Raul Mock of The Pneuma Review recently interviewed bestselling author Frank Viola about his new book The Untold Story of the New Testament Church (2025) with Foreword by Craig Keener.

Raul Mock: For PneumaReview.com readers that have not yet encountered you, please tell us about your spiritual journey and your ministry.

Frank Viola: I’m someone who writes books and speaks in conferences for hungry and thirsty Christians who love Jesus, but who know in their bones that “there must be more” to the Christian faith, to Jesus Christ, to the Bible, and to church.

I’ve been part of every denomination and every movement you can name. From the Pentecostals to the Charismatics, all their flavors, as well as most evangelical denominations and camps.

And while I learned valuable things from all of them, they all left me saying, “there’s got to be more than this.” That’s what my books, my articles, and my podcasts are all about.

I’ve written over 20 books to date, and they can be divided up into Light and Shade.

“Light” are books containing the element of the sublime.

“Shade” are books containing a prophetic edge that challenges the status quo.

Your readers can check out my entire book catalog at frankviola.org.

All the books take God’s people into the deeper Christian life.

I also have two podcasts – Christ is All and The Insurgence Podcast. Combined, the two podcasts have almost 3 million downloads.

These two podcasts are designed for Christians who know there must be more.

(Details for each podcast can be found on my website, linked above. We also have a YouTube channel.)

Raul: How do you describe your new book, The Untold Story?

However, we live in an era where Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians regularly face criticism for apparent gaps between experiential faith and biblical understanding.

And that criticism is often valid.

My book, The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: Revised and Expanded, resolves this problem. The book transforms how all Bible-believing Christians engage Scripture, including those in the Charismatic world

The book does this by providing a key that unlocks the New Testament, addressing a long-standing need within the Charismatic community for deeper and clearer biblical understanding.

Dr. Craig Keener, the world’s leading scholar in New Testament background and a Charismatic himself, wrote the Foreword to the book. This is how he describes it:

“In The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: Revised and Expanded, Frank Viola brings context and background together, inviting us on a captivating journey through the birth and growth of the first-century church. With a reputation for captivating prose and heartfelt storytelling, Viola brings his unique perspective to reconstruct the events from Matthew to Revelation. The Untold Story offers a plausible chronological narrative that reveals the grand tapestry of God’s kingdom plan and brings the characters of the story to life.”

Respected New Testament scholar Clinton Arnold, who is known for his work on spiritual warfare, powers and principalities, also endorsed the book saying,

“This volume is a creative and fascinating portrayal of the rise of Christianity and the establishment of churches throughout the Mediterranean world. Viola weaves the evidence of the New Testament into a single unfolding and compelling story. Yet he does so not with unbridled imagination, but with a profound reliance on the best scholarship available. The end result is an accurate, engaging and compelling account of this movement that has had a monumental impact on history and continues to do so today.”

The uniqueness of my book is that it blends together the narrative found in the book of Acts with the epistles, all in chronological order, telling one unified story with all the historical details filled in from different parts of the New Testament and from first-century history.

This approach puts you in the dramatic story. You watch it unfold before your eyes sequentially. The result is that you understand the New Testament like never before – accurately, powerfully, and in an electrifying way. The book is a cinematic experience that unlocks the letters of the New Testament.

Raul: The 2025 edition of The Untold Story is “revised and expanded.” What are some of the differences in this edition from the very old edition from decades ago?

Frank: Unfortunately, there is a very old edition from 20 years ago with an ugly orange cover on it. That book is similar to an experimental high school paper. I wrote it in my youth. It was written in a hurry, it wasn’t peer reviewed, and no scholars read it beforehand to ensure its accuracy.

In addition, the scholarship is outdated and most of the best books written on the New Testament didn’t even exist back then.

So it was a “rough draft experiment” from my youth. In this regard, the new book is not exactly a “new edition.” It’s a brand new work. We just kept the same title because it appears in my other books, which represents over 600,000 copies to date.

The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: Revised and Expanded – with the white cover and brushstrokes on the borders – came out this year (2025).

It’s been endorsed by 20 first-rate New Testament scholars. However, the main narrative is highly accessible and “reads like a motion picture on paper” as some readers have described it.

The Christians – including pastors and teachers – who are reading it have reported that they are experiencing a “revolution” in their understanding of the Bible.

Raul: In one of the early footnotes, you say that you set out to write a book that tells “the entire story of the primitive church from Pentecost to Patmos.” But this isn’t merely a study Bible or a textbook on Christian history. Who is your intended audience and what gap do you want this book to fill?

Frank: Correct, the book is not a textbook or study Bible or even a history book. It’s been described as “the New Testament guides of all New Testament guides.”

The intended audience is any Christian who wants to understand the New Testament in a powerful new way. The book also brings the people and places to life.

It’s also for any Christian who wants to understand the early church, what really happened and didn’t happen.

