Book Review: Holy Fire by R. T. Kendall
Book Review: Holy Fire by R. T. Kendall
A Balanced, Biblical Look At The Holy Spirit’s Work In Our Lives (the subtitle) As with a lot of books I review, the subtitle more appropriately tells the subject of the book compared to its title. Especially those two words—balanced and biblical. Those are two of the best words to describe this book. It is balanced by presenting many sides to each argument. It is balanced by talking about the Spirit and the truth. It is biblical with its many verses cited (that did not seem out of context to me). It is biblical in the way he greatly encourages personal regular Bible reading and prayer.
This book is also thorough. No topic related to the main idea has been left out. He talks both about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruits, about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and about cessationism. He also thoroughly discusses every Bible verse related to actual fire, too.
This book is also controversial, in that, not every one will agree with everything that Mr. Kendall has written here. There will be dissenters on both sides of the fence. The author tries to tread lightly but actually steps on toes from both sides of some of the issues discussed. No need to take things personally though as this author does not “name names”. He talks mainly about doctrine and reveals actions but never people’s names.
Throughout I did not feel like Mr. Kendall’s opinions were presented in a bigoted or arrogant way. On the contrary, he was very humble, even revealing times in his life where he was wrong and had to change his mind about some belief related to the Holy Spirit. He also on several occasions admits to not knowing the answers and asking, “you tell me”.
Mr. Kendall’s reasoning was easy to follow and he mixed things up by adding in relevant personal stories, scriptures and quotes and stories from other respected Christian leaders.
He concludes with, “We must pray for the fire of God to fall on us today. But we must equally be faithful to teach the fear of God to be instilled in us today.” (page 191)
I am hard pressed to think of any Christian who can not benefit from reading this book. Even if you know you believe very similar doctrine to Mr. Kendall’s, there will be explanations that you could use to help explain these issues to others. And to cessationists, please, please, buy your own copy of this book!
To purchase your own copy of this book go here:Holy Fire: A Balanced, Biblical Look at the Holy Spirit’s Work in Our Lives
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Charisma House Publishers through their blogging for books program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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Other book reviews you may like:
Hosting the Presence by Bill Johnson
The Lost Art of Pure Worship by James Goll and Chris Dupre
These are the Days of Elijah by R. T. Kendall
The God Chasers by Tommy Tenney
To see the list and links of ALL my book reviews go here.
(c) 2014 Cheryl Cope
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