Another book on spiritual warfare, intercession and evangelism. Lots of examples, and very readable.
Tag Archives: Christian life
Hungry for more of Jesus: The way of intimacy with Christ – David Wilkerson
This is a powerful book, well-written and readable, just what you’d expect from the man who invented Teen Challenge and experienced and wrote about the events in The Cross and the Switchblade. This is a good book for making notes on, writing in, and reading several times. Highly recommended.
Churches Beware (a modern edition of ‘Warnings to the Churches’) – J.C. Ryle
Mr Ryle was the first bishop of Liverpool. And a very sensible man. He said such inifinitely wise things as: ‘But it is useless ot expect attachment ot the local parish church, when the local minister is ignorant of the gospel or a lover of the world. In such a case we must never be surprised if men forsake their local parish church, and seek truth wherever truth is to be found.’ Wise words. However, writing in the nineteenth century, he could not have foreseen a time when such churches still had people in them despite the gospel not having been preached in living memory. He could not therefore have foreseen a time when the membership of some churches was predominantly made up by people who show all the signs of not being saved.
It’s a great book, but you could argue it’s out of date. A lot of the things he was warning the churches about has already happened. Still, Mr Ryle is a top chap.
Excuse Me… Your Rejection is Showing – Noel and Phyl Gibson
I’ve had this book for years and never read it because of the dodgy title. However, sometimes it’s wrong to judge a book by its cover.
This book starts with the premise that rejection has happened in some way to many or most people. And this rejection can have a major detrimental effect on the rest of their life. It’s interesting, practical, and very positive.
Revival – Charles Finney
Tiny book, but great. Some really brilliant stuff in here. It’s a collection of some of Mr Finney’s sermons and shows the best (probably) of his profound, timeless and biblical wisdom. Refreshing.
Warfare Prayer – C Peter Wagner
This book contains a lot of biblical wisdom, the only beef I have with Peter Wagner is that he’s into church growth, which doesn’t seem bad until you consider that church growth is more about getting bums on seats (and coins in the collection plate) than it is about discipling and spiritual maturity. Still the book addresses points that are unavoidable for anyone serious about the power of prayer.
Let go of your bacon
Ever been crab fishing? It’s quite simple, you attach a bit of bacon to a line, dangle it in the sea and wait for a crab to grab the bacon. Crabs aren’t very clever, and they keep holding on to the bacon – they don’t necessarily eat it, they just hold on. That makes them easier to catch.
Christians can be the same.
Smith Wigglesworth said a lot of interesting things. One of those things is: ‘Never look back if you want the power of God in your life. You will find out that in the measure you have allowed yourself to look back you have missed that which God had for you.’ He also said: ‘There is a difference between a movement and a monument. A movement is something that is always active. A monument is something that is fixed at a corner and neither speaks nor moves, but there is a tremendous lot of humbug and nonsense to get it there. It is silent and does nothing. A movement is where God has come into the very being of a person, where he becomes active for God. He is God’s property, God’s mouthpiece, God’s eyes, God’s hands.’
I think sometimes we can harp on about what God has already done with us that we miss the next thing he has planned.
That’s why it’s a good idea to let go of that floppy bacon and watch out for something juicy coming along that God has you in mind for.
Healing the Human Spirit – Ruth Hawkey
It’s only a short book, but I was a little disappointed. It doesn’t have anything more than the absolute basics in it, but what there is is good.
The Hour that Changes the World – Dick Eastman
The premise of this book is that if we all dedicated ourselves to spending an hour a day on God, then not only would we be different, but the world would be different too. Mr Eastman recommends a structure to time spent with God, and explains the rationale. Interesting and inspiring.
God’s Chosen Fast – Arthur Wallis
This is a sensible, biblical view on fasting. It’s inspiringly written by a holy man, who writes normal English for normal people. Thank goodness.
Love on its Knees: make a difference by praying for others – Dick Eastman
I love the title of this book. And I enjoyed the book too, it’s inspiring and encouraging, but it’s the sort of book you need to read several times just to take it all in. A prayer staple.
Pray in the Spirit – Arthur Wallis
He’s good. This is a sensible, ordinary man writing about prayer. All his books are worth reading.
The Voice of God: how God speaks personally and corporately to His children today – Cindy Jacobs
This is an interesting perspective on modern prophecy (different to biblical prophecy). Mrs Jacobs has an institutional church outlook which is clunky and a bit unhelpful at times, but essentially solid and biblical. Well-written and good use of examples.
Possessing the Gates of the Enemy – Cindy Jacobs
This is one of the books that’s on any bibliography of intercession. It’s pretty good, the points are well-explained, but there does seem to be an over-emphasis on the need for ‘covering’ from church leaders. Which is not quite so bad if your church leader happens to be a Christian… Still, it’s a good book, unfortunately marred by those bits that seem written specifically to keep the paid leadershp going. Shame.
You can develop strong Faith – Ian Christensen
I like the way Mr Christensen writes. He keeps to the point; it’s almost like he’s saying: ‘I won’t keep you long, but let me just tell you this.’ And he’s so wise as well. This is a fantastic book.
Turning Point – Jennifer Rees Larcombe
This is the preachy one. Sometimes people who have suffered massively make the assumption that they know how other people are feeling, or what they need to do. And sometimes applying someone else’s advice is the last thing that’s going to work – as Mrs Larcombe herself realised in her second book. So here she seems to be surfing on a wave of success and popularity and forgets the lessons she learned while getting there. I’d skip this book and read the other two.
Beyond Healing – Jennifer Rees Larcombe
This book has more about what God taught Mrs Larcombe about life and faith through illness. She writes well with honesty and humour, and more importantly humility without preachiness.
Where Have You Gone God? – Jennifer Rees Larcombe
This is an interesting book about Mrs Larcombe’s illness, her struggles, and her faith as she got closer to God, once she accepted that life was going to be different to what she expected or thought she was owed. Encouraging.
Answered Prayer is God’s Will for You – Ian Christensen
Well, sometimes you just wonder, don’t you? If you want something that you know God wants to give you, and you’re asking, asking, asking; why isn’t it here?
I read this book in frustration. It’s a good book, Mr Christensen is a sensible and biblical man. I’m going to go through this book again, with a magnifying glass.
Your Spiritual Gifts can Help Your Church Grow – C Peter Wagner
Well it was always going to be an interesting subject, and Mr Wagner writes so engagingly, it was an easy and absorbing book to read. He deals with the subject well, my only beef is that he seems to think in terms of churches that big is best – and of course we all know that’s not true! As usual with people who adhere to the institutional church model, he encounters difficulties with the church structure and therefore has to put new structures in place to counteract them, which means that in time, you really do have people spending the time they should dedicating to using their spiritual gifts on keeping the structure going. The other problem I had with the book is that at the end there’s a questionnaire tool to help people discover where their spiritual gifts may lie. Unfortunately on every single page, and twice on the first page there is the command that ‘Reproduction of any kind is prohibited!’ (It even includes the exclamation mark) And what’s wrong with that? Well only that because of his church structure he has set himself up in full-time employment and is therefore making money out of people trying to find out their spiritual gifts. Surely he won’t lose much by making it available to anyone? I find people who compromise on their message just to be grabby a bit irritating.