Therefore, the book was written for pastors, preachers, teachers, Bible study leaders, and all Christians who read their Bibles regularly.

(While there have been a few titles from the past that tried to reconstruct the New Testament story in chronological order, none of them were comprehensive, none were documented with up-to-date scholarship, nor have any of them been reviewed by scholars to ensure accuracy.)

A number of the twenty scholars who endorsed my book have confirmed it’s uniqueness by saying, “There is no book like this.”

I’ve described the book as a contribution to New Testament 3.0 in contrast with New Testament 1.0 and 2.0 (See New Testament 3.0 – A Breakthrough for details on what I mean by that).

The sad truth is that most Christians today, including preachers and teachers, have built their theology on a crossword puzzle of verses.

They don’t know The Story. They know chapters and verses. And some of them are experts at a particular book of the Bible, but this all misses the forest for the trees.

The Story – the narrative of what happened from Pentecost to Patmos chronologically and where the 21 letters in the New Testament fit into that grand drama – is largely unknown. Even among scholars.

That’s precisely why I decided to take the time and effort to write the book, which was no small endeavor. It was a super heavy lift.

Raul: In the Foreword, Dr. Craig S. Keener said that Untold Story is an invitation to see ourselves as part of the ongoing story God has been telling. What are some of the places that did this most meaningfully for you?

Frank: There are so many. One can never fully understand Paul’s letters unless they learn The Story. So it’s meaningful how the Story told in the book opens up the New Testament epistles, including those of Paul who wrote the majority of them.

Another is the way that Christian workers (ministers) were trained in the first century. It’s drastically different from the way ministers are trained today.

Also, the way churches were planted is completely different from how they are founded today.

Without knowing the Story, we are left to interpreting the New Testament we want through cutting and pasting verses together. The result is that we arrive at conclusions that are unbiblical, even though the conclusions are based on certain portions of the Bible. The problem is that context is missing.

Jeremiah 8:8 in the NET Bible says,

How can you say, “We are wise! We have the law of the Lord”? The truth is, those who teach it have used their writings to make it say what it does not really mean.

This text was delivered during a period of spiritual and moral crisis in ancient Judah, when the people and their religious leaders (especially the scribes) claimed wisdom and faithfulness to God’s word. But they were in fact corrupting it through false interpretation and misleading teaching.

The verse addresses the scribes and religious leaders who boasted, “We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us,” yet Jeremiah exposes their reliance on the pen of the scribes (the Bible experts) who “have twisted it by writing lies” suggesting they distorted or misrepresented the Torah, misleading the people.

This same thing is done today unwittingly and unknowingly when Christian leaders and teachers don’t know The Story. Yet they still teach the New Testament. So they inevitably misinterpret the text.

Knowing the Story prevents this problem. So far, it’s been a tremendous help to Charismatics and Pentecostals who honor the word of God and want to fully understand it. It’s done the same for other denominations and movements in the Christian world.

I explain this in more detail in the many of the interviews I’ve done on the book which your readers can check out here. The interviews delve deeper than this interview. (More interviews will be added to that page in the coming days, so check back.)

Also, we recently launched a visual podcast that goes along with the book. Your readers can check it out at TheUntoldStory.me.

PR

This year’s CLF began with an introductory sermon by Pastor Scott Kelso, author of several notable charismatic books.  His theme was that Deut. 4, is a recap of the Old Testament – Love God, be obedient to the Law, and avoid idolatry. Pastor Kelso pointed out that this was the book of the Bible most cited by our nation’s Founding Fathers.

The first formal session of the conference was delivered by Dr. John Gresham, retired seminary professor (Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St Louis).  Dr. Gresham came to faith in the California “Jesus’ People” movement and eventually migrated from Pentecostalism to Charismatic Catholic in his beliefs. His presentation was entitled, “What the Early Church did right.” In his view, the Church’s careful attention to discipling was a key to its survival and growth under persecution. Early Christians usually underwent a three-year period of instruction and deliverance ministry before they were baptized. This produced Christians who were discipled and not just converted.

Sessions 2 and 3 were presented by Dr. Dan Keating, seminary professor and Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. His objective was to explain the process and importance of the Council of Nicaea. His noted that the creeds are “medicine” against today’s modernist tendencies to relativism and fluid doctrine. His detailed description of the Council was a revelation to most of us. What we call the Nicene Creed was formed in two stages. The original draft was forged in 325 A.D. to counter the heresy of Arius, a priest in Alexandria, who taught that Jesus was a created being (i.e., not God). This draft was short, and included a mention of the Holy Spirit, affirming that the Spirit too was God.  But Arianism continued to spread, and in 381 A.D. a second council added clarifying statement to flesh out the Creed as we know it today.[1]

Session 4 was by Anthony Martini, a member of Faith Village which forms the core of the Alleluia Covenant Community. Martini gained a master’s of sacred theology from the Collegium Augustinianum. His presentation was on the Church before Nicaea.  He showed from the earliest writers that Church organization and theology was fluid in the first century, but by the Third century had arrived at a “proto-Catholic” consensus. This was due, according to Martine, to the influence of St. Paul as well such pivotal writers as Polycarp and Clement.

