USA celebrates 250 years
Reviews and articles from The Pneuma Review archives about the U. S. of A.
Living the Faith
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Choosing Peace in a World of Ragebait
On September 10, 2025, the nation was stunned when popular conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah. In the months that followed, a deeply disturbing trend emerged. Social media was flooded with posts that did not merely report the tragedy, but openly mocked it. What should have been a moment of sober reflection became,…
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Meditations on Holy Week
Greetings with Jesus’ joy! I hope your week has been wonderful. This week holds special significance as we delve into the theological meaning of Holy Week, which is central to the Christian faith. Jesus endured suffering, died, and triumphed over death! I want to share some insights from my devotions this week. Each day, I…
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One-Sentence Sermons, compiled by Charles Carrin
Over the years I have collected bits of wisdom from different sources. I share a few of them with you. When known, authors are named. “There are none so enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “When people regard a portion of the truth as if it were the…
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John Stackhouse: Humble Apologetics
John G. Stackhouse Jr., Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today (Oxford University Press, 2002), 280 pages, ISBN 9780195138078. I did it! I finally read this book from cover to cover. I had started it many times since it was sent to me to review, but I never finished it and finishing is what counts. It…
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How Pentecostals Listen to God
Educator, author, and pastor Pamela Engelbert shares a story of healing in this excerpt from her book See My Body, See Me. Jade taught me how pentecostals listen to and wait on God. She spoke of a repeated mystical experience that transpired over an extended period during the Sunday evening worship service of her pentecostal church…
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Doing History the Biblical Way: Reflections from a Patriotic Baby Boomer
Ken Burns’ six-part, 12-hour PBS miniseries The American Revolution (premiered November 16, 2025) has received praise from most critics for its detailed presentation of the American Revolution, especially for its nuanced portrayal of it as a civil war involving three diverse groups: Indians, Loyalists, and Patriots. It has also drawn criticisms from conservative commentators, historians,…
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Presence Is a Verb
Presence Is a Verb—a State of Being and an Action The woman abruptly arose from the Sunday dinner table and accusingly spoke to her husband, “You wouldn’t care if I drowned in the waterhole.” She then turned and walked out the door. It had been a typical Sunday for the sixteen-year-old girl. The Pentecostal family…
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An Angel Saved My Life
It was an ordinary day and a familiar drive. I was in the very back of Mother’s 1959 Dodge Sierra station wagon observing the familiar sights that we routinely passed when we headed toward Naval Air Station Charleston. I was five years old and my favorite pastime was pointing out the make and model of…
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We Are United in Messiah
When we talk about our identity in Jesus, we often use terms that are singular and individualistic. “I am a child of God.” “My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and I am a member of the Body of Christ.” These are truths we need to be reminded of. However, we should…
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Do You Ever Wonder Why Things You Want Don’t Happen?
Have you ever wondered why some things you have asked God for never seem to come to pass?
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How to Pray Effectively for New Believers
The most powerful discipleship method for new believers is prayer. We MUST pray for them so that they will be able to conform to the image of Christ. The Lord’s Church should be filled with individuals who are growing in their relationship with their Lord and Savior and experiencing spiritual growth. If the Church will…
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Love Is Not Rude!
A Bible teacher’s take on the current crisis of Christian manners This article disputes the idea that it is ok for Christians to be rude. Bad manners are not trivial. Rudeness is hurtful to believers and a poor witness to the world. I am not talking about ordinary believers who are having a bad…
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Igniting Faith
We know what a pilot light is in a fireplace or stove. It is the little blue flame that provides the gas to catch fire. As a Christian, the Holy Spirit is always with us, so today, I encourage you to stay plugged into your relationship with God the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is a pilot…
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The Price of Freedom: A Chaplain’s Experience
It happened on Thursday, July 4th, 2002, on that antiquated, post-Civil War Cavalry post—Camp Sturgis, built in 1878, east of Sturgis, South Dakota. It ceased to be an active-duty post in 1944. It was like a ghost town. The ancient parade fields were still there just as they looked in 1878, lined with the original…
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Elle Hardy: Beyond Belief
Elle Hardy, Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World (London: Hurst, 2021), 328 pages, ISBN 9781787385535. Beyond Belief It is a, fascinating, extensively researched, encouraging, insightful (but sometimes exasperating) description of the expansion of the worldwide Pentecostal/charismatic churches. For the American Spirit-filled believer, it is also an important source for understanding of…
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A Keeper
A devotional exhortation for leaders from Pastor Mur. I was just about out the door the other day when I heard my wife ask, ‘Could you come in here and help me for a minute?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ and made a U-turn. I walked into the bedroom to find the bed in total disarray and…
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Dan B. Allender: Sabbath
Dan B. Allender, Sabbath: The Ancient Practices (Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2009), 208 pages, ISBN 9780849901072. Dan Allender, one of the founders and former president of the Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle, Washington, is a prolific writer and speaker. Currently, he serves as professor of counseling along with his private practice. His recent monograph, Sabbath is…
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Praying For the Sick
I’m not sure why this topic makes me nervous, but it does. Maybe it sounds a little too man-centered. Maybe it doesn’t sound spiritual. Or perhaps, it’s just too close to the same old way we’ve always prayed. As I travel in churches, it’s clear that praying for health issues absolutely dominates the typical church….
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Thinking Precedes Thanking
Some years back, someone correctly observed and told me that the thinking process precedes the thanking process. I never forgot that phrase. We cannot be thankful for something until we have thought about it. You cannot thank the Lord without thinking about what Christ did for you in His death, burial, and resurrection. God redeemed and reconciled you for…
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Miraculous Living: Coming to Christ in His Realm
Like Peter’s failing attempt to walk on the water, many believers are trying to approach Jesus from the realm of intellect and knowledge. While we thank God for the mind and its ability, human wisdom is not enough. Man is a spiritual as well as a mental-being. To be genuinely equipped for life-in-the-Spirit, our experience…
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Serving the Reigning Christ: an interview with Esther V. Shekher
Here is a woman from a Hindu background now passionately serving Jesus Christ. PneumaReview.com has the privilege to introduce you to Evangelist Dr. Esther Shekher and let her tell us about her ministry and her book, All the Commandments of God: Find Out the Secret to Inherit All the Blessings of God (Westbow, 2013). …
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James Thompson: Christ and Culture in the New Testament
James W. Thompson, Christ & Culture in the New Testament (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2023), 227 pages, ISBN 9781666739466. James W. Thompson, a senior New Testament scholar and scholar in residence at Abilene Christian University, presents a compelling book on the interplay of Christianity and culture in the New Testament. Beginning with a well-intentioned critique…
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Dependency Upon God
Independence is an American ideal, but God-dependency is a believer’s necessity. As Americans we are rightly proud of our Declaration of Independence. It took a lot of courage for those men in 1776 to declare their independence from the mightiest nation on earth at the time, realizing the great cost it would take to actually…
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The Meaning of Life
A devotional about what is most important.
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We Shall Come Rejoicing, Bringing in the Sheaves
Messianic teacher Kevin Williams invites us to look deeper at the countdown to Pentecost. Of all 613 of God’s instructions in the Hebrew Scriptures, Leviticus 23:15 has got to be one of the easiest and least inconvenient. No work to perform, no offerings for the layperson. Just words. “You shall count from the next day…
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Gospel Carriers, Old and New
Historical Digression And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands. (1 Samuel 17:47 KJ2000) During WWII’s Battle of the Coral Sea, 5 warships were sunk and over 1,600 men killed. The historic nature of…
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Israel and Hamas: A Perspective
As Christians, how we perceive the world around us should be shaped and reshaped by our faith. “Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). But we also have these emotional…
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The People Scripture Calls Us To Be: An Interview with Timothy Laurito
PneumaReview.com speaks with Dr. Timothy Laurito who is a pastor, educator, scholar, speaker, and award-winning author. He challenges all followers of Jesus to invite the Holy Spirit to move in and through us more powerfully, especially those believers that already acknowledge the Spirit’s work today. PneumaReview.com: Your first book Speaking in Tongues: A Multidisciplinary…
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Three Commitments, by John Wimber
If you want to know what kind of Christian you are, get your checkbook out, and look at your calendar. We need to make three commitments. One to Christ. You can’t get in without that commitment. But it’s “Christ, Savior” as well as “Christ, Lord.’ So many people don’t understand the issue of lordship. But…
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The Ideal Christian Life
Are you comfortable or are you ready to give up everything to make Jesus more real to people that desperately need him? Pioneer missionary Griffith John wrote A Voice in the Darkness over 100 years ago, but the challenge he wrote about laying down our lives for the kingdom of God is both timely and…
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Is Doomsday Upon Us?
As we look at world events today, our minds are flooded with anxiety about how history may turn out. If one would take time to study prophecies that point to the End Times (eschatology) it seems easy to understand how current world events play a major role in biblical prophecy. Though I’ve never considered myself…
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Raised from the Dead
Jamie Burns, a Teen-aged Girl, Raised from the Dead According to the American Medical Association, clinical death is the cessation of the pumping of blood by the heart through the body, which will inevitably result in the cessation of breathing. It is a medical emergency, in which without immediate intervention the opportunity to reverse the…
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Belonging to a Local Church: A Foundation for Believers
Pastor Daniel Brown writes about the importance of significant and intentional community for followers of Jesus. Church-hopping Christians who flit from one congregation to another do have a problem—but it is not with the people they meet, as they think. It is with themselves, observes one veteran pastor who believes local church involvement is the…
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Will I Still Be Me After Death?
In his series about Heaven, Pastor Daniel Brown asks, in the world to come, will we be who we were? There are two kinds of death—spiritual and natural. Death is not a state of oblivion or non-existence; it is, rather, a separation from the life that was meant to be. Spiritual death cuts people off…
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Planting Seeds
When I was a child in Adams County in central Pennsylvania, our family planted large gardens with corn, beans, watermelons, potatoes, and all sorts of plants. I would walk outside each morning to see how much the seeds had grown. This memory reminded me of Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed in which He says of…
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J. Todd Billings: The End of the Christian Life
J. Todd Billings, The End of the Christian Life: How Embracing Our Mortality Frees Us To Truly Live (Brazos, 2020) 239 pages, ISBN 9781587434204. Despite the fact that we, as mere fading mortals, go out of our way to not think about death, great works of art and literature tend to inexplicably draw us into…
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True for You (but not for Me)
Is Christianity just something that helps some people? Is there really any basis for right and wrong other than opinion?
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Woman Rises from Dead After Prayer
Jim Linzey, currently serving as a pastor in Coffeyville, Kansas, shares a story about a miracle that happened in his community. Recently, Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and God TV reported that a woman in Coffeyville, Kansas rose from the dead. Landon D. Vinson, M.D., who was the attending physician, along with the local Assembly of…
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A Master’s Touch
Thirty years ago I had a friend named Bob who had grown up in New England, and then had gone to college at Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland. While he was there he met a young woman named Liz who had grown up in Peabody, Massachusetts. They began to court each other as their…
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Michael Brown: The Political Seduction of the Church
Michael L. Brown, The Political Seduction of the Church: How Millions of American Christians Have Confused Politics with the Gospel (Vide, 2022), ISBN 9781954618497 The last several years have seen a plethora of books published concerning the church and political involvement. While I haven’t done a detailed study of the number of books published annually…
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Real Freedom
I would like to speak about the real freedom that comes from experiencing the Spirit of God. There is a real bondage that we can feel without His Spirit. This bondage can take many forms: the opinions of people, maybe it’s your position at work, or social media obsession. When those things become who you…
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A Reflection on the Influence of Gordon Fee
By Rick Wadholm Jr, December 15, 2022 Gordon Donald Fee (May 23, 1934—October 25, 2022) arguably stands as one of the most widely known and influential Pentecostal scholars of the late twentieth to early twenty-first centuries. His works range broadly on topics of hermeneutics, translation, textual criticism, New Testament, Pauline studies, and theology (among other…
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Scott Kelso: Theological Violence in the 21st Century
Scott T. Kelso, Theological Violence in the 21st Century: The Eclipse of Ethics and Morality in Today’s World (New York: Boss Media, 2021), 184 pages, ISBN 9781633375079. In the Old Testament, we are shown how God sent prophets again and again to warn Israel of its impending destruction if it did not repent of its…
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Gene Veith: The Soul of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Gene Veith, The Soul of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Colorado Springs: Cook Communications Ministries, 2005), 206 pages. In the preface to the book, Veith sets forth the premise that his book is intended to be a companion volume to Lewis’ work, originally written for children, that “will help you unpack the meaning…
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Michael Brown on Gordon Fee, Pioneer and Scholarly Role Model
Gordon D. Fee went home to be with the Lord on October 25, 2022. As a Pentecostal scholar, Gordon Fee was both a pioneer and a role model, showing us that you could be academic and Spirit-filled at the same time. Not only so, but as the general editor of the prestigious New International Commentary…
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Craig Keener on Gordon Fee, Giant of Pentecostal Scholarship
Gordon D. Fee went home to be with the Lord on October 25, 2022. I learned of Gordon Fee’s passing yesterday [October 26] from his gracious and kind daughter, Cherith. Gordon and his family always treated me so graciously. Gordon kind of took me under his wing and looked out for me. Also, by his…
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Michael Brown: Resurrection
Michael L. Brown, Resurrection: Investigating a Rabbi from Brooklyn, a Preacher from Galilee and an Event that Changed the World (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2020), 195 pages, ISBN 9781629996929. As I read through Michael Brown’s book Resurrection, comparing the events surrounding the life and death of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson to the life and…
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Things That Matter
The other day, some friends and I attended the funeral of a good friend, Pastor Andy, who died of cancer at the age of 49. This is the second funeral I’ve attended in the last few months of someone who, in my opinion, died far too young. The last service was held at the cemetery….
