First, I want to say that I'm not necessarily a Charismatic Christian. That's not the church culture that I'm in and it's not how I was raised. But more and more, as I read through scripture, I'm seeing that Charismatic churches reflect more of the Biblical models given by Jesus and the apostles than most Conservative or Evangelical churches do.
With that as my background, a curious newbie to the Charismatic genre of faith, I have to say I really enjoyed reading There is More: The Secret to Experiencing God's Power to Change Your Life by Randy Clark. To me, this book read like a Charismatic primer, an introduction to how and what an indwelling of the Holy Spirit should look like. It dwells mainly on the subject of impartations, special gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as healing, casting out demons, prophesy, words of knowledge, etc. He uses scripture and his experiential background to explain how to prepare yourself to receive these gifts, what they look like and how to use them. He uses a nice balance of scriptural references, historical references, testimonies of various Christians and his own experience to try and draw a picture of this mysterious aspect of Christian life.
What I appreciate most is that Randy Clark was not from a Charismatic background to start with, but as he grew in Christ, he became more and more familiar with the work of the Holy Spirit that most Christians write off as too freaky for church. I could relate to him because I come from a similar place and feel the same tug toward becoming more intimate with the Holy Spirit. There wasn't any level of mystic/New Age attitude, no preachiness about if you don't have the gift of tongues, you aren't a Christian, and he constantly emphasized humility and how humility is a key component of doing this kind of work for the Kingdom. I trusted his perspectives on things and really keyed into his ideas about how this all works.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone seeking out a more Charismatic aspect to their Christian walk or who are curious as to what these gifts are all about. I'm sure that this topic is a dicey one that many people are going to disagree with or fight against, but the author delivered the topic with that critical balance of authority and humility that points to a Christ centered theology.
I was provided this book free of charge by Baker Publishing Group in return for my honest review.
With that as my background, a curious newbie to the Charismatic genre of faith, I have to say I really enjoyed reading There is More: The Secret to Experiencing God's Power to Change Your Life by Randy Clark. To me, this book read like a Charismatic primer, an introduction to how and what an indwelling of the Holy Spirit should look like. It dwells mainly on the subject of impartations, special gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as healing, casting out demons, prophesy, words of knowledge, etc. He uses scripture and his experiential background to explain how to prepare yourself to receive these gifts, what they look like and how to use them. He uses a nice balance of scriptural references, historical references, testimonies of various Christians and his own experience to try and draw a picture of this mysterious aspect of Christian life.
What I appreciate most is that Randy Clark was not from a Charismatic background to start with, but as he grew in Christ, he became more and more familiar with the work of the Holy Spirit that most Christians write off as too freaky for church. I could relate to him because I come from a similar place and feel the same tug toward becoming more intimate with the Holy Spirit. There wasn't any level of mystic/New Age attitude, no preachiness about if you don't have the gift of tongues, you aren't a Christian, and he constantly emphasized humility and how humility is a key component of doing this kind of work for the Kingdom. I trusted his perspectives on things and really keyed into his ideas about how this all works.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone seeking out a more Charismatic aspect to their Christian walk or who are curious as to what these gifts are all about. I'm sure that this topic is a dicey one that many people are going to disagree with or fight against, but the author delivered the topic with that critical balance of authority and humility that points to a Christ centered theology.
I was provided this book free of charge by Baker Publishing Group in return for my honest review.
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