The next lecture was given by Dr. Timothy Cremeens, a priest in the Orthodox Church of North America. Fr. Cremeens has been a regular attendee at the CLF for a decade, and has at different times described the difficult road that the Pentecostal/charismatic movement has in establishing itself in traditional Orthodoxy. This time he showed how the Orthodox churches have not changed their theological or doctrinal prospectives from the time of Nicaea. He explained how Orthodox clergy sees the non-Orthodox world as one of chaos, as it flounders in Protestant liberalism and other modernist heresies.

Session 8 was led by a lay Catholic woman Mrs. Kim Catherine-Marie Kollins.  She has been European coordinator between Catholic and Protestant charismatic groups for over four decades. She told the story of how difficult inter-faith cooperation was when she started her work, and how now it has come into a fullness and ease of cooperation that few would have expected in the 20^th century.

The last information session was led by Dr. Richard Roberts, from Dorset, England. Trained as a physician, Dr. Roberts developed an interest in Celtic Christianity.  His talk began by describing the woeful plight of the churches in the UK.  Only about 7% of the population go to church on Sunday. Yet there are areas of revival, as manifested in the African, especially Nigerian, congregations in London and other parts of the UK, and which are influencing many other churches.

Dr. Roberts’ focus turned to the question of what sort of leadership is needed to bring revival in the UK.  He suggested looking that Celtic Christianity and its founder, St. Patrick. The scriptural context is Rom. 5: 3-5 – suffering for Christ. Here St. Partick’s life and marvelously effective ministry demonstrates the point.  St. Partick was kidnapped out of an aristocratic family in Wales, suffered severe privation as a slave in Ireland, escaped, but returned as bishop-missionary to his land of captivity.

Besides the excellent praise interludes before every session, the conference was interspaced by two sessions of ministry. One was a period of prophecy and praying for one another. Another was a discussion of exorcism and deliverance. This was led by Chuck Hornsby and Bob Garrett, the former an experienced deliverance minister, and the latter the coordinator of the Alleluia Community. The team discussed the ministry of deliverance and exorcism as it pertained to Catholics and Protestants. We were then broken up into small groups to clear up any personal deliverance issues we had. This seems improbable. Why would charismatic and Pentecostal leaders need deliverance ministry? Actually, yes: the demonic attacks with special vehemence all Christian leaders. Often this results in areas of demonic infestations even among the most effective and sincere leaders. This manifests publicly when scandal breaks out, as when a famous leader is exposed for long-standing sexual or financial failures.

This year’s conference was one of the best I have attended. As always, the fellowship was a blessing, as was the hospitality of the Alleluia community. But the goal of the conference, reminding us of the orthodox resources of the Early Church was well met. I believe that many of the participants left with a better understanding of how the struggles of the early church can inform and strengthen the present Christian struggle against the various forms of heresy and weak faith that afflict many denominations.

Next year’s conference will be held at the same place, on Feb. 23-26.  If you are a church leader or elder and wish to come to next years’ meeting, contact Bob Garrett at, bobg@yeslord.com

PR

Notes

[1] Making creeds is something like making sausages, something to be celebrated but not nice to see. For a splendid and engrossing account of how Orthodoxy triumphed over Arianism see Philip Jenkins’ work, The Jesus Wars (New York; Harper Collins, 2010).

This year’s topic of the CLF was to be “Flooding the Darkness with Light.” Several of the speakers and discussions strayed out of topic and centered on the issue of Church unity and ecumenism, a fine topic indeed, but one covered last year. Left uncovered was any mention of spiritual warfare – which most certainly will be the theme of next year’s CLF meeting.

The woman playing the violin is Ladonna Taylor, who has a special anointing in her music.

Two speakers were especially instrumental in shaping the course of the meeting and acting as vehicles of the Holy Spirit. The first was the Rev. Carolyn Moore. She is a Methodist pastor who has led the exodus of many orthodox Methodist churches out of the United Methodist Church and into the Global Methodist Church. Her presentation of the separation from the UMC especially touched me as I, as a former Episcopalian, was forced to tread the same route into the (orthodox) Anglican Church in North America.

Moore’s presentation was pertinent to many in the Church today. She described the decline and division of the UMC as the result of the ascendancy of Liberal theology which at its root denies the divinity of Jesus and the trustworthiness of scripture. For those embracing this movement, pluralism and inclusivity became more important concepts than upholding the unique claims of Jesus as the Son of God and Savior and other doctrines essential to Christianity. A great insight she shared was that ecumenical dialogue is good for the Church, as Christians get to understand and appreciate Christians in other denominations, but pluralism crosses the line into heresy by claiming that all viewpoints are equal and thus truth is unobtainable. This happened to the UMC (and to the Episcopal Church decades earlier).

