Stanley M. Horton: Shaper of Pentecostal Theology

Stanley M. Horton: Shaper of Pentecostal Theology, by Lois E. Olena with Raymond L. Gannon. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2009.

The second half of the twentieth century has seen Pentecostal scholarship emerge and thrive. Out of that emergence, few names are more recognizable than Stanley Horton. Called to teach Bible while a chemistry student at UC Berkeley, Horton did the unthinkable and went to Harvard to prepare for ministry as a Pentecostal scholar. The long shadow of Horton’s influence among Pentecostals began humbly and now stretches around the world and into the first decade of the twenty-first century. You may have read his books, but Stanley Horton: Shaper of Pentecostal Theology will tell you “the rest of the story.” As you read, be encouraged and see what a long obedience in the same direction can yield.

–Dr. Byron Klaus, President, Assemblies of God Theological Seminary

I am very happy to see in print this tribute to Stanley Horton, one of my esteemed professors, a model of godliness, sacrifice, and scholarship. I am also delighted to learn more about his life, and through it the history of the Pentecostal movement in North America. All who have been touched by this rich heritage will appreciate this work.

–Dr. Craig Keener, Professor of New Testament, Palmer Theological Seminary

Who has been a greater luminary in the twentieth-century Pentecostal galaxy than Dr. Stanley M. Horton? Many make their mark on but one island of ministry, but heroes impact many. This book shows how this scholar-saint set the standard for Pentecostal scholarship as a model professor, left a unique Gospel witness across the globe, and kept on “getting it right.” In a nation of conflicted social policies and in a church of confusing racial standards, he showed how one man’s life could clearly reveal Christ’s Church. May this volume inform others as much as my teacher Dr. Horton reformed me. Paul said in 1 Timothy 5:17 to give double honor to the elders who rule well; this read is just a portion of such honor.

–Bishop Lemuel Thuston, Kansas East Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, Church of God in Christ

Paperback, 318 pages, illustrated. $19.95 retail. Order from: Gospel Publishing House

American Indian College history

American Indian College: A Witness to the Tribes, edited by Joseph J. Saggio and Jim Dempsey. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2008.

American Indian College, the first regionally accredited Bible College for Native Americans in the United States, celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2007. Since its founding as All Tribes Bible School by Assemblies of God missionary Alta Washburn, the school has played an important role in the training of Native American pastors and the development of indigenous Pentecostal churches.

American Indian College: A Witness to the Tribes is a valuable collection of historical accounts, interpretive essays, and personal narratives that will evoke memories for those who lived the history. It will also become an essential resource for students and scholars who wish to better understand the history and future of Native American higher education and Pentecostalism. The book was edited by former longtime AIC faculty member Joseph J. Saggio (and now a professor at Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington) and Jim Dempsey, longtime faculty member currently serving as AIC Campus Pastor.

The content of this volume falls into three major categories: 1) three previously-published histories of the school; 2) short essays or “reflections” by people associated with the school; and 3) an overview of the school’s history, mission and aims, written by the editors.

The three histories, reprinted with introductions in this volume, are: Trail to the Tribes, by Alta M. Washburn; A Trail of Beauty: A Short History of American Indian Bible College, by Pauline Dunn; and Indian Harvest: A History of American Indian Bible College, by Carolyn D. Baker.

The reflections were written by: board members (T. Ray Rachels, Rodger A. Cree, Sr., Curtis W. Ringness, and Marvin Begay); presidents (Don Ramsey, Simon Peter, Carl E. and Alice Collins, David J. Moore, Jim H. Lopez, and James V. Comer); faculty (Alma F. Thomas, Eugene Hunter, Betty J. Hanna, Belinda F. Lopez, Nancy J. Saggio, and Everett F. Peralta); staff (M. Nadine Waldrop, Sandra K. Ticeahkie, Sandra M. Gonzales, Donald P. Merino); and alumni (Lillie Ward Neal, Jimmy Yellowhair, Vince Roubideaux, James J. Bollinger, Marco J. Burnette, and Jameson D. Lopez).

