by RULES & REGULATIONS 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
The CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR reported today that 20% of the population in Guatemala is converting to Pentecostalism. With a population near 13,000,000,that would mean a membership of 2.6 million people.
How do Pentecostals convert so many people? What are their preaching methods?
Aren't the Witnesses just preaching in vain? Isn't the WTS just sending out members just to sell their literature?
Aren't they the ones who claim to be able to speak in tounges?
Aren't they the ones who claim to be able to speak in tounges? yes I would like to know how they can convert so many people without preaching house-to-house?
Maybe they're more of a 'works' type. A lot of churches will go into impoverished areas, and build up infrastructure like schoolhouses, wells, and stuff like that.
Here is an enlightening quote from the article addressing a possible cause of their success,
"Many of today's Pentecostals were brought into the faith by other Pentecostals. But new converts also come on their own to the doors of churches or the homes of pastors. For those in gangs, who conclude that their only way out is death or jail, conversion offers a third option, says David Smilde who studies the phenomenon in Caracas, Venezuela, and is the author of "Reason to Believe," published this past summer.
"It's a way of stepping out of an impossible situation; they are no longer feared by the [criminal] network," says Mr. Smilde, a sociologist at the University of Georgia. Where there is little police presence or institutional support, he says, "Pentecostalism is one way out."
"The only path to live in peace is this path," agrees Thiago de Castro Cosia, a young convert from New Zion. "It's the only way to make your enemies your friends. It's the only way to be free."
There is no way these pics can show just how big these two monstrosities are. Pentacostal Church in North Little Rock AR along a major interstate. They use location location location bettter than the witnesses do. The Pentacostal movement is huge here. They have their own school too. I think all the money they save from the women not wearing makeup pays for that!!! Kidding.....I think their women are beautiful. The new pentacostal women....natural, no makeup. The hill behind the churches was/is prime real estate for looking over to LIttleRocks skyline. My parents owned one of the houses that the church obstructed that view. My stepdad would roll over in his grave to know that has happened. Anyway, I don't know how they are doing it, but the growth is rampant in this area
Some of the main methods employed by the new churches are very similar to those used by most Pentecostals—including door-to-door evangelism, meetings held in homes of interested inquirers, preaching in trains, buses, on street corners and at places of public concourse, and ‘tent crusades’ held all over the continent.[xl]
http://artsweb.bham.ac.uk/aanderson/Publications/evangelism_and_the_growth_of_pen.htm
They're capitalizing on the religious vacuum left by the Catholic Church.
Witnesses do the same.
Charismatic Catholicism is an answer to that.
Charismatic/Evangelical Catholics
1992 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Catholic charismatic renewal movement. Emerging from humble beginnings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1967, the late 1960s and 1970s saw the Catholic charismatic renewal flourish in the church. While it experienced slow decline in the 1980s, it remains one of the most energetic forces in the Catholic church. It is estimated that 10 million American Catholics have been involved in the renewal, and that worldwide Catholic involvement may be as high as 50 to 65 million. Catholics now make up more than a fifth of the worldwide Pentecostal-charismatic constituency. Like the broader movement, charismatic Catholics emphasize the charisma or gifts of the Holy Spirit, the importance of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit-filled life. Charismatic Catholics tend to be more evangelical in belief, emphasizing personal faith and trust in Christ, and the assurance of salvation. Reformed theologian J. I. Packer comments concerning charismatic Catholic piety: It is a fact that in charismatic Catholicism, joyful trust in Christ as one's sin-bearing Savior and loving fellowship with him in his risen life have shifted the traditional devotional focus away from the somber disciplines of self-denial and suffering and away, too, from the anxieties about merit and destiny to which the formulations of the Council of Trent naturally give rise. Does Catholic doctrine as Trent defined it permit assurance of salvation based on once-for-all justification through faith? Opinions, both Protestant and Catholic, differ about that. Nevertheless, Catholic charismatics do observably enjoy this assurance, while yet maintaining humility, a sense of sin, and a life of repentance often more successfully than do their Protestant counterparts. And Protestant and Catholic charismatic teaching on the Christian life is to all intents and purposes identical. Is this not significant for the Christian future? It is true that many charismatic Catholics describe themselves as "born again, Spirit-filled Catholics." Along with possessing a Pentecostal piety, charismatic Catholics generally tend to give Scripture more of an authoritative place in their personal spiritual lives. However, many (though by no means all) charismatic Catholics also have a strong devotion to Mary. While the issue of Marian devotion tends to be a stumbling block between evangelical Protestants and charismatic Catholics, evangelical Protestants surely have more in common with charismatic Catholics than with any other type of Catholics. (2)
http://www.withchrist.org/catholic.htm#Charismatic/Evangelical
I've known some that practice it and they have much in common with Pentecostals.
You guys activated my research gene. Here's what a quick google search found me:
"Radio has figured prominently in the evangelism and edification programs. TGNA began broadcasting in 1950 from the capital city. Today the impact of their select program puts the gospel into places difficult or impossible to reach in any other way. Likewise, Radio Maya and Radio Buenas Nuevas, dialect stations in remote mountain areas, broadcast programs in several different dialects."
http://caminternational.gospelcom.net/about-cam-international/fields/guatemala.php
There is indigenous growth, that is, outside of missionary influence. http://www.guatemalavim.org/national.htm
Population, 12,728,111 (July 2007 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, indigenous Mayan beliefs.
Literacy: 69% https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gt.html
2007 Average Publishers: 24,907, 6% increase over previous year. http://www.watchtowernews.org/2007report.pdf
Historically, Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion (between 50 and 60%), with an archbishopric at Guatemala City and bishoprics at Quezaltenango, Verapaz, and Huehuetenango. Many inhabitants combine Catholic beliefs with traditional Maya rites. The constitution recognizes the separate legal personality of the Catholic Church.
Protestant churches were estimated to have fewer than 500,000 adherents in 1980, but rapidly growing fundamentalist groups increased the number of Protestants to some 40% of the population since 1998. The largest Protestant denominations are the Assembly of God, the Church of God of the Complete Gospel, and the Prince of Peace Church. Other denominations represented are Presbyterians, Baptists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Minority groups and religions with small communities include Jews, Muslims, and followers of the Indian spiritual leader Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Guatemala-RELIGIONS.html
it wasn't until my first journey to latin america that i saw that all the exclusiveness the JWs proclaim to have is just lies.
in latin america, everybody uses "jehovah". "jehovah" is also used in most of the spanish translations of the bible. (we were always told, JWs were the only ones who'd use the name of god). on the streets you can find loads of different missionaries advertising god's kingdom. (we were always told, JWs were the only ones advertising god's kingdom). i've met pentecostals and the likes going d2d while we did the same. i met them going to the KH, while they did the same. i always closed the car windows on any traffic light, so they would not place tracts on me... lol..
