Dean Merrill is a veteran writer. He has written books of his own, has collaborated with others to help them tell their stories, and contributed to various publications. In this his latest book he tells the stories of a number of people who have had powerful experiences with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Miracle Invasion is not a theology book per se (though there is certainly some biblical theology in it), it is really a book of testimonies. In these brief testimonies we have a collection of contemporary accounts which demonstrate that the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are mentioned in the New Testament are still very much with us today.

The book begins with the foreword which is called “Setting the Stage.” This part of the book is written by Jeff Farmer, the president of Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America. In it Farmer presents a brief explanation of each of the nine gifts of the Spirit that the apostle Paul lists in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. After this brief teaching section, the book moves on to tell the stories of people who have had powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit. There are thirty-nine chapters of testimonies in this volume.

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 prophesy. “The Lord is going to give you understanding and wisdom concerning the old ways of the Native people,” she announced. “You will not get this from a book or a tape, but you will get it by revelation, because the Lord is going to use you to help redeem the culture and bring deliverance.”

Miracle Invasion: Amazing true stories of the Holy Spirit’s gifts at work today (2018).

Pastor Killingsworth welcomed this message in light of his ongoing interest in reaching Native Americans. His church, Green Forest Christian Center¹ back in northwest Arkansas, had already sent several work and outreach teams to the small reservation town of Jeddito, Arizona, a Navajo enclave within the Hopi tribe’s larger territory. The town had a small log cabin church building where various groups had tried over the years to start a congregation without success.

The pastor flew home that Monday. When he showed up at his office the next day, a staff member reported, “There was a missionary on sabbatical who stopped by the Sunday night prayer meeting; after we had all prayed for a while, he said, ‘I have a word from the Lord for the father of this house.’ We told him, ‘Well, he’s not here; he’s in Arizona.’”

The visitor was not dissuaded. He asked if they might tape his message, to be played when the senior pastor returned. They accommodated him by bringing out a cassette recorder.

Now at his desk, Pastor Killingsworth sat down to listen. He punched the Play button and began to hear the following words: “The Lord says, ‘I will give you understanding and wisdom concerning the old ways of the Native people. You will not get this by book or by tape, but you will get it by revelation. And I will use you to redeem the culture and bring deliverance.’” It was virtually the identical message he had been given 1,200 miles west at essentially the same hour back on Sunday night.

In response, “Our church began to pray ever more seriously about this over the next period of time,” says the pastor. “We kept up our connections to Navajo people we’d already met and tried to extend our network. We came to believe God wanted us to try again to plant a church in Jeddito.”

And so it was that in August 2001, a team of some fifteen Green Forest people, including committed intercessors, came to the town once again to pray for a spiritual awakening. Several Navajo believers from Phoenix joined them, asking God to break through the dark superstitions of the culture with the light of the gospel. During one prayer meeting, a woman in her sixties, named Judy Magner, began to bear down in urgent entreaty, interceding in a flow of tongues.
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Can Evangelicals unite amid its constituencies’ diverse denominational affiliation? Nine North American religious scholars from the Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal and Presbyterian denominations explain how their own confessional membership supports their corollary belonging as Evangelicals. Of the contributions, seven of all nine professors were presidents and deans of schools in theological educational at the time the volume was published, and so this volume carries implicit weight coming from the personal reflection of senior administrators and leaders in their respective ecclesiastical theological education institutions.

Byron D. Klaus on the cover of his book, And That’s the Way I See It!: Reflective commentary on contemporary issues (2013).

Readers will learn about navigating denominational identity, evangelical affiliation, and how their dual traditioning relates with the historic Christian faith. The last essay in the volume reviews the historical developments, the contemporary challenges, and the global opportunities for the renewing denominations. Baptist David Dockery explains how those who seek to renew their denominations do so by their emphasis not so much on theological distinctives but by their anchor and practice on denominational polity, liturgical practice. Indirectly, Dockery’s essay also encourages the traditions to become more trans-generational and transcontinental while maintaining fidelity to the historic Christian faith in doctrine and in its gospel-centered mission (pp. 209-232).

Alexander Chow, “The Remarkable Story of China’s ‘Bible Women’: The history of Christianity in the world’s largest country can’t be told without acknowledging the female evangelists and pastors who built its church” Christianity Today (March 2018).

Christian History: Roger E. Olson, “An Almost Forgotten 20th Century Christian Theologian: Christoph Blumhardt” Patheos (March 25, 2018).

The full text now available online: Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter.

