There is a widely circulated and accepted lie, among Christians and their academics, that the Pentecostal movement is a recent phenomenon.

In the book of Acts in the Bible, Jesus commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem in order to receive "power". This day occurred 50 days after the resurrection during a feast of the ancient Jews, our brothers.

The day became known as Pentecost and it marked the beginning of what later came to be known as Christianity, the biggest faith movement in the entire globe. So the Pentecostal movement is actually the original church of the (11 and the additional ones) apostles from Jerusalem.

There are various reasons why many academics and traditional Christians are uncomfortable with this rising global super force.

For starters, there is discomfort to the fact that in its present orientation it has the blacks of the US as its originators. Pentecostalism has managed to stamp its authority without any government assistance; on the contrary against government restrictions.

Pentecostalism has laid the foundation for the African churches which today dominate the Christian scene in SA. It managed to empower black people into leadership positions when the traditional churches were reluctant to do so. As a matter of fact, the Pentecostal movement has drawn many members from the mainline churches, hence the grudges against it.

Governing authorities are increasingly aware of the political power that will come out of the Pentecostal movement so they plant negative reports in the media to retain the trust of the public.

However, this will not last for long as Pentecostalism has been tipped to be the future of Christianity within the coming 20 years because of its growth at an alarming rate that will probably take over your local church soon.

Khotso Moleko, Bloemfontein