This book lives up to its claim to study global Pentecostalism, not because it covers it country by country, but because it is grounded in the places in the world where Pentecostalism has had a major impact on society. These places are Brazil, sub-Saharan Africa, China, Russia and the Ukraine, India and the Philippines. However, the case of the Philippines, the reflections relate mainly to the Catholic Charismatic Movement, the largest Pentecostal/charismatic group in the country.

The book is written from a sociological point of view and the focus is detailing Pentecostalism’s impact on things like economics, community life, and politics. Other issues, such as one’s relationship with God and dealing with the ever-present spirit world in the Majority World, are noted (p. 116) but not considered in depth.

The layout of the book is straightforward and not divided into sections. Following Hefner’s introductory chapter, “The Unexpected Modern—Gender, Piety and Politics in the Global Pentecostal Surge,” there are a total of eight lengthy chapters. (1) “Pentecostalism: An Alternative Form of Modernity and Modernization,” by David Martin. (2) “The Future of Pentecostalism in Brazil: The Limits to Growth,” by Paul Freston. (3) “Social Mobility and Politics in African Pentecostal Modernity,” by David Maxwell. (4) “Tensions and Trends in Pentecostal Gender and Family Relations,” by Bernice Martin. (5) “Gender, Modernity, and Pentecostal Christianity in China,” by Nanlai Cao. (6) “The Routinization of Soviet Pentecostalism and the Liberation of Charisma in Russia and Ukraine,” by Christopher Marsh and Artyom Tonoyan. (7) “Pentecost amid Pujas: Charismatic Christianity and Dalit Women in Twenty-First Century India,” by Rebecca Samuel Shah and Timothy Samuel Shah. (8) “Politics, Education and Civic Participation: Catholic Charismatic Modernities in the Philippines,” by Katharine L. Wiegele. Peter Berger’s afterward then sums up the book excellently by tying the articles together.

As Hefner and others note (p. 9) Pentecostalism focuses much more on personal rebirth or transformation than social structural change. All authors report, however, that the personal transformation also brings positive to change to families and communities. Men no longer visit the bars and brothels and pour their resources into their families instead, providing social lift. Women, who are often oppressed in male dominated societies, find their voices in the Pentecostal Movement. Martin, for example, mentions that women are often used in prophecy (p. 38). Transformed individuals then, do positively impact broader society.

A lot of attention is given throughout the book to the impact of the prosperity gospel in the Majority World. Much of the impact has been positive, although the prosperity gospel in these regions is much less focused on money than its American counterpart and appears to be more along the line of Yonggi Cho’s three-fold blessing prosperity gospel based on 3 John 2.

Leaders Who Last is written for church leaders—pastors, teachers, small group leaders, volunteers, and ministry staff—by a church leader who posits that this book is about leaders finishing well. Kraft encourages now and future leaders in the church to lead in a “new way” that will help them “stay viable … survive [the] journey, and accomplish [their] objective” (p. 22). Relying on experience culled from forty plus years of ministry, Kraft argues that “the leader’s greatest calling and most significant long-term contribution is to recruit and train other leaders” (p. 144). He views Christian leadership as having four main responsibilities: shepherding, developing, equipping, and empowering. These responsibilities focus on building up followers and future leaders.

The book contains three sections plus an introduction and epilogue. The first section is called Foundations and has five chapters on power, purpose, passion, priorities, and pacing, which Kraft says are all foundational to lasting leadership. Leaders must be attentive to these areas to stay fruitful in ministry. In order to stay connected to their power source, leaders must practice spiritual disciplines, including reading Scripture, prayer, worship, and time for reflection. The remaining foundational aspects to leading flow from the power leaders receive from Jesus Christ.  Kraft says, “Purpose is the foundation for everything” (p. 64). A purpose should give you energy, motivation, and direction. A biblically-based purpose will help leaders steer clear of distractions. Kraft provides helpful steps to identifying one’s purpose. Indeed, he offers steps for developing in all areas of leading, including passion, which he explains comes from God when we know who we are in him. In order to keep purpose and passion focused, Kraft urges leaders to determine clear priorities, and offers an intentional process for keeping one’s priorities in order. Finally, pacing is about being mindful of one’s capacity so that the leader does not burn out. Kraft recommends taking a day off once a week and limiting the number of evenings the leader is not at home.

The second section deals with Formation and covers the topics of calling, gifts, character, and growth. Whereas a leader’s purpose is based on her experiences and interests, a personal journey that starts from within, a calling comes from God. Kraft suggests that there are four types of spiritual call: to salvation, to discipleship, to service, and to leadership. His focus in this book is on the call to leadership. In order to last, leaders must have a clear and compelling call. He urges leaders to find people who will help them evaluate their calling. In turn, he encourages more experienced leaders to be on the lookout for younger, future leaders whom God is calling and to mentor them. In the chapter on the leader’s gifts, Kraft argues that the gifts of a leader tend more toward speaking than serving. Although he does not deny the importance of service, Kraft emphasizes that leaders who last have word gifts, that is the ability to use words to encourage, develop, equip, and inspire people to move from point A to point B. In addition, a leader’s character is vital to the longevity of her leadership. Kraft notes that the primary passages on leadership qualification in the Bible (1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1) refer mainly to character in the context of relationships. Kraft provides a list of essential character traits and a process for developing one’s character. He suggests that leaders discern which areas of their lives need growth and work with an accountability partner to develop those traits.

