We are travelers, you and I. Our journey will never end where it began. It is what we
discover along that journey about ourselves and our God, and our response to that knowledge, that determines the case of our eternity.
In this essay, I speak only for myself and the discoveries —I would like to say ”that I have found along the way”, but in reality, I will speak concerning the discoveries — that found me.
I was born into a Christian culture whose church craft included an altar call at the end of every sermon. I cannot remember missing not one call to the altar. Those repeated walks down the aisle to the prayer bench of that country church was the beginning of my personal life’s journey. Again, even then it was He who found me, not I that found Him. He was not lost—I was.
I seem to have been born knowing that I needed, more correctly: wanted God in my life in a very real way. I have often pondered: From where did this “want of God” come? Finally, in a winter revival meeting at my home church in 1963 I was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit.
From the moment of Holy Spirit infilling, a burden of the Word of God lay heavy upon my heart. I shared this with my pastor. The next Sunday, Pastor O. T. Cottrell came to my Sunday school class room and announced, “I am placing Jerry in my Bible class from this time forward”. I, then, walked behind my pastor out of the junior class into an association with the Pentecostal ministry. From that day I was my pastor’s shadow, accompanying him to conferences and minister’s meetings, etc.; I was his adjutant. The congregation ordained me as a junior deacon at age 16; then at age 18 I was ordained into the ministry by the laying on of the hands of over 20 pastors.
At age 18 I left my secluded rural community and embarked upon the journey of a full-time evangelist. The churches opened up to the style of preaching that God had blessed me with. The UPCI, ALJC, and PAW all welcomed me into their pulpits.
In those early days it was customary for the visiting minister to live with the pastor and his family during the duration of the meeting. Consequently, the Lord gave me access to the most spiritual and intellectual minds in the Pentecostal movement at the time. Most every night after the service the conversation between myself and the pastor (often the church elders were included) would go on deep into the morning hours. This was an education that no college or seminary classroom could possibly provide.
I traveled this road of evangelism for over 30 years; coming off the road a few times to establish a new congregation here and there. It was mostly during these church planting years that a formal education was acquired: undergrade studies at Moody, Chicago, Il.; Biblical languages at Milligan, Johnson City, TN.; Master of Divinity, Emmanuel School of Religion, Elizabethton, TN.; Doctor of Ministries, Emmanuel Christian Seminary, also in Elizabethton TN.
By most accounts I am (at the time of this writing) in the winter of my life. Throughout my journey I have had great appreciation for those who have walked the path before me; plus, I am also thoughtful of those who will come up the trail behind me, and of my responsibility to them. I say this because, truth be told, Pentecostalism is a restoration movement. We are attempting to restore the Church to its pure condition of the 1st century. Since the Church is the Body of Christ we may consider the Pentecostal revival of the last century as the renewal of Christ’s church. Permit me to be clear on this point: The true church has never left the world since its beginning on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem AD 30. That being said, there has been a great falling away from the apostolic experience and doctrine by the majority of Christianity, and the presence of Christ’s true church has been minuscule and its influence has been minor. However, since the tremendous outpouring of the the Holy Spirit (the latter rain of the Spirit) at the beginning of the 20th century, the body of Christ has been undergoing stages of growth. From the Azuza Street revival (turn of the 20th century) to today (first quarter of the 21st century) the Pentecostal movement has grown from infancy to a more mature entity. At the beginning of this renewal most voices that are today considered the pioneers of modern Pentecostalism came from Methodist and Baptist traditions. Consequently, then, much baggage was brought into Pentecostalism from those two paradigms. Now, 100 plus years later, we are still dealing with much of that baggage. Throughout the last century of growth there has been more truth unearth than that with which we began: deeper illumination has brought the Lord's church into a higher stage of growth. We have now reached a point where we may advance from an adolescent stage into a church that is more reflective of our Apostolic roots.
As a traveler on the path of restoration I see those who have gone before me as having been trail blazers; I benefit from the path they have marked. But, often times the well worn path has revealed the tip of treasures that have been overlooked, gone un-noticed, by those who have gone before. Often I have stumped my toe on some priceless truth that has gone un-recognized by those who have gone before. At other times I have actually tripped over some gloriously astonishing artifact of the church’s past that has been discarded and now is protruding from the surface of the path begging to be unearthed and put back into service. My peers have not always appreciated my spiritual archaeological propensity to recover and restore apostolic articles of faith that Christianity has lost through the annals of history, and that have been hidden by the sands of time.
What follows is the briefest possible account of my journey and the treasures upon which I tripped. I had no choice but to exhume them from their burial ground and hold them up for my brothers and sisters to behold and contemplate.
Before I write another word there is another point I must make crystal clear: Outside of the Word of God (the Holy Bible) there are no new doctrinal revelations, only illuminations. I have never searched for that that is new; only the old arrested my attention and called me to itself. Thus, what I will write in the following lines are not new revelations, only illuminations of the ancient truths of the Church.
Early 1980’s: In the early years of the decade of the 80’s I entered into the ministry of apologetics. This took the form of public moderated debates on theology. The main point of discussion was the Godhead. After a few engagements it became clear to me that the Oneness doctrine, which I attempted to championed, must include an element that would allow for distinctions within the Godhead. Through being lead by the Holy Spirit, in my study I discovered the ancient Godhead paradigm called Modalistic Monarchianism. Though this terminology was new to myself and my brethren, it was ancient and provided the exact paradigm needed to allow for distinctions within the Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, without making those distinctions rational persons. I became a champion for Modalism within the Oneness camp. This culminated in the publishing of my signature book entitled “Godhead Theology” subtitled: “Modalism, the Original Orthodoxy”.