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Hopeless Until Jesus Arrived
The deadbolt clicked loudly on the metal door. All curtains closed. Padlocks were next. Lights were turned low. In a fundamentalist Muslim city known for its high number of honor killings, you can never take too many precautions. Women in drab colored hijabs quickly entered from a side door. War wasn’t on the way. Neither…
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When God Tells You Only Part of the Facts
Most of us have been in situations where God was leading but when He did not give all the answers we needed. Key elements were missing. Perhaps He put a person in our life whom we later found unreliable and the relationship ended painfully. As pastors, He may have sent us to particular churches only…
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Living Out Creation
Recognizing our creatureliness humbles us and teaches us to praise our Creator. If the opinion polls are right, most of us believe God created the universe. We may argue about how long ago the Lord began creating or what methods He used, but most of us agree that God did it. In the U.S. and…
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Should I Join a Home Church?
Guest writer Tracy Close answers the question, “What’s So Important About Having a Home Church?” She shares the importance and benefits of belonging to a local body of believers and what should keep us together. Many Christians have become disillusioned with the idea of organized religion. Through dissatisfaction, for one reason or another, their unrest…
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Michael Brown: When the World Stops
Michael L. Brown, When the World Stops: Words of Hope, Faith, and Wisdom in the Midst of Crisis (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2020), 195 pages, ISBN 9781629998992. On March 11, 2020, The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Overnight the world stopped and changed, perhaps forever. Wearing a mask became a part…
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From the 2021 Camps Farthest Out
On the Mountain with the Lord and His People. From June 27 to July 3, 2021, I had the joy of attending a CFO retreat at Shrine Mont, in the foothills of the Great North Mountain in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, a beautiful location. The CFOs (Camps Farthest Out) were established by Professor Glenn…
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In Your Face
Reflecting on Pentecostal roots and obnoxious witnessing.
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When a Cloud Isn’t a Crowd, by Daniel Brown
Pastor Daniel Brown talks about being led by God in contrast to the persistent nagging to follow the crowd.
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Dallas Willard: Hearing God
A guest review by Evangelist David Hernandez. Dallas Willard, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (InterVarsity Press, 1999 and 2012) 304 pages, ISBN 9780830835690. Many Christian leaders will agree with the saying that prayer is a two-way conversation with God, yet very few have ever experienced this type of relationship with our Lord….
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The Not-So-Tidy Christmas Story, by Scott Lencke
Anyone who knows me will know that I love Christmas. I think it’s fantastic – the carols, the trees, the lights, the goodies, the family time, the movies, some restfulness and more. Yes, I love the truth of the advent, or coming, of Christ into our world. But I also like the not-so-religious stuff as…
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Christ-Centered Prayer
This guest article is a chapter from David Broderick’s book, Christ-Centered Life. If YHWH is the preexistent God, if Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, if the Holy Spirit is the agent who created everything—then prayer begins and ends with God. Prayer is God’s work, not mine or yours or anybody else’s. We do not…
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Todd Rutkowski: Coming to Life
Todd Michael Rutkowski, Coming to Life: The Journey to Identity, Passion and Purpose (Sisters, OR: VMI Publishers, 2004), 172 pages. Rutkowski subtitled his book “The Journey to Identity, Passion and Purpose.” It has eight chapters that are largely filled with pleasant anecdotal materials. We learn that Todd, a Canadian, was quite a hockey player in…
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Iran Transformed: An interview with Hormoz Shariat
Hormoz Shariat firmly believes that Iran will be the first Islamic nation that turns to Christ. He says it is ready for a major transformation—spiritually, socially, financially, and politically, and that it will be a Christian nation soon, as prophesied in Jeremiah 49:38. PneumaReview.com spoke with Dr. Shariat about how he came to Jesus, what…
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Gary Tyra: The Dark Side of Discipleship
Gary Tyra, The Dark Side of Discipleship: Why and How the New Testament Encourages Christians to Deal With the Devil (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020), 330 pages, ISBN 9781532691218. Dr. Gary Tyra has served in pastoral ministry and is currently a professor at Vanguard University where he teaches theology courses. He is also the author of…
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Great Wealth
We live in a society where we are taught from a young age that our occupation defines us as a person. If we are earning a substantial salary, own a luxury car, live in a costly house and wear designer clothes, then we are considered successful. The church reinforces this philosophy even further with a…
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Testimony: How Bill Medley Led John Wimber to Jesus Christ
The stories of how people come to know Jesus as Savior are often both simple and amazing. That was the case with John Wimber, former producer of the Righteous Brothers, and how he began his journey to finding Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I was so blessed to hear this story, quite by chance—or…
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Celebration of Grace: What Christ Does for us in Baptism and Communion
One of my earliest Christian memories goes back to the year 1935 when I was five years old and was standing on the edge of Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. Our congregation, Little Flock Church, was holding a baptismal service and I was watching my mother and father wade into the water. A dozen others…
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Trump: Satan’s Manchurian Candidate?
Here is another article by our guest columnist, the Rev. William De Arteaga, on the Trump presidency. This is a controversial topic. In the article published on February 13, De Arteaga argues that Trump has caused spiritual damage to Evangelical and charismatic Christianity in the USA and abroad. Quotations from “Trump: Satan’s Manchurian Candidate?”…
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Whatever It Takes: an interview with Michael Brown
Pneuma Review speaks with Dr. Michael Brown about his 2020 book Revolution. PneumaReview.com: Revolution and revival are subjects that you have addressed in a number of your books. What experiences in your life birthed your passion for these things? Dr. Michael Brown: Although I had been preaching the message of repentance since my first…
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Why Christians Fell for False Prophecy
Why So Many Evangelicals and Pentecostals Were Beguiled by False Prophecies about Trump and his Second Term This guest editorial by Christian historian William De Arteaga is a January 2021 update from his earlier article, “Donald Trump’s Presidency and False Prophecy.” Readers are invited to respond by including respectful comments on the article page….
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Two Words for 2021
In a guest editorial, Pastor Erwin Lutzer offers two words to encourage followers of Jesus to look to our heavenly Father for hope. 2020 was a tumultuous year but what assurances do we have that 2021 will be a better year? Welcome to 2021! So many people say I am so glad to say goodbye…
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Robert Smith: Cultural Marxism: Imaginary Conspiracy or Revolutionary Reality?
Robert S. Smith, “Cultural Marxism: Imaginary Conspiracy or Revolutionary Reality?” Themelios, 44:3 (2019), pages 436-465. I cannot stress enough how important this article is. It should be read by anyone in a Christian leadership position. It is the finest article on the background to the takeover of the America university system by Marxists and radicals…
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What We Need is Revival
This guest article by Christian historian William De Arteaga is calling Christians, particularly in the USA, to lay aside political differences and pray for the nation in which God has placed us. There is a sense a panic among some Evangelicals about the Biden-Harris election victory. We are in the midst now of a…
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Your Faith: Its Miraculous Origin, Work, And Destination
A guest article from Christian ministry veteran, Charles Carrin. Trust is not something that comes on its own. Where does it come from, how does it work, what does trust in God accomplish? O for a faith that will not shrink, Tho’ pressed by every foe; That will not tremble on the brink Of…
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Beyond Understanding
Pastor Mur reminds us a little about what Heaven is like. Every once in a while I am asked to perform a funeral service. A funeral sermon typically includes three segments: a time to reminisce, a time to release and a time for resolution. My custom is to talk about heaven as I transition from…
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Worried About the Election? What We Need is Revival
Many Christians are in fear, almost panic, that a Biden-Harris win this November will bring about a renewed secularization of America and Christian persecution. There is some danger that such an administration would take a radical turn, but historian Dr. William De Arteaga is far less pessimistic. In this essay, he reflects on the election…
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Discerning Dreams
Paul King is a pastor, theologian, historian, and educator. In his book, Is It of God, he provided much needed biblical and practical counsel about discernment. This article is a chapter from the second volume of Is It of God, bringing seasoned wisdom to a controversial topic. It is clear from Scripture that God…
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On Pulling Down Statues
Sometimes it is good and proper to pull down statues, sometimes ambiguous, and sometimes the motives are troubling. What are the spiritual issues? Christian historian Rev. William De Arteaga, known to Pneuma Review readers as a scholar of the healing ministry and revivals, discusses several subjects in an article (on another site) about statue toppling…
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William De Arteaga: On Discerning Trump’s Character and Presidency: A Theological Reflection on How False Prophecy Influenced American Politics
William L. De Arteaga, On Discerning Trump’s Character and Presidency: A Theological Reflection on How False Prophecy Influenced American Politics (Amazon KDP, 2020), 88 pages, ISBN 9798668487622. For Christians who believe in the continuing gifts of the Spirit, testing national prophecies is a tricky task. In every election cycle, there are prophets announcing who the…
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Bouncing Off the Floor
Lenny Smith shares the story of how he wrote the song, “Our God Reigns.” Sometimes you have to reach bottom, in order to bounce off the floor and fly up into the air. Back in 1973, I was out of work, again, and pretty depressed. I should say I was “very depressed.” My wife and…
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Is God using dreams in a special way during the pandemic?
John Lathrop wrote to many Pentecostal/charismatic Bible teachers to ask them if they have found that God is speaking to people more frequently or vividly through dreams during this time of isolation. Here are some of the responses that he received, may they become prompts to you for prayer. Carolyn Tennant A former student (graduate) of…
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Is Christianity the White Man’s Religion? Introduction by Antipas L. Harris
Antipas Harris introduces his new book, the serious challenge behind it, and his invitation to join him in proclaiming anew that Jesus is Good News for everyone. Without doubt, we are living through troubled times. The world is engulfed in noxious uncertainties: contentious politics, racial unrest, hate groups and global warming, to name a few….
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Demonstrations Can Have Good and Bad Fruit
In this article appearing at PentecostalTheology.com, historian and theologian the Rev. Dr. William De Arteaga warns that mass demonstrations as the ones now carried on in the name of George Floyd can be double-edged swords. They can help bring needed reforms, as in the civil rights demonstrations of the 1960s, which brought about so much…
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Daily Seedings: Revelation And Impartation
Revelation And Impartation That you may be filled with all the fullness of God. — Ephesians 3:19 Revelation of God not only brings conviction, but it also brings impartation. When one gets a revelation of the love of God, that love will be shed abroad in the heart. A revelation of the holiness of God…
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Pandemic Responses: Fear, Shame, and Rejoicing in Suffering in Africa and the Middle East
“Why should I stop?” I asked myself. The big fellow standing in the road holding up his hand was not in police uniform.[1] It is not uncommon cycling in Kenya, to have people wave me down just to ask me to give them money. Something told me that this was serious. Other traffic was stopping….
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Daily Seedings: Heart Revelation Not Head Knowledge
Heart Revelation Not Head Knowledge We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. — 1 John 3:2 When John had a vision of the glorified Lord on Patmos, John fell at His feet as dead. The same thing happened to Daniel, and he…
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Daily Seedings: Paul’s Revelation
Paul’s Revelation The Gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. — Galatians 1: 11-12 The apostle Paul met the Lord on the Damascus road in the days of his persecution…
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Daily Seedings: Peter’s Revelation
Peter’s Revelation Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” — Matthew 16:16 In the first year of Jesus’ ministry, while preaching by the Sea of Galilee and being pressed into the water by the throng, Jesus asked Peter that He might get into his ship. After preaching…
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Daily Seedings: Man’s Vision
Man’s Vision Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” — Exodus 3:3 God revealed Himself to Abraham as God Almighty and said, “Walk before Me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). In the Hebrew, El-Shaddai means the “All-sufficient One.” When Abraham had this Divine revelation,…
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In Times Like These: Reflections on the COVID-19 Pandemic
In Times Like These: Reflections on the COVID-19 Pandemic Greetings with Jesus’ joy! With the arrival of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the world stage, more than 130 countries have been caught in a public health crisis of yet unknown devastation. Today, in the United States, along with other countries, “ordinary” life as we have known it,…
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Resisting Disease in Prayer
Resisting Disease in Prayer The Rev. Dr. Bill De Arteaga has had over thirty years of healing ministry experience and has often dealt with viruses of various sorts, including influenza. Here is what he suggests to do when you suspect you or a loved one has been in contact with the new coronavirus. http://www.pentecostaltheology.com/personally-combating-the-coronavirus/
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Daily Seedings: The Revelation of God’s Character
The Revelation of God’s Character “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.” — John 17:6 In the ancient East, proper names had a special significance. The name of a person often presented some characteristic of that person. This is true also of the names of…
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Daily Seedings: Revealing Himself to Man
Revealing Himself to Man “‘All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.’” — Matthew 11:27 Since the time of the fall of man,…
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Chima Umejiaku: Pursuit of Spiritual Renewal
Chima E. Umejiaku, Pursuit of Spiritual Renewal: A Call to Corporate and Individual Revival (Maitland, FL: Xulon Press Elite, 2017), 180 pages, ISBN 9781545608111. Dr. Chima Umejiaku is an ordained minister with the International Fellowship of Christian Assemblies, which is a classical Pentecostal denomination. He currently serves as pastor of Christian Assembly Church in Lynn, Massachusetts…
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Building up Men and Fathers: an interview with Gary Rogers
Author Gary Rogers speaks with Kirk Hunt about his book, Unlocking The Power Of Fatherhood, and the need for effective men’s ministry in churches. Kirk Hunt for PneumaReview.com: Who or what inspired you to write Unlocking The Power Of Fatherhood? Gary Rogers: It started at 4:30am on a Saturday morning. I got up, made…
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Jessie Penn-Lewis: War on the Saints
A guest review of a classic book on revival, the power of God, and the decline of spirituality among the people of God. Linda Williams urges you to read a book she feels has been overlooked by the church for too long. Jessie Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints (Whitaker House, 1996). Written in 1910,…
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New Hope for the Secret Church in Iran
Amid U.S.-Iran tensions, broadcaster SAT-7 gives Iranian Christians first opportunity to share with millions of viewers, many from extremist backgrounds EASTON, Md. – On January 27, 2019, pioneering broadcaster SAT-7 announced a virtual, “real-time” television news-talk show – Signal – that is the first program of its kind encouraging Iran’s “secret church” – at a time when…
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Donald Trump’s Presidency and False Prophecy
A guest editorial by Christian historian William De Arteaga. Readers are invited to respond by including respectful comments on the article page. This editorial was updated in January 2021 under the new title, “Why So Many Evangelicals and Pentecostals Were Beguiled by False Prophecies about Trump and his Second Term.” Recently, the Mark Galli’s…
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Gary Rogers: Unlocking The Power Of Fatherhood
Gary D. Rogers, Unlocking The Power Of Fatherhood (Charleston, SC: Palmetto Publishing Group, 2019), 142 pages. Unlocking The Power Of Fatherhood (Unlocking) starts with the courageous story of Billy Ray and his parents as they confronted the diagnosis of his polio infection. Their decision to raise Billy Ray without concession to his polio-induced impairment (referred…
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The Prayer of Forgiveness
“Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” Scripture is very clear that sin is a hindrance to answered prayer. Isaiah 59:2 states, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” In Psalm 66:18 we…
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Eddie Byun: Praying for Your Missionary
Eddie Byun, Praying for Your Missionary: How Prayers From Home Can Change the Nations (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2018), 188 pages, ISBN 978-0830845569. Dr. Eddie Byun is a man with significant ministry experience. He has served in pastoral ministry in America, Canada, Australia, and South Korea (page 1); he planted churches in two of the countries…
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Total Surrender: Finding Messiah at an Italian Pentecostal Church, an interview with Michael Brown
Those who are familiar with the New Testament book of Acts, perhaps especially Pentecostal believers, know that people in various places in the first century world received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the physical sign of speaking in tongues. Both Jews (Acts 2) and Gentiles (Acts 10) had this experience. This pattern has…
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3 Simple Ways to Discern God’s Voice In Your Life
Valentyn Svit shares three of the ways we can be assured we are following the voice of the Holy Spirit. You’re driving on the way to work and you hear a voice speak to you in your mind: “Move to California.” You look around. The radio is off and everything is quiet. Now you’re…
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Prayer Evangelism
When I was young I had an uncle who would come visit about once a year. He was just a mailman who worked hard—rain, sleet, snow or hail. There wasn’t anything too special about him, but he managed to endear himself to all his nephews and nieces. Every year when he came home, he would…
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Heaven: Will I Recognize My Loved Ones?
