On Monday, March 16, 2020, EMTs rushed Greg Mundis to the hospital. He had a high fever, was very weak, and worryingly, his oxygen level was 60. (Normal is 90 or higher.) At the hospital, doctors immediately intubated him and … Continue reading Embracing Hope in Times of Despair
Outsiders describe Pentecostals as people of the Spirit. After all, we practice spiritual gifts regularly. Our distinctive doctrine teaches that tongues is the initial physical evidence of Spirit baptism. People of the Spirit is even the title of an official … Continue reading Saved, Delivered, and Healed | Book Review
“Many people simply take it for granted that miracles don’t happen,” writes Craig Keener. But is that assumption true? Or is it the case that God performs miracles in the modern world? In Miracles Today, Keener answers those questions by describing … Continue reading An Empirical Case for Miracles | Influence Podcast
No one denies that the Bible contains accounts of miracles. Furthermore, no one denies that people claim to experience or witness miracles even today. The question is whether putative miracles are supernatural works of God or merely anomalies that await … Continue reading Miracles Today | Book Review
Twenty-seven years ago, Jack Deere published Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, the story of how and why he stopped being a cessationist and started practicing a charismatic form of spirituality. Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power … Continue reading Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit | Book Review
Readers of a certain age remember Kathryn Kuhlman (1907–1976). She was “the miracle lady,” whose catchphrase, “I believe in miracles because I believe in God,” inspired millions to seek faith in Jesus Christ and the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements even described her as the “world’s most widely known female evangelist.” Younger readers are likely unfamiliar with Kuhlman, however. Her miracle services, radio ministry, and syndicated television show, though well attended and widely consumed in her day, lost influence after her death. This decline was not unexpected. The ministries of … Continue reading The Miracle Lady | Book Review
“In our society today, it is estimated that up to one in four girls and one in six boys experience sexual abuse in childhood. Experts also estimate that as many as half of the incidents are not reported. Millions of people, both children and adults, face each day with this hidden, complex pain.” Tim Hein opens Understanding Sexual Abuse with this astounding and depressing statistic. It’s one that pastors and church leaders need to think about. Although we’d like to claim that sexual abuse happens out there (the world), not in here (the church), we all know that’s false. Sexually … Continue reading Understanding Sexual Abuse | Book Review
On Pentecost Sunday evening, 1981, a young woman walked down the aisle of Wheaton Wesleyan Church in Wheaton, Illinois. Church attendance wasn’t uncommon in that city, which housed the headquarters of many evangelical institutions, including Wheaton College. And yet, this young woman’s steps elicited gasps from those in attendance. Why? Because Barbara — that was the young woman’s name — had been diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis 16 years earlier. She hadn’t been able to walk for seven years. Indeed, at that point, the progression of her illness was so severe that she was in hospice care at her home, … Continue reading The Case for Miracles | Book Review
Cornelia Nuzum, The Life of Faith (Springfield, MO: My Healthy Church, 2014). Paperback | Kindle [Author’s note: I wrote the Foreword to a forthcoming new printing of The Life of Faith, which I’m posting here as a review.] The Life of Faith by Cornelia Nuzum is worth reading for historical and spiritual reasons. As a matter of history, it reflects the emphasis on faith that characterized the first generation of Pentecostals. That faith confidently proclaimed that the believer was heir to the promises God had fulfilled through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Those promises touched on … Continue reading Review of ‘The Life of Faith’ by Cornelia Nuzum
John MacArthur, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2013). Hardback / Kindle In 2014, the Assemblies of God completes its 100th year of ministry. From humble beginnings in Hot Springs, Ark., our Fellowship has grown to encompass over 66 million believers in 252 countries, territories, and provinces.[1] Faithful saints have planted and watered gospel seeds during these years, but God has made them grow (1 Corinthians 3:6). The AG is part of the Charismatic Movement, which now numbers over 500 million persons worldwide.[2] That movement has shifted the center of Christianity from … Continue reading Review of ‘Strange Fire’ by John MacArthur
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