Praying over Rabbi Marty

The second speaker and the one who made the greatest impact was Rabbi Marty Waldman. He refuses to call himself a Christian, rather he calls himself a Messianic Jew – a true Jew who believes in Jesus as his Messiah and the New Testament as part of the Word of God.

If you are a Christian leader of any stripe, pastor, youth leader, blogger, etc. make plans to attend next year’s CLF. They are held in late February, but check out the CLF website at CharismaticLeadersFellowship.org

Attendees for the CLF came from all over North America and many parts of the world. This year there was a heavy presence of Polish charismatics as well as the usual Brazilians and Italians. It is always a joy to fellowship with these beloved “foreigners” who are brothers and sisters in Christ. I would not be telling readers anything new if I said it is easier talking and enjoying fellowship with a Polish charismatic with a heavy accent, than an unsaved American neighbor.

In a sense “receptive ecumenism” has been going on for quite some time without having a name. I can think of the loving atmosphere of the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International, begun way back in the 1950s be Demos Shakarian. This group was a pre-cursor to the Charismatic Renewal, i.e., mainline Protestants accepting Pentecostal practices.[2] The bond of love and service of this group was not in the least disturbed by its multidenominational membership. Similarly, a half century of ecumenical cooperation to overturn Roe Vs. Wade in various pro-life groups, local and national, led to Protestants of all denomination mingling, cooperating, and loving Catholics – and visa versa. “Receptive ecumenism” was not the primary intention of these groups, but the (providential) result of their meeting together with common goals.

This is not to say that the CLF meeting was redundant. Good theology identifies and solidifies biblical truths, attitudes, and practices. For instance, bad or absent theology on the gifts of the Holy Spirit prevented Pentecostalism and Spirit-filled churches from forming for centuries even though many Christians spoke in tongues and individually practiced the gifts of the Spirit all through Church history.[3] The flourishing of the gifts of the Spirit in whole congregations had to wait for theologies that explained the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit. All of which is to say, formulating a theology of receptive ecumenism is important for it to further flourish.

The first speaker (session 1) the Rev. Pat Sparrow, made a starting affirmation that receptive ecumenism was the way to fulfill Jesus’ prayer in John 17 that we should all be one. The stumbling point is that most churches interested in ecumenism believe they are the model to show the way forward.

Session 2 was a joint presentation by Dr. David Cole and Mr. Nathan Smith, both heavily involved in Rome with Catholic-Pentecostal reconciliation and dialogue. They reflected that half a century of dialogue produced some progress in raising the respect level for one another. But a new attitude of humility and listening is permeating the situation, and this has resulted in Catholics and Pentecostals praying together, something unheard of decades ago.

Fr. Jim Puglisi brought an interesting historical perspective to the conference in the next session. His talk centered on the Syriac church (important in the Early Church). He pointed out that the Syriac Church valued greatly the Apostle James, brother of Jesus, and the tradition of community as the basis of unity. This is different from the Western church which early on valued Greek philosophy and “right theology” as the basis of unity. This of course led to the bitter division between the Western churches and the Oriental Orthodox churches.[4]

The next two presenters brought further historical perspective to ecumenicism. Fr. Timothy Cremeens talked about the lack of ecumenicism in the early church, as any deviation from established orthodoxy was considered as heresy – no dialogue possible. (Fr. Cremeens is one of the best loved regulars of the CLF. He is rector of an American Orthodox Church and is very charismatic. But his denomination does not look favorably on the gifts of the Spirit today. He soldiers onward.) Anthony Martin then gave us a brief history of the Reformation, and what went wrong to result in wars instead of dialogue between Protestants and Catholics.

Fr. Karol Sobczyk was the speaker for the next session (session 8). He presented a history of the Charismatic movement in Poland where the population is over 90% Catholic. In spite of this, he credited the mission of John Wimber decades ago in Poland for being a major impetus of the charismatic renewal, which is growing day by day.

Scott Kelso, who is the coordinator of the CLF, and very active in the ecumenical movement worldwide, gave an interesting take on how important prophecy is for the ecumenical movement. It moves persons out of their comfort zones and into obedience with God’s will, which is ultimately the unity of the Church. In the next session Dr. John Gresham gave us information about the origins of the term “receptive ecumenism.” It was coined by Dr. Paul Murray of the university of Durham. He organized the first meeting on the topic, and later published a book on it.[5] Gresham suggested several other seminal sources of receptive ecumenism.[6]

The next presentation was by two persons, a layman, Isias Carniero and Bishop Rodolfo Valenzuela, described the ongoing successes of ecumenism in Latin America. Brazil is an especially great example, and this year celebrates 50 years of dialogue and ecumenism between Evangelical and Catholics. For those of us like myself, who were born into pre-Vatican II Catholicism, this is a miraculous change. Well into the 1960s, Protestant missionaries in various parts of Latin America were harassed and even murdered by Catholic vigilantes who believed they were protecting the true faith.