In his series about Heaven, Pastor Daniel Brown asks, in the world to come, will we recognize our loved ones? God is the God of the living, not of the dead. (Mark 12:27) We do not cease to exist after death on earth; we pass into the realm of spirit—but we retain enough distinctive…
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How then shall we live: an interview with Jonathan Cahn about The Oracle
End Times teacher Jonathan Cahn speaks with PneumaReview.com about his life and ministry and his newly released book, The Oracle: The Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled. PneumaReview.com: Please tell us about your story. Where do you come from? What has your spiritual journey looked like? What has God called you to be doing in this season of life? …
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Enlightened by Love and Sacrifice: An excerpt from Leaving Buddha
In this excerpt from Leaving Buddha, Tenzin Lahkpa, formerly a Buddhist monk, recalls his first introduction to Jesus the Messiah. A Christian Family Member “Tenzin!” “Yes?” I responded to the unknown voice yelling down the corridor after me. “There is someone outside looking for you.” I ended my meditation, stood up, and walked to…
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The Tenzin Lahkpa Story
In this excerpt from Leaving Buddha, Eugene Bach introduces us to the amazing story of Tenzin Lahkpa, a Buddhist monk who had a powerful encounter with Jesus the Messiah. When I began to write this book, my relationship with Tenzin Lahkpa (a pseudonym) was completely new. I met him at a lunch meeting in…
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Tenzin Lahkpa and Eugene Bach: Leaving Buddha: A Tibetan Monk’s Encounter with the Living God
Tenzin Lahkpa and Eugene Bach, Leaving Buddha: A Tibetan Monk’s Encounter with the Living God (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 2019), 206 pages, ISBN 9781641231022. Eugene Bach is a leader with the Back to Jerusalem ministry (www.backtojerusalem.com). He has written a number of books about Christianity in nations that are hostile to the gospel; he…
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William De Arteaga: Aging Gracefully with the Graces of Healing Prayer
William L. De Arteaga with Susan Brooks Thomas, Aging Gracefully with the Graces of Healing Prayer (Lexington: Emeth Press, 2019), vii + 86 pages. In his latest book, Aging Gracefully with the Graces of Healing Prayer, William L. De Arteaga has given us a wonderful little examination of Spirit-filled prayer and how it may be…
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In Jesus we have overcome, an interview with Michael Brown
Dr. Michael Brown speaks with Pneuma Review about his new book, Jezebel’s War With America. He urges believers to remember who we are in Jesus and take a stand against the spirit of the age. PneumaReview.com: Please explain to our readers what you mean by Jezebel being at war with America when the historical…
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Wanting What the Lord Wants, an Interview with Paul King
Paul King, who is a Bible teacher, evangelist, educator, historian, pastor, and cancer survivor, has distinguished qualifications to talk about what God has done and what God is doing. In this interview with PneumaReview.com, we speak with him about his own story and his recent book, Is It of God? that addresses crucial questions about…
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Michael Brown: Jezebel’s War With America
Michael L. Brown, Jezebel’s War With America: The Plot to Destroy Our Country and What We Can Do to Turn the Tide (Lake Mary, FL: Frontline, 2019), 256 pages, ISBN 9781629996660. Dr. Michael Brown is a well-known figure in Pentecostal/Charismatic circles. He travels the world preaching, is the host of the Line of Fire program,…
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How Old Will I Be In Heaven?
Foursquare Pastor Daniel Brown continues his study about the final reality. That brings up the question, How old will we be in Heaven—will everyone be the same age, regardless of their age of death on earth? This is most often asked by mothers who have lost a child in the womb or very early in…
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Eddie Hyatt: Angels of Light
Eddie L. Hyatt, Angels of Light: False Prophets and Deceiving Spirits at Work Today in the Church and the World (Hyatt Press, 2018), 120 pages, ISBN 9781888435252. Deception has seeped into the church since its founding and it seems to be intensifying as we get closer to the Lord’s return. For example, at the time…
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To the Limit: A brief memoir by Chas Carrin
As Charles Carrin celebrates the many blessings of God during his 70 years of fruitful ministry, you will learn of his deep concern for young church leaders and his desire to encourage them. In 2019, I complete 70 years of Ordained Ministry. It all began in 1949 when I shoved my suitcase onto a…
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Tish Harrison Warren: Liturgy of the Ordinary
Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2016), 182 pages, ISBN 9780830846238. For Christian believers not engaged in ‘typical’ church ministries, it may be difficult to find anything sacred about the day-to-day activities that occupy our mind and energy. Whether it’s doing housework, chauffeuring the kids…
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Tolkien: A Life of Love, Courage, and Fellowship
Tolkien: A Life of Love, Courage, and Fellowship (Fox Searchlight Pictures/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2019). I was skeptical. I fully expected the film to about the inspiration behind The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and these were represented, but not the focus. If you are familiar with his works, then you will…
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Matthew Schmitz: Immigration Idealism: A Case for Christian Realism
Matthew Schmitz, “Immigration Idealism: A Case for Christian Realism” First Things (May 2019). As usual, the writing of Matthew Schmitz, senior editor of First Things, is clear and cogent—and courageous. He fearlessly tackles daunting topics such as, in this case, immigration. It is a genuine pleasure to follow his almost seamless integration of personal testimony,…
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Praying the News: Notre Dame Fire
Some tragedies are permitted by God for a greater good, to bring into focus an evil or unsatisfactory situation. An example from the Bible is the destruction of Solomon’s Temple by Babylonian invaders. Perhaps the burning of Notre Dame is such an event. Notre Dame has been the symbol for Catholicism and France’s Christian heritage…
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A Thinking Man’s Guide to Remembering the Basics
Regularly returning, remembering, and refreshing how we live out the basics is important for spiritual growth. This workbook by Don Allen was originally published as a guest article on the Pneuma Foundation website, the legacy site for the parent organization for PneumaReview.com. Remember the Basics “Keep it simple, when you get too complex you…
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Bob Cutillo: Pursuing Health in an Anxious Age
Bob Cutillo, Pursuing Health in an Anxious Age (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 196 pages, ISBN 9781433551109. Advances in healthcare have led to increase in worry over one’s own well-being, wasteful spending, and a lack of concern for the well-being of others in our community. Indeed, we have come to view health as a commodity to…
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Leaders Expect Criticism Because They Lead
Some people feel they are clever or great. But criticism has the power to destroy them and cause them to crash. Criticism is a powerful tool in the hands of parents, corporate bosses, pastors, lovers, mean-spirited people, and congregational members. Probably “criticism” is the greatest power in the hands of an enemy. Because human beings…
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Following in His Steps
Edie Mourey is an author, editor, historian, and granddaughter of Pentecostal pioneer Ivan Spencer. In this warm story about her adventure to learn more about her own heritage, she discovered anew how all of us that follow hard after Jesus become part of His legacy. Americans seem obsessed with discovering their ancestry. With DNA…
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Planting Churches in the Most Difficult Places: An interview with Dick Brogden
PneumaReview.com: LIVE|DEAD is an interesting name for a ministry, please explain the meaning of the name. Dick Brogden: Live Dead was birthed out of a desire to see teams planting churches among every unreached people group (UPG) in East Africa. At the time, my wife and I were leading a multi-cultural church planting team in…
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William De Arteaga: The Public Prayer Station
William De Arteaga, The Public Prayer Station: Taking Healing Prayer to the Streets and Evangelizing the Nones (Lexington, KY: Emeth Press, 2018), 73 pages, ISBN 9781609471415. Dr. William De Arteaga, a semi-retired Anglican priest, continues to be passionately tethered to the ministries of intercessory prayer and healing, having approximately 48 years of experience. He was…
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Michelle Lelwica: Shameful Bodies
Michelle Mary Lelwica, Shameful Bodies: Religion and the Culture of Physical Improvement (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017), 271 pages, ISBN 9781472594938. Shameful Bodies is written as an exploration of the embedded assumptions that cause us to judge individuals whose bodies do not fit the cultural norms of society. Lelwica examines the influence of religion and dominant…
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Peace Through Christ: A Christmas Truce
A heartwarming account by Jim Linzey about a Christmas Truce in 1944 when a German woman refused to turn away any who came to her in need. One of the most inspiring stories of peace through Christ among ardent enemies unfolded in a potentially volatile setting. Here is the World War II story of a…
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Indivisible, reviewed by Jim Linzey
Indivisible (Pure Flix). Actors: Justin Bruening, Sarah Drew, and Jason George. Director: David G. Evans. Producer: Darren Moorman. Screenplay: Cheryl McKay, David G. Evans, Peter White. Indivisible is about the struggles of a military chaplain, Darren Turner, who served in Iraq and had close encounters with death. With the gradual onset of PTSD through numerous…
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A Solemn Reflection on Massacre at L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh
“There is a time for everything… a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance …” Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 The day after the gruesome massacre at L’Simcha (Tree of Life) Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA, we lament the loss of 11 precious lives who died and the…
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Brian Stiller: From Jerusalem to Timbuktu
Brian C. Stiller, From Jerusalem to Timbuktu: A World Tour of the Spread of Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2018), 220 pages, ISBN 978-0830845279. Brian C. Stiller has had a very rich and diverse ministry experience. He has served as the president of Tyndale University College & Seminary, written books, founded and edited Faith Today…
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Lee Strobel: The Case for Miracles
Lee Strobel, The Case for Miracles: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Supernatural (Zondervan, 2018), 320 pages, ISBN 9780310259183 The Case for Miracles marks the latest installment in Lee Strobel’s series of “The Case for…” books. Strobel, a former atheist and award winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, is probably best known for his…
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Interceding for Healing
A posting from the Rev. Dr. William De Arteaga on ways of engaging in effective long-distance healing prayer. Like much of his work, this has the potential to be both edifying and controversial. I call a certain form of intercessory prayer “spirit to spirit prayer.” It is generally long distance intercessory prayer of a special…
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Kingdom Family Conference 2018
What God is doing in the world today? Pastor John Lathrop tells us about a move of the Holy Spirit in Southeast Asia. A significant Christian conference was held in Indonesia between July 4th and July 6th, it was called the Kingdom Family Conference. My wife and I had the honor of being present for…
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Matthew Kaemingk: Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration in an Age of Fear
Matthew Kaemingk, Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration in an Age of Fear (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018), 338 pages. The kind of book Evangelical Christians need to be reading on navigating Christian-Muslim relations today is the kind of book Matthew Kaemingk has written in Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration in an Age of Fear. So then,…
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Five Pillars on which the American Republic was Founded
Religious liberty was important to those that risked everything to break away from Britain to form the USA. Did they anticipate a secular nation? Christian historian Eddie L. Hyatt is passionate about making known the true story of America’s founding. America was founded on Christian principles and values. It was not founded as a theocracy….
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Dean Merrill, A Higher Code
Read an excerpt from Dean Merrill’s, Miracle Invasion: Amazing true stories of the Holy Spirit’s gifts at work today. David Killingsworth may have been the honored guest speaker that Sunday night at a multicultural church in Phoenix, but this didn’t stop a humble Navajo lady from approaching him at the end of the service to…
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When it is Dangerous to Believe in Jesus
PneumaReview.com has received this introduction for a testimony about how God is working and drawing people to himself in places we might not expect. The commentator asked not to be identified as the author because of their own ministry in Muslim majority areas around the world. In this video you will hear the…
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Religious Freedom Victory: US Supreme Court rules in favor of Colorado cake artist’s freedom
From the press release by Alliance Defending Freedom: “Two men filed a complaint with the state of Colorado after they asked cake artist Jack Phillips to design a wedding cake to celebrate their same-sex ceremony. In an exchange lasting about 30 seconds, Phillips politely declined, explaining that he would gladly make them any other type…
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Jack Deere: Even in Our Darkness
Jack Deere, Even in Our Darkness: A Story of Beauty in a Broken Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 288 pages, ISBN 9780310538141. I am sure that many in the church world are familiar with Jack Deere. He was at one time a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, during that time he was also a cessationist….
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Denzil Miller: How to Live for God
Denzil R. Miller, How to Live for God: A Guide for New Christians (PneumaLife Publications, 2018), 40 pages, ISBN 9780997175059. The book How to Live for God was written by Dr. Denzil R. Miller. He has written several books on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and in the…
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Are You Ready for a Fresh Outpouring?
