The Watchmen

During 1972-74 I sang with a gospel trio called "The Watchmen." The other members were Gary Gleason, tenor, and Ron Simmons, baritone. Working from the First Pentecostal Church in St. Louis, we traveled throughout the Midwest and occasionally in other parts of the USA. During those years we recorded two long play albums of our own and also recorded four other songs on two albums that featured other artists as well.

Recently, I uploaded all of these songs to YouTube for those who may be interested in listening to them. You should be able to access them by copying and pasting the following link in your browser search window:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4tBQuLNVXz27K_k6CfXAyA?feature=results_main

Themes from a Letter to Rome

Over the years I have taught verse-by-verse more than thirty times through Paul's marvelous letter to the church at Rome. I'm scheduled to do this again June 11-15 at Urshan Graduate School of Theology. Every time I go through this book my spirit is refreshed and my faith is renewed.

On one of my journeys through Romans I wrote a verse-by-verse commentary to serve as a textbook for the class. That book is available under the title Living by Faith: A verse-by-verse study of Romans. After writing this commentary, I reorganized the material and released a second book on Romans titled Themes from a Letter to Rome. This book, which has been out of print for several years, has just been reissued by the Pentecostal Publishing House. It discusses the seven major topics of Paul's letter. A grasp of these themes prepares the Bible student to enjoy the riches of all Paul's other letters. The Book of Romans reveals how right standing with God is imputed to the believer's account, how the law of Moses led Israel to the Messiah, how God extends His free gift of grace, why faith can be defined as trusting God to be God, how holiness is found in separation unto God and from all else, why God will yet show His favor to national Israel, and why He now shows His favor to all people.

Themes from a Letter to Rome is available at http://pentecostalpublishing.com/product/themes-letter-rome. The verse-by-verse commentary is available at http://pentecostalpublishing.com/node/5087.

A Good Oneness Statement

In the process of updating my Library Thing account, I noticed this statement by Alister McGrath:

"Revelation is God's self-disclosure and self-involvement in history, and supremely God's decision to become incarnate in Jesus Christ, so that whoever has seen Jesus Christ has seen the Father. Revelation concerns the oracles of God, the acts of God, and the person and presence of God" (Alister McGrath, A Passion for Truth: The Intellectual Coherence of Evangelicalism [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996], 107).

Dissertation now available

Copies of my PhD dissertation, titled "Andrew D. Urshan: A Theological Biography," are now available for purchase from Proquest at http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb. At this web address, type "Segraves" into the "Author" box. The precise title should be typed into the "Title" box. PDF downloads are $37; unbound paper copies are $44; softcover paper copies are $59, and hardbound paper copies are $75. The dissertation is nearly 500 pages long, with 1371 footnotes.

So you can see the scope of the work, here is the table of contents:

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IX

CHAPTER 1 1

Introduction 1

A. Thesis 3

B. Literature Survey 5
Primary Sources Related to Urshan 5
Autobiographies 5
Sermon Collections 15
Treatises 20
Periodicals 33
Secondary Sources Related to Urshan 35
Histories of Oneness Pentecostalism 39

C. Conclusion 51

PART 1: LIFE AND HISTORY OF ANDREW D. URSHAN 53

CHAPTER 2 54

Early Years in Persia 54
A. Introduction 54
B. Life in Persia 54
C. Birth and Early Life 60
D. Youthful Rebellion 78
E. Conversion While Attending American Presbyterian School 79
F. Teaching in a Presbyterian School 82
G. Summary 83

CHAPTER 3 85

Early Years in the United States 85
A. Introduction 85
B. Journey to America 86
C. Life in New York 89
D. Life in Chicago 92
E. Baptism in the Brethren Church 100
F. Membership in The Moody Church 101
G. Urshan’s Experiences during His Membership at The Moody Church 105
H. Sanctification in a Holiness Church 109
I. First Encounter with Pentecostalism 115
J. Urshan Ponders Pentecostalism 125
K. Separation from The Moody Church 132
L. Persian Pentecostal Mission 139
M. Arroyo Seco Campmeeting 150
N. Summary 156

