Both of the authors of this book are Pentecostals with extensive experience in international ministry. As the subtitle clearly indicates, this is a book about missions. Specifically, it is about “the organizing of a mission agency” (page xv). In view of this some readers might think that this book is for a specialized audience. In one sense they are right; I understand how someone might come to that conclusion. But, in view of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) I think missions ought to be of major interest to all believers. It is true that some individuals will be more involved in the day to day “nuts and bolts” operation of the missions structures of churches and denominations; but all Christians should be missions-minded. One point the authors make in the introduction of the book is that all of the churches that the apostle Paul and his coworkers planted did become missions-minded (page 1). The Great Commission is still not complete. If it is going to be completed shouldn’t every church be like the missions-minded churches that Paul and his companions planted?

The book consists of a few pages of endorsements, a foreword, a preface, an introduction, and eight chapters. In the course of the chapters the authors cover a variety of subjects. The following are some of the chapter titles: What is Needed to Start a Missions Program,” “Missions Structure,” and “Key People on the Normal Missions Team.” The authors also address matters related to decision making and finances. The book also helps address issues related to the roles of the local church, the larger missions organization (if there is one), the missionaries, and the church or missions leaders in the receiving country.

As these four structures are adopted and put in place it will not result in a “one size fits all” program for every organization. The authors point out that different groups use different models. In chapter four they mention three, these are: “The Networking Model,” “The Cooperation Model,” and “The Hierarchical Model” (pages 75-78). As they discuss these models they point out both the strengths and weaknesses of each. For example, one of the strengths of the hierarchical model is that responsibilities and decision-making are clearly understood in the organization, one of its weaknesses is that power can be misused(page 78). The authors also tell the reader which parts of the world tend to use which models. They say “Many Asian, African, and Latin America cultures reflect the hierarchal model” (page 78). I find this interesting because these are the areas of the world that have become “the centre of gravity of Christendom” (page 6). Christianity is experiencing dramatic growth on these continents.

The book also outlines who should be on the missions leadership team and what qualities and experience they should have. The members of the team should include: “The Missions Director,” “Missions Board and Committees,” and the “Director of Missions Training” (pages 81-87). The book also looks at the issue of financing various aspects of the missions task (pages 95-98)

Reviewed by John Lathrop

Publisher’s page: https://wipfandstock.com/9781725269927/to-the-ends-of-the-earth/

Dean Merrill is a prolific writer. He has written a number of books including, Miracle Invasion which was published in 2018. He has also collaborated with others like Jim Cymbala and Gracia Burnham to help them tell their stories. In addition, he has used his writing and editing skills for a number of well-known Christian magazines including the Pentecostal Evangel, the Christian Herald and Leadership. His extensive writing experience indicates that he is highly respected in his field.

In this book he shares the stories of 50 Pentecostal/charismatic leaders. He devotes one chapter to each individual (or couple). The chapters are short and provide some of the most important details of the leader’s life and ministry. But the book does not just focus on the positive traits of the leaders, at certain points the author also mentions some of their shortcomings. If you are a Pentecostal or charismatic you will probably be familiar with at least some of the people who are included in the book. The more well-known leaders include people like Smith Wigglesworth, William J. Seymour, Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Kuhlman, and Jack Hayford. Others are not as widely known. Two of the lesser-known leaders are Francisco Olazábal and J. E. Stiles. Depending on the church circles you traveled in and the reading you have done, different individuals might wind up on your well-known and less-known lists. As Craig Keener points out in the Foreword, “… Merrill has done a superb job in providing an array that reflects the great diversity of Pentecostals and charismatics: both genders, multiple ethnicities, and representatives from a wide range of denominations.” This is true.

As I looked through the table of contents, I counted five leaders that I have actually heard speak in person: Everett “Terry” Fullam, David Wilkerson, Jack Hayford, Reinhard Bonnke, and Jim Cymbala. One cannot help but be struck by how the Lord used each of the people included in this book. All of them made, or are making, a significant impact on large numbers of people. Some have led unbelievers to Christ, others have helped believers enter into a fuller experience of the Holy Spirit, and still others were used by the Lord to bringing physical healing to those in need. One note here regarding physical healing, there is a very unusual miracle that is described in the chapter about Smith Wigglesworth. All of the leaders whose stories are told in this book, in one way or another, helped people to have an experience with the Lord. Different readers will no doubt be drawn to different chapters. One of the things I noticed while reading, though it was not a major focus of the book, was the aversion of some of the leaders to racism, among them were John G. Lake, F. F. Bosworth, William Branham, and Bernard E. Underwood and Ithiel Clemmons.

Reviewed by John Lathrop

More from Dean Merrill

They Moved the Kingdom of God Forward: An interview with Dean Merrill about his book, 50 Pentecostal and Charismatic Leaders Every Christian Should Know (Chosen, 2021).

Dean Merrill, “A Higher Code” is a full chapter from the book Miracle Invasion.

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is a veteran in the Pentecostal Movement. He has written previously about the subject of spiritual gifts in his book 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity. In Prophets and Prophecy he says that throughout its history the church has tended to go to extremes regarding prophetic ministry (page 5). In view of this he tells us why he wrote this book, “My purpose in writing this book is to strike a balance between openness and naiveté concerning prophecy and the miraculous gifts of the Spirit” (page 5). One thing that is clear in this book is that the author believes that the gifts of the Spirit are for today. He has personally had experience with them, he says that he has both given and received prophetic words (page 6). So he is not in favor of setting aside the gifts of the Spirit because of mistakes that have been made by some people who have practice them. Instead, he offers guidelines that will help minimize such mistakes.

