BY SIGNS AND WONDERS:
How the Holy Spirit grows the church
By Stephen D. Elliott
Seedbed. 178 pages. $16.95
ISBN 978 1 628 242 829
This is a strange, misleading, and ultimately unsatisfying book, despite the absolutely key issue it looks at, namely the work of the Holy Spirit in growing Christ’s church. How so?
Strange, because it strikes me as a rehash of the John Wimber/Jack Deere emphases on ‘power evangelism’ of the 1990s and early millennium. That case was made then, and to many it was found wanting. But here it is being made again, as if it had never been so. Misleading, and on several levels. The author asserts, ‘By now, I suspect some think I am calling for the church to abandon its current ministry practices, jump on board with the Pentecostals and charismatics, and fully adopt their ministry practices. I am not.’ (p.47). ‘With respect, to a very large degree you are’ is how I felt, well before the end of the book.