Lilian de Fin, great-granddaughter of Smith Wigglesworth (1859-1947), speaks with PneumaReview.com about Smith Wigglesworth’s ministry and legacy, the re-opening of Bowland Street Mission, her own ministry, and the coming revival. Are you ready for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit? PneumaReview.com: Your great-grandfather, Smith Wigglesworth, was a well-known Pentecostal minister. From a family…
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Seek the Lord and Live
Not gifts, not healing, not revival—seek the LORD. Thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, seek Me and live. But do not seek Bethel, nor enter Gilgal, nor cross over to Beersheba. Seek the Lord, and Live (Amos 5:4-6a). Definition: To “seek the Lord” means that we move from an approach to God…
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Blessed and Blessing: The Anointings of David
Three devotionals from Kirk Hunt’s book, Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals for Gospel Champions (CadreMen Press, 2015). David’s First Anointing David’s Second Anointing David’s Third Anointing Blessed and Blessing, Devotionals for Gospel Champions The Kingdom of God is built by the hands and hearts of Gospel Champions. These devotionals are focused on the faithful and courageous…
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All In: Following Jesus
Yesterday, November 26, was Christ the King Sunday on the Liturgical Calendar. I preached a message entitled “All In,” taken from Luke 9:57–62. In the Gospel text, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. A man, not knowing why Jesus is heading to Jerusalem, meets Jesus on the road and offers to…
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Tania Harris: God Conversations
Tania Harris, God Conversations: Stories of How God Speaks and What Happens When We Listen (West Ryde, Australia: Authentic Media, 2017), 240 pages, ISBN 9781780781884. Tania Harris is both an academic and a practioner. She has been a student, teacher, pastor, church planter, an international speaker, and now, an author. Her calling is to help…
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Sarah Withrow King: Animals Are Not Ours (No, Really, They’re Not)
Sarah Withrow King, Animals Are Not Ours (No, Really, They’re Not): An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology (Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press, 2016), v + 184 pages. According to the back cover, King is Deputy Director of the Sider Centre at Eastern University. She is just another Christian leader to add her voice in a growing choir…
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Seven Stress Management Tips
Everyone has stress in their life, but some seasons of life brings more than at other times. Learning how to cope with it makes the difference between being overwhelmed and learning to grow. In the more than 20 years that I’ve been ministering to cancer patients at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, there has never…
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Amy Abdallah: The Book of Womanhood
Amy F. Davis Abdallah, The Book of Womanhood (Cascade Books, 2015 / The Lutterworth Press, 2016), xviii + 203 pages, ISBN 9781498221344/9780718894245. When does a girl become a woman? What does it mean to be a woman, as opposed to a girl? Likely, there are a variety of answers to these questions and perhaps just…
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Jennifer Miskov: Walking on Water
Jen Miskov’s new book publishes October 3, 2017. Jennifer A. Miskov, Walking on Water: Experiencing a Life of Miracles, Courageous Faith and Union with God (Bloomington, MN: Chosen Books, 2017), 192 pages, ISBN 9780800798512. Jennifer Miskov is both a scholar and a revivalist. Her web site (www.SilverToGold.com/Jen-Miskov) gives us some details about her education and…
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The Christian’s Core Identity
Happy Monday! I hope you’re off to a great week. This week is a big week in my family. My mom’s birthday is today; So, Happy Birthday to my mama! I know… She has 8 children. But, each of us refers to her as “my mama.” (smile) I was inspired by the sermon that Jim Wood,…
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Take the Brakes Off God
Happy Monday! I hope you are off to a great week! Yesterday, I had the pleasure of preaching three services at the First Presbyterian Church of Norfolk. The message was about “Finding God in the Unexpected.” The passage of focus was Mark 6:52. Jesus had already fed the 5,000 men (not counting women and children) with a…
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Melanie Dobson: Health as a Virtue
Melanie L. Dobson, Health as a Virtue: Thomas Aquinas and the Practice of Habits of Health, Princeton Theological Monograph Series (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2014), xiv + 146 pages, ISBN 9781620325612. With the rise in obesity among adults and children globally, it is not surprising, perhaps, that American Christians struggle with obesity and its resulting…
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Adam McHugh: The Listening Life
Adam S. McHugh, The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015), 224 pages, ISBN 9780830844128 The Listening Life is Adam McHugh’s second book; his first was Introverts in the Church. Both of these books have a common theme; they both focus on the subject of quietness. As…
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Heidi and Rolland Baker: Learning to Love
Heidi and Rolland Baker, Learning to Love: Passion, Compassion, and the Essence of the Gospel (Bloomington, MN: Chosen Books, 2013). The missionary ministry of Heidi and Rolland Baker is widely known and their stories of miracles throughout Mozambique are legendary. In this book, the Bakers take the readers on a journey into the heart of…
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Reclaiming the Original American Vision
There are some that would say private faith has no place in the public sphere. Historian Eddie L. Hyatt shows this was not what America’s Founders believed, and urges all Americans to recapture their vision that linked faith and freedom together. In a meeting with Delaware Indian chiefs in 1779, George Washington commended them for…
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The Demise of Metanarrative and the Implications for Culture
Introduction “Simplifying in the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.”1 “A massive intellectual revolution is taking place that is perhaps as great as that which marked off the modern world from the Middle Ages. The foundations of the modern world are collapsing, and we are entering a postmodern world. The principles forged during…
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Celebrating Fathers in a Fatherless Society
Happy Monday! Yesterday was Father’s Day. I am grateful for my father. He has always been fully present in my seven siblings’ and my life. We certainly credit his involvement, as well as mom’s participation for any good that we have experienced. Thank God for parents! Last week, the U.S. Department of Education convened a group of…
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Jennifer Miskov: Writing in the Glory
Jennifer A. Miskov, Writing in the Glory: Living from Your Heart to Release a Book That Will Impact the World (Redding, CA: Silver to Gold Publishing), 123 pages. As a writer of both fiction and non-fiction (and an English teacher), I have read countless books on writing, but I’ve never read one quite like Jen’s…
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James K. A. Smith: You Are What You Love
James K. A. Smith, You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit (Brazos Press, 2016), 224 pages, ISBN 9781587433801. James K.A. Smith is a philosophy professor at Calvin College and author of many books and articles. He has designed this book to focus on two distinct aspects of Christian life, the things we…
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William De Arteaga: Pentecostal (and Anglican) Plays (and Postscripts)
William De Arteaga, Pentecostal (and Anglican) Plays (and Postscripts) (CreateSpace, 2017), 148 pages, ISBN 9781544150888. Those who only know Bill De Arteaga from his scholarly work will find this little book, less than 150 pages, to be a delightful romp. Unlike his columns in The Pneuma Review or previously published books these two scripts are…
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His Move, His Touch
Are you in a desperate circumstance and can’t see a way out? This devotional study from Kirk Hunt will encourage you and help you focus on Jesus. The Story 22And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet 23and begged Him…
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Salt, Light, a City Set on a Hill
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), Jesus teaches that His followers are the “salt of the earth;” “the light of the world;” and “a city set on a hill.” For the past several months, I have pondered what Jesus means. Salt of the earth When we season food with salt, the salt…
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Sophie Hartman: Crowns of Beauty
Sophie Hartman, Crowns of Beauty: A Story of Brokenness, Courage and Beauty Rising from Ashes (Westbow Press, 2016), 210 pages, ISBN 9781512739282. Love is a word we use often, particularly as Christians. Yet, what is it? Apart from the abstract concept or a transient emotional experience, what is love for God, love for our neighbor?…
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Tripp York: The End of Captivity?
Tripp York, The End of Captivity?: A Primate’s Reflections on Zoos, Conservation, and Christian Ethics (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2015), ix + 135 pages. Tripp York, professor in the Religious Studies department at Virginia Wesleyan College, has been deeply involved in the area of human-animal ethics for some time. Broadly speaking, his work tries to…
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Holy Week: Remembering our Coptic brothers and sisters
Happy Monday morning! Yesterday was Palm Sunday, a Christian celebration of the last week of our Lord Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. But, this year, a week of reflection on Jesus’ love, life, and sacrifice began with a global tragedy; our brothers and sisters in Tanta, Egypt were brutally attacked. CNN reports, “ISIS claimed responsibility for bombings that killed 43 at two Coptic churches in…
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Roger Olson: Reinhold Niebuhr and Stanley Hauerwas: Can Their Approaches to Christian Political Ethics be Bridged?
Roger E. Olson, “Reinhold Niebuhr and Stanley Hauerwas: Can Their Approaches to Christian Political Ethics be ‘Bridged?’” Patheos (February 27 and 28, 2017). Part 1. Part 2. This two-part article by the noted Evangelical scholar, Roger Olson, should be of interest to practically every reader of Pneuma Review. The article deals with two prominent theologians…
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Speaking with Don Horwitz
The Executive Director of Christians Care International, Don Horwitz, speaks with PneumaReview.com about anti-Semitism, the relationship between the Church and Judaism, and his own journey to help the vulnerable and abused in the former Soviet Union. PneumaReview.com: Please tell us a little about yourself, your religious background, family, and your involvement with Christians Care…
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Captivity Of The Mind: Spiritually Understanding Abnormal Human Behavior
Recently I was in a South Florida home with a young man who had captured a wild hawk and in a short time had converted it into an obedient Falcon. At the sound of a whistle, the bird would fly from its perch, light on the man’s arm, take food offered it, and on command…
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Oxygen Masks
A story of justice and judgment from the life of Jesus. You can hear the same words every time you fly a commercial airline. “In the unlikely event the cabin should suddenly lose pressure … please fit the mask securely around your nose and mouth before assisting others.” Those little yellow cups attached to the…
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A Lesson from the Past
I hope that you are off to a great year. First, I want to remind you that greatness is not the absence of adversity. Greatness is deeply rooted in our faith that God is God in spite of circumstances. It is such faith that empowers the greatness of your day. Secondly, I’ve been thinking about…
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Islam and the Birth of Christ
What do Muslims believe about the birth of Jesus, and how is it different from what Christians believe? Many Evangelical Christians are surprised to discover that Islam believes in Jesus as the Virgin-born Messiah and Prophet. Indeed, it is interesting we have many professing Christian leaders who deny the supernatural birth of Jesus, but all…
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Christ in us brings hope to the world
As the chilly winds blow, winter is settling in here in Virginia. 2016 is quickly coming to a close, making room for 2017. In many ways, 2017 will be a year of transition. The next president of the United States of America will be inaugurated; a new round of legislators will take their posts, and…
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Let’s Love Our Neighbors
I pray that you had a great weekend. This past week has been quite eventful for Americans. Now, we know who the new president-elect is. I only hope that, regardless of the nominee for whom you may have voted, we gather ourselves in prayer for President-elect Donald Trump just as I hope we pray for President…
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Political Idols and the Possibility of Revival
People around the world are aware of the upcoming U.S. Presidential election and how contentious the campaigns have been. Historian William De Arteaga tells us about an essay he has published on his blog, Anglican Pentecostal. Many conservative Evangelical Christians are in torment with the thought of a new Clinton presidency. Certainly, the idea of…
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We Need a Divine Reset
This week, October 12th, is the Jew’s Day of Atonement or “Yom Kippur.” This celebration is significant to Christians because Jesus became our atonement, fulfilling the human need for purgation from sin. 1 John 2:2 says, “He [Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of…
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Religion and Pop Culture with Leah Payne: Fall 2016
I love good stories—especially stories that introduce theological ideas in helpful ways. Every year I am on the lookout for T.V. shows that I can incorporate into my courses in Christian studies at George Fox University. Watch along with me this fall at: leahpayne.blogspot.com! From the September 3, 2016 blog post “My quest for a…
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Mark Foreman: Prelude to Philosophy
Mark W. Foreman, Prelude to Philosophy: An Introduction for Christians (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2013), 208 pages, ISBN 9780830896608. According to Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” But to many, if not most modern people, pursuing the examined life is unappealing and even unnecessary. In today’s environment, no one knows what “spirituality” is,…
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Pray for Jesus-followers in Russia
Two foreign citizens are the first known victims of Russia’s new amendments punishing sharing beliefs, which came into force on the 20th of July. Although they were not deported, they were fined heavily. Forum18 reports that as of August 26, four individuals are known to have already been charged under the new provisions of the…
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Don’t Forget the Poor: A Biblical Approach to Addressing Poverty
What has God called you to do? In this chapter from Your Call to Work & Mission: Following Jesus 24/7, Johan Mostert challenges all followers of Jesus to remember those trapped in poverty and take practical steps to demonstrate God’s love for them. Evangelism, global missions, and discipling others—topics from the previous section—are urgent. They…
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Andy Crouch: Strong and Weak
Andy Crouch, Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing (IVP, 2016), 192 pages, ISBN 9780830844432. If life is meant to be about flourishing and leading others towards the same outcome, one might naturally ask how it can be attained? This is the question that Andy Crouch wrestles with in his…
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Gordon Smith: Called to Be Saints
Gordon T. Smith, Called to Be Saints: An Invitation to Christian Maturity (IVP Academic, 2014), 256 pages. Evangelicals are known for their emphasis on conversion, but unfortunately they often neglect life after conversion and beyond justification. Needed, therefore, is a comprehensive theology of the Christian life from beginning to end, along with an explication of…
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Jeffrey Keuss: Your Neighbor’s Hymnal
Jeffrey F. Keuss, Your Neighbor’s Hymnal: What Popular Music Teaches Us about Faith, Hope, and Love (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011). As a graduate of Berklee College of Music and a bi-vocational pastor who makes the bulk of his living as a professional musician, I was intrigued to read Jeffrey Keuss’s exploration of popular music…
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Our hearts broken; our country in crisis … What should we do?
