Deeper Understanding on the Lords Supper among Pentecostal Believers

I have been a Pentecostal for a long long time. 30 plus years. I have opportunity to spend a great deal of time with leaders from the Assembly of God, Independent Pentecostal Churches, from my own Denomination (the IPHC), Apostolic (oneness) and others who are in practice Pentecostal. Some of these good men are gone now. I learned to discern truth from them.

In Pentecost there is a division going on. There are those who believe in the miraculous and the supernatural without reservation. Many of them embraced the move of God in Lakeland. Many are part of the God TV followers. They are the Blues. Like me.

Then there is the other end of the Pentecostal spectrum. The term used for them is Grays. They are more like the Methodists and other good (but not charismatic) movements. Seeker friendly is part of the focus for this group to build churches. It’s like the Lutheran Church I was part of back in Fargo for so many years. Tolerant and open on the outside with a few charismatics in back room praying. Spiritually neither fish nor fowl.

Among the BLUES there is a theology that could be considered new but is actually very very old. Many blue type charismatics and Pentecostals who are believers in the supernatural have embraced a doctrine known historically as true presence of God in the Eucharist (Lords Supper). They believe that somehow Jesus is present manifested in the elements.

Now, in fairness to all who might read this, this is not the official doctrinal statement of any Pentecostal group or denomination that I am aware of (yet). It is however a widely held belief on a personal level by many. It has come in because of a belief in the power of God to move thru the elements in the Lords Supper to activate efficaciously for healing and restoration.

Some years ago Perry Stone wrote a book and had a teaching with Paula White called the Meal that Heals. I have read it. It’s not quite all the way to true presence but nearly. That opened the door to examine this doctrine once again for many pentecostals.

I was asked by a good friend (a Lutheran Pastor of the LCMS) to give my understanding of this doctrine from a Pentecostal perspective. I inquired of a few friends who are of my ilk. Blues. They all embraced the idea of true presence. I then asked, what does that mean? The explanations were good but not complete.

I then spent a few hours inquiring of the Lord as to his mind on this and believe I have found it. So what I am about to release is based in small part on my inquiries of a few others in leadership and mostly based on revelation by the Holy Spirit. In case you are wondering, I have more confidence in God’s ability to reveal things to me than the devils ability to deceive me. This is the introduction. What follows will be a few entries that will detail this adventure. Let’s take a look and see if we can discover the mind of God instead of the doctrine of denominations.