At noon the attendees were bussed to Ascension Lutheran Church for an Ash Wednesday service. After lunch there were presentations by leaders of two covenant communities, Word of Christ and Alleluia, both describing how they managed and lived out their receptive ecumenism. Both communities were predominantly Catholic but Catholics in these communities cherished what they had learned from their Protestant brothers and sisters. Especially in the early days of the 1970s, the classic works of the Pentecostal and Charismatic renewal such as the Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson, and the cassettes of Derek Prince were seminal.

After dinner on Tuesday, there was a reception at an outdoor fire pit with several other Christian groups who were also present at the Alleluia community – alas, without marshmallows. The next morning opened with a powerful prayer and praise session which became a healing service. Many healings occurred and I personally received a healing for my hearing. This was followed by the last session, and my favorite.

The Catholic Bishop of Portland, Oregon, Peter Smith, spoke. He is noted for his orthodox theology and charismatic beliefs, and he jokingly introduced himself as the bishop of the “People’s Republic of Portland.” He noted that he created a rumpus in Oregon when he mandated that children in Catholic schools under his jurisdiction must be addressed by their birth names. What surprised me especially was his comment that when he hears confessions, he often says prayers of deliverance over the supplicant. This is a situation where deliverance prayer can be very effective, especially in sins of addiction.

The 2023 CLF was a great conference, and if you have a leadership position in any church or para-church organization, please join us next year.

PR

Notes

[1] For a better description of the CLF and the Alleluia community, see posting of the 2020 CLF in The Pneuma Review (March 30, 2020). /charismatic-leaders-fellowship-2020/

[2] William De Arteaga, Marvels and Signs: Quintessential Essays From an Anglican Pentecostal (Lee’s Summit: Christos, 2022) chapter 10, “Did the Charismatic Renewal Begin in 1950?”

[3] See Judith Tydings, Gathering a People (Plainfield; Logos International, 1977).

[4] On this tragic division see the work of Philip Jenkins, Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 Years (New York; HarperCollins, 2010).

[5] Paul Murray, Receptive Ecumenism as Transformative Ecclesial Learning (Oxford: Oxford University, 2022).

[6] See Andrew Wilson, Spirit and a Sacrament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018). [Editor’s Note: See the review by Rick Wadholm Jr.]

This year’s theme was “Developing Disciples for the Kingdom.”

The Conference began with a fellowship dinner at the Community school and then Randy Clark came in on zoom with a presentation on his perspective on discipleship. Principally, he has concluded that all disciples need healing and inner healing prayer, not just theological instruction. Zoom interactions were great, and when I came up to the camera Randy recognized me and spoke with me about a writing project. This was an unexpected blessing for me.

The next morning (Tuesday) began with an ecumenical prayer breakfast at a local African American Pentecostal/Baptist church. The church had hosted a monthly prayer meeting for the major and civic and church leaders of Augusta for several years. The meetings made a major spiritual impact in keeping racial peace and harmony in Augusta during the “troubles” of the summer of 2020. The prayers at the church were lively and Pentecostal, but I have to admit I was disappointed that the civic leaders were not in sight.

Back at Alleluia Community school, we had a zoom session with Fr. John Crossin, a Catholic priest stationed in Austria. He informed us about of the current state of Catholic/Protestant ecumenical dialogue. His presentation was informative but disappointing. His estimate is that it would be a good 15 years or so before there might be inter-communion between Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and other denominations. However, there has been a great deal of progress in theological reconciliation. Fr. Crossin pointed out that even after the church hierarchies agree to inter-communion there is always time spent in educating the lay folks about the agreements and implementing actual inter-communion services. I pray, and invite the readers to pray, that this assessment be mistaken, and intercommunion happen much quicker.

After, another zoom session, from England, on the topic of prophecy. This was by Peter Dripple, the head of Teen Challenge in Great Britain. I found his presentation sliding into theological liberalism as he cited, for instance, the Beatle’s music as being prophetic. (Well, maybe, but also destructive to the gospel as in the song “Imagine”).

I found the next session, also on prophecy, much more satisfactory. This was given by Pat Sparrow, pastor of a major charismatic church in California. In everyone’s mind was the massive prophetic failures in American Pentecostal/charismatic circles on the 2020 Trump election. He suggested that the prophetic gift in the church be re-set to the more modest goals of 1 Cor 14:3, which do not deal with foretelling (or fortune telling) but rather strengthening and encouraging the church. He also suggested that all prophecy be given in the “soft” mode as in “I Believe the Lord is saying…” as against the authoritative “Thus says the Lord…” This was a much-needed word to the American church. Interestingly, the Rev. Sparrow took some of his discernment understanding from a very early Christian document, the Didache, which had some strong things to say about church order. (I disagreed here, as I believed the document goes too far in restricting prophecy and is anti-Semitic).