To say we are living in troubled times is an understatement. All of us are hurting. Our society must heal. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit and heal our communities; heal our world. Emotions are running high. Like millions of others, I have not been able to rest well the…
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Denzil Miller: Overcoming the Enemy
Denzil R. Miller, Overcoming the Enemy: How to Challenge and Defeat Demonic Spirits (Springfield, Missouri: AIA Publications, 2016). This work is part of a pamphlet series produced by the Assemblies of God World Mission for their Acts in Africa initiative. It can be downloaded without cost. The author is an Assemblies of God missionary to…
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Praying the News
The “news” is by its nature, mostly negative. An airliner that makes it to its destination is not news, but one that falls out of the sky is. The national TV networks try to include positive news stories such as “the person of the week” segment on Friday night on CBS, but this hardly stops…
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Our God is With Us through It All: Interview with Craig and Médine Keener about Impossible Love
Doctors Craig and Médine Keener speak with PneumaReview.com about their new book, Impossible Love. PneumaReview.com: Craig, you are a highly respected biblical scholar and a seminary professor. In Impossible Love, you mention that the Presence of God played a very important part in your conversion and that after becoming a Christian you prophesied regularly…
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D. A. Carson: The Intolerance of Tolerance
D. A. Carson, The Intolerance of Tolerance (Eerdmans, 2012), 196 pages, ISBN 9780802831705. Although a relatively short book of 176 pages, D.A Carson’s The Intolerance of Tolerance delivers a powerful punch to the jaw of what he describes as the “new tolerance.” Carson, who is a research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity…
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More in Love with Jesus: Interview with Rolland Baker
PneumaReview.com speaks with Rolland Baker about Iris Global and his new book, Keeping the Fire. PneumaReview.com: Many people know about the work that you and Heidi are doing in Mozambique but Iris Global has leaders in over 30 nations. What are some of the other nations that Iris works in? Rolland Baker: Yes, we…
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Boyer and Ver Miller: Human Wholeness
Mark G. Boyer and Matthew S. Ver Miller, Human Wholeness: A Spirituality of Relationship (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2015), 72 pages. Mark G. Boyer (Roman Catholic priest and college professor at Missouri State University) and Matthew S. Ver Miller (psychologist and life-coach) write from their experience in relationship, which began as mentor and mentee,…
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Kyle Strobel: Formed for the Glory of God
Kyle Strobel, Formed for the Glory of God: Learning from the Spiritual Practices of Jonathan Edwards (Downers Grove, ILL: IVP, 2013), 191 pages, ISBN 9780830856534. In Formed for the Glory of God: Learning from the Spiritual Practices of Jonathan Edwards, Kyle Strobel aims to set forth an evangelical understanding of spiritual formation as inspired by…
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Invitation to read The Spiritual Decline and Fall of the Republican Party
My recent article, “The Spiritual Decline and Fall of the Republican Party: Is it time to form a Christian Center party?” (April 6, 2016) will not appear at PneumaReview.com for the very good reason that it is predominantly political. But the editor of The Pneuma Review has been gracious in inviting me to post this…
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Jonathan Seiver: The Palace, reviewed by Jon Ruthven
Jonathan Seiver, The Palace: A Prophetic Journey through the Cultures of This Age and the Kingdom of the Age to Come (Charleston, SC: SP, 2015), 146 pages, ISBN 9781517048259 . The Palace narrates “a series of first-hand prophetic visions” involving the redemption of a street orphan whose curiosity about a fabled palace and its King…
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Do All Abraham’s Children Worship Abraham’s God?
Pastor-scholar Tony Richie says there is no Jewish-Christian-Muslim God. Nor is there a simple answer to the “Same God” question. When people realize I participate in interreligious dialogue and cooperative efforts they often ask me some version of the question in the main title of this post.[1] If I manage to mention that I have…
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Creation Care as Discipleship
What has God called you to do? In this chapter from Your Call to Work & Mission: Following Jesus 24/7, Lois Olena shows why and how followers of Jesus should participate in caring for the creation God has made. It’s Sunday morning, and your adult class welcomes the day’s speaker. She steps up to the…
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Rend the heavens and come down
A Resurrection Day meditation from PneumaReview.com editor Raul Mock. Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That you would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence— As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil— To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations my tremble at Your presence!…
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Jack Hayford: Penetrating the Darkness
Jack W. Hayford with Rebecca Hayford Bauer, Penetrating the Darkness: Discovering the Power of the Cross Against Unseen Evil (Bloomington, MN: Chosen Books, 2011), 192 pages. Based upon the title of this book one may think that it principally discusses the demonic. While spiritual warfare is covered within its pages, this book is primarily about…
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Mark Tanner: The Introvert Charismatic
Mark Tanner, The Introvert Charismatic: The Gift of Introversion in a Noisy Church (Oxford, England, Monarch Books, 2015), 224 pages, ISBN 9780857215888. A number of years ago I read Adam McHugh’s book Introverts in the Church and thoroughly enjoyed it. I found it to be very insightful and helpful. It helped me to better understand myself,…
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How Much Do You Read Your Bible?
A timely encouragement from R. T. Kendall to invest time in reading the Word of God. This is the most important Blog I have written in many years. I pray with all my heart that this will be read and spread to ordinary Christians all over the world. I cannot come close in emphasizing…
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Jefferson Bethke: Jesus is greater than Religion
Jefferson Bethke, Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough (Thomas Nelson, 2013), 240 pages, ISBN 9781400205394. Jefferson Bethke has a brilliant way with words. This is no surprise to anybody who discovered him through his “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” video which…
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Owen Strachan: The Colson Way, reviewed by Kelly Monroe Kullberg
Owen Strachan, The Colson Way: Loving Your Neighbor and Living with Faith in a Hostile World (Thomas Nelson, 2015). The Colson Way, by Owen Strachan, models, urges and inspires a new generation of courageous Christians to engage and to lead. Wanted: Torch-bearers in the lineage of Augustine, Luther, Wilberforce, Bonhoeffer, Schaeffer, Henry and Colson. (Where…
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How to Deal with Refugees’ Plight in Europe?
A special report from the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission. Academics are calling it Europe’s “migrant” crisis, and some sympathetic media are terming it as the continent’s “refugee” crisis, both focusing on the “problem” faced by Europe. Lost in these analyses is the suffering of nearly 600,000 people, some of them Christian, who,…
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Nigel Biggar: In Defence of War
Nigel Biggar, In Defence of War (Oxford University Press, 2013), 384 pages, ISBN 9780199672615. Dr. Biggar is Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford University. Although too young to remember WWII, his childhood memories were filled with stories from relatives and neighbors of the “good war” that England fought to prevent the unspeakable…
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That the life of Jesus may be manifested: An interview with Dan Izzett
What would you do if you learned you had leprosy? Pastor John Lathrop interviews pastor and missionary Dan Izzett about his ministry and advocacy for those afflicted with the ancient, debilitating disease. John Lathrop: Please tell us where you come from and how you began your walk with Jesus. Dan Izzett: When I was…
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Antipas Harris: Holy Spirit, Holy Living
Antipas L. Harris, Holy Spirit, Holy Living: Toward a Practical Theology of Holiness for Twenty-First Century Churches (Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2013), 181 pages, ISBN 9781610979306. In Antipas Harris’ book, Holy Spirit, Holy Living: Toward a Practical Theology of Holiness for Twenty-First Century Churches, the author aims to broach the topic of holiness by…
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Alister McGrath: Faith and Creeds, The Living God
Alister McGrath, Faith and Creeds: A Guide for Study and Devotion, The Heart of Christian Faith Series (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2013), x + 115 pages. Alister McGrath, The Living God: A Guide for Study and Devotion, The Heart of Christian Faith Series (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2014), ix + 111 pages. Alister…
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The Ninth Decade of Life
Pastor Mur talks about finishing well and blessing the people you encounter no matter where you are in life. Once you pass your 80th birthday, opportunities disappear. Everyday logic says that you are too old for a new career in any field. Time is short. Health, a question. No one wants you, your best days…
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A Faith Encompassing All Creation, reviewed by Stephen Vantassel
Tripp York and Andy Alexis-Baker, eds., A Faith Encompassing All Creation: Addressing Commonly Asked Questions About Christian Care for the Environment, The Peaceable Kingdom Series (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014). A Faith Encompassing All of Creation is the third book in The Peaceable Kingdom Series. The editors state that the purpose of the…
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Pursuing the Possibility of Peace with Iran
Reading news that diplomats say they have an agreement that would block Iran from developing nuclear weapons and prevent another war, my mind went back to the 1979 hostage crisis. As a 19-years-old American, I was so outraged by the treatment of our diplomats that I enlisted in the Navy to prepare for the coming…
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The Sinfulness and Destructiveness of Conspiracy Theories
Chasing conspiracy theories is not going to solve any problems. True restoration begins when God’s people repent and walk in righteousness. A recent conspiracy theory has garnered much national attention. It involves “Jade Helm 15,” an Armed Services training exercise employing the elite units of the Armed Forces in counter-terrorist warfare. About 1,200 servicemen will…
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An Introduction to Dreams and Visions in the Bible and Today
God continues to give dreams and visions to his people. Introduction The Bible has been around for a very long time; it has stood the test of time and been widely distributed. The Bible is available in many different English translations and has been translated into numerous foreign languages as well. It is probably…
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Empowered to do Extraordinary Things
I hope that you are off to a wonderful week! Sunday, I preached three services at the First Presbyterian Church of Norfolk. We had an amazing time! The sermon was entitled: “Empowered to do Extraordinary Things.” Our focus passage was Acts 3:1-10 about Peter and John’s encounter with the lame man at the Gate called Beautiful. The…
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Bringing Light and Life to Nepal
Pastor Mina KC is a short, quiet, and polite woman from Nepal. Her slight stature and quiet demeanor hide from immediate view the great ways that the Lord has used her. Her story is both inspiring and encouraging to women who desire to be in ministry, especially those who desire to be in pastoral ministry….
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Walter Brueggemann: Sabbath as Resistance
Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2014), 89 pages, ISBN 9780664239282. Walter Brueggemann delivers another of his thought provoking works (in the vein of The Prophetic Imagination and its various spin-offs) intended to provide a positive framework and application of the Sabbath for the…
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Alister McGrath: Mere Apologetics
Alister E. McGrath, Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Skeptics Find Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 197 pages. As a well-known professor of theology, ministry, and education at Kings College, London, McGrath needs no introduction. This book serves as an introduction to apologetics, the field of Christian thought that focuses upon the…
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It’s Easter Morning and the Lord has risen
Easter is the centerpiece of the Christian Faith. It is the annual celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The proclamation of “He is risen” and its response “He is risen indeed” will keynote Easter services all over the world. The only reason I write these words is that resurrection. The…
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A Hog in the Brickwork
I remember the day Jimmy Mulligan called me all excited. Jimmy was my foreman when I rehabbed the exterior walls of the West Point Military Academy’s Hotel Thayer. Even though this call was 50 years ago, I still remember it. Jimmy shouted: “Murray, there’s a hog in the parapet”, and my imagination fed off…
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Loren Sandford: Yes, There’s More
Available from booksellers on April 7, 2015. R. Loren Sandford, Yes, There’s More: A Return To Childlike Faith And A Deeper Experience of God (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2015), 240 pages. ISBN-10:1621369803 ISBN-13:978-1621369806 R. Loren Sandford is the senior pastor of New Song Church and Ministries located in Denver, Colorado. He has written other…
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Chris Sinkinson: Christian Confidence
Chris Sinkinson, Christian Confidence: An Introduction to Defending the Faith (IVP, 2012) 978083083786 For a succinct and highly informative introduction to Christian apologetics, look no further than Chris Sinkinson’s book, Christian Confidence: An Introduction to Defending the Faith. Sinkinson, a former archaeologist and now lecturer in apologetics at Moorlands College in England, begins by addressing…
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Valid insights within Word-Faith theologies?
In the midst of our last phase placing articles and reviews from all of our print issues online at PneumaReview.com, I came across a response we received and published almost ten years ago. If I remember how this went, the editorial committee felt we had to turn away a submission this writer made to us…
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John DeVries: Why Pray?
