Pentecostal Campus Ministry By Mike Palandro

Emotional, heretical, sectarian, exuberant, spontaneous, tongues, gifts of the Spirit, with the Holy Spirit are all terms which have been used to describe what it means to be a Pentecostal or a Pentecostal campus ministry. The fact is that both supporters and detractors, if not we ourselves, often have a distorted view of what it means to be "Pentecostal."

We might all better understand what it means to be a Pentecostal campus ministry if we would consider the characteristics of those Christian movements of the 19th century from which we gain our heritage. It is important to note from the outset that while our predecessors who were associated with the Asuza Street revival of 1906 would say that a Pentecostal was "one who spoke in tongues," they saw themselves as "Restorationists." Indeed, they were participants in God's sovereign restoration of the Apostolic Faith. In fact, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Asuza Street, which gave birth to Modern and organizations such as the Assemblies of God, was really just the crest of a wave which had been building strength since the mid-1800's.

This sovereign work of God had already been finding expression in numerous independent and spontaneous gatherings, as well as major movements such as the Holiness Movements of America and England, the Keswick Convention and the American Conference, which were associated with such notables as R.A. Torrey, A.B. Simpson, Andrew Murray, and F.B. Meyer.

There is no doubt that the clearest distinctive of the Modern Pentecostal Movement since the establishment of the mission on Asuza Street has been the doctrine of subsequence regarding the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and the identification of tongues as the initial physical evidence of the Spirit experience.

However, this was in no way all that it meant to be "Pentecostal." If we fail to understand our heritage in the broader context of God's work in the 19th century, we do ourselves an injustice, as well as taking a risk of becoming no more that what R.A. Torrey called "A Tongues Movement."

When we look at the early Modern Pentecostals, as well as elements of the American Bible Conferences and the Keswick Conventions, we can identify eleven characteristics which seem to mark the teaching and experience of many of those who participated in these three various trajectories of God's sovereign work at the turn of the century. Our understanding of what it means to be a Pentecostal campus ministry can be best enhanced by identifying and briefly describing these eleven characteristics.

Pre-millenialists Probably the most important characteristic of early Pentecostalism was the in the imminent return of Christ exposed in the doctrine of pre-millenialism. It was this unique eschatological perspective that provided the impetus for holiness, which prepared one for Christ's return; as well as the urgency for evangelism and missions, since the time was short to win men and women to ; and also an expectation regarding the manifestation of the Spirit which were provided for in the last days before Christ's return. These three other important characteristics of Pentecostalism grew directly out of this view on the return of Christ.

It is interesting to note that even in /Charismatic circles today where there is not the same focus on the imminent return of Christ, eschatology still plays as significant a role. The difference is in a theology focused on the concept of the Kingdom of God already breaking into human history which must be preached to the poor, requires a holy life lived under the rule of the King, and emphasizes the power of the Kingdom being manifested in healing, deliverance, and the miraculous.

Christ-centered A second characteristic is that it was Christ-centered. For all the attention given to the Holy Spirit, the focus of the best teaching and experience was Christ, and his redemption and lordship over the believer and the church. It is not accidental that such greats as Donald Gee and Stanley Frodsham would speak of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit in terms of a "new discovery of the living Christ" and as "consecration of life to Christ." The Holy Spirit was never to take supremacy over Christ the Savior and Lord, either in preaching or hymnody.

Prayer The people and congregations of this modern revival were well known as people of . In every corner of the world people had begun meeting together and praying that God would pour out His Spirit upon His people. In the book entitled, Asuza Street, Frank Bartleman noted that God was giving people the ministry of " travail," and placing a "spirit of intercession" upon some. There was a growing conviction that revival would be born and maintained in prayer.

It is probably no coincidence that today in South Korea, which has the largest churches in the world, most evangelical churches have prayer groups that meet every day, as well as all-night prayer meetings every Friday. Some of these gatherings are attended by as many as 10,000 people.

Power We are usually aware of the power which characterized the life and ministry of these early revivalists. The desire for Holy Spirit power seems to have arisen as a reaction to the moral liberalism and the dead orthodoxy which had overtaken much of the church. Many hearts were stirred with the need for a continued dynamic experience with God.

The most fundamental motivation of all the major movements of this period was a desire for power both to live an overcoming life, as well as engage in more effective ministry and service. This power was given in response to prayer and was also experienced spontaneously while believers were gathered for worship and teaching. The next five characteristics were directly related to power and were various expressions of that power.

Baptism with the Holy Spirit The power of God was sought and received in the experience of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. D.L. Moody, in his book, Institute Tie, said that the greatest blessing next to being born again came sixteen years later when he was filled with the Spirit. William Durham in the "Pentecostal Testimony," describes how, at his Baptism with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit fell on him and he went down under His mighty power and laid there for three hours as the Spirit worked wondrously in him. For Durham and others, this was only one of many experiences of the Spirit moving upon their lives with great power.

