"... he that rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain" 2 Sam 23:3-4

I [Philip Powell] was born in 1939, the year of the outbreak of World War II. One of my earliest recollections is of travelling in a sidecar with Dad and Mum on the motor bike to an AoG Church that my parents were pioneering. Sister Ruth, two and half years my senior, travelled with me.

Another memory is that of my father supervising prisoners of war on the farm that he managed. That was our life in those days - Church and farming, in that order. In both Dad's character strengths shone brightly.

In degree, in the two callings, he was required to "rule over" men and women. In so doing Dad was always just - among war prisoners released to work on the farm and among those once imprisoned in sin and released into "the glorious liberty that is in Christ Jesus."

His great love for and his fierce protection of his family would never wrongly influence his sense of justice, loyalty and commitment. Nor would he allow his sense of right and righteousness to impair his kindness in relationships. Growing up my sister and I and our late brother, David, witnessed that sterling character in father. We saw it in the farming world and we observed it during Dad's long service as a pastor of people.

To the memory of my late father we dedicate this issue of CETF.

Pastor Stan Powell, as he was known throughout his ministry life, was what we would call today a classic Pentecostal. He believed that doctrine is important, that the Bible not experience is our standard. He had no confidence in leaders who vacillate, who bend before every wind of doctrine or who use gimmicks to attract followers.

He was disturbed and confused by pastors who are more concerned for themselves and their comforts than they are for God's work and people. At times his opposition to things associated with current Church life and emphases caused misunder-standing. Those who best understood and appreciated my father were those who felt his heart beat and knew his story.

At aged 21 he was a heavy drinker and virtually a chain smoker. Things had not turned out well on the family farm in South Wales where my paternal grand father had died in his 40s leaving a young widow with three sons and six daughters. Stanley, the third child, was 15 years old when his dad died. By the time he was 18 his oldest sister, Ann had left home to take up nursing and then his brother, David, 18 months Stan's senior sailed for Canada to work as a lumber-jack, felling timber.

Bereavement and the sorrow of parting plus the pressure of youthful responsibility took their toll. Dad took to the drink and to smoking heavily for a sense of comfort. Things got worse. Grandma married again and the farm was sold over the children's heads. At the turn of the 1920/30 decade life for the man who was to become my father was very low and the future extremely bleak. But soon a light was to shine.

In the small Pentecostal Chapel in picturesque Tintern, South Wales the congregation had been praying for "the farming family up on the hill" and in particular for a wild young man who was destroying his life by smoking and drinking. Interestingly the lady who was to become Dad's wife and our mother was among those who prayed for the Powell family though they were kept ignorant of who they were praying for at that time.

Meanwhile in far away Canada David Powell, the oldest son and the second born of the family, found Christ - or more correctly Christ found him. He was gloriously saved, forcefully commanded by God to return to South Wales to witness to his family and immediately commissioned to preach the Gospel.

One night in 1932 Stan accepted David's invitation to that little tin hut in Tintern, which served as a chapel & there he heard the gospel, which is "the power of God unto Salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom 1:16) and there he was radically converted and soundly saved.

He told me the story so many times. The last was not long before he died. When he told it he always quoted the text which was the basis of the sermon that night. I felt sure he wanted me to mention it at his funeral, so I did:

"He that is unjust let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." (Rev 22:11)

He also always emphasised the fact that his drinking mates mocked him and predicted that he would be back with them "in a week", "in a month", "in six months". His was a salvation that lasted. It was real 67 years later when he passed triumphantly into the presence of His Lord and Saviour at his home in New Zealand.

Dad is survived by his wife Millie, (also 87) who was a tower of strength to him in the ministry as home-keeper copastor, pianist, preacher and wonderful mother to his children. I and my sister, Ruth honour our father's memory and our mother's person.

A victorious funeral service was conducted by my brother-in-law, Pastor Darrell Buckley, at the Assembly of God in Blenheim and I preached the Gospel. Verbal tributes were given by friends in the community and colleagues in the ministry and by three of his eight grandsons. Another grandson sang a song which he had specially written and his only grand daughter sang the concluding solo.

Stanley Lewis Powell on May 7, 1998 at 9 a.m. in New Zealand was called home.

As Pastor Philip Hills in his tribute from Victoria wrote: "He has not gone. He has arrived!" How true and one day we will all follow. Meanwhile the big question is, "What lessons can we learn from the heritage he has left behind?"

He Was A Pentecostal Pioneer

By the grace of God Stan Powell was saved and ordained a preacher of the Gospel. He served his Lord exclusively within Assemblies of God as a pioneer and as a pastor. He held credentials in three different countries - Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia.

As a pioneer he was a man of great perception. On several occasions he told me how "false brethren" tried to muscle in on the fellowship in the early days, BUT he and other colleagues, who had discernment in these things, detected what spirit they were of and refused to give them room or place.

One such person sought platform position in Cardiff, but Dad sensed there was something wrong and refused. Later, supernaturally, he was led down the back streets of that city to a hall where that very man was leading a spiritist meeting and conducting a seance. It was my father's firm conviction that what was encouraged as a protective device in those pioneering days was largely silenced by pragmatic leaders who dismissed it as "being negative" in more recent times.

Like all other early pentecostal pioneers Dad was committed to a simple fellowship structure and was strongly opposed to the denominational and hierarchical system that modern Pentecostal leaders have established. The Assemblies of God that he joined and helped to shape in Great Britain and in New Zealand, were fellowships of assemblies of people, not fellowships of pastors or ministers.

He served for a number of years as a member of the National Executive of New Zealand, AOG, but that didn't mean anything to Dad apart from the opportunity to serve. In that he always did his best, never thinking of himself as any better or worse for the position. He served the Lord Christ considering himself and all others as equals - "we are all brethren".

Above all Dad was committed to doctrinal purity and to personal holiness. He was a man of The Book and wouldn't embrace or accept anything within the Church that was not bible based. He received that heritage from the man who influenced him in salvation, his older brother David, who stood and still stands, at 89 years old, as a spiritual giant among men. I spoke to him recently at his home in Britain. His voice was as firm and settled as I have ever heard it and his conviction was as strong as ever. As we talked I recalled something he said to me many years ago:

"Even if a man raises the dead, I will not follow him if he does not speak according to the Word of God and if he does not have the spirit, that is, the disposition of Jesus Christ."

My father received a heritage and he passed it on. I pray God that I will be faithful in my generation.

Finally, and possibly this is the most important lesson that we can learn from Dad's life, the gospel that saved him was the true gospel. There was no offer of temporal benefit. When my father turned to Christ he did so on the basis of a message which told him that he was unclean and that at some time in the future if he failed to act his present state would become permanent - "let him that is filthy be filthy still"

In telling me his story of how he came to faith in Christ he would always say, "The fear of God gripped me." The fact is he was convicted of his sin. The Gospel of Christ is very clear - "Christ died for OUR SINS according to the Scripture ..." 1 Cor 15:3. He didn't die to make us rich or so that we could perform or see miracles. Christ died to deal with the sin question.

In hearing that true Gospel being faithfully preached real faith entered my father's heart and life. In old fashioned classic Pentecostal and Evangelical language, he was thoroughly, totally and completely saved; little or no counselling; no planned structured follow up. Just a mighty work of grace through THE GOSPEL followed by the care of the saints and the concern of real pastors. Dad's salvation lasted for his life span of a further 67 years and NOW he is eternally secure - hallelujah.

Appeared in Volume 4.2 June/July/August 1998