John P. Lathrop, “Prayers For a Christian Worker” Berita Mujizat (April 15, 2018).

Jessilyn Justice, “From Shawn Bolz to Bill Hamon and Beyond, Authors Honor Destiny Image’s Don Nori” CharismaNews (April 17, 2018).

“Destiny Image Publishers Founder Don Nori Sr., 66, died Tuesday [April 17, 2018], saddening many Spirit-filled authors who labored with him in the kingdom.”

Steve Rathje, “Metaphors can change our opinions in ways we don’t even realize” Quartz (March 31, 2018).

“Emerging psychological research tells us that something as simple as a single metaphor can have consequences for how we think. They can also be powerful tools in the hands of those looking to shape our opinions.” Thanks to Brigada for pointing out this article.

Chad Ashby, “God Hates Abuse: There’s more to the scriptural picture behind ‘I hate divorce’” ChristianityToday.com (May 11, 2018).

Thomas Kidd, “Boston’s ‘Quiet Revival’ Since the 1960s” TheGospelCoalition.org (May 22, 2018).

A steady flourishing of immigrant churches has been changing the spiritual landscape in one of America’s most historic cities. Thanks to Pastor John Lathrop for pointing out this article.

Craig S. Keener, “Should prophecies always be positive?—1 Corinthians 14:3,” Part 1 (May 21, 2018); Part 2 (May 28, 2018), CraigKeener.com.

Jonathan Graf, “3 Starting Points to Grow Prayer in Your Church” Church Prayer Leaders Network.

Jon Graf wrote, “The most effective way to get the most people in your church praying is by holding a prayer initiative.” Thanks to our friends at Brigada for suggesting this resource.

Craig S. Keener, “Families Separated at the Border—Genesis 12 and Romans 13” CraigKeener.com (June 19, 2018).

Image: Andrea Tummons

What did God have in mind for you when he gave the gift of tongues to the church? What can you do to prepare yourself to receive this blessing? An excerpt from Larry Christenson’s classic work, Answering Your Questions About Speaking in Tongues.

What happens afterward in the lives of the people who pray for and receive the gift of tongues with some help or encouragement? If the gift becomes knit into their prayer life in a wholesome way, and brings forth the fruit of edification, then we cannot score too seriously the particular way in which they prayed for and received the gift.

Most people, however, can come into this blessing in a simple and natural way, without too much attention to “mechanics.” A few simple steps are often a helpful preparation:

1. Search the Scriptures. Be convinced in your own mind and heart that this gift is from God, is intended for the Church today, and is available to you. Consider these clear truths of Scripture:
   1. God tells us to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 14:1).
   2. God delights to give good gifts to His children (Matt. 7:11).
   3. The baptism with the Holy Spirit, with the manifestation of speaking in tongues, was for all believers (Acts 2:4; 10:44–46; 19:6).
   4. This is a gift that every believer can use with benefit. If a member of the church is sick, it is not necessary that every member have the gift of healing; one member with the gift would be sufficient. Every member, however, needs to maintain a private devotional life, and therefore every member can benefit from this wonderful gift. The main blessing of the gift of tongues is in one’s private devotions. The Lord, speaking by the apostle Paul, says, “I want you all to speak in tongues” (1 Cor. 14:5, emphasis added).
2. Ask yourself, “Why do I want this blessing?” It is a part of what you may receive through receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and Christ tells us what that is for in Acts 1:8: “You shall be my witnesses.” If you yearn to be a better witness for Christ, for Him to have a deeper grip on your life, this blessing is for you.
3. Put it to the Lord in prayer. Tell Him the desire of your heart and ask Him to guide you. You may feel led to wait a time, or you may feel ready at once to seek the blessing.

Often it is a help to seek out someone who already has experienced the blessing, and have that one pray with you (see Acts 8:15). Many people, however, have received it all by themselves in their own prayer closets.

4. In order to speak in tongues, you must quit speaking in any other language that you know, for you cannot speak two languages at once. After you have come to the Lord with prayers and petitions in your native tongue, lapse into silence and resolve to speak not a syllable of any language you have learned. Focus your thoughts on Christ. Then simply lift up your voice and speak out confidently, in the faith that the Lord will take the sound that you give Him and shape it into a language. Take no particular thought to what you are saying, for your mind is “unfruitful” during the exercise of this gift. As far as you are concerned, it will be just a series of sounds. The first syllables and words may sound strange to your ear. They may be halting and inarticulate. You may have the thought that you are just making it up. But as you continue to speak in faith, “boldly, confidently, and with enthusiasm” (literal rendering of Acts 2:4), and as the lips and tongue begin to move more freely, the Spirit will shape for you a language of prayer and praise that will be beautiful to the ears of the Lord!