The Pentecostal Testimony records another experience where Durham says, "...a thrill of power went through me, followed by another. Instantly it appeared as if every one of my pores were suddenly opened and a mighty current of power turned into me from every side...I literally gasped for breath, and fell in a heap on the floor."

Holiness With these works of the Spirit came a renewed commitment to holiness. In these people was a deep understanding of the seriousness of and a longing for radical obedience to the Lordship of Christ. The ministry of the Spirit had given a new ability to focus more on Christ and His demands and less on the desires of the flesh and the world. God's people were seeking to live in purity and learning to say "yes" moment by moment in the power of the Spirit to the commands of Jesus.

Gifts of the Spirit, especially in healing The power of God was also manifesting itself in the gifts of the Spirit, especially in healing. Many people experienced spontaneous healing during worship and the preaching of the Word. During this period, people like Charles Parham had founded "Faith Homes" and others like A.J. Gordon and F.B. Meyer and begun teaching widely concerning healing in the of Christ. Prayer meetings and worship services were becoming marked by tongues and interpretations, prophecy and revelations. More and more testimonies were also being shared about God's miraculous provision of finances and food for missionaries, as well as some being given languages to preach in foreign countries.

Evangelism and Missions The concern for power took greatest focus in the commitment to evangelism and missions. After all, the primary purpose of Spirit-baptism was to empower God's people for witness and service. The clarion call of these movements was to win the lost before Christ returned. As mentioned earlier, the expectation of the soon return of Christ gave an added sense of urgency to evangelism and world missions.

One example is the Student Volunteer Movement which was born out of a conference in 1886 with D.L. Moody. This group sent 1,000 missionaries overseas by World War I and rallied around the watchword, "The World by The End of the Century."

Hunger for the Word of God With all the attention on experience, it is important to realize that early Pentecostals were also characterized by a hunger for the Word of God. The study and teaching of Scripture was central to the development and propagation of this new work of the Spirit. We must remember the early leaders were well trained theologically and were great expositors of The Bible. There was a deep commitment to education evidenced in the establishment of Sunday School, Bible conferences, and Bible Institutes. Many of these Pentecostals came from churches in the reformed tradition such as the Congregationalists and Presbyterians who greatly emphasized Scripture and creed.

Tears Fred Corum in the introduction to Like As a Fire said that another characteristic of the early Pentecostal revival was tears. It seemed that wherever the Holy Spirit moved people would begin crying and weeping. These tears were most often a sign of brokenness and vulnerability created by the invading of the Holy Spirit into a person's innermost being.

Sometimes they were related to a call to repentance or to a deep burden over the sin of the church or the world. At other times, it was a sharing in the sorrow or brokenness of God over His people, or even tears of joy from the overwhelming nature of the encounter with God taking place. Whatever the particular motivation, these tears were usually an uncontrollable response to a powerful and sovereign move of the Spirit on an individual's life.

This is clearly exemplified in the book Asuza Street, by comments regarding Evan Roberts and the 1904 revival in Wales: "...it was not the eloquence of Evan Roberts that broke men down, crying bitterly for God to bend them in an agony of prayer, the tears coursing down his cheeks with his whole face writhing.

Strong men would break down and cry like children. Women would shriek. A sound of weeping and wailing would fill the air." Implicit in these experiences was the belief that, "the depth of revival will be determined exactly by the depth of the spirit of repentance."

Christian unity The final characteristic is that of Christian unity. The move of the Holy Spirit was transgenerational and transcultural. It crossed every known barrier of the early 20th century. Many attempts were made to avoid the formulation of new denominations in fear of isolating the renewing work of the Spirit from the church at large. This period was also marked by an unprecedented cooperation among people from various Christian backgrounds, rooted in their common experience in the Spirit and their commitment to world evangelization.

It is evident that if we desire to be Pentecostal in the best sense of the word, we must have more than tongues, or emotion, or good worship. If we use the preceding eleven characteristics as a standard for measurement, many of us will have to admit that we and our campus groups fall far short of the ideal.

I would venture to say that the immense task of reaching university students of the world for Christ demands the existence of truly Pentecostal ministries on our campuses. We must begin immediately to build in our students those qualities which will result in the establishment of vital Pentecostal ministry.

While there are many things we can do, it is probably most important that we start with and repentance. It will undoubtedly be just as true in 1985 as it was in 1905 that, "the depth of revival will be determined exactly by the depth of the spirit of repentance."

"So then, confess your to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed." James 5:16

Produced by Chi Alpha Campus Ministries – Boston. 2007.