The main body of the book is made up of 13 chapters. In the course of these chapters, Dr. Hyatt covers a number of key topics related to the subject of prophecy. In chapter one he looks at some of what the Bible says about the gifts of the Spirit, which includes the gift of prophecy. Here he includes information from the Greek text of 1 Corinthians 12 and tells us what these Greek words tell us about the gifts of the Spirit. In chapter 2 he contrasts Christian prophecy with pagan prophecy. Chapter 4 is given to the subject of “Learning To Think Critically Without Quenching the Spirit.” Chapter 7 deals with warning signs which indicate that a prophetic ministry has gone off track. These signs are: “When Prophecy is Used to Enhance the Status of a Movement and Its Leaders,” When Prophecy Becomes the Primary Means for Determining the Will of God,” “When Prophecy is Preoccupied With Images, Numbers, and Symbols,” “When Those Prophesying Are Not Open to Testing or Correction,” and “When Prophecy Becomes a Replacement for the Scriptures and Common Sense.” Chapter 11 is given to the subject of “The Prophethood of All Believers.” In chapter 12 he sets forth criteria for judging prophetic words. These criteria are: “The Heart Test,” “The Vision Test,” “The Word Test,” “The Freedom Test,” and “The Character Test.”

If you are interested in the gifts of the Holy Spirit (especially the gift of prophecy), spiritual discernment, or how to balance Word and Spirit in your own experience or that of your church this book will prove helpful. May the Lord help His church, His whole church, to appreciate and operate in the gifts of the Spirit within the parameters He has given to us in the Scriptures. This will help us carry on more effective ministry.

Reviewed by John Lathrop

The Making of the Christian Global Mission, Part 5: Good News for Body and Soul

Manokwari, the capital of West Papua, Indonesia (formerly known as Irian Jaya). Image: David Worabay / Wikimedia Commons

Another situation began arising toward the end of the eighteenth century and within the first eight to nine years of the nineteenth was the extension of English missionaries into China, partly due to Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe. Drake’s presence in the western Pacific was critical for England to begin with as the merchant ships of the Netherlands were also present especially in the vicinity of the Spice Islands now known as Indonesia while eastward toward the central Pacific the Spanish Galleons docking and disembarking from Manila in the Philippines. Robert Morrison arrived in China in 1807 from England, three years before Adoniram Judson and his wife arrived in Burma as missionaries representing the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The English missionaries concentrated on inland China and besides preaching the gospel established schools and medical facilities. This concentration culminated in the formation of what became known as the China Inland Mission founded by Hudson Taylor and his wife in 1865. A faith mission, the China Inland Mission operated on the basis that one went without financial support and with trust in God for provision. There were also no stipulation as to the gender of the missionary. Of the fifteen missionaries on Taylor’s initial journey into inland China, seven were seven single women. This pattern would remain not only for the China Inland Mission, now known as Operation Mobilization, but was adopted by other mission societies clear into the twentieth century and into the twenty-first.

By the turn of the 19^th century into the 20^th there were forty women’s mission organizations, and more women were serving in American missions than men. Both Ruth A. Tucker’s From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya (Zondervan, 1983, p. 288) and Andrew Walls’ The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History (Maryknoll, NY; Orbis Books, 2002, p. 231) attest to this figure.

The end result of England’s entry into organized mission societies having a thought-out mission agenda involving evangelism, education, medicine, and outreach to those in direst need had a direct effect upon the whole Christian spectrum with Presbyterians, Methodists, Anglicans, Catholics, Baptists, and others imitating the China Inland Mission. It began the process that was to eventuate in breaking down the walls among Christians on the mission field and at home.

It also redesigned the character of the Christian world as it fostered and gave birth to the indigenization of the Christian message in which the various congregations birthed in each country took initiatives in leadership, mission outreach, and self-funding. It was in the late nineteenth century, about 1895, when Roland Allen, sent out from England by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, advised missionaries to found their work on the idea of the Three Selfs–self-governing, self-funding, and self-propagating.”

One can trace the origin of the “three-self” movement and the spread of each body of Christians indigenous to the country in which the gospel took hold back to the years that the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions sent out Adoniram Judson and his wife and family in the early 1800s and the China Inland Mission and the London Missionary Society later. Between 1807 and ending in 1953 with the departure of Arthur Matthews and Dr. Rupert Clark of the China Inland Mission, thousands of foreign Protestant missionaries and their families lived and worked in China alone not to mention southeast Asia and the sub-continent of India. At the time of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 which ended the French and Indian War which ensured British dominance in Canada and India and the independence of what came to be known as the United States of America, the way was made for the furtherance of the gospel within the British-held lands from Canada, Barbados in the Caribbean, India, Australia, New Zealand, and eastern Africa.

The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden extended itself from Sweden into its settlement which later became known as Delaware and then spread its congregations across the American Midwest and the northern plains states. The Netherlands swapped possessions with England. England gained New York and the Netherlands gained the Spice Islands later re-named Indonesia. During the Dutch period, the Marble Collegiate Church of New York City was built as a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church. The Christian Reformed Church also from the Netherlands spread across the American northern states, established congregations, schools and Christian publishing houses all across the northern Midwest. Into China went the American Presbyterian Mission, the American Southern Baptist Mission, the English Presbyterian Mission, the Protestant Episcopal Mission, and the English Baptist Missionary Society, to name a few.

Mustang, Nepal. The name “Mustang” comes from the Tibetan language and means, “Plain of Aspiration.”
Image: Anup Raj Rai / Wikimedia Commons

There were problems to contend with when the missionaries entered areas of central Asia and even China. One of the problems was the presence of Islam in western, central, and southern Asia. Another was the prominence of Hinduism and a multiplicity of differing people groups in India and in the Himalayan mountain chain where lived the inhabitants of Bhutan, Tibet, and Mustang, Nepal, to name a few. Still another was that of unfamiliarity with the remnants of Eastern Christians long isolated from those of the Mediterranean world and of Europe by the westward advance of Arabic, Mongols, and Turkic peoples into the Mediterranean and Eastern European lands. The Church of the East, erroneously called Nestorians by the Greek Orthodox Church, had adherents in northwestern India and held to the Syriac translation of the Bible while the Europeans had the King James Version, the Geneva Bible, or the translation into German by Luther. It took a number of years for acceptance of each other as fellow Christians in a common gospel mission. In time that acceptance came.

