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Then not only tongues, but healing, casting out of demons, prophecy and many other gifts of the Spirit began to be manifested there in Topeka. It spread from there down to Houston, Texas, where a black man, William Joseph Seymour, was brought into the movement by Parham. From there that movement spread all over the earth -- overnight almost. It was a tremendous beginning for a movement.
Church historians have given evidence of times of "tongues speaking" occurring in different areas and in different times since the birth of the church on the day of Pentecost. Though speaking in tongues was manifested at times, no one was taught to seek for the experience as they were taught to seek for justification, sanctification and so forth. Well, he had studied the teachings of the Holiness Movement, including salvation, sanctification, healing, and the Second Coming. And he noticed that there was no standard evidence of receiving the second blessing -- Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Some people said you would shout or weep or fall on the floor. The way he tells it, he was teaching his students the major doctrines of the Holiness Movement at that time, and when he got to Baptism in the Holy Spirit, he told his students there are many different ideas of how you know you've received this. He said, "Study the Scriptures and when I get back report on what is the Bible evidence.
How do you know you received the Holy Spirit?
Well, when he got back, the students said, to tell the truth, when we study the Scriptures, we see that they spoke with tongues in almost every case. If you want to know what the Bible evidence is, it has to be tongues.
He said he was astonished at the answer. There are other people who believe that he already knew what the answer was and that he was trying to get the students to confirm it. Roswell Flower, the founding secretary of the Assemblies of God, said, "Agnes Ozman's experience [being baptized in the Holy Spirit] made the 20th century Pentecostal Movement.
That's what made it different from the Holiness Movement and other movements of the day. What happened at those meetings that caused such a tremendous outpouring? I've studied this for most of my life and there are people writing books and doing research on Azusa Street. There's nothing, humanly-speaking, that we can come up with that explains everything about Azusa Street.
It has to be, in my view, a supernatural work of God. Here is a black pastor born in Louisiana to parents who had been slaves. He had been to Indianapolis and worked at a railroad station and as a waiter in restaurants. He had gotten into the Holiness Movement and had learned about tongues from Parham. He was invited to California to preach in a little black holiness church. They locked the door on him. He had not spoken in tongues yet, but he preached that it was the evidence.
Then he started holding prayer meetings in the home of a friend by the name of Asbury. For maybe two weeks they prayed and fasted. And then they began to speak in tongues in that prayer meeting in the home. And the crowds grew so large until he would speak on the front porch to hundreds of people on the streets. They had to find a place to meet. It was the first black church building in Los Angeles. But it had been sold and used as a stable and a lumber warehouse and all kinds of stuff.
It was a broken-down shambles of a building. It had been burned and it looked terrible. But Seymour and his followers, made up mainly of black porters, washer women, maids -- just very poor people -- started a meeting in April of The central attraction was speaking in tongues and healing. People came from all over Los Angeles and then it got into the religious press. Stories were printed all over the country that people were speaking in tongues just like the apostles did. And so there was a lot of curiosity.
He was an extremely zealous Christian. There are 80 Pentecostal denominations that are classified as Jesus' Name or Oneness Pentecostalism often self identifying as "Apostolic Pentecostals". From his church came all kinds of leaders. They claim to have the "gift of tongues" and be able to understand the babel. Following Holiness teacher Charles Parham's success in getting 18 year old Agnes Ozman to speak in tongues in Jan , although he didn't speak tongues yet, black Holiness preacher William J. How did it begin and what caused it to grow? It was noisy and it was messy.
People came from all over the country, and even from Europe. That meeting went on for three-and-a-half years -- three services a day, seven days a week. The pastor was a black man, but soon the majority of the people were white. And so it was Azusa Street with Seymour that made this a worldwide movement through Frank Bartleman, who wrote articles that went all over the world. Soon people were speaking in tongues in Jerusalem, in Stockholm, in London and Rome -- all over the world, it just spread like an explosion.
Who were some of the most important leaders in the Pentecostal movement in the first half of the 20th century? Who were the key leaders, and can you tell us about them? Well, the leadership changed. Nobody stayed in charge for very long. In fact, they often say it is a movement without a man. There's no Luther, there's no Calvin, there's no Wesley who molded the movement into one church. It exploded and there were many churches starting all over, everywhere.
The first leader, of course, was Parham.
Now he's the leader for about five years. Then Seymour, for three-and-a-half or four years, becomes the national leader. Then he drops out of sight because the mailing list for his paper called "Apostolic Faith" was moved to Portland, Ore. Then the leadership moves to Chicago -- I call it the Chicago connection. Durham was the pastor of the First Pentecostal Church in Chicago. From his church came all kinds of leaders. Italians spread Pentecostalism all over the world in Italian communities. From Chicago came Willis Hoover in Chile.