John DeVries, Why Pray? 40 Days—From Words to Relationship, reviewed by David Seal’s Fall 2014 New Testament Survey Class
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Guiding my children to use media well
We live in a world saturated by media of all kinds, from social media and television to video games and movies. Most of us could not have imagined a few years ago that anyone with a phone can today produce content that might be seen by millions. How can I help my children navigate…
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Just Politics, Moral Deficit, Killing and Following Jesus: Amos Yong reviews four Ron Sider books
Ronald J. Sider, Just Politics: A Guide for Christian Engagement (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2012), xvii + 249 pages, ISBN 9781587433269. Ronald J. Sider, Fixing the Moral Deficit: A Balanced Way to Balance the Budget (Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2012), 171 pages, ISBN 9780830837953. Ronald J. Sider, ed., The Early Church and Killing: A…
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Conversation with Retired Brig. General Rebecca Halstead
PneumaReview.com speaks with Becky Halstead—the first woman general to lead in combat at the strategic level*—about faith, leadership, and how churches can support the men and women who serve in the military. PneumaReview.com: Please tell us about where you come from and why you aspired to become an officer, and ultimately a Brigadier…
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Jeffrey Overstreet: How I Got “Dead Poets Society” Wrong: And how a great professor changed my mind
Rob Wilkerson resonates with a recent article. Jeffrey Overstreet, “How I Got Dead Poets Society Wrong: And how a great professor changed my mind” ChristianityTodayOnline (September 16, 2014). Overstreet’s article brought back memories. A lot of them, to be honest. To some degree, the feelings the movie evoked returned to me like I…
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Discussing the Emotionally Destructive Marriage
There is no perfect marriage, we all stumble and face conflict. But how do we deal with a marriage that has become emotionally destructive? In the US today, at least one in four Christian women are in an emotionally destructive marriage. And the church, which should be the place where they find hope and…
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In this season: Remembering the attacks of September 11, 2001
Messianic teacher Kevin Williams commented on the September 11 attacks on the United States in this post originally published on September 17, 2001. Today, we stand on the precipice of God’s sacred assembly—Rosh Hoshanah. This ordained day of worship, above all days, is when mankind is supposed to stand in awe of the Almighty, to…
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Watch the Charismatic Anglican 2014 Prayer Conference Live
See the report from William De Arteaga: Anglican Diocese Of The South Intercessory Prayer Conference 2014 Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 7:30 AM – Thursday, August 28, 2014 at 12:00 PM (EDT) Beginning at 9:00 am Wednesday, you can live stream the conference. Long instructions: point your browser to hcanglican.org. Find the “WORSHIP” drop…
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Why US Must Save Lives of Iraqi Christians and Other Minorities
A special report from the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission. “The world hasn’t seen an evil like this for a generation.” This is how the national spokesman for Iraqi Christians in the United States described atrocities by ISIS terrorists in northern Iraq, which include beheading of children and their mothers and fathers, and…
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Mourning for the terrible persecution of Christians
Let us remember our brothers and sisters in Christ who are under intense persecution. These news stories will break your heart, please read them prayerfully. Nigeria: More than 1600 Christians murdered for their faith in first half of 2014 http://morningstarnews.org/2014/07/christians-killed-in-nigeria-in-1st-half-of-year-91-percent-of-total-last-year-group-says/ #ن: How an Arabic letter was reclaimed to support Iraq’s persecuted Christians…
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Son of God: Their Empire, His Kingdom, reviewed by Daniel Snape
Son of God: Their Empire, His Kingdom (20th Century Fox). Actors: Darwin Shaw, Sebastian Knapp, Paul Knops, and Darcie Lincoln. Directors: Christopher Spencer. Music by Hans Zimmer. From producers, Roma Downy and Mark Burnett comes the movie Son of God. Directed by Christopher Spencer (with additional scenes directed by Tony Mitchell and Crispin Reece),…
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Son of God: Their Empire, His Kingdom, reviewed by John King
Son of God: Their Empire, His Kingdom (20th Century Fox). Actors: Darwin Shaw, Sebastian Knapp, Paul Knops, and Darcie Lincoln. Directors: Christopher Spencer. Music by Hans Zimmer. Son of God is a dramatization, taken from the memoirs of John the Apostle, played by Sebastian Knapp, that starts with the Savior’s brief ministry on His…
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Son of God: Their Empire, His Kingdom, reviewed by Kevin Williams
Son of God: Their Empire, His Kingdom (20th Century Fox). Actors: Darwin Shaw, Sebastian Knapp, Paul Knops, and Darcie Lincoln. Directors: Christopher Spencer. Music by Hans Zimmer. Son of God begins with John’s gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” and ends with…
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Jonathan Malesic: Secret Faith in the Public Square
Jonathan Malesic, Secret Faith in the Public Square: An Argument for the Concealment of Christian Identity (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2009), 248 pages, ISBN 9781587432262. From outward appearance the author, an assistant professor of Theology at King’s College in Pennsylvania, argues for non-public involvement in public affairs with nothing said of the participants’ Christian…
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Frank Macchia: Assessing the Prosperity Gospel
Theology professor, Frank Macchia, talks about better ways to approach prosperity teaching in this Seven Minute Seminary from Seedbed.com of Asbury Theological Seminary.
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Kelly Kapic: A Little Book for New Theologians
Kelly M. Kapic, A Little Book for New Theologians: Why and How to Study Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2012), 126 pages. Kelly Kapic, Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College, instructs the student of theology and offers a perspective of wisdom. As the name implies, it is a little book; my first leisurely…
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Becoming a Disciple, with John Hiigel
Every church leader wants to see the people they serve grow in their walk with Jesus, and it is obvious that is why John Hiigel wrote Partnering with the King: Study the Gospel of Matthew and Become a Disciple of Jesus. Join PneumaReview.com for a conversation with Professor Hiigel whose calling is to foster academic…
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What Easter Means to Me
Easter, to me, means that Jesus is in control. His arrest and crucifixion were not events that came upon Him unexpectedly. Instead, right from the very beginning of His ministry, He repeatedly told His disciples, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and on…
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Alan Berger: Trialogue and Terror
Alan L. Berger, ed., Trialogue and Terror: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam after 9/11 (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2012), 288 pages, ISBN 9781608995462. Trialogue and Terror: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam after 9/11accomplishes several significant tasks for today’s critical interreligious discussion context. First, it points beyond general interreligious dialogue to the need for a particular…
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Cecilia González-Andrieu: Bridge to Wonder
Cecilia González-Andrieu, Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012) vii + 242, ISBN 9781602583511. In Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty Cuban-American theologian Cecilia González-Andrieu seeks to span the gulf between art and Christian theology through the image of the “revelatory and transforming beauty”…
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The Pound for Pound Principle and Transparent Gratitude
Double book review: Mike Kai, The Pound for Pound Principle: Becoming All God Designed You To Be (Authentic Publishers, 2013), 192 pages, ISBN 9781780781006. Douglas Kozub, Transparent Gratitude: Processing Through Success Myths and Struggles of the Soul I need to share some background so that my two book reviews below can be read with understanding. …
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A Faith Embracing All Creatures, reviewed by Stephen Vantassel
From Pneuma Review Fall 2013. Tripp York and Andy Alexis-Baker, eds., A Faith Embracing All Creatures: Addressing Commonly Asked Questions about Christian Care for Animals (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2012), 212 pages, ISBN 9781610977012. This book is another in an ever growing line of texts attempting to convince Christians that the Church’s traditional understanding of…
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A Better Freedom: Finding Life as Slaves of Christ
Michael Card, A Better Freedom: Finding Life as Slaves of Christ (Downer’s Grove: IVP, 2009), 166 pages, ISBN 9780830837144. As would be expected from a Christian musician who combines depth of experience with theological training, Michael Card balances devotional and scholarly insights. Motivated by his experiences among African American churches and their moving tendency to…
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Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue
Andreas J. Kostenberger, Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011), 270 pages, ISBN 9781581349708. As suggested by the title, Kostenberger’s interest in “excellence” has to do with Christian scholarship. For Kostenberger, Christian scholarship is the “pursuit of truth on mission for God in the world” (p. 66)….
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Stanley Hauerwas, Working with Words: On Learning to Speak Christian
Stanley Hauerwas, Working with Words: On Learning to Speak Christian (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2011), 322 pages, ISBN 9781608999682. I recommend this book to all Christians, and especially to those in pastoral and the theological vocations. Like his other publications, the Duke Divinity School professor of ethics and theology asks poignant hermeneutical and theological questions…
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R. T. Kendall, Unashamed to Bear His Name: Embracing the Stigma of Being a Christian
R. T. Kendall, Unashamed to Bear His Name: Embracing the Stigma of Being a Christian (Bloomington, MN: Chosen, 2012), 208 pages, ISBN 9780800795160. “Ashamed of the Gospel? Who, me?” Today it is easier than ever for individuals to proclaim their religious preference. Targeted mass marketing has made it possible for modern Christians to exhibit their…
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Global Pentecostal Renaissance? Reflections on Pentecostalism, Culture, and Higher Education
Introduction Not long ago, I attended Commencement exercises at the University of California’s Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. I was there to see a student named Kofi receive his law degree and to celebrate with his mother, Afi.1 Afi came to the United States from Togo with her husband more than twenty years…
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Todd Hunter’s Giving Church Another Chance, reviewed by James Williams
Todd D. Hunter, Giving Church Another Chance: Finding New Meaning in Spiritual Practices (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2010), 167 pages, ISBN 9780830837489. Formerly national director of the Association of Vineyard Churches, USA, Todd Hunter is now a Bishop in the Anglican Communion of North America with the responsibility of church planting. Giving Church Another…
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Working for Others While in the Shadows, by Murray Hohns
My wife and I have recently been showering together, and I thought I would share what that has meant. I realize that at first glance such activity may not seem proper to mention in a theological journal, but it is. My story starts when I turned awkwardly to look at the new score board in…
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How to Argue Like Jesus, reviewed by Steve D. Eutsler
Joe Carter and John Coleman, How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History’s Greatest Communicator (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2009), 174 pages, ISBN 9781433502712. Ever since Augustine said, “For since by means of the art of rhetoric both truth and falsehood are urged, who would dare to say that truth should stand in the person…
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Toby Jones, The Way of Jesus
Toby Jones, The Way of Jesus: Re-forming Spiritual Communities in a Post-Church Age (Eugene: Resource Publications, 2010), 133 pages, ISBN 9781608991525. Toby Jones is a former Moderator of the Presbytery of Mackinac, who parted ways with the Presbyterian denomination in order to found Living Vision, a community attempting to offer an “authentic path to those…
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John Stott: The Radical Disciple
John Stott, The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2010), 144 pages, ISBN 9780830838479. The name of John Stott is widely known in the evangelical world. He was one of the most respected leaders in Christianity. For many years he served as pastor of All Souls Church in London,…
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Alister McGrath: The Passionate Intellect
Alister McGrath, The Passionate Intellect: Christian Faith and the Discipleship of the Mind (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP, 2010), 210 pages, ISBN 9780830838431. Alister McGrath, an Anglican priest, theologian, and Christian apologist, is currently Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at Kings College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture. He was…
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Giving Thanks Turns Tragedy into Triumph
Most of us have heard the scripture that states “God so loved the world…” This means that God loves each of us. God loves you no matter where you are or what the circumstances of life that you may face. I have a friend named Jack who is wheelchair bound. He broke his neck in…
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Lisa Maugans Driver: Christ At The Center
Lisa D. Maugans Driver, Christ At The Center: The Early Christian Era (Louisville: WJK, 2009), 242 pages, ISBN 9780664228972. Driver offers the reader a fast-moving, panoramic view of the context and subsequent development of Christian doctrine as it progressed in the first five centuries of the Church. The work presents a wonderfully helpful, but brief…
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Tim Challies: The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment
Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment (Wheaton: Crossway, 2007), 206 pages, ISBN 9781581349092. Challies, editor of Discerning Reader, a book review website and host of the Christian blog Challies.com: Informing the Reforming, premises his book on the stated intent to present a thoroughly bibliocentric approach in teaching principles of spiritual discernment that equip believers…
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David Augsburger: Dissident Discipleship
David Augsburger, Dissident Discipleship: A Spirituality of Self-Surrender, Love of God, and Love of Neighbor (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2006), 245 pages, ISBN 9781587431807. Augsburger, an American Anabaptist author, currently professor of pastoral care and counseling at Fuller Seminary, explains that his book’s purpose is to unfold a “radical, spirituality” that he defines as…
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Michael Austin: Wise Stewards
Michael W. Austin, Wise Stewards: Philosophical Foundations of Christian Parenting (Kregel Academic, 2009), 192 pages, ISBN 9780825424250. Wise Stewards begins with the philosophical question “What gives meaning, purpose, and value in life?” But don’t let the philosophical focus of this book scare you away. One of the author’s main accomplishments in the text is…
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Everett Worthington: A Just Forgiveness
Everett L. Worthington, Jr., A Just Forgiveness: Responsible Healing without Excusing Injustice (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009) 252 pages, ISBN 9780830337014. Since this reviewer has sat under Worthington in a seminar setting in an American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) national meeting, it is a personal pleasure to review this book of his which seeks…
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Ten Keys to Managing Anxiety
“Will I be laid off?” “Can my children avoid drugs, violence and promiscuity?” How will this surgery go? No matter how much we do to ensure positive outcomes, life brims with causes for worry. Anxiety arises whenever we fear possible loss or harm to our person, family, relationships or possessions. If we depend on our…
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Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe
Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 464 pages, ISBN 9781433506253. Mark Driscoll, founding pastor of Mars Hill Church, and Gerry Breshears, professor of theology at Western Seminary, describe the foundational doctrines and therein the membership requirements of the Mars Hill Church. They divide the book into…
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Jim Wallis: Rediscovering Values
Jim Wallis, Rediscovering Values On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street: A Moral Compass for the New Economy (New York, NY: Howard Books, 2010), ix + 255 pages, ISBN 9781439183120. Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s former chief of staff, was quoted as saying, “You don’t ever want to let a crisis go to waste;…
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Allegiance, Truth and Power: Three crucial dimensions for Christian living
How do experiential truth and the bondage-breaking power of the Spirit support every believer to have a right relationship with God? Given the fact that the Bible’s primary concern is our relationship to God, a relationship that starts with commitment or allegiance to Him, where are the contextualization studies dealing with relationship? What…
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Everyday Theology
Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Charles A. Anderson, Michael J. Sleasman, eds., Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 285 pages, ISBN 9780801031670. Everyday Theology deals with the daily encounters that influence people’s thoughts, those multitudes of encounters that no theologian can afford to ignore. The book considers popular…
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Marriage at the Crossroads
William D. & Aida Besancon Spencer and Steven R. & Celestia G. Tracy, Marriage at the Crossroads: Couples in Conversation about Discipleship, Gender Roles, Decision-Making and Intimacy (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009), 232 pages, ISBN 9780830828906. Marriage at the Crossroads is more like a forum or panel discussion reduced to print. The subtitle…
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James Wilhoit, Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered
James C. Wilhoit, Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 233 pages, ISBN 9780801027765. Dallas Willard, in The Spirit of the Disciplines, challenges the Church to return to the primary purpose of proclaiming the gospel and making disciples (18). James Wilhoit’s spiritual theology, as…
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Christians and a Land Called Holy
Charles P. Lutz and Robert O. Smith, Christians and a Land Called Holy: How We Can Foster Justice, Peace, and Hope (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2006), 146 pages, ISBN 9780800637842. Christians and a Land Called Holy is an appeal for action on the part of the wider Christian community in response to the vexing political situation…
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Jesus Manifesto
A special summary of the book Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet & Frank Viola.
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Jennifer Cisney: Healing From the Pain of Sexual Assault
Sexual assault is a widespread problem. Why is the church so reluctant to address it?
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Matthew Elliott: Faithful Feelings
Faithful Feelings focuses on reading the New Testament as to its emotional content on the part of the writers and on the part of the recipients.
