The book How to Live for God was written by Dr. Denzil R. Miller. He has written several books on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and in the work of missions.

This book contains the foundational truth for every believer, especially new converts to the Christian faith. The awareness of spiritual birth is of a paramount importance as it ensures a renewed hope in Christ.

Dr. Miller pointed out the importance of assurance of salvation as the genesis of the new birth in Christ. This awareness opens a whole new identity in Christ, a relationship that would be cherished for eternity.

This book contains 7 days of spiritual transformation that would impact a life for eternity, as the Holy Spirit empowers the person to live the new life and become a witness for Christ. Being a believer comes with a big responsibility to share your faith with others (1 Peter 3:15; John 18:37), and to live an exemplary life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Authentic Christianity is a wonderful tool for witnessing for Christ, because when our lives corresponds with our confessions, non-believers would then know that we are serious. In other words, a believer’s life, walk and words all combine as tools for effective witnessing for Christ.

Giving is another aspect of genuine Christian living, because while some individuals can give without loving, a Christian cannot claim to love without giving. Giving to God and also for His work is a way to acknowledge that He is the owner of everything.

This publication is good for new believers, for discipleship training/ workshop and anyone who wants to grow in his or her work with Christ.

Reviewed by Chima Umejiaku

Author page: http://www.denzilrmiller.com/how-to-live-for-god/

PDF version (available without cost): http://www.decadeofpentecost.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/How-to-Live-for-God-Ebook.pdf

I had been given opportunity to review Denzil R. Miller’s 35 page booklet, Spirit-Empowered Mission: Africa’s Decade of Pentecost and the New Testament “Strategy of the Spirit.” Miller gives us here a brief overview of a continent-wide initiative of the Africa Assemblies of God Alliance (AAGA) from 2010-2020 known as the Decade of Pentecost (DOP) to evangelize Africa.

Denzil Miller offers a brief but honest evaluation of the work, its successes and challenges in terms of the Great Commission to evangelize the sub-Sahara Africa and Indian Ocean Basin areas of the continent which requires indigenously raising all the resources, finances as well as personnel, to “go into all Africa” and “make disciples of all African tribes and clans.”

Miller supports a Pauline approach to evangelization. A large part of this brief work is taken up in referencing Paul’s missionary focus. And as Paul pointed out to community after community, this work requires an empowerment only available with an infilling of the Spirit. Miller refers to this as “A Spirit-driven Call to Missions.”

“The evangelization of Africa,” Miller maintains, “[needs] an ongoing information database … to be shared with our constituent national churches, strategic partnerships across the continent between the national churches affiliated with the [AAGA], a strategic prayer network focusing on the unreached peoples of Africa, missional mentoring among … national churches [the indigenous principle, and] … compassion ministries, all the while remaining focused on the core mandate of the church, that is, reaching the lost for Christ.”

He concludes by saying, “Therefore, during these final seven years [since 2013] of the DOP initiative, we anticipate the greatest forward advance, and the greatest harvest of souls, in the one-hundred year history of the church of Africa.”

Reviewed by John King

Find Spirit-Empowered Mission on the Decade of Pentecost free download page: http://www.decadeofpentecost.org/booklets/

Dr. Denzil R. Miller has written an important and timely work that will be a great tool for pastors and teachers of the Pentecostal persuasion.

This small e-book lists all the ingredients that are necessary for a much neglected subject. Miller begins by addressing what he calls a “troubling decline in spiritual experience”, which can be reversed as there is a “reawakening among Pentecostal preachers”. He makes compelling arguments for preaching and teaching on this important subject.

This brief introduction followed by Miller addressing four preliminary considerations—priority, context, focus, and preach with faith, and three important goals—create desire, inspire expectant faith, and bring to clear understanding—gets the reader ready for the meat of his message—the sermon itself.

Miller provides the reader with an abundance of Scriptures to support his writing, which will be beneficial to the pastor and teacher.

He concludes by giving detailed information on conducting an altar call.

