Dr. Michael Brown has Pentecostal roots that run deep. His early days as a Christian were spent in an Italian Pentecostal Church in New York, years later he was one of the leaders in the Brownsville Revival in Florida, and in addition he has written a number of books that deal with the ministry of the Spirit. Some of his books dealing with the work of the Holy Spirit include: Whatever Happened to the Power of God, The Revival Answer Book, and Authentic Fire. He has been exposed to the charismatic workings of the Spirit since the early 1970s both as an observer and as a participant. He cares very deeply about the Charismatic/Pentecostal movements. Much good has come from these movements, however, there is no denying that they have had their fair share of problems as well. In Playing With Holy Fire Brown addresses some of the problems within the Charismatic/Pentecostal church. He also gives examples of positive things that have taken place as people have obeyed the promptings of God. In some of his other books, Brown has written about the shortcomings of the Spirit-filled church, in this current volume he deals with them quite extensively. He does not write merely as a critic, as always, he seeks to be redemptive. He identifies the problems, explains why they are problems, and offers counsel to move forward toward more biblical beliefs and practices. The author offers a wealth of scriptural references to substantiate the truth in the face of error.

The book consists of a preface, twelve chapters, and a postscript. The chapters are: “The Spirit Is Moving Mightily!,” “Why Are We So Gullible?”, “Mercenary Prophets,” “Superstar Leaders,” “Abusive Leadership,” “Unaccountable Prophecies,” “Sexual Immorality,” “The Pep-Talk, Prosperity Gospel,” “Celebrating Doctrinal Deviance,” “To the Third Heaven and Back in a Flash,” “Wanting to Be Wise Like the World,” and “Where Do We Go From Here?” The postscript is titled: “A Word to the Charismatic Critics.” As a quick look at the chapter titles makes clear, Brown covers a number of very significant topics. One interesting feature of this book is that the author does not give the names of the people who are in error in the various areas that he covers in the book. He states his reasons for not naming names in the preface of the book. In the preface he also lists things that have contributed to the problems in the Charismatic/Pentecostal Movements, he believes they stem from “immaturity, gullibility, carnality, sensationalism, merchandising, corruption, and doctrinal error” in a rapidly growing supernatural movement.

Chapter one is very positive. It speaks about the tremendous impact that the charismatic work of the Holy Spirit has had upon our world. In fact, Brown tells us that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Azusa Street ranked 68^th in a list of the top 100 events of the last 1,000 years in a report published by Life Magazine in 1999. So the world has noticed!

Is it “Strange Fire” or “Holy Fire”? by Charles Carrin

You will soon be hearing about two books: Strange Fire by Dr. John MacArthur and Holy Fire by Dr. R.T. Kendall. Dr. Kendall has written only in the emergency to defend Scripture and charismatic Christians from Dr. MacArthur attack.

John MacArthur is a man of significant Christian stature.  He is the author of more than 150 books, a study Bible, other best-selling material, and a College President.  R.T. Kendall is equally a man of great achievement. He holds a PhD. from Oxford University, authored more than 60 books, for twenty-five years was pastor of London’s Westminster Chapel near Buckingham Palace and a leading voice in Reformed theological circles around the world.  More recently he has become an outspoken defender of the plenary inspiration of the New Testament, including spiritual gifts. I Corinthians 12,13,14. Unlike Dr. MacArthur, Dr. Kendall does not believe that portions of the New Testament or miraculous gifts of the Spirit have passed away.

While no group of Christians has ever been exempt from undesirables in its ranks, Dr. MacArthur has taken the position that all ministers today who claim to experience spiritual gifts are “Satan’s false teachers … spiritual swindlers, con men, crooks, and charlatans.”  One would think that such an indictment leveled against godly men and women would be beneath Dr. MacArthur standard.  Of necessity, his accusation points toward  Jack Hayford, Mark Rutland, Derek Prince, Kenneth Hagin, Sr., Duncan Campbell, David Du Plessis, Demos Shakarian, Smith Wigglesworth, and a thousand other saintly believers.

My purpose is not to attack Dr. MacArthur.  Instead, I want to speak defensively for the Bible’s full message and its reliability. The New Testament contains six passages in which gifts of the Spirit are identified. I have now been in ordained ministry 64 years and have been on both sides of this  tragic  fence.  In  my  youth  I was taught that all gifts identified in I Corinthians 12 were obsolete. Later I was told that only knowledge, tongues, and prophecy, had been removed. My denomination preached nothing about it. For us, those verses weren’t even there and in the confusion I walked away from all of it. For me, there was no sensible answer. Then, in 1977, I had a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit that changed everything. The decision was no longer left to me and I emerged from that holy explosion  not only believing but experiencing spiritual gifts. To my amazement I found they were very, very real.

Believe me when I say that the gospel that is blazing in first-century-power in remote parts of the globe today is not coming from those who deny the truth of the New Testament.  These are marooned in their own religious mud.  Only “full gospel” believers are winning.  If you don’t believe that, go!, find out for yourself. Millions of Africans have come to Christ in recent years through charismatic preaching.

Am I “charismatic?” Yes! Absolutely!, and as such believe that the New Testament is still intact,  none of the Scripture has lost its validity and every line should be accepted by the modern church. Opposing Christians–usually called “cessationists”–believe that many New Testament passages have lost their authority and should be ignored.  Though still in the Bible, these select scriptures are no longer true.  Astonishingly, no one has yet been able to supply a list of these invalid verses. While the argument usually centers on the reality of spiritual gifts, the debate fundamentally regards whether or not the New Testament is reliable.

My question is this: If Moses sanctified the Old Testament by sprinkling it with the blood of animals and Jesus sanctified the New Testament by sprinkling it with His own blood (Hebrews 9:11-23) and Moses’ book was unalterable–can Jesus’ book  be less so?  Was the Old Testament inviolate while the New Testament is not?  Was there spiritual power in animal blood that Jesus lacked?  For myself, I can take only one position: The New Testament was, is, shall ever be, true in each line. None of it has lost is power or purpose. The need of the church is not to edit the Bible but to believe it.

Observe these Scriptures and their obvious message:

Jesus said: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

Jesus said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away but My words will by no means pass away.” Matthew 24:35.

God the Father said: “My Covenant I will not break nor alter the Word that is gone out of my lips.” Psalm 89:34.