Category: Oneness Pentecostal | Spiritual Abuse Blogs

Giveaway: The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher’s Kid

This is only open to those with a USA mailing address. There is absolutely no cost to enter.

I apologize for not starting our monthly giveaways in January. To make up for this, there will be three posted in March. The final will post on March 28.

This is your chance to receive a new copy of The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher’s Kid: A Memoir by Ronna Russell. This is the second release of her book, from 2023.

Ronna had a childhood filled with fear of her father’s quick temper, being lost, and being left behind in the rapture. This book is more than just her experiences being brought up in the UPC. It is about how she struggled and overcame many years of loneliness and obstacles in her life.

Ronna, one of Donald Fisher’s three daughters, shares her painful and lonely upbringing in the United Pentecostal Church. She longed to belong and fit in somewhere and not feel suffocated by her father’s rules and control. Some people envy PKs, thinking they have life great, yet many do not and reading this memoir will cause you to reconsider such a thought.

The late Donald Fisher held license for many years in the United Pentecostal Church. His influence on the United Pentecostal Church cannot be denied, yet at the same time his influence on his children was something quite different, so much so that Ronna has never missed him since his passing in 1995.

Some might also want to read Heretics and Politics: Theology, Power, and Perception in the Last Days of CBC by Thomas Fudge. Ronna was interviewed for it and it covers, in part, about her father.

This giveaway is a drawing. To enter, just leave a comment to show you wish to be included. The drawing will close on March 28, 2024 at 6pm (eastern time), after which I will draw a winner.

Be sure to check back to see if you have won as in the past some people have not responded after winning and so a new winner had to be drawn. You will then need to email me your mailing address if I do not already have it, so be sure to watch your email and check the spam folder. If I know your Facebook profile, I will message you there.

Don’t be alarmed if your comment does not immediately show as it may require approval.

In 2025, we’ll be giving away one copy of each of Thomas Fudge’s books on the UPCI/Oneness Pentecostalism (Christianity without the Cross: A History of Salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism, Heretics & Politics: Theology, Power, and Perception in the Last Days of CBC, C.H. Yadon and the Vanishing Theological Past in Oneness Pentecostalism), plus Women and Worship at Corinth: Paul’s Rhetorical Arguments in 1 Corinthians and Unveiling Paul’s Women: Making Sense of 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 by Lucy Peppiatt and more.

You may want to subscribe to the email notifications of new blog posts in order to not miss these. While we try to share about our giveaways on social media, those platforms often do not show the posts to many people.

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Giveaway: The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher’s Kid

This is only open to those with a USA mailing address. There is absolutely no cost to enter.

This is your chance to receive a new copy of The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher’s Kid: A memoir by Ronna Russell. This is the second release of her book, from 2023.

Ronna had a childhood filled with fear of her father’s quick temper, being lost, and being left behind in the rapture. Ronna is a survivor and her story should be heard. Will you listen?

The late Donald Fisher held license for many years in the United Pentecostal Church. He worked in the Youth and Foreign Missions Divisions and was the founder/editor of Word Aflame Publications. He was a vice-president of the Jackson College of Ministries and a president of Conqueror’s Bible College. Don started their national Bible quizzing program. His influence on the United Pentecostal Church cannot be denied, yet at the same time his influence on his children was something quite different, so much so that Ronna has never missed him since his passing in 1995.

This book is more than just her experiences being brought up in the UPC. It is about how she struggled and overcame many years of loneliness and obstacles in her life.

Some might also want to read Heretics and Politics: Theology, Power, and Perception in the Last Days of CBC by Thomas Fudge. Ronna was interviewed for it and it covers, in part, about her father. Other books by Fudge that are United Pentecostal Church related are Christianity without the Cross: A History of Salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism & C.H. Yadon: and the Vanishing Theological Past in Oneness Pentecostalism.

This giveaway is a drawing. To enter, just leave a comment to show you wish to be included. The drawing will close on September 18, 2024 at 6pm (eastern time), after which I will draw a winner.

Be sure to check back to see if you have won as in the past some people have not responded after winning and so a new winner had to be drawn. You will then need to email me your mailing address if I do not already have it, so be sure to watch your email and check the spam folder. If I know your Facebook profile, I will message you there.

Don’t be alarmed if your comment does not immediately show as it may require approval.

Watch for our next post on October 16, when we’ll be offering a new copy of Women and Worship at Corinth: Paul’s Rhetorical Arguments in 1 Corinthians by Lucy Peppiatt.

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Giveaway: Unveiling Paul’s Women

This is only open to those with a USA mailing address. There is absolutely no cost to enter.

This is your chance to receive a new copy of Unveiling Paul’s Women: Making Sense of 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 by Lucy Peppiatt. It costs $18.

As many of our readers know, this section of 1 Corinthians has been used to teach that women must wear a head covering when in church, as well as that women must never cut their hair (as taught in the United Pentecostal Church). It’s also been used to teach that women are somewhat less than men.