The initial hurdle to speaking in tongues, it seems, is simply the realization that you must “speak forth.” (Many people wait and wait for something to “happen,” not realizing that the Holy Spirit is waiting for them to speak out in faith!) Once this initial hurdle is cleared, however, you will find your spirit wonderfully released to worship the Lord as your tongue speaks this new language of worship.

This excerpt is from Larry Christenson, Answering Your Questions About Speaking in Tongues (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, ©1968, 2005), pages 129-132. Used by permission.

On this website you will find:

• All of the new books that we have published over the last five years—all available at good prices.
• Over 200 articles on Pentecostal Theology, Missions and History, dating back to the beginning of the Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies in 1998. All articles are downloadable and absolutely free!
• Dozens of book reviews and editorials

Please drop us a line and let us know what you think of the site. We want to hear from you!

Dave Johnson, DMiss

Press Director & Journal editor

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 powerful testimony of a former Muslim Imam who became a Christian. When he was a Muslim someone asked him who Jesus was. This question prompted him to read through the Quran in order to see what it had to said about Jesus. What he discovered led him to believe in Jesus Christ as his Savior. He says that the Quran converted him to Christianity. This man subsequently suffered for his new found faith and was about to be killed but God spared his life. Watch the video to hear his story.

Image: Cristian Newman

Jeff Oliver has taken on the ambitious task of chronicling the charismatic work of the Holy Spirit throughout church history. He has done this by writing a three volume book, Pentecost to the Present. He begins in volume one by writing about the activities of the Holy Spirit in the days of the apostolic church of the first century AD. By volume three his focus is the work of the Holy Spirit in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Because I am interested in the more recent history of the work of the Holy Spirit I began by reading volume three.

Volume three is divided into six sections: “Pentecost … Again (c. 1901-1910),” “The Pentecostal Movement (c. 1906-1945),” “The Healing Revival (c. 1946-1960),” “The Charismatic Renewal (c. 1951-1980),” “The Charismatic Explosion (c. 1971-2000),” and “Into the Twenty-First Century (2001 and Beyond).”

The majority of the first section “Pentecost … Again (c. 1901-1910)” focuses primarily on two people, Charles Parham and William Seymour, and one mission, the Azusa Street Mission. The text contains information about the events leading up to beginning of the Azusa Street Mission and some of the things that took place there. Two of the things mentioned about the mission were the flames of fire that appeared over the building and the healings that took place inside.

The second section “The Pentecostal Movement (c. 1906-1945)” deals with the spread of Pentecostalism after the Spirit fell at the Azusa Street Mission. Some of the countries that it spread to were Argentina, South Africa, and Russia. Prominent Pentecostal figures from this time period are also discussed: Smith Wigglesworth, F. F. Bosworth, and Aimee Semple McPherson.

The third section “The Healing Revival (c. 1945-1960)” focuses on the ministries of some of the key individuals who were used by God to bringing healing to many. William Branham, Oral Roberts Jack Coe, and A. A. Allen are mentioned in this section.

Section four “The Charismatic Renewal (c. 1951-1980)” deals with outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant churches. Some of the people God touched and used in a mighty way to spread the work of the Spirit in these churches are mentioned in this section: David Du Plessis, Harald Bredesen, Dennis Bennett, Oral Roberts, and Katherine Kuhlman. The parachurch ministry Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, which was founded by Demos Shakarian, is also mentioned for its impact in spreading the Pentecostal message.

Section five “The Charismatic Explosion (c. 1971-2000)” includes information about a number of significant individuals and ministries that were active during this time period. In this section the author writes about the controversial Shepherding Movement, The Trinity Broadcasting Network, CBN, The 700 Club, the PTL Club, Pat Roberston, Jimmy Swaggart, the Word of Faith Movement, and the Prosperity Teaching among others.

Billy Graham in 1966

Billy Graham, Evangelicalism’s chief architect, declared, “As we approach the end of the age … I believe we will see a dramatic recurrence of signs and wonders which will demonstrate the power of God to a skeptical world.”[3] Nevertheless, “there is also a need for a word of caution: There are many frauds and charlatans … one must have spiritual discernment.”[4]

I find Graham and like-minded Evangelicals paradoxical.[5] This conundrum shows up in Christianity Today, the movement’s flagship periodical. While conciliatory,[6] this magazine reiterates that spiritual gifts are outside the norm.

