(Cover via Amazon)

By Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway (London & Grand Rapids: Monarch Books, 2002, 351 pages)

The incredible true story of Chinese evangelist Liu Zhenying known to his Christian friends as Brother Yun. It is his own personal testimony along with the reflections of his wife Deling who supported him in the ministry and though many trials and tribulations. The ups and downs, the joys, the victories, along with the low points, failures, and all of the warts. It is there for all to read.

The Communist government did everything they could to destroy the Christian church in China and very little visibly remained by 1970.

The story of brother Yun gives you a small taste of how the Christian church relegated to the dust bin of history rose up to become the force it is today in China with more than 100 million believers. It was entirely a move of God and this story reads like the book of Acts.

An incredible life changing book, one that I highly recommend. Unfortunately Brother Yun has become the target of critics within the Western church. Many have a hard time believing all of the healings and miracles he testifies of here.

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you though this book and you will never be the same. Hereafter that comfortable pew you sit in on Sunday will never be quite so comfortable again. Beware, you could actually receive a new calling and a new vision of where the lord wants to take you.

<<Read my complete review of the book>>             *Top          

By Bob Walsh (Berkeley, CA: Apress, 2007, 351 pages)

An excellent book on why one should blog and how to get started. Bob suggests that one starts by reading lots of blogs and become initially engaged in the blogoshere by leaving comments.

Next he gives suggestions about getting started publishing a blog with Blogger, Windows Live, and TypePad and evaluates which blogging platform might be best for you considering your goals and what type of blog you wish to publish.

<<Read the rest of this review on my BOOK Reviews blog>>

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Brand new for 2008, an essential book for those using WordPress in publishing a blog. <Read the Review on my Blogging Ministry site>

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Folk music was popular at the time so we slightly changed the words of one Dillon song and two of Simon and Garfunkel’s and had the congregation sing with our guitars instead of the regular hymns. This was way radical at the time, there was no such thing as ‘contemporary’ worship music.

The Jesus people, Calvary Chapel, and Chuck Smith were just getting started 20 miles down the freeway. It was a great experience for the kids. However, the Pastor received all sorts of complaints from some of the elders in the congregation. Many of the comments seem rather funny now.
I read the scripture and preached out of one of the new versions of the Bible (don’t remember which). There were more than a few comments about that choice. Then the guitars were referenced as “tools of the devil”. The Pastor never did tell me what they really said about the music, but it wasn’t good. LOL.

This was a church that sang 3 or 4 good ol’ hymns all written in the good ol’ days of 1700-1900, and accompanied by God’s own instrument, the organ. I was also the regular church organist at the time, but that day I was guilty of leading the congregation with a guitar.

But you know what, the Holy Spirit did show up and some people also told the Pastor that they were blessed. We ended up doing several more services that year and it really did bless the kids that were involved and made them feel like they were really part of the church.

Now back to ‘Hip-Hop’. I can’t imagine how that kind of music can be redeemed. Only God can redeem something like that noise along with all the severe words that seem to attend it. Now I am one of those old fogeys who can’t conceive that anyone could be blessed listening to that kind of ‘worship music’, and the Holy Spirit just reminded me of the time when things were a whole lot different.

If people come to Jesus and can worship with that noise, then may God richly bless them. What do you think? I am especially interested in hearing from some of you younger folk out there, and from some who worship in ethnic or black churches.

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Jesus says to the world: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” -Matt. 11:28-30.

1. It is the world that is really the burden, Jesus offers to lift the burdens off of those who come to him. He offers joy and the abundant life:

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” -John 15:11.

Jesus says: “…come to me and drink” (John 7:37). The whole world is searching for some kind of satisfaction, for fulfillment and purpose in life. Coming to Jesus means that you get it all and everlasting life:

“Whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

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2. Coming to Jesus is the first step, however not everyone wants to come. Jesus looked over Jerusalem and lamented:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, …How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Matt. 23:37).

He said to some religious leaders confronting him one day:

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).