He started the first Pentecostal movement in South America. We tend to call this kind of Holy Spirit fire a "revival" but in reality this is the way the Church is supposed to operate. He describes how total submission to God brings His presence, while attempts to organize, package, create programs, design "orders of worship" and sell His revelations in slick packages will quench the Spirit. This is why so many of our modern day churches are totally void of the Power of God Frank Bartleman provides a running account of the true and normal movement of God.
This is why so many of our modern day churches are totally void of the Power of God, absent of the working in signs, wonders, and miracles, and succumbing to the tortures and torments of the world. It's why sick people come into church and end up going home the same way. That didn't happen in the first century church and it didn't happen during much of the Azusa Street "revival. There is much to learn from in this book! This was a strange read. It wasn't so much about Azusa Street. It was a about Frank Bartleman. It seems that most of the content came from his journal.
The Early Pentecostal Revival: History of the Twentieth-Century Pentecostals and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Paperback – June 1, Early Pentecostal Revival - Kindle edition by James Tyson. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like.
He was an extremely zealous Christian. And at times his zeal is inspirational. He was quick to share his perspectives on everything. Unfortunately, very many most? From his perspective, everybody around him was compromising or "in the flesh" or proud or worldly or usurping. He appreciated how Go This was a strange read. He appreciated how God used him, but didn't seem as capable of recognizing when God used others.
That being said, he had many good things to say. And he provides a glimpse into a different time and place. Mar 09, Virgil rated it really liked it. A very powerful book. The book describes a legitimate revival, that eventually decays because of man wanting to interfere with the movement of the Holy Spirit. It has those tendencies of what we see in the charismatic movement today, but besides for that, solid book. What he describes of the beginning and roots of what we call the charismatic movement today are fundamentally different than what it turned out to be the majority of the 20th century.
An eyewitness account of the happenings in the early 's on the West Coast.
A humble beginning of a Holy Spirit movement that became world wide, it broke down racial barriers, at the time, and was phenomenal in its impact. A short and easy read. Jul 22, Amanda rated it it was amazing. Dec 04, Joebiz rated it really liked it. Great book for what to look for, for a modern day pentecost. Mar 29, Roar rated it liked it Shelves: About the early days of the pentecostal movement.
Love love loved this book. Mar 20, Chris Helmkay rated it really liked it. A very interesting first hand documentation and eyewitness account of the holy spirit being poured out at Azusa Street at the turn-of-the-century in Los Angeles. I first read this book in and then again now — March, As a believer in Jesus Christ I found this book very convicting and challenging. The amount of prayer that was offered up almost continually before and during this revival is note worthy.
May such a movement of prayer begin and continue for this generation so that God woul A very interesting first hand documentation and eyewitness account of the holy spirit being poured out at Azusa Street at the turn-of-the-century in Los Angeles. May such a movement of prayer begin and continue for this generation so that God would pour out his Spirit and bring people to knowledge of Jesus Christ. Mar 21, Julia rated it really liked it Shelves: This should be required reading for anyone whose church traces their roots back to the Azusa Street Revival.
It is an excellent eye-witness account of the events before, during, and after this significant piece of church history. However, I agree with what another reviewer said about Bartleman's tendency to criticize others in the movement. There were several times that I sensed his comments had a sort of arrogance about them, but I truly do not think this was his intention. Whatever the case, t This should be required reading for anyone whose church traces their roots back to the Azusa Street Revival.
Whatever the case, this was an enjoyable read, and many of his comments about the state of the church were extremely prophetic. Mr Bartleman gives a good review of his work in the beginning of the Pentecostal movement, a work much needed today also.
Following Holiness teacher Charles Parham's success in getting 18 year old Agnes Ozman to speak in tongues in Jan , although he didn't speak tongues yet, black Holiness preacher William J. Gaston Barnabus Cashwell claimed to speak in the Ge Following Holiness teacher Charles Parham's success in getting 18 year old Agnes Ozman to speak in tongues in Jan , although he didn't speak tongues yet, black Holiness preacher William J.
Gaston Barnabus Cashwell claimed to speak in the German tongue. Future Assemblies of God pillars M.
Rodgers were under Cashwell. Bartleman agreed when William Durham preached the "finished work" view of sanctification and later when the Oneness Movement appeared, he was rebaptized. Speaking other languages per Appendix B , A. This is the story of early Pentecostals. It is also a story of one Frank Bartleman. I find this book extremely helpful in understanding a movement that is changing the world.
Surprisingly though, in our time much of what Bartleman writes about is experienced by many in Africa. The Pentecostals of North America according to Bartleman, have as it were, become so "organised" that they may have missed God. This book is dangerous to be read in isolation. It must read with other accounts.
But it is a This is the story of early Pentecostals. But it is a great book nevertheless. Bartleman does an outstanding job of chronicling his experiences before, during, and after the Azusa Street revival.