Seminary Professor Receives Award of Excellence at Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS)

Kenneth J. Archer, Associate Professor of Theology received the 2008
Award of Excellence for his article, "A Pentecostal Way of Doing Theology: Method and Manner" from The Foundation for Pentecostal Scholarship. Dr. Archer's essay was published in the International Journal of Systematic Theology 9:3 (2007): 307-314.

To read the article click here or look under Publications and Resources (www.cogts.edu).

President Land Meets with Major Pentecostal/Charismatic Educators

Dr. Steven Jack Land recently visited the Assembly of God Theological Seminary and headquarters in Springfield, MO to consult concerning future common challenges and opportunities to collaborate. Pictured from left to right is Dr. Steven Land, President
COGTS, Byron Klaus, President of AGTS, and Dr. Michael Palmer, Dean of the
School of Divinity, Regent University.

Alexander Reviews Healing Books for Fall 08 Pneuma

March 25 - 27, 2008

Pastor Diane Mann	Bishop George D. McKinney	Dr. F.J. May	Dr. Steven Land
International Worship Center	St. Stephen's Church of God in Christ	Emeriti Faculty	Lunch with the President
Ft. Lauderdale, FL	San Diego, CA	Wednesday Night Speaker	Wednesday 12:00 PM
Speaker, Tuesday Chapel	Speaker, Thursday Chapel	NCCOG 7:00 PM	Invited Guests Only

Breakout Session are scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon Locations TBA
Wednesday Student Preaching Festival 9:00-11:30am; 1:30-4pm Cross Chapel

Public Invited to all Services

Three days of Informative Workshops, Anointed Preaching,
Powerful Worship, Enriching Fellowship, and Life-changing Dialogue

Current COGTS students desiring to receive seminary credit must complete and submit a registration add form to the Registrar’s Office.
Regular Seminary tuition will apply.

$1 Million Endowment Gift to Seminary

The Curtsinger Trust, a supporter of the Church of God Theological Seminary for many years, recently gave a $1 million gift, raising Seminary endowments to more than $12.0 million. Never has the need for trained pastors, church leaders, and people in ministry been more critical than today. President Land states, “It is with gratitude the Seminary accepts this gift which will increase scholarships to students training for ministry to over half a million dollars annually”. Pictured sharing the news is Dr. Paul Walker, Executive Committee Liaison, Dr. Steve Land, Seminary President, and Dr. Martin Taylor, Seminary Board chair.

If you would like to know how you can establish an endowed scholarship fund or contribute to an existing fund, please contact Dr. Ron Cason, Executive Director for Institutional Advancement (800/228-9126).

Editor: John K. Roth, Claremont McKenna College
ISBN: 978-1-58765-379-7
List price: $385
September 2007 * 4 vols. * 2100 Pages * 6" x 9"

Masterplots II: Christian Literature Psalms

Authors: Traditionally ascribed to David (c. 1030-c. 962 B.C.E.) and
others
First transcribed: Tehillim (Hebrew), Psalmoi (Greek), dates unknown
(English translation, 1384)
Edition Used: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments:
New Revised Standard Version. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, 1990
Genres: Holy writings; poetry
Subgenres: Devotions; lyric poetry; theology
Core issues: The Bible; devotional life; faith; prayer; trust in God

Psalms is an Old Testament book of one hundred fifty religious songs, written by a variety of Hebrew authors over the span of several hundred years. The Psalms include several types of songs that vary considerably in style, content, and form. They are cited often in the New Testament, where many of them are associated with the life of Jesus the Messiah. The importance of the Psalms is illustrated further by their continued use throughout history both in public liturgy and in private devotions. The Twenty-Third Psalm is one of the best loved and most quoted texts in the entire Bible.

Overview The English title Psalms derives from the Greek word Psalmoi, the book's
title in the Septuagint version, which dates from the second century B.C.E. In its original Hebrew language, the title of Psalms is Tehillim, meaning "praises." The Psalms, however, are not uniformly praises, they also include other genres such as lament, wisdom, and historical recital songs.

In the Hebrew Bible, Psalms is the first book in the Writings, the third part of the Hebrew canon, and in the English Bible, Psalms is the first of the poetical books. The 150 Psalms are organized into five divisions (called "books"), each ending in a doxology: book 1, Psalms 1-41; book 2, Psalms 42-72; book 3, Psalms 73-89; book 4, Psalms 90-106; and book 5, Psalms 107-150. It has been suggested that the five books may represent stages in the collection process; they may be thematic groupings that move from lament to praise; or they may be an attempt to parallel the five books of Moses (Geneses to Deuteronomy).