At the same time the sense of a fuller Christian mission emerged beyond that of evangelism as the missionaries from England, America, and Europe included nurses, schools, hospitals. In fact, the evangelical churches as the Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, and the Cumberland Presbyterians had more women missionaries than men. This became increasingly so with the passage of the nineteenth century that by the early 20^th century “Among the personnel of conservative faith missions, women outnumbered men nearly two to one,” wrote Kathryn T. Long in her recent book God in the Rain Forest (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019, p.28). Leading in this trend were the “Brethren” such as the Plymouth Brethren, the Church of the Brethren to name and the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

The American origin arose with a Presbyterian Minister, Rev. John J. Shepherd and a missionary Philo P. Stewart in the summer of 1832. These two men became friends in Elyria, Ohio. The two were concerned with what they discerned to be the lack of strong Christian principles among the settlers of the American west. The two decided to establish a college where they would “train teachers and Christian leaders for the boundless most desolate fields in the West.” They found support from Albert Finney, a circuit-riding Presbyterian evangelist. They adopted the some of the ideas of an Alsatian pastor John Frederick Oberlin, who introduced educational programs throughout the Alsace and Lorraine areas of France. Oberlin’s programs not only included biblical and Christian studies but courses in the manual trades as blacksmithing, masonry, and road construction. In the spring of 1833, with faith in their project and their labor, combined with funding from several wealthy and sources, and promotion from Rev. Finney, Shepherd and Stewart established the town of Oberlin, Ohio and Oberlin College. It was a high-water moment. In December 1832, 29 men and 15 women began classes of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute. It was the first school in America to welcome into its program African Americans. It was critical for those who would be ministers of the Gospel in the developing American West and important for co-educational higher education in America.

Oberlin was not the only important school of higher education established in the opening of the American mid-west. Seven years after the founding of Oberlin College, Bethany College was founded in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, one mile from Pennsylvania and five miles from Ohio in the neck of what is now known as West Virginia, in 1840, by anti-burgher seceder Presbyterian preacher Alexander Campbell, one of the participants in the Second Great Awakening of the 1820s and who in 1832 in Lexington, Kentucky, along with Barton Warren Stone, a New Light Presbyterian, formed the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ). Each believed in opening the celebration of the Lord’s Last Supper to the new frontiersmen and settlers of the Midwestern lands irrespective of their past church affiliations be they Methodist, Baptist, Quaker, Mennonite, Catholic, or Moravian. In fact, Campbell had high regard for Comenius, the Czech Brethren minister, who had one time was invited by the founders of Harvard University to be its first President [Editor’s note: see Further Reading at the end of this article]. Comenius declined the offer but did encourage the founding of America’s first primary schools for children. Campbell adopted a statement made by Comenius as the hallmark of the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ): “In faith, Unity; in opinion, Liberty; and in all things, Brotherly Love.”

This regard for open communion among the churches foreshadowed what we now call the Christian ecumenical movement of the late 1890s and the early 1900s. Another step that Campbell took thirteen years later in 1845 was the creation of the United Christian Missionary Society through which congregations could co-operatively support missionaries wherever they went whether Africa, India, South America, Asia, or elsewhere.

At the same time by the 1830s the Midwestern lands were progressively being welcomed into the union as new states, beginning with Ohio Kentucky, and later Indiana. The expansion westward required something more than pastors. The need for traveling evangelists, preachers, and teachers became increasingly important and men like Francis Asbury, Thomas Coke, and Peter Cartwright for the Methodists went as circuit preachers and evangelists. Asbury and Coke became the makers of the Methodist Church in America more so than Wesley who retained his identity as an Anglican evangelist. Walter Scott was the outstanding evangelist for the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ). Other Christian bodies followed suit in sending out circuit riding pastors who served more than one congregation. The evangelists sought any potential setting outdoors or meeting house. Cartwright once held an evangelistic meeting in a frontier dance-hall.

At the time of the settling of the American Midwest, Great Britain was forging ahead in foreign missions. England, having lost out in gaining ground in what became known as the United States of America concentrated on developing what became known as Canada and its growing influence in East Africa, India, and the Pacific.

The evangelical presence in England occasioned by the preaching of John Wesley occasioned the establishment of a society made up of Church of England laymen and their wives and single women based in Clapham, London, at the beginning of the 1800’s. Historian Stephen Michael Tomkins described the society as “a network of friends and families in England, with William Wilberforce as its centre of gravity, who were powerfully bound together by their shared moral and spiritual values. They were noted for their social activism, by their love for each other, and for taking the gospel throughout the world.” The Clapham Society focused on the abolition of slavery. It initially gathered at the church of John Venn, rector of the evangelical Anglican Church in the Clapham neighbor- hood in south London. Its membership not only included Wilbur Wilberforce, but also Henry Thornton, and John Newton, rector of an evangelical Anglican church in Olney, who gained fame as lyricist of the hymn “Amazing Grace” in memory of his conversion to Christ Jesus and put to music later in 1831 to a traditional American melody by Edwin O. Excell to appear in Carrell and Clayton’s Virginia Harmony.