In the afternoon (Wednesday) we had a live zoom connection from Ralph Martin, one of the founders of the Catholic Charismatic renewal and major charismatic theologian. His presentation laid out the dire fact of the church in a post-Christian age which is rapidly becoming an anti-Christian age.

In the evening we had a worship and healing service. Bob Armstrong (FGBMFI) and Bob Garrett, the MC of the conference and leader of the Alleluia Covenant Community laid hands on various persons with physical ailment, myself included – I was healed of acid reflux and other were healed of various ailments.

The next morning included worship, evaluation and planning for next year. It will be held again at the Alleluia Community, and one of the topics to be discussed will be how to counter our anti-Christian culture. Hope to see some of you church leaders join us.

An interesting note here. Like Christians all over the world, that morning we prayed for the people of the Ukraine, and for a quick end to the Russian invasion[2]. Person after person led prayers for this. I stepped up to the microphone and explained what a prayer of “command disablement” was according to Acts 13 (Paul temporarily blinding the sorcerer). I then led a prayer, enthusiastically agreed to by the conference participants, which placed a spirit of confusion on the Russian generals leading the invasion.[3]

Have you noticed how inept the Russian invasion has turned out? Of course, the courageous defense put up by the Ukrainians has been a major factor, as well as the poor training and low morale of the Russian soldiers. But I wonder if the prayer of command disablement by a handful of experienced prayer warriors was a major factor in this unexpected incompetence of the Russian military (Lev 26:7-8).

PR

Notes

[1] I explained what a covenant community is in my earlier report on the CLF for 2020: William De Arteaga, “Charismatic Leaders Fellowship 2020” Pneuma Review, (March 30, 2020) http://pneumareview.com/charismatic-leaders-fellowship-2020/

[2] Editor’s note: It was on the 24^th of February 2022, that Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the last day of the CLF conference.

[3] William De Arteaga, “The Ministry of Command Disablement,’ Pentecostal Theology (Nov. 7, 2019). https://www.pentecostaltheology.com/the-ministry-of-command-disablement/

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.

The 2021 Charismatic Leaders Fellowship (CLF) met on Feb. 22^nd and 23^rd in Augusta Georgia, at the Alleluia Community School. This was the third consecutive year the CLF has met there, much to the satisfaction of the participants. The Alleluia Covenant Community is well known for the spirit of generous hospitality it offers to its visitors, and this makes attending the Augusta CLFs especially pleasant. If you are interested in how Christian covenant communities operate you could not do any better than visiting the Alleluia Community. Its members are predominantly Catholic, but the community is splendidly and enthusiastically ecumenical (Bob Garrett, its moderator, is a member of the Vineyard Church). They would welcome your visit.

This year’s meeting accommodated the COVID-19 pandemic by being a hybrid of virtual and physically-present meeting. The international speakers and attendees had to do so by Zoom [a virtual presence platform], of course, as visas were not forthcoming during the present pandemic. It was also a scaled-back conference, two days instead of four, but turned out to be spiritually and intellectually full.  In fact, there was a special anointing over the whole meeting sensed by many of us. There were 30 at the on-campus meetings but another 70 joined in as speakers and participants via Zoom sessions. The technology needs for the Zoom session was a bit daunting, or at least I found it so, and after a few bumps, all went well.

This year’s theme was church unity and how to achieve it – perhaps that is why there was a special anointing present. The speakers outlined how their organizations attempted to bring forth greater unity among the sundry Christian denominations.

The next two speakers were from Europe and shared how their organizations were striving for unity in the hostile, anti-Christian European environment. There the Christian denominations are more united and less competitive than in the U.S. as a necessity (and grace) for survival. In a private Zoom exchange with me, Martin Buehlmann, the Vineyard coordinator for central Europe shared that the greatest obstacle to effective evangelization in Europe was the “disastrous” present condition of American evangelicalism, including the Trump cult, which has brought shame to Evangelicalism.

Fr. Timothy Cremeens, a Greek Orthodox priest who has spoken various time at the CLF told of the woeful resistance of the Orthodox hierarchies to both ecumenism and to any form of charismatic or Pentecostal input in their churches. He suggested continued intercessory prayer for the Orthodox churches, and on the earthly level something very doable.  That pastors of Evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic churches make special efforts to befriend their local Orthodox priest and plan joint events, as is food distribution to the poor. Who knows which of these priests would be eventually elevated to be bishops, and with them carry the possibility of Spirit-filled revival among Orthodox churches.

