>>>The Week The Earth Moved Beneath My Feet<<<

[EA]

This has been the most interesting week of my ministerial life.

There are many things going on, too numerous to mention, that have completely floored me.

I would like to use this thread to address some issues that are heavy on my mind.

First, I will leave this movement if the push to erase the word "Pentecostal" continues, and here is why.

It may seem trivial, but I believe the push to change our identity to "Apostolic" is a grave injury to my spiritual heritage. I feel like the movement I grew up in, and have always known, is changing.

The word "Pentecostal" has always defined us. It embodies our common heritage, spiritual experience and Biblical moorings. Pentecost is the genesis of the church. Pentecost is where the Gospel was first preached. Pentecost is where the proper response to the saving work of Jesus Christ is laid out.

Pentecost is everything. Simply everything.

You can say I am hung up on labels, and that is your right, but I AM PENTECOSTAL, and I have no intention of changing my identity. I have no intention of allowing others to change my identity.

To me, the word "Apostolic" has gained popularity because a very conservative sect of our movement picked it up to further isolate themselves from other Pentecostals. In this way, the word "Apostolic" is used to define us as super-holy .

The way we use this badge of identity bothers me.

It is as if our super-holiness has become more important than the Gospel, and our response to it. It erases the power of Pentecost, and replaces it with a works based identity.

Nowadays we hear preaching about "Apostolic" heritage. We have web-based forums called "Everyone's Apostolic." It is no longer the Oneness Pentecostal movement, it is the "Apostolic" movement.

When did Pentecost become outdated and undesirable?

I feel as though the ground has shifted beneath my feet.

I am part of a movement that no longer emphasizes Pentecost.