David is credited with the authorship of seventy-three Psalms. The remaining seventy-seven are attributed to a variety of authors, including Moses (Psalm 90), Solomon (Psalms 72 and 127), Heman (Psalm 88), and Ethan (Psalm 89). A number of Psalms are attributed to musical guilds known as the Sons of Korah and the Sons of Asaph, while still other Psalms are of anonymous origin.

Of the 150 Psalms, 116 have headings (often called "superscriptions") containing one or more of the following: the author's name, the traditional setting of the Psalm, typological designation, musical accompaniment, and other musical instructions. For example, the heading of the Third Psalm reads, "A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son." Although the scholarly consensus maintains that these headings
are not a part of the original composition, the presence of the headings in both the Septuagint and in the Qumran scrolls suggests that they are at least very ancient. Furthermore, the fact that headings are found on the imbedded Psalms that begin at 2 Samuel 23:1 and Habakkuk 3:1 may show that the practice of attaching a heading was a normal part of composition.

The Psalms are lyric poetry and exhibit the universal features of poetry. Although poetry may take many forms, it can be distinguished from prose by its concentration on figurative language and word play, its combination of word sounds, its utilization of meter, and its terseness within a verse structure. The poetry of Psalms takes full
advantage of metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, and other figures of speech. The most famous metaphor in the Bible is "The Lord is my shepherd" (Ps. 23:1).

The verse structure of Hebrew poetry is based on parallelism of lines. A verse may consist of one, two, or three lines, but most often it will be two lines, with the second line related in some fashion to the first line. The second line may restate the thought of the first line (synonymous parallelism); it may state the antithesis of the first line
(antithetical parallelism); or it may complete the thought of the first line (synthetic parallelism). Note the following examples: Psalm 19:1-2 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands" (synonymous); Psalm 1:6 "The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish" (antithetical); and Psalm 119:9 "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to thy word" (synthetic).

Although parallelism of lines is the most distinctive mark of Hebrew poetry, another technique used in the Psalter is the acrostic poem (Pss. 25, 34, 111, 112, 119, and 145), in which each verse begins with successive letters of the alphabet. Psalm 119 is unique in that it consists of twenty-two sections, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and every verse within a section begins with the same letter.

As with all poetry, a significant attraction of Psalms is its ability to draw the reader into the poetic world through visual imagery, imaginative symbols, and appeals to the readers' emotions. This affective dimension of the Psalms speaks to the heart and to the passions with a fervent freshness and honesty that does not neglect the
exasperating complexities of human existence. The Psalms give witness to both the greatest joys of life and to its greatest agonies. The emotions of the psalmist range from despair ("My heart is in anguish within me, the terrors of death have fallen upon me." Ps. 55:4) to elation ("Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name." Ps. 103:1) and every feeling between those extremes.

By employing a variety of psalm types, the Hebrew psalmists were able to frame appropriate responses to the diversities of the life of faith. In his groundbreaking work Hermann Gunkel identified five basic genres of psalms: the individual lament, the communal lament, the communal hymn, the individual thanksgiving psalm, and the royal psalm. These genres do not exhibit strict, ironclad structures, nor do they explain the nature of every song in the entire collection, but they are helpful guides to the basic forms of biblical psalmic expression.

The most common genre in the book of Psalms is the lament, which is the worshiper's cry to God for deliverance from distress. The sufferer's trouble may take the form of sickness (Psalm 6), personal or corporate sin (Psalm 51), oppression (Psalm 10), or an accusation (Psalm 17). The lament usually begins with an address to God ("Save me, O God" Ps. 54:1), followed by the specific complaint ("strangers have risen up against me" Ps. 54:3). The worshiper may then confess his/her trust in God ("God is my helper" Ps. 54:4) and offer up a petition to God ("heal me" Ps. 6:2). The lament may include a declaration of assurance that God has heard the prayer ("he has delivered me" Ps. 54:7) and conclude with a promise to praise God with a thanksgiving offering ("I will freely sacrifice unto you" Ps. 54:6).

Another genre, the thanksgiving psalm, is based on the final element of the lament. After the petitioner's prayer has been answered, the petitioner will offer the promised sacrifice and celebrate publicly with a psalm of thanksgiving as a testimonial to all who are present. This type of psalm normally includes three basic parts: the reason for praising God ("I will extol you, O God, for you have lifted me up" Ps. 30:1), the narration of the specific deliverance being celebrated ("I cried unto you and you healed me," Ps. 30:2-5), and a renewed vow to praise God ("I will give thanks to you forever" Ps. 30:12).

Unlike the thanksgiving psalm, which is based on a specific event in the life of the worshiper, the hymn is a psalm of descriptive praise that is uttered in praise of God's more comprehensive virtues ("Praise him for his mighty acts" Ps. 150:2). The hymns hold in tension the dialectic between God's transcendence and his immanence by emphasizing his power in creation and his care in providence, his majesty in kingship and his nearness in the salvation of the Exodus (Psalms 113, 135).