An example is demonstrated in Andrew Wilson’s recent article, “Whatever Happened to Gifts of Language, Prophecy, and Healing? Let’s Ask The Early Church Fathers,” Christianity Today” (April 20, 2018).

Wilson contends that in Evangelicalism, historicity should be valued alongside orthodoxy. He asserts that a truncated theology is often a result of beginning “history in the wrong place.” When Evangelicals take “a longer view… tracing our roots back to the early church fathers,” it leads us to “surprises … Angels and demons … or, more surprisingly, miraculous gifts.”

Drawing from a sampling of Church Fathers,[7] Wilson contends that healing, prophecy, and exorcism were evident five centuries across a vast geographical span. He selectively argues for the charismata.

Yet, in Wilson’s essay, telltale Evangelical caveats emerge. Reluctant to advance beyond the fifth century,[8] he suggests that there is “general agreement” that “languages, prophecy, and healing disappeared early in the church’s history.”[9] Sadly, Wilson insinuates that miraculous gifts can be an “excuse for speculation, self-indulgence, sectarianism, and silliness.”

Evangelicals love to flirt with continuationism but often disavow it as soon as their Reformed ethos gets upended. Tragically, most will side with Wilson, proposing that the charismata are “relatively unusual” (and the unusual cannot be normative).

In every era since Pentecost, God has been actively moving with His marvelous gifts. Rather than being mired in the doubts of modernity, Bible-believing Christians should steadfastly embrace the age of the Spirit. It is time to own the miraculous without caveats.

PR

Notes

^[1]. Douglas Jacobsen, Thinking in the Spirit: Theologies of the Early Pentecostal Movement (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003), 356.

^[2]. Leonard Sweet, Health and Medicine in the Evangelical Tradition: “Not by Might nor Power” (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International, 1994), 151, 158.

Pneuma Review speaks with Dr. Michael L. Brown about his story, Playing With Holy Fire, and encouraging the biblical use of spiritual gifts.

PneumaReview.com: Briefly describe your own personal history in the Pentecostal/Charismatic church.

Michael Brown: The Lord saved me in an Italian Pentecostal church in Queens, New York in 1971. That was my first introduction to the gospel, and those dear believers helped pray me into the kingdom. I was an ungodly rebel, yet the Lord burdened them to pray for me, and their prayers were wonderfully answered. I surrendered to Him on December 17, 1971 and was filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues on January 24, 1972.

Michael Brown in an earlier time.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, I became somewhat skeptical of my Pentecostal roots, joining another church during that time while I went to grad school. But the evidence of Scripture was too strong in favor of the continuation of the gifts, and my life was dramatically impacted again in late 1982 when the Spirit got hold me and brought a fresh outpouring to our congregation. From that time on, I have primarily been in Pentecostal-Charismatic circles, although I work with believers from all segments of the Body.

A highlight of my life was serving as a leader in the Brownsville Revival from 1996-2000. That was a classical, repentance-based revival with full-blown Pentecostal elements.

PneumaReview.com: You have addressed errors in the Pentecostal/Charismatic church before. What prompted you to write a whole book devoted to the subject at this time?

Michael L. Brown, Playing With Holy Fire: A Wake-Up Call To the Pentecostal-Charismatic Church (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2018), 224 pages, ISBN 9781629994987.
Read the review by Pastor John Lathrop.

Michael Brown: The last time I wrote an entire book focused on some of our shortcomings and abuses was 1991 (Whatever Happened to the Power of God: Is the Charismatic Church Slain in the Spirit or Down for the Count?). Since then, although I have often addressed issues in our midst, I have not devoted an entire book to the subject.

A few years back, Pastor John MacArthur launched a frontal assault on the Charismatic church with his Strange Fire book and conference (by the same name), yet I felt his criticisms were over the top, throwing out many healthy babies with some unhealthy bathwater, and in response, I wrote Authentic Fire. I also know that his criticisms would largely go unheard by those he most wanted to address. In fact, I believe his conference helped galvanize our movement in certain ways. [Editor’s note: PneumaReview.com covered the Strange Fire book release and conference including reviews by Craig S. Keener, Jon Ruthven, Charles Carrin, Eddie Hyatt, Monte Lee Rice, and Loren Sandford. PneumaReview.com also published reviews of Authentic Fire by William De Arteaga, John King, Daniel Snape, Loren Sandford, and former MacArthur disciple Rob Wilkerson.]