The Ballestero Blog

When Pentecost Was Off The Charts.

Remember when Pentecostal teaching was off the charts? Today, Bible Teachers have become a rare commodity.

My Father told me, “If you have a choice between being a ‘feeder” or an “exhorter” be a “feeder” and you’ll build a church.”

An exhorter will lift our spirits high for the moment, but a feeder will give you something to last a lifetime.

Pentecost has such a rich and full heritage. Today we are blessed with technology and electronics. A generation ago, there were no overhead projectors like we use today.

No one ever heard of a computer much less a  PowerPoint. Chalk boards and Charts were common. Old time traveling Bible teachers often carried their charts with them. In numerous churches one could often see a wire running from wall to wall on the platform. Those wires were put in place to hang charts.

Most of the men either hand painted their own charts or had someone else do it for them. Each was an original and unique.

I got to hear Brother A.W. Buie, Bro. Clyde Haney, Bro. Curts, my Father, Bro. Carl Ballestero and others teach from charts. While I am glad for the modern-day advancements, part of me misses the old school.

“Brother Curts was the author of the widely distributed book “The Tabernacle In The Wilderness”. This book described the foundation of the Tabernacle that God directed the Children of Israel to build as they journeyed though the wilderness on the way to their new home in Palestine. This book clearly showed the similarities between the Tabernacles and Jesus’ plan of salvation.
Brother Curts also became district superintendent for the state of Ohio as well as serving on the executive board of the International United Pentecostal Church with headquarters in St Louis Missouri.
In those early days of our church there were 13 members in the congregation that were full of enthusiasm but they had very little solid knowledge of the Bible. Then Brother Curts came and became their pastor he began to instill in the congregation a solid Bible teaching and knowledge. With this solid Bible knowledge, the church began to grow and reach out for other people who were seeking a way to reach God. By the time the church moved to 4828 Vine Street some members were going out to other communities to teach what thus says the word of God.
Through the teaching of His ministers, God was shaping and remodeling his people as quickly as we were remodeling buildings using Bible knowledge in accordance with 2 Timothy 2:15. Times change the appearance and purpose of many structures just as it changes people but the church held fast to its ideals and doctrines as described throughout the New Testament. The Message we preach today is still the same basic doctrine that the pioneers of our local church assembly preached under the direction of Brother Curts. This message is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the soon coming of Jesus again to catch his bride “The Church” away to meet him in the air so shall we for ever be with him. This message is described in 1 Thes. 4:14-18. Upon this Bible belief the church in Cincinnati was born and remains firm today in its beliefs.”

(Copied from their website. To read more, click on the link.)
http://www.firstap.org/history.shtml

These were the days when Pentecostal teaching was off the charts. Literally. Would I like to go back and visit some old-time Bible classes taught from a chart? In a heart beat!