The next day’s program began with a tribute to two giants of the Pentecostal/charismatic world who died the previous year: Dr. Vinson Synan, and the Rev. Dr. Francis MacNutt [Editor’s note: See “Introducing Francis and Judith MacNutt” by William De Arteaga].  Both were members of the original founding group of the CLF leaders and frequent attendees at CLF conferences.

Brazilian Cardinal Tempesta and his assistant we the next speakers via Zoom. They detailed how the Brazilian Catholic church was making special efforts to reconcile with its Protestant and Pentecostal brethren after decades of often violent persecution. The ecumenism in Brazil is driven from the top down. That is, the hierarchy and clergy make plans and programs that often include joint ministry. It should be noted that Brazil’s Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, are rapidly become Pentecostal/charismatic.

This was followed by Bob Garrett’s talk on the practical results of ecumenism, using Augusta as an example. He shared that the city has been rejuvenated by its many ecumenical outreaches, and that the formerly run-down neighborhood around Alleluia community has been brought back to life.  He ended with a touching description of how he experienced the real presence of Jesus in Holy Communion with various Christian traditions: Protestant, Pentecostal and Catholic.

James Munk gave a talk on how to retain the next generation in the church in the face of an increasingly anti-Christian environment. His talk generated the most comments and dialogue of the whole conference.

My favorite presentation was given as a joint zoom session by Pastor Randy Clark and Dr. Mary Healy. Most readers of Pneuma Review are aware of the important role Pastor Clark has played in the charismatic renewal and authoring many books on healing and the Holy Spirit. But many may not have heard of Dr. May Healy, a preeminent Catholic biblical scholar. She was the first woman appointed to the Pontifical Biblical Commission. She has also been a long time charismatic and has written books about healing and deliverance.

Pastor Clark and Dr. Healy co-wrote The Spiritual Gifts Handbook (Minneapolis: Chosen, 2018), an unsung masterpiece of ecumenical pastoral theology. They described how they had no theological differences pertaining to the gifts of the Spirit, but how they did have to talk about what vocabulary and phrases to use to avoid putting off one group or another.

After that Zoom presentation the conference broke up into sharing and discussion groups, and then a final prayer and benediction. At that time, we laid hand on and prayed over Fr. Cremeens to be an instrument to bring a Holy Spirit revival to the Orthodox churches in America.

Ya’ll come and join us next year in Augusta if you have a leadership role in any Pentecostal or charismatic church or organization. Contact Bob Garrett at the Alleluia Covenant Community (www.alleluiacommunity.org).

Catholics and Protestants Together in Charismatic Renewal?

Perhaps nothing makes more of a laughingstock out of global Church unity in Spirit and worship than the contentious issue of Marian devotion. Some Catholics truly worship Mary as if she were the fourth person of the Trinity, in spite of official Catholic theology to the contrary. Marian devotion had a role in undermining the Catholic charismatic renewal in the 1980s. Protestants, on the other hand, have a difficult time in saying what the Bible says about Mary, that she is “blessed among women.” Here is a controversial blog on the issue from an Anglican priest and former Roman Catholic.

www.pentecostaltheology.com/marian-devotion-and-the-coming-second-wave-of-the-catholic-charismatic-renewal/

Quotes from the article selected by the Editor:

For some reason I was not comfortable about Marian devotion as a boy. … My childhood as a Catholic was lived under the cloud of the ominous “Fatima prophecies” that came from apparitions that were supposedly from Mary at Fatima, Portugal in 1917.

In fact, several prominent Catholic theologians have consistently warned of the dangers of excessive Marian devotion to the revivals of the Holy Spirit. The Jesuit priest and historian of the Catholic Charismatic renewal, Fr. Peter Hocken, warned that excessive Marian devotion is a danger to authentic revival and true reverence of Mary.

On the level of formal theology and ecumenical dialogue, much progress has been made in Catholic-Protestant communications about Mary and the honor due her. Formal Catholic theology has backed off declaring Mary as the “mediatrix” of all graces. …

My own opinion is that there is no way to dialogue into a “midpoint” that all will agree upon. Catholics will venerate Mary to a degree that Protestants feel uncomfortable with, and Catholics will not be content with the degree that Protestants consider and honor Mary.

… the Holy Spirit constantly surprises when a new revival begins, and this may be true of Marian devotion in the future. The Pentecostals of the 1960s were astounded when the Holy Spirit enlivened the mainline denomination into what became the Charismatic Renewal. They thought the mainline churches were too far gone into apostasy to be renewed. The Pentecostals were further astounded when the Catholics began experiencing Holy Spirit revival in 1967. They were sure the Catholic Church was the Biblically prophesied “whore of Babylon” and could not be redeemed from its idolatry. They were wrong about that, too. One can only wonder what the Spirit will do in the coming revival.