George O. Wood authored the foreword. Appendices include a historical timeline, lists of members of the Board of Regents, administration and faculty, staff, and graduates. The book also includes invaluable name and photo indices.

American Indian College: A Witness to the Tribes deserves to be widely distributed, as it provides a rare treatment of the intersection of three important subjects, each of which merits attention in its own right: Native Americans, higher education, and Pentecostalism.

Reviewed by Darrin J. Rodgers

Softcover, xiv, 433 pages, illustrated. $18 plus $7 shipping and handling. Order from: American Indian College, Attn: Sylvia Rivera, 10020 N. 15th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85021-2199. Checks should include the phrase “AIC Book” in the memo line. For more information or to order a book, contact Sylvia Rivera by phone (602-944-3335, ext. 221) or by email (srivera@aicag.edu).

Finis Jennings Dake biography

Finis Jennings Dake: His Life and Ministry, by Leon Bible. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Publishing, 2006.

Bible teacher Finis Jennings Dake (1902-87) is known throughout the Pentecostal world for his four-column Dake Annotated Reference Bible which contains numerous notes and commentaries on all the different verses of the Bible. In fact, Charisma Magazine has even referred to it as “the Pentecostal Study Bible.” A notable Pentecostal minister, Jimmy Swaggart, stated that “I owe my Bible education to this man” [Dake], whose works also include God’s Plan for Man (originally designed as a 3-year Bible course), Revelation Expounded, The Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ, and Bible Truths Unmasked among other publications.

Having been introduced to his various books in the early 1980s in Oslo, Norway, I was quite excited when I learned about Mr. Bible’s history on Dake’s life and ministry. The book contains more than 400 pages and is a gold mine of information pertaining to Dake’s life and ministry as an Assemblies of God, Church of God (Cleveland, TN) and independent Pentecostal pastor, as well as a Bible school teacher, radio minister and author.

Admittedly, this is no scholarly biography (despite footnotes and bibliography), but more of a devotional walk through the life of Dake as seen through the lenses of Dake himself and his immediate family. The author portrays himself as an avid Dake reader whose writings he has admired for more than 30 years, and the book is not only endorsed by but also published by Dake Publishing, Inc. However, due to Dake’s continued influence among Pentecostal and charismatic believers, he also deserves scholarly attention. I hope the author’s sympathetic presentation of Dake will spur contributions from the academic ranks to supplement this volume. Personally, I was intrigued to learn that Dake was so well schooled in E. W. Bullinger’s radical form of ultradispensationalism, and academic researchers might be interested in submitting the Dake writings to historical and theological scrutiny in order to find to what extent Dake has Pentecostalized dispensatonalist and ultradispensationalist writings and to what extent his writings might have an original flavor of their own.

Reviewed by Geir Lie, editor of Refleks : med karismatisk kristendom i fokus (Oslo, Norway)

Hardback, 441 pages, illustrated. $19.95 plus shipping. Order through Dake Publishing.

Life and thought of Howard Ervin

Pilgrimage into Pentecost: The Pneumatological Legacy of Howard M. Ervin, by Daniel D. Isgrigg. Tulsa, OK: Word & Spirit Press, 2008.

In Pilgrimage into Pentecost, Daniel D. Isgrigg provides serious students of Pentecostalism two useful services. First, he gives the reader an interesting and detailed accounting of the life of Howard M. Ervin; and second, he outlines the main contours of Ervin’s theology of the Holy Spirit.

The study follows the journey of Baptist preacher/theologian Ervin from his early day as an agnostic through his encounter with God. It traces Ervin’s early pastoral days, and follows him on to his embracing of the Pentecostal message and experience. Isgrigg follows the long tenure of Ervin as a theology faculty member at Oral Roberts University into his current life of retirement. Pilgrimage then points out Ervin’s strong exegetical and theological defense of the classical Pentecostal message of Baptism in the Holy Spirit, as well as his loyalty to his American Baptist roots. The work shows how Ervin engaged in a spirited defense of his theology against a variety of critics and how the unity of the Spirit among Christians was foremost in Ervin’s desires. Isgrigg makes a strong case for the ecumenical ministry of Ervin over the years.

