My new book, 40 Questions About Pentecostalism, launches today. (As it’s published in America, it might possibly be a few more weeks before copies arrive in the UK.) I really love the 40 Questions series which Benjamin L. Merkle edits for Kregel Academic. Over the years, I’ve read and recommended many of the volumes, and so I’m thrilled to have now contributed a volume to the series as well.  My hope and prayer is that the book will be of benefit both to Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals alike. For Pentecostals, the book will help us see where we’ve come from and why we believe what we ..read more

Today the Apostolic Church in Ghana held a three-hour long ordination service in Accra. The Apostles laid hands on 9 new apostles, 2 teachers, 2 evangelists, and 22 pastors. Setting these men apart to the ministry in the name of the Triune God, Ap Dr Aaron Ami-Narh, President of the Apostolic Church in Ghana said, “We give all glory to our Risen Lord who is the Head of the Church, and we thank Him that in His own sovereign will, He continues to give us labourers in His vineyard, that His work might be done. To Him and Him alone be all praise, glory and honour.” (You can see the service here ..read more

One thing that many people find a bit odd about Pentecostalism is speaking in tongues. Of course, it's not only Pentecostals who speak in tongues. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury has said that he prays in tongues every day. But it is something which has quite a significant place among Pentecostals.  Now, the reason many people find speaking in tongues a bit odd is that it is a bit odd. It's not normal to speak a language you haven't learnt. And really, that's the point. Speaking in tongues points us beyond our own abilities to what only God can do.  Speaking in tongues along with ..read more

Today, The Palace announced that His Majesty has been diagnosed with cancer. Scripture teaches us at all times to pray for The King (1 Timothy 2:1-2). And as Pentecostals, when we hear the news of sickness, our reaction is to bring it to the Lord, trusting that He is the One who can heal. So we plead the blood of Jesus for our King and pray for his healing. Here is a prayer which may help: Almighty & all-merciful God, Who by the cross and resurrection of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, makes all things new and pours out by Your Holy Spirit gifts of healings as foretastes of t ..read more

Pastors usually have lots of responsibilities. There are people to be visited, sermons to prepared, events to be organised, meetings to be chaired, finances and charity compliance to administered, and lots, lots more. And in the midst of all that we want — or need — our pastors to do, it can be easy to forget that a vital aspect of his calling is something we don't see at all.  When the first deacons were installed in the early church, part of the reason was so that the apostles could devote themselves “continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). This is the hear ..read more

Pastors need to pray lots. And pastors need lots of prayer. So whether you are a pastor, or whether you have a pastor and would like some help and encouragement to pray for him, here are seven points of prayer from David Torrance's essay ‘Sharing in the Ministry of Christ’ (published in A Passion for Christ: The Vision that Ignites Ministry), to which I've added some comments and explanation. 1. Pray every day for the gift of love. ‘He who does not love does not know God, for God is love’ (1 John 4:8). On the night on which He entrusted the ministry of the Lord’s Table to His apostles ..read more

Many churches spend some time in the month of January in prayer and fasting. I know that the whole of the Apostolic Church in Ghana, for example, spends three weeks in prayer and fasting at the beginning of each year. My own local assembly is spending some time over the next few weeks in prayer and fasting too (despite being in Wales rather than Ghana). And so it’s a time of year when lots of people have questions about fasting. A couple of years ago (during the lockdown) I made a few videos with some Scriptural teaching about fasting to help give a clearer biblical picture of what it’s all a ..read more

We Pentecostals are good at praying for God's healing of the sick. But sometimes we need help to pray for those we love in the last moments of their pilgrimage here below, when the time has come not to pray for healing but to commend our dear brother or sister in Christ to the Lord in the hour of death. Often the Lord leads us in these times by His Spirit and our knowledge of His Word. Yet sometimes we can find ourselves at a loss to know how to pray. So here are some prayers to help us in such difficult times, when we really do need to pray (drawn and adapted from the wisdom of Christi ..read more

Today my colleagues said farewell. In a month's time I will be giving up the life of a theological college lecturer. (And I've still got plenty of marking to do in the meantime.) But today was the traditional tea and cake in the dining hall at morning coffee time for a departing member of staff. And this time I was that member of staff.  College made the official announcement of my departure a few months ago, so this is probably not really news to a lot of people. But a few of you might not know, so I thought it would be worth mentioning. After half a decade (including a pandemic, seve ..read more

I've got a new book out today about the Breaking of Bread, called The Lord’s Supper: Our Promised Place of Intimacy and Transformation with Jesus (Minneapolis: Chosen, 2023). Christians are very familiar with the Lord's Supper. We eat and drink at the Lord’s Table (hopefully) every week. Yet, maybe we don’t talk about it all that much. And when we don’t talk about it, then sometimes our ideas about it end up being picked up from traditions (or even from believing the opposite of what we think we’re not supposed to believe), rather than from God’s Word.  Whether you’ve given the Supp ..read more