Posted on 01/16/2007 8:41:22 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o
As his 7-year-old daughter lay near death, Danilo Florian raged. The doctors could do no more. His prayers — a desperate turn to the religion he had abandoned long ago to pursue a successful jewelry business — seemed equally futile...
Then it happened. Out of nowhere, he says, came a voice.
“Do business with me,” it demanded.
Sixteen years later, the girl is a young woman, and Mr. Florian is keeping his end of the bargain. The jewelry business is long gone. He abandoned it to heed the call to serve God, plunging into Pentecostalism and founding Ark of Salvation, a shoebox of a storefront church in west Harlem that explodes most nights with prayer and song.
Today, the word “pastor” hardly describes this dynamo ...Teacher, chief cheerleader and social director, he is even the chauffeur who ferries them to services all over town in a secondhand airport van, usually after eight hours at a factory job ... Mr. Florian, 50, who takes no salary from his church, has only a few years of night-school Bible classes, no pastoral training and no ambition to join a larger denomination, as some storefront pastors do.
His ministry reflects the startling intimacy that has been Pentecostalism’s essence since it began a century ago: what matters the most — even for a leader of souls — is a transforming personal encounter with God.
[snip] And though he is too private to discuss it much, he struggles with disappointment. ... For a storefront pastor, it is also useful, allowing the people who walk through the church doors on Amsterdam Avenue to see themselves in him.
“It unites us, because he is human,” said Lucrecia Perez, who recently spent eight months in a homeless shelter. “He has to work like us. He has gone through need.”
Ping-a-ling
Highlighting, thanks Mrs. Don-o,
His ministry reflects the startling intimacy that has been Pentecostalism’s essence since it began a century ago: what matters the most — even for a leader of souls — is a transforming personal encounter with God.
Thanx for ping!
Bapticostal ping
AMEN!
Do you know much about Pentecostalism?
Not a whole lot. When I was a wild and crazy pagan political-lesbian 19-year-old, I was brought back to Christianity by a wonderful family who were missionaries with the Church of God in Christ (a mostly-black Pentecostal church.) This particular family were just total exemplars of the Way of the Lord Jesus. I'm still in touch with two of the "kids" (now in their 50's! Good Lord!), lo these many years later.
I worked with some in the prolife movement: the quirky Pente-Catholic connection. I was always somewhere between Hallelujah and Lord Have Mercy!
My impression is that there is a range of theologies and styles within Pentecostalism. The ones I hung out with were admirable, intelligent, dedicated and lovable.
After I reported my strange encounters with angels and spirits to the Charismatic Renewal office of the Catholic Church, all they did was warn me not to traffic in spirits (which is good advice, but it's not exactly trafficking in spirits when they come and grab YOU).
So I'm always intrigued by these sorts of folks. There is sometimes truth in them.
And (I can say this as a Catholic) the Catholic Church is absolutely right on this one: do not mess with bodiless entities of doubtful allegiance. Not even playin' around. Leave them the hell alone. If they annoy you, tell them you belong to Jesus!
Am I right?
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