3. Why don’t people come to Jesus? One answer is that they “refuse to come“. It is a matter of free choice. However, those who come to Jesus, come because God the Father himself has drawn them to his Son:

“No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father” (John 6:65).

It is the Father who opens the eyes of those of us who are spiritually blind and encourages us to come to his Son. Praise God for his mercy and his Spirit which brings us to the water and gives us everything we need in this life and in the life to come, through his Son Jesus. Thank you Father for helping us to come to your Son.

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Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” -John 3:3; Jesus answered, …” Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” -John 3:5,7

John 3 records a conversation between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Nic starts by complimenting Jesus. Then Jesus immediately begins to proclaim a teaching that emphasizes their differences. The Pharisees believed that one could ‘justify’ themselves and gain eternal life by knowing and following all of the Mosaic Law. Jesus says, nope that won’t cut it, ‘you must be born again’. Nic was a member of the Sanhedrin and an expert in the OT scriptures, and yet he did not understand what Jesus was talking about. Jesus was actually reflecting on the words of Ezekiel:

” I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” -Ezekiel 36:25-27

Jesus is teaching here that God himself will cleanse his people and give them a new Spirit, a spirit which will help to bring about a change of heart. The scripture says that it will be the ‘Spirit of God’ that will be put within them, and that it will help in following his statutes and ways. This is OT and Nic had no idea, nor did he know that this would soon be fulfilled.

Jesus continued the discussion by saying: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. “

‘Flesh’ represents ordinary humanity, the natural human condition. “We are not born spiritually alive with a heart that loves God. We are born spiritually dead”1 Jesus teaches here that all humanity is divided into two camps:

1. Those who are born only once– born naturally, “Born of the flesh” and spiritually dead.

2. Those who are ‘reborn’–”born again” by the Spirit of God, alive and changed by him. Those who see and seek his kingdom.

What Jesus demands from Nicodemus, he demands from everyone in the world. Nic was considered a ‘righteous’ leader among the Jewish folk, and yet he still was spiritually ‘dead’. It doesn’t matter how good you are, or what race and ethnic group you belong to, Dead is Dead. There is nothing that you can do naturally by yourself to get into the Kingdom of God. You must be ‘reborn’ by the Spirit of God. It’s not one of those ‘self-help’ programs, it is a gift from God that activates a new ‘supernatural’ life. John Piper finishes the chapter:

“Look away from yourself. Seek from God what he alone can do for you. Moral improvement of the old you is not what you need. New life is what the whole world needs. It is radical and supernatural. It is outside our control. The dead do not give themselves new life. We must be born again–”not…of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). That is what Jesus demands from the world.” 2

1 John Piper,p. 38; 2 ,p. 39

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John Piper has some incredible thoughts in his newest book, on the teaching of Jesus. I say incredible, because we are so use to preachers and teachers presenting and emphasizing only the barest minimum requirements for salvation as normative Christianity. Dr. Piper goes way beyond that in this book, he actually presents all the demands that Jesus made of his followers. Imagine that! Demands? Obviously he hasn’t been paying attention to the latest church growth strategies for going after the unchurched in suburbia.

A recent popular slogan WWJD (what would Jesus do) sounds good, but is typically and severely limited by our modern inadequate perceptions about Jesus. Pastor Piper presents to us the unvarnished truth in the form of what Jesus actually said. There is a lot of demands here, a bunch of ‘do’s', and even some ‘don’ts’. Some of it is the kind of stuff that many Christians want to discount as ‘Old Covenant’.

Dr. Piper starts with ‘the great commission’ (Matt. 28:18-20):

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He points out that the ‘All authority’ includes us and really everyone else in the world. So Jesus does have the authority to make demands (obviously). We are supposed to go and make disciples in every nation. What does it mean ‘make disciples’? Obviously we are supposed to tell folk about Jesus, and when they believe, we are supposed to baptize them. That’s about as far as many of us go. But according to Piper and according to the words of Jesus, we are supposed to teach them to observe all the commands and demands of Jesus.