As intimated in the foregoing, the Clapham Sect had an influence far beyond England and had set a precedent for American, as well as British, evangelical Christianity, as well as India and the rest of the English-speaking world. The Clapham Group also had clout politically, economically, and socially as Wilberforce and Newton and the others brought an end to African slavery throughout the British sphere of influence by 1831, and in a round-about way had an impact on the American abolition movement. The Clapham sect, as it came to be called, also had direct impact upon “foreign” missions as the participants practically underwrote the entire missionary enterprise outside of the British isles. Among the evangelicals were Henry Thornton, the English financier and Zachary Macauley, sometime Governor of Sierra Leone, and Lord Teigmouth formerly Governor-General of India. The term “Clapham Sect” was a later description given to the group by James Stephen in an article of 1844 which uplifted the work of the membership. They were among the founders of the Church Mission Society, the Anti-Slavery Society, the Free Church of England and other Christian-related outreaches.

England also set a precedent worth noting as affecting the later course of action within its overseas “possessions.” England set up a political infrastructure which allowed a stable representative government should they seek independence from the “Mother Country.” This transition differed radically from that of Spanish, Belgic, and French policies, and most likely furthered by the Clapham Sect whose membership was characterized by individuals prominent in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords in the British Parliament.

The consequence of such was a great interest in sending missionaries into India not only as evangelists but also as educators. India, however, was not solely the mission field for the British. About the same time it attracted missionaries from the United States of America at an early date and simultaneous with the westward movement. The apparent earliest American missionary to India was Dr. John Scudder, Sr., and his wife, Elizabeth. Their story is unique in the history of missionary outreach as their children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren carried out their parents and grandparents for four or more generations.

Born in Freehold Township, New Jersey, September 3, 1793, Rev. Dr. John Scudder, Sr., was the first medical missionary in Ceylon and India. He graduated from Princeton University, a school of the Reformed Church in America in 1811, and went on to study at the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons and graduated from there in 1813. After experiencing success as a Physician in New York City, he felt God’s call to be a missionary. He and Elizabeth founded the first American medical facility in Asia in Ceylon and later became the first American medical missionary in India. The succeeding four generations of children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren, carried on that mission. Dr. Ida Sophia Scudder, born on December 9, 1870, of the third generation, a great-granddaughter, carried on her great grandfather’s legacy. In 1918, she started one of Asia’s finest teaching hospitals, the Christian Medical College & Hospital in Vellore, India. She served her whole life in India dedicating herself to the health of Indian women in the fight against cholera, leprosy, and the bubonic plague. She was back in the United States of America for a brief period to study at Dwight L. Moody’s Northfield Seminary in Massachusetts but returned to Madras in India to help her father, Rev. Dr. John Scudder, Jr., when her mother was ill at the mission bungalow at Tindivanam, Madras Province in India. Ida Scudder lived to be nearly 90 in 1970. She died at the age of 89 in her home in India. One of her noted students who studied under her and worked with her was the noted Dr. Paul Brand, who did most of his work as a leprosy researcher.

Between the 1840s and 1900 there were dramatic changes in missionary outreach through Europe, America, and elsewhere. Among the changes were growing co-operation among the churches of differing Reformation traditions. Another was the creation of Wheaton College in Illinois in 1860 which became a school for missionaries and evangelists and which at its time of formation, a haven for African-Americans, as a way station of the Underground Railroad. In 1877, the inner-city mission field opened up in Chicago, Illinois, when Colonel George and Sarah Dunn Clarke opened a ministry in a tiny storefront at 386 South Clark Street. The Pacific Garden Mission still operates after 140 years as the oldest inner-urban rescue mission in the United States of America, and today has a nation-wide broadcast.

A. B. Simpson (1843-1919)

In 1870 A.B. Simpson left a successful pastorate in New York City when he had the call to reach the lost and forgotten within the urban areas of both the United States of America and of the global world. He established the New York Gospel Tabernacle and set up a Missionary Training Institute to provide training for men and women to take the gospel to the urban centers of the world. In 1884, he sent out the first team of missionaries to Lusaka in the Congo. Not long after another team was sent to Tokyo in Japan. The Christian and Missionary Alliance was formed as a missionary society. The earliest congregations were known as branches which were made up of members from the major denominations. In 1919, Simpson died and Dr. Paul Rader was chosen to lead the Christian and Missionary Alliance. One of the most well-known C & MA spokesmen was A.W. Tozer.

The Crucified Life: How To Live Out A Deeper Christian Experience

Experiencing the Presence of God: Teachings from the Book of Hebrews

God’s Pursuit of Man

A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)

Within the time frame of the 1860s and the 1880s the spread of the Christian missionary endeavor was more and more a global endeavor and much organized beyond that of the individual workers in the field and much more in line with Jesus’ total vision as outlined in Luke 10:1-12 and much more organized both within the different church groups and in some instances co-operative one with the other in a common endeavor. By 1868, the London Missionary Society sent out Griffith John into China where he labored at Sichuau. In 1881, Samuel R. Clark of the China Inland Mission was the first to rent a home in Chengchu and was one of the responsible individuals in establishing Huafi Hospital.

In the same year the West China Union University, now Sichuan University was established and a Foundling Hospital founded. Today Christianity is part of the mainstream of China’s landscape due to the English and American missionary endeavor and has been able to weather the abuse by the Communist takeover under Mao Tse Tung. Islam is dominant only among non-Chinese ethnic groups on China’s outer margins. Christians make up the third largest grouping after Buddhism and those who practice folk religions. More important the Christian faith is strongest within the countryside and mostly away from Beijing and the seats of political power. This is due to the fact that the missionaries of the late 18^th and the major part of the 19^th majored on inland China. To relate the conditions of the 20^th century or even the present is getting ahead of this narrative.