Order this classic work today at the link provide here:
Mid 1980’s: While conducting a revival meeting in Bloomington, Indiana, one evening when the pastor turned the service over to me, I approached the microphone and announced: “Everyone here, tonight, that knows, that you know, that if you died this night you would make Heaven your home, stand up.” Out of over 200 people not a soul stood; even the pastor was not standing. When I left that service I had had an epiphany: Something was seriously wrong with our (Pentecostalism’s) understanding of salvation.
In the weeks that followed a message of grace began to consume me. Out of my agonizing and soul searching the message of “The Blood Covenant” was born. This was a message of grace. The Blood Covenant was a breath of fresh air to our people all over the world. I preached it everywhere I went. Other preachers began preaching it. As far as I know the Holy Spirit brought the truth of The Blood Covenant to the Oneness Pentecostal movement through the illumination given to me that fateful night in Bloomington, Indiana.
Read the Sermon Outline of The Blood Covenant at:
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-blood-covenant-sermon-outline.html
Early 1990’s: Spurred on by a theological polemic war between the Literal Communion (Lord’s Supper) and Spiritual Communion camps within Pentecostalism the Holy Spirit lead me to engage in the contest. As a result the truth of the “Real Presence” of the Lord’s body and blood in the communion elements became biblically clear. After engaging is several public formal debates on the issue the result was a full-blown theology of The Lord’s Supper. Now, I am third generation Oneness Pentecostal and to my knowledge no Pentecostal theology on the Lord’s Supper existed until this point; we had only adopted the Baptist’s view of this blessed sacrament and observed it as a memorial only — missing the deeper reason of/for it altogether. (I speak of the Pentecostal circles in which I moved.)
Deeper light is not often readily accepted, for whatever reason. When I began to teach and preach the “Real Presence” my Pentecostal organization (ALJC, Tri-State District) put me on trial for false doctrine. After hours and hours of interrogation and cross examination I was sent to a room in the Knoxville, TN church and asked to write my doctrinal statement on the Real Presence. This was what I wrote: “Concerning the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper, I am in agreement with the Apostle Paul: The bread that we brake is the fellowshipping with the body of Christ, and the cup we bless is the fellowshipping with the blood of Christ. And, the blood does what the blood does.” The District Board could not nay-say that statement, and I was sent home in peace.
Many pastors and congregations have recently adopted the “Real Presence" doctrine and have instituted the biblical weekly observance.
Order this classic book on the Lord's Supper today at the link provided here:
https://www.amazon.com/Hayes-Hardin-Debate-Holy-Communion/dp/B09JJJ647X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3M8KCFJBCUCN6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XbcseixMAWsVsv4y5ppplg.yja79FyEaQtgIkvYYWABKBvVzUc2qodE-teM3fMzUNk&dib_tag=se&keywords=Bishop+Jerry+Hayes%2C+Hayes%2C+Hardin+debate&qid=1719533525&s=books&sprefix=bishop+jerry+hayes%2C+hayes%2C+hardin+debate%2Cstripbooks%2C96&sr=1-1
Mid 1990’s: Although, I became a convert to the Apostle Paul’s required covering for the Christian woman (1Cor 11:3-16) being the RAC (Religious Article of Clothing) a few years before, it was not until the mid 90’s that the Lord gave me the courage to start preaching it. Within the Pentecostal circles, in which I moved, the movement had adopted the Methodist position of the woman’s hair being the covering. The Lord lead me to challenge the “long uncut hair” position in public debates, and in a writing campaign. Since that time I have rejoiced to see many Pentecostal congregations adopt the RAC.
Late 1990’s: Doctrine is important. Throughout my evangelistic travels it was clear that we, as Pentecostals, believed the essentials of the faith as one man. But, we had many ways of explaining those essentials. We needed a Creed.
For some years the Spirit lead me to work on a statement of faith that all orthodox Oneness Pentecostals could agree upon. With the help of Pentecostal intellectuals from several denominations/organizations, The Apostolic Creed was written and signed by over 400 Pentecostal bishops and pastors.
To review The Apostolic Creed click the link provided here:
First decade of 2000: Pre-millennial rapture has been the common doctrine of Pentecostalism from the early days of the 20th century, and pre-tribulational dispensationalism the most common of the pre-millennial views (This view was brought over from the Baptist.). In the 90’s of the last century my spirit became restless and convicted with, what I considered, the dishonest manner with which we had to explain certain texts to maintain the pre-millennial view. (I will not detail those texts here; they will be examined in an upcoming writing called “From Crises to Epiphanies”.
Having been an outspoken pre-tribulational dispensationalist for my entire life, in the year 2000 I denounced that position, and the Spirit took me on a 10 year journey of prayer and Scripture study. Finally, after 10 years of the wilderness I became convinced that the Bible taught Realized Millennialism (also called Amilliennialism). Imagine my surprise and joy to learn that this had always been the majority view of Christians throughout history. I just returned home to the historical eschatology of Christianity.
Since my willingness to enter the list in favor of Realized Millennialism and against the pre-millennial rapture view, I am discovering many voices (not just mine) within Pentecostalism that are proclaiming the same.
Conclusion: I am but a traveler, as are we all. I have shared a bit of my journey. Others have, perhaps, a more exciting story to tell; but this is a little of my story. I am prayerful that you, dear reader, may be encouraged by my journey.
Apostolically Speaking,
Bp. J. L. Hayes, D. D.
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