Pastors and teachers who have neglected preaching and teaching on this subject will be most grateful for this practical work.

Reviewed by Larry Russi

Find How to Preach on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit on the Decade of Pentecost free download page: http://www.decadeofpentecost.org/booklets/

This work is part of a pamphlet series produced by the Assemblies of God World Mission for their Acts in Africa initiative. It can be downloaded without cost. The author is an Assemblies of God missionary to Africa and prolific writer. Traveling and preaching all over East Africa, he also served as academic dean of the Assemblies of God Seminary in Malawi.

Overcoming the Enemy gives basic instructions on both personal exorcisms and expulsion and binding of territorial demons. The latter is a ministry pioneered by C. Peter Wagner who has written extensively on this controversial ministry.

This work has many pluses. For one, the author avoids speculating on the exact nature of the demonic hierarchies; something other authors attempt. His steps in preparing for the ministry and the deliverance ministry itself are clear and succinct. It has a useful, simple bibliography of works cited.

On the other hand, this pamphlet attempts too much in too little space (36 pages). It lacks specific examples of exorcisms or the binding of territorial spirits. It may give the new Christian the impression that the deliverance process is easy. However, it could be very useful as a resource (it is a free download) for a Bible study or home group that is led by someone who is experienced in the deliverance/exorcism ministry and can flesh out the details.

Reviewed by William De Arteaga

Find Overcoming the Enemy on the Decade of Pentecost free download page: http://www.decadeofpentecost.org/booklets/

In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist refers to Jesus, saying, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy and fire.” The Bible is very clear that Jesus is the one who implements this baptism, immersing us in the Holy Spirit. We also read in Act 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”. This is a biblical truth that can transform our lives, however we need to recognize the importance of retaining and cultivating our relationship.

I am so thankful to Denzil R. Miller’s reminder of the importance of maintaining the Spirit-Empowered life. As he mentioned, “Failure to do this will result in backsliding and loss of power.” It is clear to me, that failure to see the importance of maintaining the Spirit-Empowered life will produce a devaluing of what God is valuing.

Denzil R. Miller will encourage the reader to value the Baptism of Holy Spirt in a way that will be fruitful in your life and ministry. You will want to read and study what he gives as the, “Guidelines for Maintaining a Spirit-Empowered Life.” As he beautifully states, “Life in the Spirit in not an automatic thing. It must be nourished and cared for.” His teaching encourages me to continue to pray, Dear Jesus, let me value what you value.

Reviewed by Alan James Schrader

Find Maintaining the Spirit-Empowered Life on the Decade of Pentecost free download page: http://www.decadeofpentecost.org/booklets/

Mark G. Boyer (Roman Catholic priest and college professor at Missouri State University) and Matthew S. Ver Miller (psychologist and life-coach) write from their experience in relationship, which began as mentor and mentee, then grew into a peer relationship. This brief book takes just five chapters to explore the necessity of relationship in spiritual formation. The first third of the book brings definitions, the second third explores relationship dynamics, and the final third demonstrates these at work in the gospel’s example of Jesus with his disciples, in order to bring the reader to embrace the necessity of relationship. Each chapter concludes with five to seven discussion questions, which may be helpful for an individual reader or group to process and consider the content of the chapter.

Chapter one divides human wholeness into seven dimensions in order that each of the seven parts might be defined, studied, and understood. Nevertheless, these seven dimensions are inseparable in the reality of our human experience. The seven dimensions are intellectual, psychological, emotional, physical, sexual, spiritual, and aesthetic. The authors will discuss each dimension separately and then bring the parts back into the whole, demonstrating the necessity of integration.

Boyer and Ver Miller turn the noun “friendship” into a verb, resulting in the action of “friendshipping” in chapter two. This is an entertaining concept to consider, so that one’s lived reality of friendship cannot remain static; it requires the intentional steps, time commitments, activities, experiences, and actions of friendship. Friendshipping is a costly endeavor that is vital to ones spiritual development. We are designed to be in relationship and thus, cannot be complete without ongoing relationships. Once the reader accepts the necessary actions of friendshipping, then the central thesis of Human Wholeness comes fully into the comprehension of this simple yet profound little book.