The earliest known contact is recorded on a plaque worked into a wall of rectangular platform built of close fitting stones, and given the Hawaiian title of Hikiau Heiau. On the front side was an obelisk built of the same lava rock but secured in a very non-Polynesian way. The obelisk stood twelve feet high and was mounted with a bronze commemorative plaque that read:

Kealakekua Bay in the morning.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

In this Heiau,
January 28, 1779,
Captain James Cook R.N.
read the English burial service over
William Watman, Seaman.
The first recorded
Christian Service
in the Hawaiian Islands.
Erected by the Kona Civic Club, 1928

Here was a far different record from the one the heiau actually told. This was a record of an accidental arrival of the Christian gospel. However, this record is more like a record of the coming of Englishmen in the South Pacific, more specifically that part to the east and southeast of Indonesia, New Guinea and Sumatra and southeast of the Philippines and including to that part of the Pacific referred to as the Coral Sea. Oceania includes the Solomon Islands, Tahiti, and a large number of small islands and an island group known as the Marquesas. The Pacific as a whole is a little over 12,000 miles (180 degrees ) across. North to south, from the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska to the Antarctic , the ocean stretches nearly 10,000 miles. Magellan entered into Oceania in the 1500s but that was all he did as he sailed northward along the western coast of South America until he came out of Oceania by turning westward from coastal Peru and sailed westward until his ship entered into the area of the Philippine Islands.

Spanish, British, and Dutch ships entered the far western edge of Oceania where the Indian Ocean ends and the Pacific begins and skirted northeastward to the Malay peninsula and the coastal waters of southeast Asia, China, Indonesia, to Where the South China Sea meets the Pacific. This vast area so described by The European navigators became the last frontier of Christian mission. It started not by Christians from either North America or South America but by English, Portuguese, Dutch, and Americans already present in Calcutta, Thailand, the islands of Macao, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Spice Islands, and Sumatra. Western New Guinea, later known as Irian Jaya, lay within this part of the Pacific while the larger landmass of New Guinea lay within the sea lanes of Oceania which stretched toward New Zealand and Easter Island some ten thousand miles or more. The first Christian missionaries who entered western New Guinea came with the Dutch merchantmen who entered the waters of the Spice Islands.

About the same time that England, The Netherlands, Portuguese, the Spanish and French were plying the inner seas washing the shores of North America, South America, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, turmoil was seething back in Europe, mainly France and especially central and eastern Europe. In 1685, King Louis XIV issued the Edict of Fontainebleau which ordered that Huguenot [French Reformed] Church buildings and schools be closed. The state-sanctioned suppression of all non-Catholics moved to a new stage.

PR

Further Reading:

For more on Comenius, the father of modern education, see: Global Pentecostal Renaissance? Reflections on Pentecostalism, Culture, and Higher Education, by Jeff Hittenberger

Bernie Van De Walle reviews: Michael G. Yount, A. B. Simpson: His Message and Impact on the Third Great Awakening (2016)

This is the second “misreading” book that E. Randolph Richards has written. The first one was Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes which he wrote with Brandon J. O’Brien. For this second volume he has teamed up with a different writer, Richard James (this is a pseudonym, it is used for safety reasons because of the part of the world where he works). As the subtitle of the book indicates the authors write about some concepts that were very well-known in the biblical world, but are not as well-known in Western culture. I am referring to: patronage, honor, and shame. They also write about kinship, benefactors and clients, and boundaries. The people of the biblical world understood these concepts and practices. As the authors point out on more than one occasion, these matters of culture did not need to be spelled out, the people of the biblical world understood them and could see them at work in Scripture (page x-xi, 8). However, Western readers do not see them or assume them (page xi). Because of this we may miss them when they are at work in biblical passages. As the authors articulate these concepts they point out the differences that exist between collectivists’ cultures and individualists’ cultures. America and modern Europe are individualist cultures, most African, Eastern, Middle Eastern, and South American cultures are collectivist (page ix). The cultures we find in the Bible were collectivist (page x, 8).

As the book unfolds the authors draw from Scripture and their own experiences. Since they have lived in different cultures they have first-hand examples of the thoughts and practices of people who live in a collectivist cultures. It makes for some interesting reading.

E. Randolph Richards

They offer some other interesting insights as well. For example, they point out the different ideas that people have about the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. People from individualist cultures focus on Joseph’s rise to power. In the face of all kinds of setbacks and obstacles he becomes a prominent person. That grabs our attention. People from collectivist cultures tend to focus more on Joseph’s restoration to his family than his rise to power (page 11).

The differences between individualist and collectivist cultures is further brought out with a contemporary example. A pastor in Beirut was concerned because someone from his church had stolen a book from the church library. He knew who had done it. In the West we would be concerned about getting the book back. This pastor’s concern was not so much about getting the book back as maintaining the good name of the church in the community. He did not want his church members to be known as thieves. He found a way to speak to the thief in a nonthreatening way that helped the man save face, be reconciled to his church community, and maintain the good reputation of the church in the community (pages 174-175, 186).

This book is filled with insights into the biblical texts, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Many of these insights could be easily overlooked by Western readers because we are not familiar with the cultural constructs of Eastern, collectivist cultures that the people in the biblical world had. I like books like this. They open a window of understanding into the biblical text that we might not otherwise see. If you are interested in deeper Bible study or the cultural background of the Bible this is a book you will enjoy. One thing we as believers do not want to do is misread Scripture. Instead, we want to correctly interpret it (2 Tim. 2:15). This book will help us do that.

Reviewed by John Lathrop

Publisher’s page: https://www.ivpress.com/misreading-scripture-with-individualist-eyes

We celebrate Pentecost Sunday when Jesus poured out his Spirit on his disciples and the Church began.

Recent articles and reviews about the contemporary ministry of the Holy Spirit

Spirit-Empowered Christianity

What does Spirit-empowered Christianity look like around the world? Pneuma Review speaks with Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, directors of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity and editors of the third edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia.

Discovering the Reality of God in Word and Spirit: an interview with R. T. Kendall

Dr. R. T. Kendall  is a strong advocate for bringing together in the church the exposition of the Word and the power of the Spirit.