I found it very interesting how Lucy Peppiatt puts forth the thought that in these passages Paul is repeating some things that the Corinthian believers had written to him. In other words, she believes that in verses 4-5 and 7-10, Paul was repeating what the Corinthians had previously shared with him. Verse 16 is then saying that there is no such custom of wearing head coverings.

We do know that Paul was responding to a letter he had received from this group of believers, so this thought is not unreasonable. We also know that the Corinthians were very messed up and carnal, and Paul had to correct them on numerous issues.

The author also covers various aspects and views on this section of scripture. I found her view of the passages to be plausible and that they made more sense that way. I don’t believe Paul was anti-women and have never liked when people attempt to portray Paul in a negative light. There are actually those who hate Paul, I believe due to a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of certain passages. Perhaps this book will help someone who feels this way.

This giveaway is a drawing. To enter, just leave a comment to show you wish to be included. The drawing will close on August 15, 2024 at 6pm (eastern time), after which I will draw a winner.

Don’t be alarmed if your comment does not immediately show as it may require approval.

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Giveaway: In Jesus Name – The History and Beliefs of Oneness Pentecostals

This is only open to those with a USA mailing address. There is absolutely no cost to enter.

This is your chance to receive a used copy of In Jesus Name – The History and Beliefs of Oneness Pentecostals by David Reed. This is United Pentecostal and other Oneness Pentecostal related. It used to cost just under $35 but now runs from $42 and up.

This is a revision and expansion of Reed’s thesis from 1978 and it includes many footnotes. Reed used to be Oneness Pentecostal and this book is said to be sympathetic to the teachings. Though Thomas Fudge’s Christianity Without The Cross came out before Reed’s, Reed touts his book as “the first comprehensive study of the origins, history and theology of Oneness Pentecostalism.”

Thomas Robinson wrote a lengthy review of Reed’s book: “There is much to criticize about Oneness Pentecostalism, at least from the perspective of contemporary evangelicalism and even of the somewhat more tolerant larger Christian communion. And much of what can be criticized in Oneness Pentecostalism comes in its starkest and best known form, in the UPCI. Oneness pastors are often autocratic. Fellow Christians—even fellow Pentecostals and sometimes even fellow Oneness Pentecostals, and, as Fudge bears witness, even fellow UPCIs—are routinely and often nastily dismissed. Members are isolated from the larger society and often from their own families. A stark legalism guides moral conduct and social behaviour.

“Reed could have written an equally long book on the practices and lifestyle of Oneness Pentecostals, and this, I think, would have made Oneness Pentecostals (or at least the UPCI extreme) a much less attractive group and a considerably harder sell to the wider Christian community. That is not to say, of course, that there are no groups within Christian orthodoxy that demonstrate an equally isolationist mentality and tightly controlled and closed fellowship.

“Reed sets aside the matters of behaviour and attitude. It is the theology of Oneness Pentecostals that is Reed’s concern, and in that regard Reed does as effective a job as is likely to be done for long years to come. . . .

“Reed’s detailed work on Oneness Pentecostalism will stand as the definitive work on the subject for years to come. My review here hardly begins to mine the full nuances and insights of Reed’s meticulous and comprehensive presentation. As an apologist, Reed is as thorough and as effective an advocate as one can find. That is not to say that every point he makes is compelling, but he is trying to save his client from the chair, and, given that reality, he can hardly be faulted for holding nothing back. As a critic, Reed is considerably more restrained, but, then, why would he not be? He believes that he is dealing with a theological orphan whose language is still mere baby-talk and whose ideas are quite understandably yet immature and largely undeveloped—an orphan who has been cast out, but an orphan with sufficient ancestry and genetic makeup to have a valid claim for membership in the family.”

This giveaway is a drawing. To enter, just leave a comment to show you wish to be included. The drawing will close on June 19, 2024 at 6pm (eastern time), after which I will draw a winner.

Don’t be alarmed if your comment does not immediately show as it may require approval.

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Giveaway: Christianity Without The Cross by Thomas Fudge

This is only open to those with a USA mailing address. There is absolutely no cost to enter.

This is your chance to receive a new copy of Christianity without the Cross: A History of Salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism by Thomas Fudge. It is the first book in his series on Oneness Pentecostalism. It covers aspects of the United Pentecostal Church and Oneness history that some would rather you not know and which is often downplayed by leadership. You may read more about this book here.

This giveaway is a drawing. To enter, just leave a comment to show you wish to be included. The drawing will close on May 15, 2024 at 6pm (eastern time), after which I will draw a winner.

Don’t be alarmed if your comment does not immediately show as it may require approval.

Some might be interested in a series of lectures by Thomas Fudge on the history of Christianity from the Roman Empire until the Reformation. https://youtu.be/WgTDplQabRk

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