CHAPTER 4 159

Return to Persia 159
A. Introduction 159
B. Ministry in Persia 160
Adda 162
Abajalu 167
Karajalu 168
Shirabad 169
Threatened with Prison 170
A Vision of War 171
Geogtapa 172
The Massacres 174
Martyrs 186

C. Ministry in Russia 194

Tiflis 195
Armavir 196
Leningrad 196
Division over the Formula for Baptism 198
Urshan Baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ 201
D. From Russia to America 203
E. Summary 204

CHAPTER 5 206

Return to North America 206
A. Introduction 206
B. Ministry in the United States and Canada 208
C. Marriage 211
D. Ministry in Los Angeles 214
E. Separation from the Assemblies of God 227
F. Ministry of Evangelism 237
G. Urshan’s Marriage Fails 261
H. The Move to New York 262
I. A New Marriage and a Renewed Evangelistic Ministry 264
J. Andy’s Death 267
K. Faithful until the End 269
L. Going Home 274
M. Summary 276

PART 2: THEOLOGY, CHRISTOLOGY, AND SOTERIOLOGY OF ANDREW D. URSHAN 278

CHAPTER 6 279

Theological Influences 279
A. Introduction 279
B. Church of the East 281
C. Presbyterianism 284
D. Brethren 288
E. The Moody Bible Church 289
F. Holiness 291
G. William H. Durham 292
H. Pentecostalism 294
I. Summary 295

CHAPTER 7 298

The Mystery of the Godhead 298
A. Introduction 298
B. The Almighty God in the Lord Jesus Christ 300
C. Doctrine of Trinity and the Divinity of Jesus Christ 342
D. The Witness of God 358
E. The Church of the East 363
F. Summary 383

CHAPTER 8 388

Doctrine of Salvation 388
A. Introduction 388
B. The Witness of God 389
C. Apostolic Faith Doctrine of the New Birth 400
D. Summary 405

CHAPTER 9 407

Responses to Theological Criticism 407
A. Introduction 407
B. Misunderstood 409
C. The Work of the Enemy 412
D. Summary 416

CHAPTER 10 418

Conclusion 418

BIBLIOGRAPHY 429

Seminar at General Conference

At the upcoming general conference of the United Pentecostal Church, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 15, I will give a seminar titled "If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting: An Apostolic and Pastoral Veiw of Suffering." The seminar will be in room B104 of the south wing B Conference Center in the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

I have chosen to refer to this presentation as an apostolic view because I believe it is the view of the first century church, the apostolic church. This was a church that believed in signs, wonders, and miracles, which they frequently experienced. But it was also a church that recognized God sometimes accomplishes His purposes in the absence of such phenomena.

This presentation is a pastoral view because it values the role of the pastor – a shepherd’s role – in helping people prepare for and go through the full spectrum of experiences of suffering.

Video Interview with Carlton Coon

I was recently interviewed for two episodes of Home Missions Live, a video interview sponsored by the Home Missions Division of the United Pentecostal Church. The first interview is currently available, with the second coming next week. They can be viewed at http://www.homemissionsdivision.com/hmlive/

Successful Dissertation Defense

I am happy to report the successful defense of my dissertation, titled "Andrew D. Urshan: A Theological Biography." I enrolled in the PhD program in the School of Divinity at Regent University in 2003 and completed all course requirements and the written and oral comprehensive examinations by 2008. Then I began work on the dissertation, gathering what I think is the largest single collection of materials by and about Urshan that exists in any one place on planet earth. Someday I will donate this to the Center for the Study of Oneness Pentecostalism. In the meantime, I have future writing projects related to Urshan, including an article for Pneuma and a revision of the dissertation for publication as a book. The publication of these projects should not be expected for at least a year and perhaps even longer.

I would have been happy just to pass the defense. At Regent University, there are four possible outcomes of one's attempt to defend the dissertation: (1) Pass with distinction; (2) Pass; (3) Pass with revisions required; (4) No pass. If one does not pass, it is the end of the PhD program, and the student is awarded a master's degree. I was sincerely grateful when my committee chairman, Dr. Dale Coulter, announced that I had passed with distinction.

The PhD experience at Regent University was rich and rewarding, and I do recommend looking into this program to those who are thinking of earning a seminary PhD.