Pilgrimage into Pentecost highlights several key features of Ervin’s theology: Ervin argues persuasively for the “birthday of the Church” being in John 20, not Acts 2. He anchors his belief in evidential tongues for Spirit baptism in the models provided in the Book of Acts; and he departs from most Pentecostal scholars in his advocacy of “one Baptism; one filling.” In each of these issues, the author documents Ervin’s line of argumentation copiously.

It was more than 40 years ago, when I was a young student of Petecostalism, that I first encountered the writings of Howard M. Ervin. His persuasive apologetic for classical Pentecostal theology, even though he was a Charismatic Baptist, powerfully encouraged me. I have noted with pleasure the long years of faithful ministry and writing of Ervin, one who has not altered his views from his early days. He has been a strong advocate against those who would weaken the belief that God has wanted to empower His people for evangelism and missions with the empowerment of the Spirit in a crisis experience of Spirit baptism, accompanied by the sign of speaking in tongues.

In Pilgrimage to Pentecost, Daniel Isgrigg provides Pentecostals and Charismatics — and all interested in this burgeoning international movement of the Spirit — with a well-deserved study of the life and thought of one of its pioneers. Through this work, many can be grateful for the pioneering scholarly ministry of Dr. Ervin and understand his distinctive contribution.

Review by William W. Menzies (from Foreword)

Hardcover, 158 pages. $21.99 retail. Order from: amazon.com

Emmanuel College history

The Miracle Continues: A Personal History of Emmanuel College: 1969-2005, by David R. Hopkins. Franklin Springs, GA: LifeSprings Resources, 2007.

The Miracle Continues: A Personal History of Emmanuel College: 1969-2005 is one man’s heartfelt account of a life given to build a Christian college. Hopkins is honest, clear, detailed, inspirational, and informative in his personal recollections of 36 years spent as faculty member, academic dean, and president of a small Christian campus. Even if one is not an alumnus of Emmanuel College, he or she may gain a sense of the personal struggles, challenges, trials, and triumphs of an administrator working in a private college setting.

This book is “must” reading for anyone who attended Emmanuel College, any member of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, or any other person who desires a better understanding of the enormity of the task of operating a small, private, church-related college in the 21st century. The Miracle Continues: A Personal History of Emmanuel College: 1969-2005 is a singular volume documenting the real story of a unique institution of higher education. It will be a valuable reference for future generations to read.

–Adapted from cover

Paperback, 255 pages, illustrated. $20.00 list price. Order from LifeSprings Resources.

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Doris Dresselhaus Menzies Autobiography

Young at Heart: The Story of a Heart Transplant Recipient, by Doris Dresselhaus Menzies. Springfield, MO: Celebration Publishing, 2007.

Doris Dresselhaus Menzies has had two famous last names. Her husband, Dr. William W. Menzies, is one of the most highly-regarded educators in the Assemblies of God. Her cousin, Dr. Richard Dresselhaus, served as the long-time pastor of San Diego (CA) First Assembly of God and continues to serve as an executive presbyter of the Assemblies of God. Few people can claim to be related to one statesman of their caliber, much less two!

But Doris Menzies has her own story to tell. In Young at Heart: The Story of a Heart Transplant Recipient, Menzies recounted her testimony — from her Assemblies of God upbringing in Iowa, to her years in the ministry with her husband, to her roles as wife and mother, to her recent medical triumphs as a heart transplant recipient and as a cancer survivor.

Born on a frigid December day in 1932 on an Iowa farm, Doris was reared in the sturdy Willard and Beatrice Dresselhaus family. Her mother taught Sunday school, and her father was the Sunday school superintendent of the Decorah Assembly of God. Willard, a farmer, served as Farm Bureau president for Winneshiek County, was involved in local politics, and owned his own plane. Young at Heart challenges the assumption, held by certain historians, that early Pentecostals were disinherited or socially uninvolved.