Two events happened last week that leave me wondering if, at long last, some demonic strongholds over the Philippines are being broken.

For the last twenty or twenty five years or so, evangelicals in the Philippines have been giving increased attention to ministry to Muslims. However, I believe that history may someday record that recent developments may have opened the floodgates to a renewed and focused emphasis on these unreached peoples.

Last week, Dr. Melba Maggay and her team at the Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture (ISACC) in Manila convened a conference on contextualization (making the gospel understandable within various cultures) in Asia and focused on ministry to Muslims. Some time ago, Dr. Maggay opined in an email that God has been leading her ministry more in the direction of Muslims. Since Dr. Maggay is one of the most well known and respected evangelical leaders in the Philippines, this move toward Muslims is significant. I personally believe that she will undoubtedly lead others on the same journey.

Conference speakers included Dr. Andrew Walls, who spoke by videotape as health issues prevented him from attending and Dr. Miriam Adeney, an internationally known writer and Christian anthropologist, as well as others. Dr. Walls gave us an overview of the history, development and expansion of Islam since its founding in 622 AD. While limited by time restraints, his review was impressive in scope and calls for much reflection on how “Christians” have treated and mostly ignored Muslims throughout the centuries. Dr. Adeney spoke to a number of issues, including some touching stories of some of the eight million Filipinos working abroad whom God is using in some very difficult places.

Prof. Amina Rasul-Bernardo and Attorney Johaira Wahab, both Muslim women from the Magindinao tribe in Mindanao (Southern Philippines) who are involved in the efforts to resolve the “Christian”-Muslim conflict that has raged there for a number of decades, updated us on their perspective on the ongoing efforts to bring peace to the troubled parts of the region. Both women were candid that Muslims as well as “Christians” have contributed to the problem. Rev. Dann Pantoja, a Filipino evangelical who is the founder and director of Peacebuilders, a Mennonite consulting team dedicated to the peace process (see www.peacebuilderscommunity.org), shared his story about engaging in this work and gave a Christian perspective on the peace process dialogue, particularly noting the unresolved tensions that remain.

Over twenty years ago Gary B. McGee wrote a comprehensive survey of Assemblies of God (AG) missions, “This Gospel Shall Be Preached.” In it he called for others to follow with regional histories of the various AG fields of missionary service. That call is beginning to be answered. In 1997 Lawrence R. Larson wrote a history of AG work in Fiji that runs over 500 pages. In 2004 A. C. George published his study of the AG in India that runs to nearly 400 pages. Dave Johnson, missionary to the Philippines since 1997, has now given us a detailed history for AG work in the Philippines. We will address three questions about this work.

First, is this history told from the perspective of the “white” missionary to the neglect of the national ministers and church leaders? By focusing on the roles of western missionaries such work as we are reviewing here goes against the grain of current studies of world Christianity. Noted authors like Allan Anderson have stressed the need to tell the stories of gifted and anointed national workers who did much of the “heavy lifting” in establishing missions work; sadly most of their names are lost but much is being done to present “history from below.” But it is also true that the stories of western Pentecostal missionaries are also disappearing at an alarming rate as early generations of pioneer missionaries are gone and records of their life ministry disappear. So it is without shame to say that Dave Johnson has done a great service in preserving the 84-year history of AG missionaries going from the United States to the islands of the Philippines. Johnson’s work does in fact describe the roles and contribution of many Philippine pastors, evangelists, and church leaders.

Second, has Johnson “sanitized” the accounts of these missionaries without mention of their problems and failures? No, Johnson does not hesitate to narrate some of those defeats and failings as my personal knowledge of a few of those missionaries can verify: independent-spirited types, moral failures, and church splits are not glossed over. In any mission field where successful work has produced a national church there will be tension of personnel, administrative control, and mission strategy. For example in chapter nine this work narrates such a moment of tension between the AG Missionary Fellowship and the Philippines General Council of the AG that arose in the 1960s-1970s, reached a peak, and finally resolution.

Third, what resources have been used by the author of this history? Johnson has drawn on a comprehensive variety of sources: Pentecostal Evangel articles, AG missions publications, academic studies, minutes of American and Philippines national committees and councils, taped interviews, missionary newsletters, and emails from current and past AG missionaries.

The nature of Pentecostalism is the taking the message of Jesus to the nations. We can be grateful to Dave Johnson for preserving an important part of that story in the Pacific islands of the Philippines.

Find the book at: daveanddebbiejohnson.com

Reviewed by Malcolm R. Brubaker

Editor’s note: The full text of Led by the Spirit is now available at: https://www.academia.edu/34297392/LED_BY_THE_SPIRIT.pdf