Other types of psalms are less prominent, such as the royal psalms (Psalm 72), the historical psalms (Psalm 78), the songs of Zion (Psalm 122), and the wisdom psalms. Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm, and includes several of the key themes that may be found in the genre. These characteristic themes are the family, God's law, justice, life's choices, life's inconsistencies, and the trust or fear of God.

Christian Themes
Although the book of Psalms is Hebrew literature from the Old Testament and is sometimes called the songbook of Israel's second temple, Christians have consistently witnessed to the power of the Psalms to give voice to their prayers and their expressions of worship. The Psalms have this power because, unlike other parts of Scripture, they are not God's words directed toward Israel; they are instead Israel's words directed to God in worshipful and prayerful response to his presence and actions among them. As long as Christians continue to acknowledge God's presence and activity in the Church, the Psalms will serve as a meaningful expression of the Christian response to God in worship and prayer.

Psalms suggests to the Christian that worship is deep, intense, and passionate, and that prayer is honest and fervent. In fact, the Psalms' honesty and fervency may offend modern Christian sensibilities at times, especially on those occasions when the psalmist prayed for the violent destruction of enemies and their children (for example, Ps. 3:7). These imprecatory psalms are difficult to reconcile with Christ's command to love our enemies. It should be remembered, however, that these psalms are cries for help, emerging from situations of deep suffering and oppression, and that the New Testament allows for God's intervention as vindicator of his people (Rom. 12:19; 1 Thess. 1:8; 2 Tim. 4:14; Heb. 10:30-31; Jude 14-15; Rev. 6:10).

Claus Westermann and Walter Brueggemann have shown that the diversity of psalmic types testifies to a dynamic life of faith. The lament and the hymn are opposite poles of Christian experience, but most of human existence falls somewhere between these extremes. Brueggemann argues that the lament speaks to the times of pain, the hymn rejoices in times of great joy, and the other types of psalms relate to periods of settled, average existence. Furthermore, the life of faith is not static; rather, people are often in movement from one stage to another. The Psalms address this dynamic element of Christian life.

In addition to the experiential themes that emerge from the Psalms, numerous theological topics stand out as well. The psalmists' cries for help assume that God is savior and deliverer, an assumption that is given specific witness in the thanksgiving psalms, and is expanded in the hymns by mention of the Exodus. God's saving work includes his providential care, his forgiveness of sin, his healing of sickness, and his giving of his Spirit (Ps. 51:10-11). Additionally, God is portrayed prominently as creator and sovereign of the universe. As king, God is enthroned in heaven, active on earth, and coming to reign over the world (Psalm 96).

Sources for Further Study
Brueggemann, Walter. The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg, 1984. A postcritical approach to the Psalms in which the precritical devotional approach and the historical critical approaches balance and correct each other.

Eaton, J. H. The Psalms: A Historical and Spiritual Commentary with an Introduction and New Translation. London: T & T Clark, 2003. Includes a helpful summary of the theology of the Psalms and the interpretation of Psalms through history. Applies each Psalm to Christian spirituality.

McCann, J. Clinton. A Theological Introduction to the Book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1993. Exegetical and theological commentary from a Christian context, including a chapter on Jesus Christ and an appendix on the singing of the Psalms.

Mays, James. Psalms. Louisville, Ky.: John Knox, 1994. Perceptive theological commentary that appreciates the canonical context of the Psalms and their use by New Testament writers and later Christian interpreters.

Terrien, Samuel. The Psalms: Strophic Structure and Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2003. Critical and theological commentary rich in Ancient Near Eastern references and useful bibliographic sources. A scholarly yet passionately expressive volume.

Lee Roy Martin

Opinion & Commentary

Following Christ in World Evangelization

By Grant McClung

In Following Christ,1 Joseph Stowell relates the story of Edward Kimball, a quiet and unassuming Sunday school teacher who followed Christ in evangelization. On a routine Saturday in Boston, Massachusetts (USA), some 150 years ago, Kimball took the day to visit every young man in his class. He wanted to be sure that each one had come to know Christ. One of the students worked as a clerk in his uncle's shoe store. Kimball entered the store, walked back to the stockroom where Dwight Lyman Moody was stocking the shelves and confronted the youth with the importance of knowing Christ personally. In that stockroom, D.L. Moody accepted Christ as his Savior. The faithful Sunday school teacher had no idea that this act of faithful evangelistic witness would reap such a rich harvest for heaven. It has been estimated that during his lifetime, Moody traveled more than a million miles (before the days of commercial air travel!) and spoke to more than 100 million people.