Frank D. Macchia, Jesus the Spirit Baptizer: Christology in the Light of Pentecost — reviewed by Wolfgang Vondey

Jack S. Deere, Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks and Heals Today — reviewed by John Lathrop

Getting Spiritually Equipped for Ministry that Matters by Chas Carrin

“To be genuinely equipped for life-in-the-Spirit, our experience with Jesus absolutely must go beyond academic, literary information about Him.”

Testimonies about the Spirit’s work in our lives

Total Surrender: Finding Messiah at an Italian Pentecostal Church, an interview with Michael Brown

An Italian Pentecostal Church played an important role in Dr. Michael Brown’s spiritual journey.

Receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Testimony

Chaplain Jim Linzey shares a testimony of coming into the fullness of the Spirit and a simple guide for how you might help others experience this for themselves.

From the archives:

Embrace the Spirit this Pentecost

How to Speak in Tongues

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.

PR

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 he sees God doing in Iran, and how Christians in the West can pray for Iran’s thousands of secret believers.

PneumaReview.com: You were a Muslim who became a Christian. Please tell our readers how you came to the Lord.

Dr. Hormoz Shariat: I was a Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California (USA) when I came to Christ by comparing Quran and the Bible. I realized that both could not be true. After that, I went to a church in downtown Los Angeles. That is when I heard the Gospel and responded to it.

PneumaReview.com: When you became a believer in Jesus you were in the United States, but you admit that you found it difficult to share your Christian faith. What advice would you give to a believer who is currently experiencing this same struggle?

Hormoz Shariat:

• Believe in the power of the Gospel to change lives (Romans 1: 16).
• Know that it is selfish to keep such a life changing message to yourself.
• Love others. That will help you take your eyes off yourself, get rid of shyness and share the Gospel.
• Do it anyway. Courage is doing what is right no matter how you feel.

Hormoz Shariat, Iran’s Great Awakening: How God is Using A Muslim Convert to Spark Revival (Iran Alive Ministries, 2020).
Read the review by John Lathrop

PneumaReview.com: In your book Iran’s Great Awakening you shared a great loss that your family suffered. Your brother, who was 18, was executed by the Iranian government on a minor political charge. How were you able to get through the pain of that event and go on to serve the Lord?

Hormoz Shariat: I mourned and prayed for 3 days. During that time, I felt God revealed his heart and plan to me. I realized that I am not supposed to hate anybody including those who killed my brother. And the fact that we have only one enemy: Satan, and those who killed my brother are not my enemies but victims in the hand of our one enemy (Satan). Also, I learned the best thing I can do for the injustice in this world is to share the Gospel.

PneumaReview.com: What kinds of ministry have you been involved in since you became a believer in Jesus?

Hormoz Shariat: First evangelism. Then I planted 6 churches in various cities in Northern California.

In 2001, after 9/11 events, we bought airtime from a secular channel to broadcast into Iran.

In 2011, we came to Dallas to start a 24/7 channel to reach into Iran.

We have used the channel not only for evangelism but as a tool to plant underground house churches.

PneumaReview.com: There are people who say that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. How would you respond to that statement?

Hormoz Shariat: Yes, there is one God. But the presentation of that God by Quran and Bible are so totally different that one of them is introducing a false God. On my programs, I give the characteristics of both Gods, and ask people to think about it and decide which one they want to follow.

By the way “Allah” was the name of an idol.

PneumaReview.com: What attracts Muslims to Christianity?

Hormoz Shariat: Things that are in Christianity that are absent in Islam: Love, Joy, Peace. When they see the love of Christians, the relationship we have with the Lord through prayer and worship, and the peace we have in our life, they are convinced that we have something that they do not have.

PneumaReview.com: In your book you write that you believe Iran will become a Christian nation. Why do you believe that?

Also, what is happening in Iran today indicates that Iran could be transformed by the Gospel even during our lifetime. The fulfillment of this promise will be at Christ’s return.

PneumaReview.com: What are some of the current signs of the growth of Christianity in Iran?

Hormoz Shariat:

• Iran has the fastest growing evangelical population in the world (Operation World).
• The majority of Iranians have already rejected Islam. A recent survey has shown that less than 1/3 rd of Iranians (32%) consider themselves Muslims!
• The rejection of Islam by masses. Islam is experiencing its greatest defeat in its history in Iran today.

PneumaReview.com: Are the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit a regular part of the life of the Iranian church?

Hormoz Shariat: Yes. Because Iranians read the Bible and believe all that is in it. Nobody has told them yet that not all the gifts are for today. Visions and dreams and miracles are common.

PneumaReview.com: You and your wife started Iran Alive Ministries. What types of ministries is it involved in?

Hormoz Shariat: Using media to go over the heads of the Mullahs into people’s homes to evangelize, help transform lives, and plant house churches.

PneumaReview.com: How can believers in the west best help the church in Iran?

Hormoz Shariat:

• Pray. Because we are facing the dark spirit of the “Prince of Persia” mentioned in Daniel 10.
• Support us financially. The people in Iran cannot support our channel. They depend on their brothers and sisters to take the Gospel to them.
• Become a TV partner. People with good video content can join us to disciple a nation. We have partners like Michael Yousef, Jack Graham, Robert Morris, and others who are using our channel to reach millions of Iranians.

Our channel was ranked Number 1 as the most watched Christian channel in Iran with 7.7% (that is 6 million) people saying they watch us daily. We estimate 24 million watch us at least once a week.

PR

Further Reading:

John Lathrop’s review of: Hormoz Shariat, Iran’s Great Awakening: How God is Using A Muslim Convert to Spark Revival (Iran Alive Ministries, 2020)

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 several other books, these include Getting Real and The Holy Spirit in Mission [Editor’s note: See the review by Malcolm Brubaker]. In The Dark Side of Discipleship he addresses the subject of spiritual warfare. He has written this book because he has seen many believers who are not well prepared in this area of their Christian lives.