The meeting’s location was at the Alleluia Covenant Community school. Coincidentally, several of the presentations at the consultation were about covenant communities. Covenant communities are fairly new to the Church, and are an attempt to follow the example of the Jerusalem Christian community depicted in Acts.[2] For reasons unclear, Early Christianity followed the model of Jewish monasticism for which there is no New Testament model or mention,[3] and bypassed the covenant community described in Acts. Most covenant communities are ecumenical, as is Alleluia. Alleluia is predominantly Catholic, but led by a Methodist layman, Mr. Bob Garrett. In recent years, he has gained an international renown for his leadership in furthering Christian and Spirit-filled ecumenism.

Like the Jerusalem Christian community described in Acts, covenant communities are groupings of families, sometimes with attached singles, that bind together with certain rules to further their Christian life and holiness. An interesting example of this; Alleluia teens are not allowed to date as couples, but frequently go out as a group for sports events, field trips, etc. This provides plenty of opportunities for budding romances – but avoids the awkwardness and dangers of couple dating. (Do I hear the moans of anxious parents for similar rules in their churches?)

Covenant families live in close proximity, and this assists not only in prayer time together, but mutual help in such things as baby-sitting and home schooling. Families worship together during the week but go to their denominational churches on Sunday.[4] All of this makes life more socially engaging than normal, and more importantly, assists in avoiding much of the corrosive secularism of contemporary society.[5] One of the benefits of having the CLF meet at the Alleluia Community is that on can observe some of these dynamics in action.

On Wednesday afternoon, the CLF group drove over to Burns United Methodist Church to participate in an Ash Wednesday service. It was a wonderful expression of unity in the Body of Christ. Brief sermons were given by Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic and Baptist ministers before the imposition of ashes.

The members of the CLF who came to Augusta came from the United Sates and many parts of the world. We were all hosted by the families of the Alleluia community. Not only did this eliminate hotel charges, but most feel real delight to live for a few days within a covenant community. My host this year was a local Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Mike Freed and his lovely wife, Vera. Rev. Freed is an elder of Alleluia as well as an active pastor to nearby Ascension Lutheran Church. I came one day early and had the pleasure of attending his Sunday service and ministering healing at the end of the service.

This year’s CLF had several issues on the table. One was, coincidentally, a presentation and description of several world-wide networks of covenant communities. A presentation was given by members of the Work of Christ Covenant Community of Lansing, Michigan, one of the first ever birthed from the Charismatic Renewal. This community sprouted other communities under the name “Sword of the Spirit” which now have ninety-three communities in forty-three countries in Asia, the South Pacific, Latin America and Europe.[6] These communities are self-governing, but under similar covenant rules. Seventy percent of its members are Roman Catholic, with 5% Oriental Catholic (Coptic) and the rest Protestant.

Charismatic historian William De Arteaga introduces us to The Order of St. Luke, where it came from, how it has influenced charismatic leaders for generations, and reports on the most recent international convention held in Orlando, Florida.

The Order of St Luke was founded by The Rev. John Gayer Banks in the 1930’s, an Episcopal priest residing in California. His intention was to introduce healing prayer into the Episcopal and the mainline churches in the United States. By the 1950s the OSL became a leading and important anti-cessationist group proclaiming a prophetic message among the Protestant churches in North America: the Church’s healing ministry must be reclaimed. Ultimately, the OSL also became a solidly charismatic bastion, sharing in many areas of the world the message that the healing ministry reaches its fullness in conjunction with the gifts of the Spirit. The latter transition was not and easy one, as will be described below.

Dearmer’s labors in reestablishing healing prayer in the Church was partly in response to the vast inroads that Christian Science and the other Metaphysical cults were making during the 1900s in attracting orthodox Christians to their churches. The Rev. Dearmer rightly understood that the root problem was that the orthodox Christian churches no longer believed or practiced healing prayer – i.e. cessationism.[2]

The Rev. Percy Dearmer

Dearmer and two other Anglican churchmen banded together to remedy the situation. This was done through a new organization, The Guild of Health, which was attached to the Anglican Church. (Anglican love doing their ministry through “guilds,” it grounds the group to the Anglican Church and its Episcopal oversight and besides sounds genteel.) The guild spread throughout the UK, sponsoring and organizing lectures and “missions” of three day teachings ending in a church service and the laying on of hands at the altar rail.

John Ganer Banks was born in England but later emigrated to America to get his doctorate in religious studies, and went on to be ordained an Episcopal priest. He determined to do the same for the Episcopal Church in America as the Rev Dearmer did in the UK. From his base at St. Luke’s Church in San Diego, he and his wife Ethel began healing services at his parish, and did healing missions wherever he was invited. While he pastored the parish, Ethel administered the OSL and wrote most of its literature. She began a mimeographed journal of healing testimonies and book reviews. The mailing list for this two page newsletter steadily grew to reach every part of the nation. Within two years it morphed into a more sophisticated printed journal with the name “Sharing.” It continues to this day as the official journal of the OSL.