It was Moody who led Wilbur Chapman to the Lord. Chapman became a great evangelist in the generation succeeding Moody's. During Chapman's ministry in Chicago, Illinois (USA), a baseball player with the "Chicago White Stockings" had a Sunday off (as did all professional ballplayers in those days) and was standing in front of a bar on State Street. A gospel wagon from the Pacific Garden Mission came by, playing hymns and inviting people to the afternoon service down the street. This ballplayer, Billy Sunday, recognized the hymns from his childhood, attended that service and received Christ as his personal Savior. Sunday played baseball for two more years, then left professional sports to minister in the YMCA in Chicago. Sometime later, Chapman was passing through town and invited Sunday to join his crusade team as an advance man, to help organize pastors and set up evangelistic meetings. Sunday enthusiastically agreed. After two years, Chapman left the evangelistic ministry to become the pastor of one of the leading churches in America. Although Sunday felt stranded, he refocused on national crusade evangelism and soon began scheduling his own crusades.

In one of Sunday's meetings, a young man named Mordecai Hamm accepted Christ. Hamm became a great evangelist in the southeastern United States, ministering to massive crowds south of the Mason-Dixon Line. In one of those large crowds one night, a lanky North Carolina farm boy named Billy Graham stepped out and moved forward to accept Christ.

In relaying this incredible, God-orchestrated connectivity of persons, Stowell says, "What a phenomenal succession of faithful and stellar harvesters for the cause of eternity. Edward Kimball, the Sunday school teacher, was simply an unheralded follower who gave up a Saturday for the cause. Heaven is crowded with the results of his routine faithfulness."2

The Heart and Ethos of Christ-centered Evangelization

This story of simple and straightforward evangelistic witness gets to the heart and ethos of Christ-centered evangelization. Following Christ in world evangelization demands the pursuit of a personal experience with the Triune God through the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit-with a corresponding passion to make Christ known among the nations.

It also means following Christ's example in evangelization. How did Jesus go into his world and how does that model inform us as his followers today? How can and should we personally experience and follow Christ in a way that leads to effective evangelization? There are many ministry examples of Jesus described in the Gospels. In Luke 3-6, there are at least eight examples of following Christ.

Jesus went (and we follow):

With God's favor. At his baptism, "the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased'" (Luke 3:22).

Full of the Holy Spirit/led by the Holy Spirit. "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil" (Luke 4:1).

Guided by the Word of God. "Jesus answered, 'It is written: Man does not live by bread alone'" (Luke 4:4).

With the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:14,18-19). "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit" (Luke 4:14). Jesus also said, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19).

With an intercultural focus. "I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed-only Naaman the Syrian" (Luke 4:25-27).

With authority in teaching, deliverance and healing. "They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority" (Luke 4:32). "'Be quiet!' Jesus said sternly. 'Come out of him!' Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, 'What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out'" (Luke 4:35-36). "They asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them" (Luke 4:38-39).

With a vision for those who had not heard the good news. "I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent" (Luke 4:43).

With an interdependent/cooperative team partnership. "When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink" (Luke 5:6-7, italics mine). "For he (Simon Peter) and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, 'Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.' So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him" (Luke 5:9-11, italics mine). "One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles" (Luke 6:12-13).

The events and experiences of Christ-followers in the early Church were a continuation of the ministry of Jesus. It is apparent that when Luke starts his introduction to the Book of Acts, he sees it as a sequel to an unfolding continuation of the Gospel of Luke: "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach" (Acts 1.1, italics mine). If the Gospel of Luke was the story of all that Jesus began, then the Acts of the Apostles is the continuation of the ministry of Jesus.

This fact was not lost on Peter in his first public declaration following his own personal empowerment in the Holy Spirit. With a fresh boldness ("Brothers, I can tell you confidently," Acts 2:29), he bears witness to Jesus Christ being squarely in the middle of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:

"God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear." (Acts 2:32-33)

The Presence of Christ in World Evangelization

As we follow Christ in world evangelization, he reciprocates with his own personal presence and involvement with us. He promises and demonstrates his own continuing, active presence and power to his followers: "And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28.20b). The Berkeley Version states it this way: "And, mind you, I am alongside you." The Weymouth Translation says it this way: "...day by day, until the close of the Age."

"After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it." (Mark 16:19)

Models and strategies of evangelization may adapt and change, but this will remain the same: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13.8). The continuing, active presence and power of Jesus Christ will be with us daily as he works with us and we follow him in world evangelization.

Endnotes

1. Stowell, Joseph. Following Christ. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Zondervan.

2. Ibid. 130-131

Dr. Grant McClung, a veteran world missions leader, is a member of the International Executive Council and author of "Globalbeliever.com: Connecting to God's Work in Your World."

DISCLAIMER: Church of God and Faith News does not necessarily endorse or sanction all or any part of this news item.