. Darrin Rodgers, Director of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center, has written an obituary which can be found here:  iFPHC Blog,  AG News version, Facebook version.

The first time I saw Dr. McGee was at Evangel Temple (Springfield, MO).  I was an undergraduate student at Evangel University, and I went to his Sunday School class.  A couple of Sunday’s later he and his wife Alice invited me to go to the Pasta House after church.  I was so honored by the offer, and it was a privilege to eat some pasta and talk with this legendary Pentecostal scholar.  It meant a lot to me that he and his wife would take me out to lunch, while being a new student in town, and I was not even one of his students!  I admit, I later bragged a little to my friends that “I had lunch with Dr. McGee and his wife!”

At AGTS, I had him as a professor for: “Ancient Christianity to the Challenge of Islam (300-800AD),” “Christianity to the Reformation (800-1600AD),” and “Initial Evidence and Spirit Baptism.”  There were so many memorable and humorous moments in these classes, which can’t all be mentioned here, but these made him a favorite of many students, including myself.  Dr. McGee truly imparted both knowledge and godly wisdom to his students.  For me, he exemplified a Spirit-filled, historian, theologian, and educator.  I’ll miss him.

Interesting…

As of October 16, 2008, the following list displays, in descending order, which theological educational institution has the most hits on the internet as searched in Google’s search engine.

1. “Union Theological Seminary” (356,000)
2. “Princeton Theological Seminary” (270,000)
3. “Dallas Theological Seminary” (247,000)
4. “Harvard Divinity School” (214,000)
5. “Southern Baptist Theological Seminary” (201,000)
6. “Fuller Theological Seminary” (196,000)
7. “Westminster Theological Seminary” (107,000)
8. “Yale Divinity School” (103,000)
9. “Boston University School of Theology” (85,100)
10. “Graduate Theological Union” (81,800)
11. “Luther Seminary” (79,000)
12. “Reformed Theological Seminary” (78,100)
13. “Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary” (73,300)
14. “Asbury Theological Seminary” (72,400)
15. “Trinity Evangelical Divinity School” (62,500)
16. “Claremont School Of Theology” (56,600)
17. “Denver Seminary” (52,200)
18. “Candler School of Theology” (48,800)
19. “Chicago Divinity School” (48,500)
20. “Western Seminary” (41,700)
21. “Duke Divinity School” (37,800)
22. “Perkins School of Theology” (37,000)
23. “Iliff School of Theology” (35,000)
24. “Calvin Theological Seminary” (33,600)
25. “Talbot School of Theology” (29,000)
26. “Assemblies Of God Theological Seminary” (26,300)
27. “University Of The Nations” (18,900)
28. “Vanderbilt Divinity School” (16,400)
29. “Church of God Theological Seminary” (13,200)
30. “Truett Theological Seminary” (12,100)
31. “Drew University Theological School” (11,100)
32. “Palmer Theological Seminary” (9,520)
33. “Regent University School Of Divinity” (9,450)
34. “Wheaton College Graduate School” (7,800)
35. “George Fox Evangelical Seminary” (3,730)

NOTE: The search was done with the quotation marks as shown below to ensure that the institution’s full name was searched for, and not the individual words in the name.  I left out the institutions which simply have “University” in their names (although these may be excellent theological educational institutions as well), due to the fact that I’m only interested in the theological education side of things and not the entire university.  Also, the links provided go straight to the Google search, and you’ll find that the results change and fluctuate day to day, even hour to hour!  Finally, this is not an exhaustive list!  It’s only purpose is to be thought provoking for those interested in theological education!  If I’ve left out an institution, please Google search it, and indicate it’s hits in a comment to this blog.

Speakers: Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, and Frank D. Macchia.

Presented by the John Templeton Foundation and the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, this international symposium examines the global Pentecostal movement (2006).

Hey, real quick, here are two of my favorite pics from SPS 2008:

1) The one with Frank Macchia.

2) The one with Jürgen Moltmann signing my copy of The Trinity and the Kingdom.

Well, I’m now in my first semester in the Master of Divinity Program at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.

I just wanted to write a blog about my latest and greatest class on the Doctrine of the Trinity with Dr. Frank Macchia at AGTS. Personally, it was a dream come true…not only were we studying one of my favorite topics in systematic theology (The Trinity!), but also having the opportunity of studying under one of the greatest living Pentecostal theologians in the world inspired great awe.

Here was our required reading:

David Bernard, The Oneness of God (Series in Pentecostal Theology, Vol. 1) (Word Aflame, 1986).

Gregory Boyd, Oneness Pentecostals and the Trinity (Baker, 1992).

Stanley Grenz, Rediscovering the Triune God: The Trinity in Contemporary Theology (Augsburg/Fortress, 2004).

Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology And Worship (P & R Pub., 2005).

We were also assigned to make a presentation on the Trinitarian thought of some theologian so I chose: Thomas Torrance, The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons (T & T Clark, 2002).

Recommended text (should have been required): Veli-Matti Karkkainen, The Trinity: Global Perspective (Westminster John Knox Press, 2007).

We covered the major topics relating to the Doctrine of the Trinity, with also a special look at Trinitarian/Oneness issues within Pentecostalism:

• Biblical Foundations for the Doctrine of the Trinity
• Historical development of the Doctrine of the Trinity
• The Trinity in Contemporary Theology
• Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostalism

We also talked about the trinitarian relevance of:

• Church and Community
• Church and Worship
• Church, State, and Society
• The Mission of God
• Providence & Election
• Theology of Religions
• Justification
• Spirit Baptism

Check out my book review at: iFPHC Seen in Print.

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