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There Are Times When We Must Declare War
Jack Hayford preached a sermon at Church on the Way in 1982. He chose Ephesians 6 for his scripture from which he described the armor of God, and how we were to embrace and wear that armor to ward off attacks of the enemy of our souls. I was 51, single, lonely and living…
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Ben Quash and Michael Ward: Heresies and How to Avoid Them
Ben Quash and Michael Ward, eds., Heresies and How to Avoid Them: Why it matters what Christians believe (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2007), 148 pages, ISBN 9781598560138. Heresy and heresy hunting are the two issues addressed in Heresies and How to Avoid Them by Ben Quash and Michael Ward. With the contributions of several…
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The Primacy of Loving God: The Missing Ingredient in Discipleship
Most discipleship methods and books admonish believers to do things, but a growing love relationship with our God should be the primary goal of the Christian life. Discipleship methods vary from church to church, denomination to denomination. I have been in a few of each. New believers are typically instructed to read the Bible,…
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Evan Howard: The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality
Evan B. Howard, The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2008), 496 pages, ISBN 9781587430381. Evan Howard has constructed a college or seminary textbook on spirituality that is thorough in its approach, wide in its scope, and deep in its content. The format that he employed benefits the reader by opening…
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Mark Dever: The Gospel and Personal Evangelism
Mark E. Dever, The Gospel & Personal Evangelism (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2007) 124 pages, ISBN 9781581348460. Mark E. Dever believes that personal evangelism is the duty of every Christian. Although some may be more gifted for evangelism than others, he believes that all Christians have a responsibility to share the Gospel with unbelievers. This…
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Pursuing Presence, Not Signs: Balancing Pentecostal Experience with Biblical Teaching
The emergence of modern Pentecostalism has been characterized in part by its “restorationist impulse,”1 an impulse which has led many of its adherents to seek the restoration of the attributes of the early New Testament Church. Among these attributes are the gifts of the Holy Spirit described in Ephesians 4, Romans 12 and 1…
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To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview
Francis J. Beckwith, William Lane Craig, and J. P. Moreland, eds., To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 396 pages, ISBN 9780830827350. These essays are presented in honor of Norman L. Geisler, a popular Evangelical theological apologist who has significantly influenced the editors and contributors of…
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Dean Merrill: Damage Control
Dean Merrill, Damage Control: How to Stop Making Jesus Look Bad (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2006), 174 pages, ISBN 9780801065651. From the journalist and author of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Church (1997) comes yet another volume which speaks to the too often “narrow-minded, exclusionary, and pushy” (back cover) presentation of…
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Daniel Harrell: The 30-Day Leviticus Challenge
Daniel Harrell, “The 30-Day Leviticus Challenge: One church’s experiment in living the most arcane book of the Bible” Christianity Today (August 2008), pages 30-33. Many years ago I had the rich experience of visiting the historic Park Street Congregational Church in Boston, Massachusetts. I was amazed to sit in one of America’s early churches…
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Ajith Fernando: The Call to Joy and Pain
Ajith Fernando, The Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry (Wheaton: Crossway, 2007), 192 pages, ISBN 9781581348880. The Call to Joy and Pain by Ajith Fernando is a provocative analysis of the issue of pain and suffering. While he does not treat the cosmic problem of the reason for suffering in…
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Glorifying God While Keeping Secret Believers Safe
In August 2008, the Pneuma Foundation offered a link (on our legacy website page called “News & Current Links”) to a transcript of an Arabic TV [Al-Jazeerah] program: “Rare look at Islam: Muslims discuss the annual exodus of 6 million African Muslims to Christianity.” A few weeks later it was learned that this was deliberate…
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Thoughts to Ponder: Holiness
“The first word of the gospel is not ‘love.’ It is not even ‘grace.’ The first word of the gospel is ‘repent.’ From Matthew through Revelation, repentance is an urgent and indispensable theme that is kept at the very forefront of the gospel message.” —Richard Owen Roberts (quoted in Intercessors for America Newsletter, Apr 2003,…
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Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes To God
Kay Warren, Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes To God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), 255 pages, ISBN 0310258901. Kay Warren is the wife of pastor and author Rick Warren. This book may never sell as many copies as her husband’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, but it is most certainly a very significant…
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Rob Bell: Velvet Elvis
Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 194 pages, ISBN 9780310263456. Rob Bell’s book welcomes us to listen in to a dialogue describing what Christianity should look like in a postmodern context. Before addressing Rob Bell’s book specifically, it will be helpful to keep both postmodernism and modernism in…
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What Meaneth This? A Question for 21st Century Pentecostalism
Doug Beacham, General Superintendent of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, shares a timely challenge about giving an answer for the hope within us. The year 2008 is shaping up as an unusually violent period of natural disasters around the world. In the United States tornados are destroying homes, business, and in some cases, entire…
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Called to Suffering, Partakers of Joy: An Interview with Ajith Fernando
Does the church need a doctrine of suffering? The Pneuma Review had an opportunity to speak with Ajith Fernando, the national director of Youth For Christ in Sri Lanka, about his recent book The Call to Joy and Pain. This book has received the 2008 Book Award from Christianity Today in the church and…
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Interview with J. P. Moreland
The Pneuma Review editorial committee is excited about a new book by J. P. Moreland called Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit’s Power. After Dr. Moreland agreed to interview with us, we wrote to him: The mission of the Foundation is “to lead Pentecostal/charismatic believers to a greater understanding…
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God answers prayer at the altar
Pastor Mur shares a story of how God answered a prayer in ways he never expected. There are nearly 50 Foursquare churches in Hawaii, and 75,000 people get to go to these great churches each weekend. They are full gospel churches that grew out of the ministries of two men – Ralph Moore and Wayne…
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Thoughts to Ponder: May 2008
“To take preaching seriously, you need a high theology of the Word of God. When your preaching announces that Jesus is the crucified and risen Lord of the world, things happen. The principalities and powers are called into account. Human beings who once thought the message of someone rising from the dead is ridiculous, actually…
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Coming Out of the Hangar: Confessions of an Evangelical Deist
Never seen a miracle? Still believe in them? Waiting for the Breakthrough I have never seen a miracle. Not one I recognized. I have prayed for folks who were sick—sick with cancer, disease, or some disability. No one was supernaturally healed when I prayed. I have heard first-hand accounts of people suffering from…
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J. P. Moreland: Kingdom Triangle
J. P. Moreland, Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit’s Power (Zondervan, 2007), 237 pages, ISBN 9780310274322. I want to foment a revolution in Evangelical life… My purpose is to mobilize, inspire, envision, and instruct an army of men and women for a revolution on behalf of the cause of…
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Stephen Sizer: Christian Zionism
Stephen Sizer, Christian Zionism: Road-map to Armageddon? (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 298 pages, ISBN 9780830853687. An explosion of Evangelicalism (predominantly Pentecostalism) across Latin America during the 1980s quickly captured the attention of sociologists. Since then, this ripe field of research has been extended to include the social and political impact of explosive Pentecostal…
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Thoughts to Ponder: April 2008
“The way of Jesus Christ, and therefore the way of all Christian thinking, leads not from the world to God but from God to the world. This means that the essence of the Gospel does not lie in the solution of human problems, and that the solution of human problems cannot be the essential task…
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Sam Storms: Convergence
Sam Storms, Convergence: Spiritual Journeys Of A Charismatic Calvinist (Kansas City: Enjoying God Ministries, 2005), 244 pages, ISBN 9780977173907. I realize that one of the words in the title of this book may prove troublesome to some; I am referring to the word “Calvinist.” This word may be problematic in that many, if not…
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The Empowered Christian Life, by J. I. Packer
Christians need God’s power in order to live the way he intended. It is clear from the New Testament that the power of God is meant to accompany the gospel, and to find expression through its messengers and in the lives of those to whom the message comes. Each December, Time magazine produces a set…
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New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics
W. C. Campbell-Jack and Gavin J. McGrath with C. Stephen Evans, eds., New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 779 pages, ISBN 9780830824519. The first thing that should strike readers of this one-volume dictionary is the breadth of denominational and theological representation of the contributors. Editors C. Campbell-Jack and Gavin McGrath…
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Robert Webber: The Divine Embrace
Robert E. Webber, The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2006), 282 pages. Robert Webber has written an effective teaching manual that has covered the essential factors of spiritual formation. With an eye towards the historical foundation of Christ-centered spirituality, he established the building blocks for the contemporary reader….
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Gregory Boyd: The Myth of a Christian Nation
Gregory A. Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 207 pages. When you were a child did your mother ever make you take bad tasting medicine? And when you complained about the bad taste did she ever tell you “That’s…
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Revivals, news, and maintaining the right direction
In this Fall 2007 conversation with a reader, Executive Editor Raul Mock, asked some questions of a recent subscriber. What you have been studying lately? Lately, I have been studying church planting and church growth strategies. I been studying Pentecostal & Charismatic history in the last two-thousand years, Revivals through history especially modern ones…
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Confident Belief: What Does it Mean to Know Truth?
This article on doubt, certainty, and faith was recommended to Pneuma Review readers in the Fall 2007 issue. Introduction It’s hard to imagine how any Christian at any time in history could live life completely free from any doubts about the truth of the faith. Suffering, inconsistent behavior among Christians, the lure of…
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Thoughts to Ponder: Power, Obedience
We cannot participate in God’s work but then insist on doing it our own way. … We can’t live a life more like Jesus by embracing a way of life less like Jesus. — Eugene Peterson Learn the lesson that if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you need…
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Kevin Belmonte: William Wilberforce
Kevin Charles Belmonte, William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2007). Renewed and worthy attention has come to the eighteenth century history-making British politician William Wilberforce, through the popular film Amazing Grace. Kevin Belmonte was the historical consultant for the film and in this book has given his readers a fresh…
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They Love to Tell The Story
Special Report about reaching oral cultures with the story of Jesus “Oh stories!” exclaims Ramesh Sapkota, leader from Nepal. “I eat stories, sleep stories, drink stories, tell stories. Not only me—it is like a communicable disease. Everyone can tell stories. Blessed be God!” Sapkota has caught the virus, and his new-found passion for Bible stories,…
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Following Christ’s Example: A Biblical View of Discipleship
Following Christ’s Example: A Biblical View of Discipleship by Don Williams Jesus’ pattern for making disciples can show us how to live and minister today. Is the Church both to bear Jesus’ kingdom message and exercise his kingdom ministry by casting out demons and healing the sick? The answer of some is an…
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Crystal Downing: How Postmodernism Serves (My) Faith
Crystal L. Downing, How Postmodernism Serves (My) Faith: Questioning Truth in Language, Philosophy and Art (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 240 pages. Crystal Downing has navigated through the mire of misinformation and mangled terminology to present to her reader a clear understanding of what postmodernity is and is not. More importantly, she has…
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Sam Van Eman: On Earth as It Is In Advertising
Sam Van Eman, On Earth as It Is In Advertising: Moving From Commercial Hype to Gospel Hope (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2005), 191 pages. Introduction Advertising is one of the most powerful forces to be reckoned with in today’s society. Thanks to modern technology, it is even stronger and more intrusive as it frequently…
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Philip Jenkins: Companions of Life
Philip Jenkins, “Companions of Life: A Supple Faith” Christian Vision Project, Books & Culture 13:2 (March/April 2007), pages 9-18. Philip Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University, is one of the most invigorating voices currently investigating the present state and future fate of global Christianity. Having read his work (e.g.,…
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Don Finto: God’s Promise and the Future of Israel
Don Finto, God’s Promise and the Future of Israel: Compelling Questions People Ask About Israel and the Middle East (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2005), 231 pages. Pastor Jack Hayford, President of the Foursquare Gospel Church purchased a special run of this book and mailed a copy of this book to every minister in his denomination….
