In recent years I have been again challenged by the truth that there is so much more Presence and power (ability) in the Holy Spirit available but not received or walked out. In recent years, we have been challenged by Robbie Dawkins who spoke for us in Israel and in America, and Dr. Randy Clark who was our keynote speaker and ministry leader at the Tikkun America Conference at the end of May and early June. Since that time, I have been reading more books by Randy Clark. I have found his books to be theologically solid and very challenging. (Especially see his Intimacy with God.) He also recommended a book by John Mark Ruthven, The Cessation of the Charismata, an amazing work of scholarship by the late professor of theology at Regent University with over 600 footnotes. Previously I read Dr. Craig Keener’s monumental Miracles. Keener’s two large volumes are amazing scholarship, both a theology of the miraculous and its role in evangelism and among believers, while documenting real miracles all over the world. His book on the Holy Spirit, Gift, and Giver is also a great read. Some years earlier, I read the great volume by Dr.Gordon Fee, His Empowering Presence, on this doctrine in the Pauline writings.
Here is my summary.
The writings show that so much more is available than even most Pentecostals/Charismatics believe and walk in. Miracles, signs, and wonder will be a key to the harvest in the West just as it is in the majority world. Much is based on coming to a place where we know the prophetic word (rhema) of the Spirit and the prophetic in us leading us to speak, to pray for, and to see the work of the Spirit in our sharing and in our ministering within the Body and outside to those who do not know Him. Ruthven proves that the prophetic is a central aspect of the meaning of the New Covenant, a foundational benefit. However, few really attain it. For Clark and Ruthven, it should be a normal and very frequently experienced reality. Clark does a great job of showing how much the Glory of God in the New Covenant Scriptures is connected to his revelation through the miraculous. Of course, there are other aspects of his Glory, but so many miss how much the desire of Yeshua to reveal his Glory through us is through using us in signs, wonders, and miracles. Glory of course, has other manifestations including the love etched into the face of a saint or acts of sacrificial love. However, the miraculous is a central part of fulfilling the prayer of Yeshua in revealing His Glory through us.
Once we understand this, it is hard to understand how people who are charismatic can easily be joined to communities that are not passionately pursuing the Spirit and his power. For me, I must be joined in a community of people who are in unity in seeking God for more of his presence and power.