How growth of modern day Pentecostal

Task 1

(Summery)

It is the account of Pentecost in Acts 2:4, where Luke describes how, on the day of Pentecost, those gathered in the upper room “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues”, from which the movement derives its name. The growth of modern day Pentecostal movement at bethel Bible school and a small assembly gathered together in Azusa Street in downtown Los Angeles in 1906 to a worldwide movement. The movement’s growth in recent decades has been located especially in sub-Saharan Africa, south-east Asia and Latin America. This growth has attracted interest from a range of different scholars.
According to the writer there are many reasons for the growth of Pentecostal movement among these :- it fulfilled the human need it can be economic problems, anxiety about death, psychological or the need for security in an unstable world through random and strategic designed social ministries, It also provide order, stability and hope to their lives. Moreover Pentecostalism emphasized an immediate personal experience of God’s power by his Spirit; it is more intuitive and emotions. Worship also another factor that touches the emotions and felling, healing also takes place. This persuades peoples that as Christianity is true. Pentecostalism tackle old margin between science and religion by giving reasonable explanation to the world view. Finally the new theoretical idea helps the growth which attempted to account for the comparative prosperity of religion. it create a market place for religion
They frequently read their bible and surrounded their activities with prayer

Task 2

In this writing I am going to discusses about Karl Marx view on religion. He viewed religion as an “opiate” that took the edge off the pain of life”. I am partly agreed on the view.

First of all according to the bible God has made us human beings with an innate desire to have a relationship with Him and Humans has made with body, soul and sprit. Religion is food for the soul. As the true value of food is measured by the quantity of nutrients it contains. Spirituality is the nutritional value, of authentic religious concepts, for the soul.

On the one hand I agree and firmly believe that people practice religion because it gives them a sense of hope to their everyday life. People, who have a terrible fear of death, insecurity or frustration to their life, no confidence in government, accept religion as a form of comfort, that there is something to look forward to after death. Many people are searching for the answers to life in the hope that they are not just living to die.

On the other hand I disagree to the view of Karl Marx because real religion is more than taking the pain of life in this world. A lot of the religious dogma practiced today has very little to do with reason and everything to do with social and cultural values and belief. A real religion is a search for an answer to "Where did the universe come from?" “Why human beings are created?"Where are they going?"... etc. It also involves knowing the true and living God who 'does not dwell in temples made with hands' and so is unknowable from the perspective of any religious practice we can create ourselves.

To put the whole issue in a nutshell, I myself agree more with the ideas with at same point religion can take off the pain of the world and real religion is the way having an eternal life. Therefore we need religion for salivation.

Task 3

On this article there are different information including figure and explanation on the emergence, myth, growth, type, orientation of Pentecostalism. It also discusses on social transformation and secularization Pentecostalism.

It teaches to the church that churches are to those who need help in physical, psychological and spiritual difficulty. Church leaders get a lesson to organize and train members for different ministries such as healing and deliverance, worship, prayer, children, social and young people ministries. Church should have to encourage members by teaching and send them for counselling any family issue, working with prisoners and their families as well as work for drug addicts, lonely, cold and hungry people. Additionally telling them about the Gospel side by side with the help they get and show how Pentecostalism implements God’s word. This facilitates churches to organize crusade and to invite people from the community or non believers.

From the social significance point of view, Pentecostalism has established structures on God’s word to empower any person. For example, it helps to the poor and the marginalized to have a greater voice and participation in the system. An ordinary person whose opinion is not normally heard, upon conversion acquires a sense of worth, new meaning for life, new disciplines for work and new models for family life. When a member of a certain family becomes a part of the Pentecostal church, it usually results in better family relationships