The closing chapter exegetes the life of Jesus and expounds on how he invested himself in relationships with both people and with God the Father. The curious omission of this chapter is that it only focuses on the divine aspect relationship between Father and Son, without any mention to the Holy Spirit. From a trinitarian perspective, one must wonder about the theological impossibility of this two-thirds relationship. It begs the question, is it even theologically possible to have only one or two members of the Trinity active in any event? The opening illustration of this book is one of the strands of a rope, which are intertwined into a full and unending circle. Perhaps there is a reason Boyer and Ver Miller have chosen to omit the Holy Spirit from their book, which has escaped the reviewer, but it seems that the inclusion of the third member of the Trinity would greatly enhance their thesis on the necessity of the spirituality of human relationship in the discipline of spiritual formation.

Reviewed by John R. Miller

Preview Human Wholeness: https://books.google.com/books?id=Xdf0BgAAQBAJ

Publisher’s page: http://wipfandstock.com/human-wholeness.html

The title of the book is both provocative and indeed what draws a potential reader to open the book. Miller’s purpose for writing is to examine the research concerning love as an aspect of leadership and to offer readers a connection between theory and practical application, whereby leaders have a solid foundation of research on which to build their leadership capacity to love others in their organizations. Chapters one to three focus on theory and research on topics such as power, values, and transformational leadership. Chapters four to seven contain more practical application with a focus on listening as a leader skill and on self-reflection for leaders to discern where they fall short.

Miller defines love as “empathy with action” and means that leaders should behave in ways that show followers they are valued. Leader actions include sharing power and cultivating a learning organization. Sharing power with others results in mutual stimulation, where the leader readily admits not having all the answers and is open to followers to contribute to the vision of the organization and to learning from the followers. As Miller points out, sharing power is not about abdicating responsibility but exploiting the full potential of the organization’s members by enabling their voices to be heard. A learning organization is one that is open to anyone within the organization giving and receiving input. When leaders are more concerned with covering up their weaknesses, they will be unable to foster a learning environment because they are themselves unwilling to learn.

The most useful part of the book is in chapter six, where Miller explains how to create a learning environment. A major but not singular aspect to creating a learning environment is establishing teamwork, which involves a strong component of mutuality. Mutuality consists of all members having ownership of their jobs; enabling an exchange of ideas without fear of censure; practicing behaviors that encourage transformation, such as listening, making time for others, etc.; and removing conditions that foster powerlessness among the organization’s members. In addition to nurturing teamwork, leaders must also enable follower input, evaluate morale, listen to others and create an environment where listening occurs throughout the organization, develop the strengths of employees, and focus on both the well-being of the employees and the organization. These behaviors have been shown by research to foster and sustain a learning environment.

Although the book has some merit for leaders interested in cultivating an organization where members seek the good of others, on the whole, it does not fulfill the promise of the title. Miller does not specifically direct the book toward ministry leaders, and while that is not a problem, it reads like a dissertation that has been somewhat adapted for a more general audience. It is clear in the first few chapters that many leaders would be unfamiliar with some of the concepts and theories that Miller discusses. While there is room for readers to learn something new about theories and research, beyond the academic tone, the subject matter is not explained in a way that leaders can quickly digest and then practice what Miller expounds. Some attempt is made in the latter part of the book to provide a more praxis-oriented view; thus, readers may want to skip to that section—something Miller suggests as a possibility. The theoretical component of the content is interesting to be sure, but the book could be condensed and better presented in an article format. Consequently, leaders may want to spend their limited reading time elsewhere.

Reviewed by Michelle Vondey

US Publisher’s page: http://wipfandstock.com/what-does-love-have-to-do-with-leadership.html