War a good warfare; holding faith,
and a good conscience;
which some having put away
concerning faith have made shipwreck.
–1 Timothy 1:18-19 (KJV)–
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
–Hebrews 3:12-13 (KJV)–
Ye shall be baptized
With the Holy Ghost…
Ye shall receive power,
After that the Holy Ghost
Is come upon you.
–Acts 1:5, 8 (KJV)–
Prayed for them,
That they might
Receive the Holy Ghost.
–Acts 8:15 (KJV)–
—
The outstretched arms
Of one word, of one breath
The existence is spoken
The existence will attest
A bond has been made
A plan put in motion
To reconcile and make new
The ultimate sacrifice of your flesh
Self lust will kill
A heart towards God will change
Destiny
Power, unleashed on this void
Onslaught, the only plan of this kind
This is something that cannot subside
The dawn of this day
A decision is made to know and proclaim
The dawn of this day
A decision is made to know and proclaim
The power of God
The power of God is alive
Is alive, is alive
–Living Sacrifice, “The Power of God”–
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Everything here would reflect a Wesleyan-holiness, Church of God (Cleveland), and Assembly of God view of theology thrown together. I would recommend Clarke’s Commentary, which is totally compatible with young earth creation (YEC). I would stay away from Nazarene theology if you’re a new Christian, because they lean towards theistic evolution; and that’s a spiritually agnostic and dangerous view to hold. Its unfortunate that both the Beacon Hill Commentary (1969) and the Wesleyan Bible Commentary (Hendrickson, 1986) allowed themselves to be swayed by popular science into the teaching of millions of years in Genesis 1. That’s the problem when scientism–the belief that science is equivalent to absolute truth–is allowed to have an influence on sound doctrine. Wesleyan-holiness churches other than AG or COG which affirm young earth would be the Southern Methodist Church, the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection, the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches, the Evangelical Wesleyan Church, and God’s Missionary Church. Church of God is stronger on young earth creation, but AG has started to slip into theistic evolution in their university science classes–a view that early AG preachers were vehemently against, such as Dr. Otto J. Klink in Why I Am Not an Evolutionist (Gospel Publishing House, 1931), although he might have copied Scofield and Dake in accommodating to old earth views on Genesis 1. Even Leonard Ravenhill had a son that worked in the Smithsonian and appeared to have no objection to it. Keith Green also had a song called “I Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven,” where he took a moderating position on old earth. Today most AG people are young earth in the pew, because of ministries like Answers in Genesis (AiG). This kind of slippery slope into old earth views have been less of an issue in Church of God, but its not totally absent because of the Dake Annotated Reference Bible–which was written by a defrocked AG preacher who was caught in a hotel with some teenage girl in 1936. Such is the fruit of old earth theology. If you won’t trust in Genesis 1, then you won’t trust in the rest of the Bible.
Dr. Adam Clarke, Clarke’s Commentary (Schmul, n.d.).
—. Clarke’s Christian Theology (Schmul, 1990).
Dr. French Arrington, Christian Doctrine, 3 vols (Pathway Press, 1993).
—. Life in the Spirit New Testament Commentary (Zondervan, 2003).
The Complete Biblical Library, 39 vols (World Library Press, 1990).
P. C. Nelson, Bible Doctrines (Gospel Publishing House, 2009).
Dr. Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience (Banner of Truth, 1998).
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Baptism and Gifts of the Spirit (Baker, 1996).
Dr. Jack Deere, Why I Am Still Surprised by the Voice of God (Zondervan, 2022).
—. Surprised…Power of the Spirit (Zondervan, 2020). Has AUDIO BOOK.
Thomas Boys, The Suppressed Evidence (Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1832).
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