Doris met Bill Menzies, her future husband, at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Bill graduated in 1953 and accepted the pastorate of the little Assemblies of God church in Big Rapids, Michigan. They married soon after Doris’ 1955 graduation and settled into pastoral ministry.

A Desk for Billie

A Desk for Billie. Film produced by the National Education Association, 1956. Rereleased on DVD, 2007.

Dr. Billie Davis, one of the best-known educators in the Assemblies of God, started life in the hopyards of Oregon. She spent her childhood during the Great Depression of the 1930s traversing across America with her parents, who were migrant farm workers. They were “homeless” before the term became fashionable. They lived and traveled in a battered Model A Ford with a makeshift wooden frame constructed on the back to provide shelter. She describes herself as a child as “a small ragged hobo” who would “[sit] on the ground beside a campfire, hungrily licking the fishy oil from the lid of a sardine can” while studying her school lessons.

From Opposition to Opening: The Story of How Evangel College Came to Be

From Opposition to Opening: The Story of How Evangel College Came to Be: 1914-1955, by Barry H. Corey. Springfield, MO: Evangel University Press, 2005.

Evangel College (now Evangel University), the first liberal arts college in the Assemblies of God, opened its doors in 1955. From its small beginnings, the school has become a leading Pentecostal educational institution. Its student body today numbers over 1,800, and its graduates serve in leadership roles in business, ministry, academia, entertainment, and government.

From Opposition to Opening is the story of the people “who dreamed, negotiated, prayed, jockeyed, and believed Evangel College into existence.” Four leaders figure prominently in this history: Ralph M. Riggs, J. Robert Ashcroft, Klaude Kendrick, and Thomas F. Zimmerman.

Java and Justice: Journeys in Pentecostal Missions Education

Java and Justice: Journeys in Pentecostal Missions Education, edited by B. Brenneman, W. R. Brookman, and N. Muhovich. Minneapolis, MN: North Central University Press, 2006.

Sponsored by the Department of Intercultural Studies and Languages at North Central University, this handy volume presents foundational issues in educating students for missions in the 21st century by presenting 19 essays by 17 contributors.

Essays in this volume include:

• The shame and the glory of being a Pentecostal: a personal journey / Bob Brenneman
• A legacy of Pentecostal missions education at North Central University: 1936-2006 / Dan Notely
• Story telling: a Biblical model of missions education / Nan J. Muhovich
• Planting ethnic churches in urban America / Richard and Farella Shaka
• Prepared in the fire: Argentine revival and missionary training / Rocky Grams
• The explosion of spiritual gifts and fervor in Celtic missions / Carolyn Tennant
• Spirit, mission, and the religions: toward a p(new)matological/Pentecostal theology of religions / Amos Yong
• Biblical justice: caring for the poor and oppressed / Nan Muhovich
• Ministry in hostile areas / Mark Hausfeld
• The veil worn and the veil torn: reflections from the inside / Myra Crane
• Sexual slavery and the gospel / Beth Grant
• From Noah to Saddam: the story of the Kurds / Bob Brenneman

A Faithful Past, A Shining Future: 75 Years of Pentecostal Education at North Central University

A Faithful Past, A Shining Future: 75 Years of Pentecostal Education at North Central University. Minneapolis, MN: North Central University Press, 2006.

This book aims “to capture memories and events” of North Central University “that have shaped thousands of lives during the last 75 years.” Birthed in 1930 as North Central Bible Institute under the leadership of Frank J. Lindquist, the Minneapolis school has become a leading educational institution within the Assemblies of God and the broader Pentecostal movement. This volume consists of essays, primarily written by alumni, about the school while they were students. While an institutional history of North Central University remains to be written, this book does provide valuable insight into many of the issues and people that made the school what it is today. A Faithful Past, A Shining Future is “must” reading for all NCU alumni and is an important addition to the literature on Pentecostal educational institutions.

Paperback, 198 pages, illustrated. $12.95 plus shipping. Order from: University Bookstore, North Central University, 910 Elliot Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404. Ph. 612-343-7887.

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