Month: March 2011

Review of There is More: Reclaiming the Power of Impartation by Randy Clark

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Genre: Spiritual Growth/Biography

Recommended.

Randy Clark is best known for his prominent influence in the Toronto Blessing–the revival in Canada in the 1990s. Now that we are some time from the event of the Toronto Blessing, Clark shares his testimony, and the testimonies of others regarding the work of the Spirit, especially in regard to the impartation of the Holy Spirit during and after this occurrence. He writes, “I am writing this book to answer the question, ‘Where’s the fruit?’ I am responding to the critics because there has been time for those who were so powerfully touched to bring to the Master the sheaves of their harvest” (152). This statement adequately describes the purpose of most of the book. As one who is not so familiar with the Toronto Blessing, or even his ministry, Global Awakening, I found it very interesting to get ‘behind the scenes’ with Randy to discover his background (turns out he began as a Baptist) and the huge ways the Lord has used and anointed him in ministry. He also gives countless testimonies from others who experienced an anointing of supernatural power, deeper intimacy with God and exciting new manifestations of the Holy Spirit after receiving impartation at the Toronto Blessing.

A smaller portion of the book (the beginning and end) dealt with the material I expected to read. That is, the history and biblical basis for impartation, a good definition of impartation, and how we can prepare our spirits to receive this gift of grace. While his writing is succinct and informative, there is a lot he didn’t go into; I think another book could be written on impartation itself, and I’m not sure the sub-title truly fits the content of this book. Overall though, this is a book of powerful words and awesome testimonies: an inspiring read!

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Review of No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green by Melody Green and David Hazard (Legacy Edition)

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Genre: Biography/Autobiography

Highly Recommended!

This is one of the best books I’ve read in awhile. Keith Green was a composer and musician who pursued God passionately and only became more passionate after finding the One he was looking for. His life was short, but his spiritual legacy still continues after his death.

I love how honest this account of his life is. Keith’s wife, Melody, writes his story (as well as her own) using clips of his personal journal entries and songs. She doesn’t shy away from sharing the questions and struggles he had in his pursuit of God, nor does she quench his deep passions and dreams. I was deeply encouraged by his boldness, fearlessness, love of God and people, and especially that within all these things, he still had questions, still made mistakes, and didn’t have it all together.

This is also a great book for a book club or Bible study. I read it along with a class I’m taking and we had many lively discussions. Almost all of us expressed the Holy Spirit had communicated to us through Keith’s life: encouraging us, exhorting us, creating more introspection into our lives, or bringing us to a new level of passion or intimacy with Him. I don’t usually read biographies, but this one was excellent! It has caused me to think deeply and live with a deeper awareness of the effect of my actions.

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Understanding Biblical Prophecy

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I was interested in prophecy even before I encountered the Lord: first, because it was thrilling and a bit frightening, and now because I love the Lord so much I want to know everything about what He’s doing. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned that can make the study of Biblical prophecy more enriching and productive:

1) The heart of all prophecy is the revelation of Jesus the Messiah. While it can be easy to get caught up in solving the riddles and filling out the charts, if we miss what Jesus is saying about Himself, then we’re missing the point. It doesn’t matter how much head knowledge we gain if the relational part is missing.

2) Jesus shares His deep secrets with His friends. Being a “Christian” doesn’t qualify us as being His friend–spending time getting to know Him does.  Understanding prophecy is very easy–it’s a lot of patience and a lot of listening, starting on a foundation of friendship. Jesus will reveal layer after layer of deep wisdom in His timing and as per His priority.

3) The Bible has a lot to say. When God speaks we should listen, yet when it comes to reading the Bible, many assume that it can’t mean what it says.  The truth is, the Bible is straight-forward most of the time. When we don’t understand, we should pray into it, rather than assume it must be saying something else.

4) It doesn’t take brilliance to hear from the Lord, but some study is required. I’ve met intellectual Christians who over-complicate simple spiritual truths and spend more time on the word level of the Bible than the main picture and miss the point; and I’ve met emotionally oriented Christians who trust in verses out of context and can’t rationally defend their faiths. Either extreme is not good, but we can trust that God has called all people, regardless of personality and ‘smarts’, to follow Him. Our relationship with Him takes diligence in both learning and listening.

5) Prophecy can’t be learned through books and commentaries! I’m not saying not to read commentaries, but to read them with care. Even if the author is brilliant and right on, spiritual wisdom must be passed through spiritual methods–it doesn’t help to have rote understanding of what may be if we can’t hear it from the Lord ourselves.  We must all cultivate our own relationships with the Lord.

6) End time prophecy is sealed until the appointed time. I strongly believe that the appointed time is quickly nearing and that we have increasingly more understanding of what the Spirit has been saying to the church since the beginning; but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We learn, and ask, and listen for understanding and are given it one new piece at a time. We need to be careful not to fill in the missing pieces with our own knowledge. It’s okay to admit that we don’t understand everything right now.

7) Prophecy is more than just the “prophetic” passages. To get God’s full message, we study everything He says and everything He does. We study the history of His people the Jews, the history of the church, and we even examine our own lives for clues to what He’s been doing in the past and present that reveal His heart for the future. It’s not just about Revelation and Daniel and so forth; when we know His heart, we know His battle plan.

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Review of Called to Worship by Vernon M. Whaley

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Genre: Academic Theology

Not Recommended, but OK.

I really wanted to like this book.  In fact, I’ve held off writing the review hoping I might change my mind, but I haven’t.

Called to Worship is written in a semi-textbook semi-personal style, which was not to my liking; but the main reason I didn’t like it is that it felt like something very important was missing from the text.  I can’t quite describe what it is–heart, maybe, or intimacy.  It’s just that, I have the best time worshiping the Lord; it’s a very tangible experience for me.  I sing to Him, I dance for Him, I paint with Him, I talk with Him.  Sometimes I lie on the floor and soak in the presence of God; other times I’ll kneel; I might even jump.  I might be overwhelmed with joy so much I can’t stop laughing.  Other times, I may feel my heart so bursting with love that I cry and begin to intercede for peoples or nations or situations.  I know that intimacy with the Lord varies per believer, and in fact, that’s one of the reasons I was interested in this book–to learn more about how others throughout scripture have connected with Him.  But that’s not what this book is for–it describes various aspects of worship without ever describing the heart of worship.  It’s on the one hand very thorough and yet lacks depth.

That said, the theology is pretty solid (though confined by his conservative worldview); the structure is easy to follow and can be read in independent chapters or as a whole; and for the reader who is looking into the study of worship for the first time, it gives a very nice introduction to various aspects of worship which could later be scrutinized in more depth.  I’m sure this book could be useful to someone, it just wasn’t to me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogging Program through booksneeze.com.

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