What caused a former Dallas Seminary professor to believe that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are being given today? What convinced someone skeptical about miracles that God still speaks and heals? A dramatic change took place in Jack Deere’s life when he took a fresh look at the Scriptures. He discovered that his cherished arguments against miraculous gifts were based more on prejudice and a lack of personal experience than on the Bible. As soon as Deere became a seeker instead of a skeptic, the Holy Spirit revealed himself in new and surprising ways. In Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, Jack Deere provides a strong biblical defense for the Spirit’s speaking and healing ministries today. He also describes several reliable cases of people who were miraculously healed or who heard God speak in an unmistakable way. Finally, he gives sound advice for using spiritual gifts in the church. Written in popular style-with the care of a scholar but the passion of personal experience-this book is a vital resource for people on both sides of the debate about miraculous gifts.

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.

"[This book] takes you tgo the Bible to discover the variety of creative, deeply personal ways God still communicates with us today. ..."--Back cover.

Tells of the place which prayer, the Beatitudes and the gifts of the Holy Spirit should occupy in your daily life.

Deere, a former Dallas Seminary professor and skeptic of miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, provides a strong biblical defense for the Spirit's speaking and healing ministries today. He describes several reliable cases of people who were miraculously healed or who heard God speak in an unmistakable way, and he gives sound advice for using spiritual gifts in church.

From the first verses of Genesis, the Spirit of God makes a dramatic appearance in the Bible. However, despite the importance of the Spirit in the Old Testament, it has been the focus of surprisingly little scholarship. In response, this volume assemblesa host of premier Old Testament scholars to address various aspects of the subject. Major thematic essays and studies of relevant biblical texts are arranged in eight main sections: orientation of the Ancient Near Eastern context; the Spirit and its relation to creation, wisdom, creativity, prophecy, leadership and the future, and finally the Spirit at Qumran.

At its beginning Christianity was surprising, powerful, creative, world-shaking. Today in the West it is many times familiar, common, and expected, losing its power to surprise and transform. We have developed societal amnesia and ignorance of what Christianity originally was – and what it still can be. We need to recover the surprise of Christianity. We need to ask the same fundamental questions as the early Christians, which will help us rediscover the surprising power of Christianity in our midst. Focusing on the surprise of the gospel message takes us into the heart of what it is to understand Christianity at all, and thus what it is to remember and relearn the life-giving power and witness that went with being Christian at the beginning. This remembering and relearning can, in turn, surprise us all over again and chart a course for our witness today.