Surprised by the Power of the Spirit

I just finished reading Surprised by the Power of the Spirit written by pastor and scholar, Jack Deere [not to be confused with John Deere - the farm implement mogul]. You can read a short biography here.

I must say I was pleasantly "surprised" with the content of this book. I am usually skeptical of book titles which include words like - power and Spirit - but I really appreciated Deere's authenticity as he writes not only from a Bible professor's perspective but also from a testimonial perspective. Testimonially, he shared about how for decades he not only read but taught others [from the Bible no less] that spiritual gifts such as healing, prophecy, tongues, and the like ceased to exist when the last of the apostles died on earth. He had what is called a "cessationist" view of the world. But all that radically change for Deere on an occasion where he saw first hand the awesome power of God's Spirit heal someone he actually knew! Following that event, he dove deeply in to the biblical text and began to question all that he previously believed about healing and the spiritual gifts, and he realized that God did not withdraw his gifts; rather the church has withdrawn from God! He has gone on to plant several churches and continues to be a man who prays for the sick and encourages his parishioners to seek the spiritual gifts which God freely gives to those who pursue them for the the edification and the building up of His church.

Deere's book has a good deal of technical content as well whereby he looks at the biblical texts dealing with spiritual power and gifts and he talks about how they are relevant and useful to the church today. He also midly deals with the aspects of why God does or does not heal today - which is always a source of debate!

If I had the opportunity to meet Jack Deere, I would ask him to talk more about world view - specifically to talk about how the different lenses in which we view the world around us affect how we read the Bible. Though he doesn't say in his book that his "world view" changed - it is apparent that this is the case. Overall, I found this book to be very helpful as an introductory text in the realm of spiritual power, gifts, and healing.