Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks and Heals Today

by Jack Deere

Publisher:

Zondervan

, 2020

Overview

In his classic Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, Jack Deere looked at the reason why many Christians (including himself at the time) struggle to believe in miraculous gifts, and he provided a groundbreaking biblical defense of the Holy Spirit’s speaking and healing activities today.

In Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, the former Dallas Seminary professor revisits his earlier subject matter with fresh insight and even stronger conviction: the Scriptures teach that God is healing and speaking today just as he did 2,000 years ago.

Having almost entirely rewritten Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, this new edition comes at a time when the theological landscape has dramatically changed, and most evangelicals do believe in all the gifts of the Spirit. But many of us are still unsure how to understand those gifts, and there is much confusion today on what it means to be filled with the Spirit.

This book is for those familiar with Deere’s work and for newcomers alike. In it, he:

• Explains the nature of spiritual gifts, defining each of them.
• Offers sound advice on discovering and using spiritual gifts in church.
• Tells documented stories of modern miracles and encounters with demonic powers.
• Examines the New Testament use of the phrase “filled with the Spirit” to show why and how God still fills his servants with the Holy Spirit.
• Introduces the newest literature defending and explaining the gifts of the Spirit.

With the care of a scholar and the passion of personal experience, this new edition builds upon the legacy of Surprised by the Power of the Spirit and the profound impact it’s had among Christians of many traditions.

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Contents

Top Highlights

“For those of us who are leaders, whether we lead a home group or a church, one of our primary responsibilities is to create an atmosphere that is conducive to the forming of deep friendships.” (source)

“Peter was empowered by the Holy Spirit to give supernatural prophetic testimony to Jesus to an audience of hostile unbelievers.³ This example proves that the filling of the Holy Spirit does not necessitate speaking in tongues. It is not some generalized power to live a better Christian life. It is a temporary experience of power. The power comes on Peter when he needs it and then lifts off from him when he is no longer speaking. Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and then again weeks later in front of the rulers.⁴ Thus, the filling of the Spirit is a temporary, repeatable, prophetic empowering to testify about Jesus to hostile unbelievers.” (source)

“Faith is confidence in Jesus to do what he promised he would do. If he doesn’t promise everyone healing in this life, what does he promise us? The promise I live by, the promise I pray by, the promise that has never failed me, is Hebrews 4:16: ‘Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’” (source)

“When people don’t get healed, I say, ‘I don’t know why God didn’t heal you. Let’s pray for you next week and every week after that until you get healed or until God tells us to stop praying because he is going to give you grace to endure this.’ People aren’t hurt by this approach. They feel loved and important because we care enough to keep praying for them.” (source)

Product Details

• Title : Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks and Heals Today
• Author: Deere, Jack S.
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 2020
• ISBN: 9780310108139

About Jack Deere

Jack Deere, is a charismatic pastor and theologian from the USA. He was an associate professor of Old Testament at Dallas Seminary, a bastion of cessationism, the doctrine that the charismatic gifts of the Spirit, such as tongues, prophecy and healing, ended at the close of the 1st century. In the late 1980s, he abandoned his earlier theological position, announcing that he had experienced the charismatic gifts for himself through the ministry of John Wimber.