The main body of the book begins with an introduction, after that the text is divided into four major parts. One of the subjects Tyra raises in the introduction, and refers to at other points in the book, is the subject of faithfulness. He feels that there are three key areas in which disciples of Jesus need faithfulness. They need to have spiritual faithfulness, moral faithfulness, and missional faithfulness (page 1). One thing that can disturb or disrupt this faithfulness is the activity of the devil (page 2). He attacks believers in such key areas as “worship, nurture, community, and mission” (page 9). Though the reality of the devil is downplayed by some believers, especially in the West, he should be taken seriously (pages 2, 7). The author says that there are at least 238 references to an evil spiritual being in the New Testament (page 3). In the introduction Tyra states that the purpose of the book is to enable believers “to experience a vibrant, fruitful, enduring walk with Christ” (page 4) in spite of the attacks of the devil. He sees spiritual warfare as an important component of “spiritual endurance training” (page 6).

Part Two is called “Forewarned is Forearmed: How the Devil Seeks to Derail Christian Discipleship.” This section is made up of four chapters. The chapter titles pretty much explain the focus of each chapter. Chapter 3 is called “Seduction: The Devil and Christian Worship, Chapter 4 is “Deception: The Devil and Christian Nurture, Chapter 5 is “Alienation: The Devil and Christian Community, and Chapter 6 is “Temptation: The Devil and Christian Mission.” These chapters deal with four key areas in which Christians will be attacked by the devil. Tyra mentioned them in the introduction of the book (page 9). In these chapters he identifies various ways in which Christians are attacked and how these attacks can be dealt with.

Part Four is called “Standing Firm in the Faith: Why the Devil Must be Dealt With.” This section is made up of two chapters, chapters 9 and 10. Chapter 9 deals with the ultimate “why” question. This question is “If God is both great and good, why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?” (page 226). As he seeks to address this question Tyra interacts with the writings of Gilbert Bilezikian and Gregory Boyd (pages 227-445). Both of these authors hold to the open theist point of view (page 233). While Trya values some of the insights of these writers he does not agree with everything they have written. In Chapter 10 the author writes about God’s end game. Here he offers some adjustments to the theology of Bilezikian and Boyd. He also writes about God’s justice with regard to things like the world (pages 260-261), the cross of Christ (pages 262-263), and the church (pages 269-273).

In the conclusion, Tyra wraps the book up with mention of a Bible verse that he has cited a number of times in the course of the text. The verse is the one in which Jesus speaks about receiving the commendation of the Lord for being good and faithful servants (Matthew 25:21). It is possible, and defeating the devil is one of the things that needs to be done in order for it to happen.

One thing you will not find in the book is a section on exorcism. The author does allude to it a couple of times (pages 197-198) but does not go into any detail about it. He knows some readers would be interested in this aspect of spiritual warfare. But he does not cover it because while Scripture does speak about this ministry Tyra believes that the majority of the New Testament focuses on the believer’s drawing near to God (page 198). The main focus of the book is discipleship. That is, preparing yourself, and others, to stand up against the attacks of the evil one. In this regard, I think The Dark Side of Discipleship has some good information and insights to offer. Christians will find profitable material that can help them identify and defeat the devil’s  work in their lives.

Reviewed by John P. Lathrop

Publisher’s page: https://wipfandstock.com/9781532691218/the-dark-side-of-discipleship

Dr. Russ Turney and his wife, Patsy, served for a number of years as missionaries in Asia. He eventually became the Regional Director of the Asia Pacific Region of the Assemblies of God World Missions. One of his concerns as Regional Director was missionary attrition. As he studied the subject, he identified reasons why missionaries leave the field. He also tried to determine if there were things that could be done to help reduce the number of missionary losses. This book describes the steps he took in identifying and addressing the losses in his own denomination in the Asia Pacific Region.

The book is comprised of eight chapters. These chapters are: “Statement of Problem,” “Review of Literature,” “Challenges to Longevity,” “Interpersonal Conflict and Spiritual Factors That Impact Missionary Longevity,” “Description of Project Research Methodology,” “Research Results,” “Results From Veteran Missionary Survey Questionnaires,” and “A Strategy For Longevity.” Under each of these chapter titles the author lists a number of sub-points which tell the reader what specific topics will be covered in the chapter. Though Leave a Legacy is a short book, it is quite thorough in its treatment of the subject matter. As you may have surmised by now the approach taken in this text is quite academic. This is not to say that the book is weighed down with technical language, for that is not the case. But it lays out in a very organized fashion the steps that were taken in the course of this study. It is quite clear that this is a research study. In the opening chapter the author addresses such things as: The Problem, Factors, Purpose, Significance, Research Questions, Scope of Research, Definitions, Assumptions, and Methodology (pages 12-16).

Missionaries leave the field for various reasons. As the author points out, some missionary departures are unavoidable, these would include death and retirement (page 12). There is not much that can be done about them. But there are other reasons why missionaries depart. Citing Frank Allen, Turney lists some of Allen’s reasons why missionaries leave the field, these include: expectations, culture shock, and family problems (page 17). One significant cause for missionary attrition is conflict. Missionaries can experience conflict with other missionaries, with the national church, and with the leadership of the missionary organization (pages 59, 89). This is an area where attrition could be reduced if appropriate steps are taken.

This book may be especially helpful to Missions Directors. It may also prove to be beneficial to pastors of churches that support overseas missionaries. The text will help readers identify areas in which cross-cultural workers tend to struggle. With this knowledge believers may be able to offer some prayerful and practical assistance to their missionaries who labor far from home. The fact that this study was done for a specific denomination in a particular part of the world does not diminish its value. The insights it contains can be used and reapplied in a different context. As believers we need to do all we can to help one another remain faithful to the calls that we have received from the Lord. The laborers are already few (Matthew 9:37) we can’t afford to lose anyone.

