Title: Strange Fire
Author: John MacArthur
Genre: Religion
Publisher: Nelson Books
Release Date: 2013
Pages: 333

Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, the brother of Moses, took God’s power into their own hands, thus being consumed by fire. In John MacArthur’s “Strange Fire”, he examines the dangerous practice of grieving the Holy Spirit, while building up your knowledge of true spiritual gifts, and the fruits of the spirit.

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Title: Halftime
Author: Bob P. Buford
Genre: Religion
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Pages: 224

At some point in everyone’s life, they think about a transition into something better. Whether its changing careers, or just advancing themselves, there is that exploratory period. Bob Buford had one of these points in his life. This is where Halftime happened.

Buford arranged the book perfectly. There are three parts that break out each point in what your life could look like. The first half of your life, your halftime, and the second half.

Part 1 answers a lot of questions and talks a lot about his personal experiences through the first half of his life. You’ll find yourself going through his struggles and journey. You’ll also find yourself relating to a lot of those struggles and journey. There was one point where I thought I was reading an autobiography.

Part 2 takes you through the concept of halftime. Halftime is that transition period that could be a few weeks, a few months, or even a few years. He encourages you to be patient, pray about it, and seek what God has in store for you. At that point, he encourages you to act on it quickly, all while telling his story of what he went through.

Part 3 then shows you what the rest of your life will look like. Finishing well and enjoying the benefits of life doing what you were intended to do. Letting God execute his plan can be a scary proposition. Reading Bob’s story and listening to his advice is reassuring and comforting.

One of the things I liked best about this book was the length. It isn’t long, but it’s not short either. There is nothing missing, and there’s no shortage of scripture, stories, or advice. I also appreciate the honesty in his words when he tells you to get out of your comfort zone and act on what you feel God wants you to do. I also appreciate his honesty that your second half may not be what you initially think it will be.

Halftime is a winner. Maybe even perfect. You’ll get sound, biblical based advice that will help you understand your restlessness. If you’re feeling like you need to be doing something different, or something more, this book is for you.

Title: Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow
Author: C. Peter Wagner
Genre: Religion
Publisher: Chosen Books
Release Date: June 20, 2017
Pages: 288

Revision as of 3/6/2018.

Spiritual gifts are a topic that I hadn’t heard or read much about. Sure, they’re laid out in the bible. I’ve heard about people learning to speak in tongues, and have met people claiming to have visions. I’ve heard the stories of people casting out demons. In the back of my mind, I knew had gifts of my own, but didn’t think of them outside of the things I seem to be good at.

Out of a recommendation that I take a spiritual gifts test, I began looking for a good book on the topic. That is when I came across Peter Wagner’s “Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Grow Your Church”. A book more than just learning how to grow a church. It takes you through an in-depth study on all of the spiritual gifts, along with a good history lesson on various groups throughout history.

I appreciated his history lesson when it comes to the Pentecostal movement. I’ve always been leery of people who claim they can speak in tongues. I don’t quite understand the point of trying to learn a gift that you don’t have. I also never understood why its limited to 1 or 2 things. This gave me a new perspective and a background to associate those questions with. Wagner also gives you a look inside other groups to compare them too, and a good biblical challenge to read and study the bible.

As you journey through what he has broken out to be 28 spiritual gifts, you’ll be met with real-life stories from him and other people he met along his life. He’ll use real-world examples to help you understand each spiritual gift, how to identify the ones you have, and how to understand ones you don’t have.

I didn’t always agree with his definition of a specific spiritual gift. He talked a lot about gift projection, and I felt sometimes he was stretching into that arena. He tried to be biblical about it, and I didn’t feel that he was inventing them, but I found a couple to be a little bit of a stretch. Then again, I am not the one giving out gifts, so maybe his feelings were valid.

From an attention span and ease read angle, this book was perfect. I couldn’t put it down, and found it smooth and easy to understand. Like all writers, he used some words that I considered “big” and had to refresh my memory on, but overall he didn’t try to sound intentionally intellectual for the sake of fancy literature.

The “Can Grow Your Church” section is good for anyone, but specially, he talks to Pastors. Not being a Pastor, I found it valuable from my own perspective. It gave me great insight into how a Pastor might approach the arranging of his congregation in different tasks around the Church. This was a perspective I appreciated.

Something to take with a bit of skepticism is his definition of apostleship. Wagner believed he had this gift, and broke down the difference between holding an office and having the gift. While I agree with him in that sense, apostleship comes with three very specific rule. You must have witnessed Jesus Christ. You have to be appointed by Jesus Christ. You have to prove your apostleship with signs and wonders. You can read all about these requirements throughout Matthew, Mark, and Acts. Wagner believed he was good at planting and growing Churches because he had this gift, but not the office. I would have simply told him “You’re just good at administration.”

Another thing that gave me the willies was his wife’s gift of healing. Although he doesn’t go into detail, his criticism of the Pentecostal movement made me wonder a little bit what he was talking about. I am not sure if he ever took to a stage to perform mass healing, or if she simply sought out sick people and prayed over them. Still, I think the only one that has the true gift of healing these days is God. We as the body of Christ are to always be praying, especially for our sick. I just have to wonder why anyone would misread the writings surrounding the Holy Spirit, and think they can summon him on their command and heal people.

Because of these two points, I have chosen to take the rating down to a 3/5. This will most likely spark some discussion some day in my court, and that’s ok.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to begin exploring spiritual gifts. If you’re curious about your own spiritual gifts, this is a good book for you. You’ll learn to identify your gifts, including his spiritual gifts test at the end of the book. Wagner does a nice job with the layout of the book in that you have a boxed out section each time he explains what a gift is. Those boxes have biblical references, examples, and definitions. I found that piece of the book the most helpful.

All Christians have spiritual gifts. They are used to make up the body of Christ. They’re not limited to learn to speak in tongues, or putting on a show about healing. Some of them have not been given out since the apostolic age. Gifts are very real and dynamic. This book will teach you about them and how to find your gifts.