How does one observe all the commands and teachings of Jesus? Isn’t that rather impossible? Yes it would seem to be: “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27) However, we are not alone. He is with us all the way and he has given us his Spirit to dwell within.

The book contains 50 short chapters, each one exploring one of the demands of Jesus. I hope to write short articles on each one.

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Bill Johnson is the senior pastor of Bethel Church (AG) of Redding, California, but more than that, he is one of those leading the charge towards true revival. ‘When Heaven Invades Earth’ is more than a clever title, this book identifies how life can really change for the better when ‘The Kingdom’ really does come into one’s life, after all our prayers asking for it.

I found myself reading the chapters slowly in order to receive the entire message. There is a lot here to consider. It is a clarion call to leave behind the ordinary and enter into a new way of thinking and a new way of life where healing and miracles are looked for and expected. It is a call for a change of world view. It is a challenge to leave the regular religious stuff behind and to really seek first the Kingdom and to really seek a closer relationship with God. To really expect the Kingdom to be manifest in power, and not merely in words.

Bill Johnson really does live and aspire to what he is talking about in his book. Several years ago I had the opportunity to pray for the sick along with Bill and several others on our ministry team. It had been a long night and midnight was closing in. A young man hobbled up to us with one leg obviously shorter than the other by three inches or so. I must admit that I had some doubt at first. Bill had him lay down and we began to pray for him. With full confidence, Bill Johnson held the young mans foot and commanded the leg to grow and it did. We kept on praying until the leg was fully extended to the same length as the other one. It was a night that I will never forget.

This book goes far beyond what one can explain in a short review, this is one of those rare life changing books that only comes along every once in a while. At least it was for me.

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Rolland and Heidi Baker tell their own incredible story in this book, starting at the beginning, how they met, their education and preparation (both completed their BA & MA degrees at Vanguard University, and Heidi has a PHD in Systematic Theology from King’s College, University of London), how they were called to missions, serving first in Hong Kong, and then how they eventually ended up in Mozambique serving the poorest of the poor.

The story of their Mozambique mission reads like the Book of Acts. Incredible victories, miracles, healings, feeding hundreds with just enough food for a family, bringing 10′s of thousands to Christ, birthing 6000 churches, training thousands of pastors and leaders, true revival, and also incredible opposition, and a multitude of frustrating situations. The real story is not about the huge numbers and success, it is about the Baker’s willingness to help one person at a time. Their reaching out to one orphan after another, bringing love, care, and Christ to those who have none of the above, and have been rejected in probably the poorest country in the world. Their testimony and their obvious humility, causes one to be encouraged and to celebrate the greatness of our God, also to seek revival in one’s own life and community. If you really want to know the truth about the Baker’s, this book is the best place to start. The book is available through many Christian book stores, or directly through the Baker’s ministry site: http://www.irismin.com/products.html Also: Check out their ministry blog and newsletter while you are at it: http://www.irismin.org/wordpress

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Kris is the head of the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, and Senior Associate Pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California (Bill Johnson is the Senior Pastor). He is also a recognized prophetic minister who has been involved in training and overseeing a large number of prophetic teams in the United States and internationally.

This is essentially a ‘basic training manual’ for prophetic ministry. A valuable tool for those who are developing prophetic teams, growing into the ministry as an individual, or for Pastors who would like to develop and guide prophetic ministry in their church.

Some of the topics covered: ‘Learning to Hear The Voice of God’; ‘The Purpose of Prophetic Ministry’; ‘The Difference Between The Office of Prophet and The Gift of Prophecy’; ‘Judging and Receiving Prophetic Words’; ‘Ministering in and Receiving the Gift of Prophecy’; ‘Prophetic Etiquette’; ‘False Prophets’; and ‘Practicing Prophecy’.

I highly recommend this book for those growing in the prophetic, and also for Pastors seeking guidelines for how prophetic ministry should work, edify, and complement other ministries in the local church. It is amazing how this manual is easy to understand, and yet at the same time, it is quite comprehensive and profound. All of the important stuff is here in 95 pages, with study guides included. The book may be ordered through: Bethel Church-Store

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