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Johanna van Wijk-Bos: Making Wise the Simple
Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, Making Wise the Simple: The Torah in Christian Faith and Practice (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2005), 353 pages. Why should Pentecostal preachers read a book written by a Presbyterian scholar whose passion is a study of the “Law” which many Christians often regard as the dullest part of…
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From the Editor’s Desk: Spring 2007
In a recent meeting I attended, expert communicator Dr. Quentin Schultz reminded us that all followers of Jesus are called to be servant communicators. All of us are part of the story that God is telling in the world, the story of His love, power, and forgiveness that is embodied in the life of…
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Ruth Tucker: God Talk
Ruth A. Tucker, God Talk: Cautions for those Who Hear God’s Voice (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 173 pages. Ruth Tucker confronts the popular notion that everyone can hear the voice of God. Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Evangelical bookshelves abound with books that instruct the reader on the normalcy for the average Christian to…
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Matthew Hyam: I Still Have More Questions than Answers
Matthew Hyam, I Still Have More Questions than Answers: An Accidental Journey through Discipleship, Life and Leadership. (Cape Town, South Africa: Vineyard International Publishing, 2004), 164 pages. Hyam writes reflectively as a pastor who is amazed at where God has brought him from and who is eager to go where God is leading. He…
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Anthony Esolen: Over Our Dead Bodies
Anthony Esolen, “Over Our Dead Bodies: Men Who Are Willing to Lay Down Their Lives Are Truly Indispensable,” Touchstone (June 2006, Vol 19, No. 5). Someplace, Pennsylvania Anthony Esolen’s article is rich and lyrical. It describes an all-American small town and the slate quarry that was once the economic heart of the community. Some…
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Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fethi Caner: Christian Jihad
Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fethi Caner, Christian Jihad (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004), 240 pages. The Caner brothers have written a provocative book that is perhaps even prophetic. I mean provocative in the sense that it is sure to provoke strong responses, whether in agreement or disagreement, and prophetic in the sense of the…
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Cornelius Plantinga: Engaging God’s World
Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002), 145 pages. This book was written to fill a need that concerned the leadership at Calvin College–wanting to keep Calvin a college that is Christian. Though presented to a wider Christian audience, Plantinga…
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Faith, Health and Prosperity
Andrew Perriman, Faith, Health and Prosperity (UK: Paternoster, 2003 / USA: Gabriel Resources, 2004), 214 pages. It is not difficult finding faults with the modern faith movement. For many people, in fact, it seems to have become something of an obsession. One does not need a theology degree to demonstrate how scriptures have been taken…
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From the Editor’s Desk: Doing Theology
We study God – theologize – to learn more about who He is and His way of walking out our lives. We study to become more like Messiah and do what He reveals to us. Therefore, theology that cannot be “done” has little value. We can frame this as a biblical imperative. As we love…
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Harry Jackson: The Warrior’s Heart
Harry R. Jackson, Jr., The Warrior’s Heart (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 2004), 224 pages. Despite its militaristic title, and soldiering themes, The Warrior’s Heart is a very spiritual work. Bishop Harry Jackson’s work is rather thoughtful, yet focused on the realities of living a purposeful Christian life in today’s world. This work is obviously…
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Visual Bible: The Gospel of John
The Gospel of John (Visual Bible, 2004). The Visual Bible, with productions of The Gospel of Matthew and Acts, continues their quality retelling of biblical stories in The Gospel of John. In this word-for-word drama using the Good News Bible translation, the viewer it taken on a tour of the Messiah’s life as told…
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Ajith Fernando: Sharing the Truth in Love
Ajith Fernando, Sharing the Truth in Love: How to relate to people of other faiths (Grand Rapids: Discovery House Publishers, 2001), 287 pages. Ajith Fernando lives and works in Sri Lanka as the head of Youth for Christ, an organization that will meet with the approval of just about everyone who reads this book…
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Difference Can Make Us Mo’ Betta
I am reading a very insightful and helpful book titled Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), by Lamin Sanneh, a Native of Gambia. Dr Sanneh is presently D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale Divinity School. I have chosen an excerpt that has been…
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Norma Cook Everist: The Difficult but Indispensable Church
Norma Cook Everist, ed. The Difficult but Indispensable Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), 262 pages. This book is a collaboration of members of the Wartburg Theological Seminary and includes 21 individual authors. Their goal is not to develop a cohesive, monolithic work, but to examine the (local) church from many different personal viewpoints and…
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George Barna and Mark Hatch: Boiling Point
George Barna and Mark Hatch, Boiling Point: It Only Takes One Degree. Monitoring Cultural Shifts in the 21st Century (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2001), 327 pages. George Barna is known for his apparent pessimism. The successful author of The Frog in the Kettle and The Second Coming of the Church, Barna sets out in…
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Joel Osteen: Your Best Life Now
A guest review from Pastor Murray Hohns. Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential (Warner Faith, 2004), 310 pages, ISBN 9780446532754. I briefly knew Joel Osteen’s father thirty years ago when the FGBMFI was at its peak. Those were exciting days that featured a mighty revival, one…
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Brian Stiller: Jesus and Caesar
Brian C. Stiller, Jesus and Caesar: Christians in the Public Square (Oakville, Ontario: Castle Quay Books, 2003), 187 pages, ISBN 9781897213193. All too often the church vacillates between secularization and sectarianism, between a diminished belief in God in the world and the withdrawal of the church from culture to protect the faithful. Brian Stiller…
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C. Peter Wagner: Humility
C. Peter Wagner, Humility (Regal Books, 2002), 130 pages. Peter Wagner has written a short and easy-to-read book on the subject of humility. The book has eight short chapters, each of which is followed by a series of questions and some blanks for the reader to express her thoughts to herself. This format would…
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Nigeria: the story media outlets are not reporting
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Normally I send out my own prayer requests once a year (and some of them DO still need prayer) but this one is kind of urgent. Most of you know I spent five months over three summers ministering in the Middle Belt of Nigeria. For years, Christians have been periodically slaughtered…
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The Resurrection of Jesus, A Jewish Perspective
The Resurrection of Jesus, A Jewish Perspective. Pinchas Lapide. Wipf and Stock Publishers (Eugene, OR: 2002). I first encountered Rabbi Lapide in the mid-1980s in a televised debate with noted Christian theologian Walter Kaiser, Jr. I was dumbfounded to hear this Orthodox rabbi state that Jesus “might be the Messiah” but that the Jewish community…
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Brian McLaren: A New Kind of Christian
Brian D. McLaren, A New Kind of Christian: A tale of two friends on a spiritual journey (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001), 173 pages, ISBN 9780787955991. Brian D. McLaren, The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of A New Kind of Christian (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003), 203 pages, ISBN 9780787963873. Brian McLaren’s book may…
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Are You Still Relevant?
I have heard it said that motivation can be generated in people by offering to meet an unmet need. This maxim is true. On a recent rafting trip with our church youth group, I fell out of our raft into a set of class 4 rapids. As the current spun me around and flipped…
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Michael Brown: Revolution in the Church
Michael L. Brown, Revolution in the Church: Challenging the religious system with a call for radical change (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 2002), 224 pages. Dr. Brown has authored a provocative book that puts forth his view of how the church needs to change to best fulfill the mandate set forth by Jesus. The book…
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Spiritual Harvest in Peru
Editor’s Note: The Pneuma Informer (newsletter for Pneuma Foundation, the parent organization for PneumaReview.com) is pleased to share a report from First Nations leader Richard Twiss about a recent ministry trip to Peru. It’s hard to believe the national Peruvian tour we have been planning and praying over for the past eighteen months is now…
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Evan Howard: Three Temptations of Spiritual Formation
“Three Temptations of Spiritual Formation” Evan Howard. Christianity Today (Dec. 9, 2002), pages 46-49. The spiritual formation movement is growing in significance and impact among Christians of all traditions. Numerous influences are shaping this movement, most of them positive, but there are real dangers lurking. Author Evan Howard writes that when we seek to…
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Fred Heeren: Home Alone in the Universe?
Fred Heeren, “Home Alone in the Universe?” First Things (Mar 2002, No 121), pages 38-46. I always enjoy reading contemporary articles that offer fresh evidence for faith in the God of the Bible, even if such “evidence” is somewhat indirect. I found this recently in a well-written summary and critique of another “faith,” the predominantly…
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Workmen or Captives? Avoiding the Snare of Subjectivity
Pastor Harvey takes a serious look at how we interpret God’s Word and cautions us to avoid the trap of subjective impressions. Meet Sarah, a widow and mother of two small children. Sarah’s life tends to ricochet between Frenzy and Loneliness, with frequent stops at a place called Exhaustion. Yet Sarah has a…
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Thoughts to Ponder: June 2002
Holiness “Progress in holiness can best be measured not by the length of time we spend in prayer, not by the number of times we go to church, not by the amount of money we contribute to God’s work, not by the range and depth of our knowledge of the Bible, but rather by the…
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Pentecost and the Inside-Out Church
A timely reminder of the empowerment of the Spirit in our daily lives. Not long ago a young woman I’ll call Karen asked if she could talk with me about her plans for the future. I had known Karen for several years but I hadn’t seen her in a long, long time. She said…
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John Arnott: Living in Revival
John Arnott, “Living in Revival,” Spread the Fire (Issue 5, 2001), pages 6-9. John Arnott, pastor of the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, describes in this article the characteristics of the “Toronto Revival” and what effect he says this move of the Holy Spirit should have on believers in the future. One of the common…
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Os Guinness: Time for Truth
Os Guinness, Time for Truth: Living Free in a World of Lies, Hype, and Spin (Baker Books, 2000), 125 pages, ISBN 9780801064036. Have you ever run into someone who was so gifted you felt intimidated? Os Guinness is such a person for me. When I read something that he has authored, I am…
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Thoughts to Ponder: March 2002
“Love is the first comforter, and where love and truth speak the love will be felt where the truth is never perceived. Love indeed is the highest of all truth; and the pressure of a hand, a kiss, the caress of a child, will do more to save sometimes, than the wisest argument, even rightly…
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Being Watchful: E-Mail Hoaxes and Scams
When the Holy Spirit takes a hardened heart and makes it soft and pliable, that heart becomes loving and merciful in ways not thought possible before. As Bible-believing and loving followers of Jesus we want to be susceptible to the needs and cry for help that is found in those bound-up hearts that have not…
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Thoughts to Ponder: January 2002
“We must work passionately and infatigably to bridge the gulf between our scientific progress and our moral progress. One of the great problems of mankind is that we suffer from a poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer…
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Worldviews in Conflict: Christian Cosmology and the Recent Doctrine of Spiritual Mapping (Part 2)
Editor note: Readers are encouraged to join this conversation about strategic-level spiritual warfare, spiritual mapping, and living the Spirit-filled life. Please add your comments under the article. Satan in the Bible When dealing with the related doctrines of Satan and demons, it has become almost customary to cite the warning from C.S….
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Pneuma Review Interviews Charisma editor Lee Grady
Interview with Charisma editor, J. Lee Grady: Special to the Pneuma Review Pneuma Review: Many in the Pentecostal/charismatic movement have said that the church is experiencing renewal. Do you agree, and if so, how has it touched you? Lee Grady: There is no question that the charismatic church has experienced a level of renewal since…
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Worldviews in Conflict: Christian Cosmology and the Recent Doctrine of Spiritual Mapping (Part 1)
Editor’s Introduction to Worldviews in Conflict Welcome to the Dialogue It is my privilege to introduce this paper by Larry Taylor and a dialogue about a practice many have embraced without first weighing the theological consequences. Our subject is the teaching of spiritual mapping, identifying and expelling territorial demonic forces. This teaching has…
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Muslims Tell “Why I Chose Jesus?”
“Muslims Tell ‘Why I Chose Jesus’” by J. Dudley Woodberry and Russell G. Shubin. Mission Frontiers (March 2001). Pp. 28-33. Woodberry and Shubin have compiled a number of testimonies of Muslims coming to faith in Jesus as Messiah, thereby reminding all of us of the life-changing power of the gospel. It is no secret that…
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A Crown, by Murray Hohns
I served as a mediator the other day. I have mediated many disputes over the past ten or fifteen years, but the last one was different than all the others. It involved a dispute between four Christian businessmen who had dissolved their partnership and in so doing had become deeply divided. To their credit, they…
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Consumer or Consumee
Are misplaced priorities making you a bad report to the world around you? Pastor Mur asks if you are living in the Promised land or if your life is being eaten up by promising to do too much. Numbers 13:32 contains a thought or sentence that most of us have never noticed. This section of…
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Why blow the shofar if nothing is changing?
A reader writes to Kevin Williams about his article, “The Call of the Shofar” that appeared in the Winter 2001 issue of the Pneuma Review and was later excerpted in the email newsletter. I rarely have time to peruse the material in your electronic newsletter but now the article by Kevin Williams caught my attention….
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Lauren Winner: Flowing into The Mainstream
Lauren Winner, “Flowing into The Mainstream” Publisher’s Weekly (Sept. 11, 2000), pages 39-40, 42. Hungry? More than ever, people are turning pages to learn passion for God. All this is possible now that Christian publishers and booksellers no longer think charismatics are “fringe.” In fact, books by Pentecostal/charismatic authors have become the bread and…
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Richard Twiss: One Church Many Tribes
Richard Twiss, One Church Many Tribes: Following Jesus the Way God Made You (Regal Books, 2000), 216 pages. What can the church of the 21st Century learn from the mistakes of the past? Richard Twiss could be a budding new personality in the Christian world. I recently noticed his name on a column in Charisma…
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Growing Deep, Growing Strong
Pastor Mur talks about the long term benefits of staying planted at a local church. I have six stories to tell to set the stage for where I want to go. They are short stories, and they are true stories. You will like the stories. I know the people in each of them. I…
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John Stackhouse: The Seven Deadly Signs
John G. Stackhouse, Jr., “The Seven Deadly Signs” Christianity Today (June 12, 2000), Pages 54-57. What is the mark of success? What is the sign of failure? In this article by John Stackhouse, we are given seven specific statements to measure if our business, ministry, or family is in danger of financial indiscretion. Stackhouse…
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A Clean Shirt Twice a Day
I served as an expert for a lawyer named Mort eighteen years ago. He was a very successful trial lawyer who had studied the courtroom, the trial process and the participants for years. When Mort was in trial he always was in control, or at least, he appeared to be in control. He was far…
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Gordon MacDonald: Ordering Your Private World
Gordon MacDonald, Ordering Your Private World, expanded edition (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997) 228 pages, ISBN 9780840733863. This book has become a classic among Christian leaders, and I can whole-heartedly agree. The general theme of this book is the necessity of putting the inner life in order and how to do so. Books on managing…
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Ken Walker: Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
Ken Walker, “Blessed Are Those Who Mourn,” Charisma (September 1999), pages 38-46, 91. What happens when young people pray that God would do whatever it takes to bring about revival? Is there a connection between prayer and the tragedies that have taken place in Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado and at Wedgwood Baptist in…
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The Memphis Manifesto: Five Years Later
On October 17-19, 1994 the leadership of the essentially all white Pentecostal Fellowship of the North America (PFNA) met in Memphis to confront its racial past and to meet with African American Pentecostals to establish an integrated fellowship. The result was a new organization known as the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA). As part…
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Lewis Smedes: Standing on the Promises
Lewis Smedes, Standing on the Promises (Thomas Nelson, 1998), 196 pages, ISBN 9780785270089. I have liked Lewis Smedes for the past 15 years or so. I only know him through his books but that’s enough for me. The first Smedes’ book I read way back those years ago was on forgiving and through that…
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Dallas Willard: The Divine Conspiracy
Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1998), 428 pages. I look forward each year to the April issue of Christianity Today that features the 25 best books published in the past year. Reading through that list becomes my passion until the next list appears….
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Jon Ruthven: What’s Right About the Faith Movement
Jon Ruthven, “What’s Right About the Faith Movement,” Ministries Today Volume 17, Number 1 (January-February 1999), pages 56-60. One of the most respected scholars among charismatic circles has recently written briefly about what is perhaps the most controversial segment of the independent charismatic movement, the Word of Faith movement. His article appears in what is…
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What the Body of Christ Needs Today
Ever been distracted? Have you ever been working on something that you needed to finish and . . . out of no where, something else comes up and your attention is drawn away from what was necessary to something else. Certainly, for this our daily dilemma. I have found myself thinking about this lately…
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John Bevere: Breaking Intimidation
John Bevere, Breaking Intimidation (Creation House, 1995), 205 pages, ISBN 9781591858812. Like their worldly counterparts, Christian bookstores today seem to be laden with self-help or, if you will, “spiritual” pop psychology books. Breaking Intimidation is no such book. Author John Bevere confronts head on a spiritual problem most of us encounter at one time or…