Reviewed by John Lathrop

USA Publisher’s page: https://wipfandstock.com/9781498294812/leave-a-legacy/

In our urban-dominated landscape, hunting, particularly sport hunting, has increasingly been viewed as a remnant of a barbaric era that is no longer needed and should be abolished. Clearly there is a cultural divide between hunters and anti-hunters. Hill and White sought to deepen their understanding of this intellectual and ideological divide and investigated how Christians have understood and understand their faith in regards to sport hunting. As Hill clearly says, “… this collection of essays was to provide a window into the different perspectives held historically by Christians in relation to sport hunting and to hear new voices on the debate. … The secondary goal was to encourage its readers to thoughtfully consider the various perspectives, many times not set in clear apposition, and the merits (and weaknesses) of each” (p.411). In brief, the book clearly accomplishes its goals.

Before delving into the text, readers should know that I was a contributor to this volume. My article, “Dominion Over Animals: Taking the Scriptural Witness and Worldview Seriously” (pp.33-348) summarizes my dissertation published in Dominion over Wildlife? An Environmental Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations, Wipf and Stock, 2009. My engagement with the specific contributions made by my fellow contributors to this volume occurred only after the book was published.

The editors did a superb job providing readers with an overall perspective on the topic. Their writing not only helped prepare readers to grasp the major themes and controversies, but their summaries of the articles enhanced reader pre-understanding and thus apprehension of the material. Heuristically, the book (both sections 1 and 2) stand as a model for educational best practice. I would note, however, that Hill’s contention that Christianity was a syncretistic religion (p.23) reflects a modernistic comparative religions bias and not the testimony handed down by Christ’s apostles.

The articles are organized into two major sections. Section One takes a descriptive approach to the debate over recreational hunting. Articles focus on historical attitudes and perspectives held by Christians over the centuries, starting with the biblical text and culminating with interviews of contemporary Christian hunters. The articles show how Christians argued both for and against sport hunting. Articles often described prevalent views by the way “Nimrod” of Genesis was portrayed in the literature. Interestingly, when hunting was in vogue, Nimrod was portrayed as a neutral or valuable character. When hunting was not in vogue, Nimrod became a term of derision and symbol of moral turpitude.

The second article entitled, “A Dying Legacy?: A Century of Hunting in the Stories of Texas Families”, Hill provides a sort of meta-analysis of the interviews contained in the following chapter. He keenly identifies key themes, concepts and sociological factors that impact one’s adoption (or lack) of hunting. If one wishes to have a quick, but not simplistic, look at the cultural-historical issues embedded in the hunting experience, this article is must reading. Though it focuses on the American, albeit Texas, experience, I suspect that the categories and insights will be useful elsewhere in the United States if not the world. The third article is actually a collection of interviews. These interviews are valuable for providing a more granular look at the motivations behind the desire to hunt as told by various hunters who claim a Christian heritage.

Section Two contains articles addressing the ethical or prescriptive views on hunting. Authors from both sides of the debate use a variety of rationales to support their position for or against the morality of hunting. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the emphasis focused on the justification (or lack thereof) for the killing of animals for “fun”.

Two articles that attempted to use Christian theology to condemn hunting (Killing and the Kingdom: A Case against Sport Hunting” by Shawn Graves and “Muscular Christianity and Sport Hunting: Missing the Target?” by John B. White were quite disappointing. Both ostensibly tried to use Christian teaching to condemn hunting but neither dealt with the concrete realities and teaching of the Biblical text. Their arguments reminded me of Supreme Court justices that attempt to argue that capital punishment violates the U.S. Constitution’s cruel and unusual punishments clause even though the authors of the Constitution clearly supported the death penalty. Any rational reading of the constitution clearly reveals that the authors were only referring to cruel execution methods such as Drawing and Quartering, etc., not to a condemnation of execution in general. Grave’s approach tended to avoid Scripture entirely choosing instead to rely on the vague notion of not causing harm. White’s article, on the other hand, argued that God’s intention was for humans to not kill animals. It never occurred to these scholars to even consider the ontological status of animals. If they did, the anti-hunting authors would perhaps understand that harm to an animal is categorically different (morally speaking) than harm to a person. (I suspect they would both grant that fact but apparently, they did not consider the full impact of that view). If God grants humans permission to kill His property, who are we to say that somehow violates God’s will? Neither of them considered how Christ was quite comfortable killing animals, sometimes for no apparent reason other than to demonstrate he could (e.g., miracle of the fishes). Dismissing this by saying that Jesus was God (though true) does not resolve the problem because Jesus was also the perfect human who provided an example of a sinless life before God.

Regrettably, Christian anti-hunters continue to commit two key mistakes that I have repeatedly pointed out over the years. First, they have either an inability or unwillingness to read literature that disagrees with their perspective. Not every scholarly article is found in top tier (often liberal) journals. Second, they are unwilling to consider the whole testimony of Scripture. Instead, Christian anti-hunters find a generic passage, such as “reconciling all things” and then use that generic principle to truck in every idea that fits their narrative even when specific passages counter those ideas. By rejecting or perhaps ignoring the principle of the general rule is constrained by the specific, they allow themselves to fly off into fanciful arguments without sufficient grounding in the Word of God.

Overall, this book provides an important contribution to the topic of sport hunting that is scholarly, yet accessible to college-level readers.

Reviewed by Stephen M. Vantassel

Publisher’s page: https://www.mupress.org/God-Nimrod-and-the-World-Exploring-Christian-Perspectives-on-Sport-Hunting-P952.aspx