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.

Not gifts, not healing, not revival—seek the LORD.

Thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, seek Me and live. But do not seek Bethel, nor enter Gilgal, nor cross over to Beersheba. Seek the Lord, and Live (Amos 5:4-6a).

Definition: To “seek the Lord” means that we move from an approach to God that is centered in ourselves with our own self-interests at the forefront, to an approach that is centered in Him with His interests at the forefront of the relationship. We must no longer relate to God on the basis of what He can do for us, but on the basis of how we can know Him and be more fully conformed to His will and purpose.

Here some practical suggestions for making the transition. Understand that I am not suggesting that we should never ask God for anything. But as a matter of principal, we must change our attitude from one that is ego-centered in me and my needs and desires to one that is centered in the Lord, His kingdom, and His will.

Don’t Seek Gifts, Seek the Giver of Gifts

In the early 1950s a certain pastor attended a William Branham crusade and was awed by the miraculous gifts that he saw demonstrated through Brother Branham. This pastor returned home and announced to his wife and congregation that he was shutting himself away in his office to fast and pray until God gave him a ministry like Brother Branham. He fasted for 84 days and died without hearing anything from God. What was the problem? He was not seeking the Lord. His fasting and praying were self-serving. He was seeking a ministry that he thought would give him personal status and prestige. If the modern charismatic movement is to move to the next level of God’s will and purpose, we must move away from an approach to God that is self-serving to one that gives priority to knowing and serving Him.

The LORD ALMIGHTY sent me this message: Say to all your people and your priests, “During those seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and at the festival in early autumn, was it really for Me that you were fasting? And even now in your holy festivals, you don’t think about Me but only of pleasing yourselves (Zech. 7:4-6).

Don’t Seek Healing, Seek the Healer

When I was 3 weeks old my 7-year-old brother, nicknamed Pete, was run over by a large farming tractor that also pulled the large discs behind it over him. Unconscious and with blood bubbling from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears, my parents rushed him to the nearest hospital where he was examined by three physicians. They all agreed in their assessment that he would not live more than 10 minutes since he had, at least, a broken rib that had punctured a lung.

From Pneuma Review Fall 2013.

Introduction

Many people, who are familiar with the history and teachings of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, have likely heard of the revival known as the New Order of the Latter Rain. Was this a legitimate revival? Was it an authentic move of the Holy Spirit? Perhaps what is most commonly known about the revival was told with a negative emphasis on its fringe doctrines, which include the doctrine of Manifest Sons and personal prophetic words of direction.

There was no new doctrine introduced in the New Order of the Latter Rain. However, the movement is most remembered for its doctrinal controversies. At the center was an interpersonal conflict that became camouflaged by a denominational dispute. Nearsighted presuppositions obstructed objectivity. The sin of pride caused further division in the body of Christ. Yet, the fruit that remains demonstrates that both sides of this issue have proven to be effective in the ministry of the Kingdom of God. The words of David du Plessis are apropos:

There is nothing that can ever take the place of the Holy Spirit in the church. Let us pray for a greater outpouring than ever, and remember when the floods come it will not keep to our well prepared channels but it will overflow and probably cause chaos in our regular programs.¹

General Historical Context
The term “latter rain” must first be defined because it is used in many contexts to refer to several distinct movements of the Holy Spirit. In this essay, it will be referred to as the New Order of the Latter Rain (NOLR) to distinguish it from other “latter rain” revivals. Specifically, NOLR will refer to the movement which began in 1948, in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, and which spread throughout the world in various attributes and nuances. Several articles and books provide a non-polemical background for this movement.² Many other articles and books are written from an apologetic perspective.³ The term “latter rain” became popular to the Pentecostal Movement.⁴ David W. Myland illustrated this premise, first through the writing of hymns, then through the association of the natural rainfall in Palestine by pointing out the spiritual analogy of it.⁵