Practicing the Power

Description

How can Christians pursue and implement the miraculous gifts of the Spirit without falling into fanatical excess and splitting the church in the process?

The Bible teaches us that we are to be filled with God's Spirit and that God's presence and grace is manifested among his people as they serve, love, and minister to one another. Yet some of the gifts that God offers to his people aren't commonly seen in many churches today. Gifts of prophecy, healing, tongues, and other supernatural gifts of God seem to be absent, and many Christians are unsure how to cultivate an atmosphere where God's Spirit can work while remaining committed to the foundational truth of God's Word.

In Practicing the Power, pastor and author Sam Storms offers practical steps to understanding and exercising spiritual gifts in a way that remains grounded in the word and centered in the gospel, including:

• Combining sound theology with inspiring personal examples.
• Covering all kinds of practical and theological questions about using gifts.
• Practical ways to express the compassion of Jesus to others by partnering with Him in spiritual gifts.

With examples drawn from his 40 years of ministry as a pastor and teacher, Practicing the Power offers help to pastors, elders, and church members to understand what changes are needed to see God move in supernatural power and to guard against excess and abuse of the spiritual gifts.

If you long to see God's Spirit move in your church and life, and aren't sure why that isn't happening or where to begin, this book is for you.

Endorsements

Sam has written an immensely practical book on the gifts of the Spirit that will help anyone who longs to experience the Holy Spirit’s gifts and see those gifts meaningfully integrated into the life of their church. -- Jack Deere, former professor of Old Testament Exegesis at Dallas Seminary; pastor

Sam Storms has done it again. This book combines sound theology with inspiring personal examples, together with practical ways to express the compassion of Jesus to others by partnering with him in spiritual gifts. Sam successfully demystifies what it means to obey the apostle Paul’s injunction to earnestly desire spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:31; 14:1). I highly recommend this book for anyone seeking to grow in this dimension of the grace of God, and especially pastors seeking to lead their flock into a deeper experience as empowered evangelicals who want all that Jesus provides for us. -- Mike Bickle, International House of Prayer of Kansas City

I am an elder in a church that engages with God in genuine worship, seeks maturity through dynamic preaching, loves compassionately in community, expresses mercy to the disenfranchised, and multiplies through intentional missionality. Thankful for God’s many blessings, we long for more of his grace, especially through an outpouring of the Spirit’s gifts. But how can our church experience this renewing power? It seems Sam Storms wrote this book to guide our church in this quest. I think it is for your church too! -- Gregg R. Allison, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary