2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity

2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity:
A 21st Century Look at Church History from a Pentecostal/Charismatic Perspective
by Eddie L. Hyatt

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Overwhelming evidence reveals contemporary Christianity roots in Pentecost!

The world is taking notice and realizing that the fastest-growing segment in Christianity has an undeniable history with a pattern and a rich, deep foundation dating back to the New Testament. Explore overwhelming evidence that reveals how the gifts of the Holy Spirit not only have existed in the centuries since the early apostles, but have also survived the Middle Ages, the politicized church of Europe, and have experienced a spectacular revival this century.

2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity offers convincing evidence that the modern Pentecostal and Charismatic movements are rooted in the two-thousand-year history of the church. Those who identify with these movements will be affirmed in the experience of the Holy Spirit and will gain a new respect and appreciation for the movement of which they are a part. Those outside the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements will also benefit by reading this volume in that they will gain an understanding of this movement that Harvard professor Dr. Harvey Cox says is "reshaping religion in the 21st century."

This book was one of the inspirations for my book Miracles and Manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the History of the Church. It provided a good overview and summary which helped me compile much original source material on how the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been revealed through the centuries.

Expect God’s Mighty Acts Today

Reading Bill Johnson’s book, Release the Power of Jesus, I came across a sermon quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I include it here, with a bit more from that sermon, because it is so good about expecting to see the power of God today:

When people hear about what God used to do, one of the things they say is: “Oh, that was a very long while ago.” They imagine that times have altered since then …Things were in a different state then from what they are now.” Granted; but I want to know what the things have to do with it. I thought it was God that did it.

Has God changed? Is He not an immutable God, the same yesterday, today and forever? Does not that furnish an argument to prove that what God has done at one time He can do at another? Nay, I think I may push it a little further, and say what He has done once is a prophecy of what He intends to do again — that the mighty works which have been accomplished in the olden time shall all be repeated, and the Lord's song shall be sung again in Zion, and He shall again be greatly glorified.

Others among you say, “Oh, well I look upon these things as great prodigies — miracles. We are not to expect them every day.” That is the very reason why we do not get them. If we had learned to expect them, we should no doubt obtain them, but we put them up on the shelf, as being out of the common order of our moderate religion, as being mere curiosities of Scripture history. We imagine such things, however true, to be prodigies of providence; we cannot imagine them to be according to the ordinary working of His mighty power. I beseech you, my friends, abjure that idea, put it out of your mind. (The Story of God’s Mighty Acts)

Spurgeon knew the mighty acts of God in his own day. He knew about the power of faith to heal in Jesus’ name and experienced many remarkable healings in his ministry. He also had frequent “words of knowledge” about things he could not have known unless God had revealed them to him. I have compiled many of these in Miracles and Manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the History of the Church. God is still doing today what He has always done.

Faithpoint: What God has done in the past is a prophecy of what He intends to do again. If we learn to expect it, we shall see it. What is your expectation?

Release the Power of Jesus

This is a new book by Bill Johnson and includes a number of recent healing miracles and testimonies.

Release the Power of Jesus
by Bill Johnson
(Preview it with Amazon's "Look Inside" feature.)

Did you know that there is power in your testmony? When you share stories of how God has healed and anointed your life, it releases the Spirit to move in other people's lives as well. In Release the Power of Jesus Bill Johnson tells how he observed this phenomena in his and others ministry. Filled with inspiring stories of God's amazing power, Release the Power of Jesus will embolden you to share how God has overcome for you.

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10). Telling others about the miracles in your life makes God more real for others and causes faith to explode in those who hear what God has done for you.They will begin to see miracles in their own lives because of what God did for you! You will discover how to: Encourage His mercy in everyone around you. Leave a legacy of God's work in your life. Live under the influence of His mighty presence. Release the presence of God everywhere you go. Learn how your personal God stories will set your world on fire as you release the power of Jesus today!

"Because of this book, I will never be able to view the word testimony in the same narrow sense as I viewed it before. It will bring readers to the cleaer terms of why we must and how we can release the power of God to bring order amid the chaos of the 21st century." — Jack Taylor, Dimension Ministries

Salvations and Healing Miracles in Nigeria

CharismaMag.com reports that 800,000 accepted Christ in a series of evangelistic meetins recently conducted in Nigeria's Delta State by Rheinhard Bonnke. Many signs and wonders were also reported. According to Bonnke's ministry statement:

The original gospel comes with signs and wonders, and what we witnessed last week was absolutely glorious. Miracles upon miracles. Without the miraculous the gospel would be an empty shell. But Jesus Christ is the same-today. Miracles identify Him.

Miracle reports include:

• The blind receiving sight.
• The lame walking.
• One man said he was healed of HIV/AIDS.
• "One pastor had been shot in the arm by robbers and the arm had died. He had spent a small fortune on doctors trying to save the arm, but they were unable to restore it and so he was scheduled to have it amputated ... After the prayer, he received feeling in his hand again and use of two of his fingers, and his hand was still improving in real time as he gave his testimony."
• A thirty-five year old man who was deaf and mute from birth, received his hearing and was able to repeat words after healing prayer.
• A thirty-two year old man born lame no longer had to crawl around but was able to get up and walk.
• A woman who was injured in an accident and unable to walk correctly demonstrated her healing by leaping on the platform.
• Tens of thousands received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Bonnke said,

We ought to have a blazing neon sign in every church with the words: "This Same Jesus." The Jesus we point to is the Jesus of saving grace, miracle power and healing mercy. What He was in the past He still is today. What He did in days gone by He still does in our day. When we preach Jesus as He is, He reveals Himself in confirmation of what is said."

You can find this report here.

God is still doing today what He has always done in His Church.

Healing Miracles in a Netherlands Pub

Joel News International reports on an unusual "miracles and healing" meeting that took place in a Netherlands pub, where many were healed in the name of Jesus. According to organizer Marjan Spijkman,

Nine people, mainly women from the neighborhood, showed up ... God was powerfully present and healed them from reuma [rheumatism], emotional wounds, urination problems, and other hurts. One woman, who was nearly deaf, could hear again, to the surprise of her daughter and the other guests. You know, these women have a reputation in their neighborhood for being hard and bitter. But Jesus Christ touched them, they cried in our arms. Afterwards two women applied for an introductory course about Jesus. The owners of the pub invited us back and suggested that we would use the larger room in the pub, as they are expecting more people to come.

Thorugh believers like Marjan, Jesus is still doing today what He did two thousand years ago, going to where the needy are and bringing them salvation and healing.

Sister Penelope Heals Her Dog by Prayer

Reading in Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C. S. Lewis, I came across this interesting note to one of his frequent correspondents, Sister Penelope. She had written him of how she had laid hands on her crippled dog and it was healed.

I was intensely interested in the story of your healing of the little dog. I don't see why one shouldn't. Perhaps indeed those to whom God allows a gift in this way should confirm their own faith in it by practising on beasts for in one way they may be easier to heal than men. Although they cannot have faith in Him (I suppose) they certainly have faith in us, which is faith in Him at one remove: and there is no sin in them to impede or resist. I am glad it happened. (p. 113)

In his journals, John Wesley records three seperate occasions when he prayed for the horse he was riding and saw it miraculously healed in Jesus' name (cited in Miracles and Manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the History of the Church).

Ecstatic Prophecy

Ecstatic Prophecy
by Stacey Campbell

Discover what it is and why it happens. Understand its roots in the Bible and Church history. Learn how to discern true versus false prophecy. Explore its practice in the Church today.

(Click here to preview in Amazon's Look Inside)

Ecstatic prophecy is a form of prophecy in which the prophet is completely overtaken by the Holy Spirit—body, soul, and spirit—and prophesies almost as an oracle. In Ecstatic Prophecy, Stacey Campbell, a respected teacher and regular and high-profile recipient of this gift, explains the ins and outs of this remarkable mode of prophecy. She takes readers through biblical and early church examples of ecstatic prophecy and uncovers the history of its occurrence until modern times. She also examines how those with this gift can mature in it, avoid deception by testing spirits, and use this method of prophesying to grow closer to God and to reveal Jesus. This unique book will be compelling to anyone who follows prophetic literature and movements, as well as to those who may be experiencing ecstatic prophecy without understanding it.

This can't be the Holy Spirit. Or can it? Stacey Campbell believed that supernatural experiences had ceased with the early Church. Yet in spite of herself, she was no longer sitting passively in a prayer meeting. She was now shaking, bouncing, speaking in tongues and giving prophetic utterance—overtaken by the Holy Spirit. The desire to understand this unasked-for experience led Campbell, a respected teacher and leader, on a journey deeper into the heart of God. Here she explores this remarkable gift in which the Holy Spirit takes over a person—body, soul, and spirit. She offers biblical, historical, and modern-day examples; warns about deception; and explains how to grow in this gifting.

Stacey Campbell, co-founder of the nonprofit organization Be A Hero, is founder and facilitator of the Canadian Prophetic Council and serves as a lifetime honorary member of the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders, presided over by C. Peter Wagner. She also serves on the leadership team of The Call with Lou Engle, is often featured on Elijah List, and speaks widely on prophetic issues. She lives with her husband, Wesley, and their five children in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

"Little did I realize that what I thought would be a great book for a unique segment of the Body of Christ would actually become a necessary book for the entire Body of Christ." —from the foreword by Bill Johnson, pastor, Bethel Church, Redding, CA; author, When Heaven Invades Earth and Face to Face with God

"This book will challenge you to be more fully possessed by His glorious presence." —Heidi Baker, founding director, Iris Ministries

"Stacey does not approach this topic as a casual observer of a current fad but as a disciplined, humble, tenacious servant striving to hear and obey the voice of the living God." —Robert Stearns, executive director, Eagles' Wings, New York/Jerusalem

"Paul the apostle said there are varieties of manifestations, and the grounded teaching contained in this book amplifies that reality." —James W. and Michal Ann Goll, Encounters Network and Compassion Acts; authors, The Seer, The Prophetic Intercessor and the Women on the Frontlines series

This book features a section on ecstatic prophecy in Church history. You can find many other examples in Miracles and Manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the History of the Church by Jeff Doles. (You can also preview this one in Amazon's Look Inside.)

Healing Explosion in Seattle, WA

Georgian and Winnie Banov of Global Celebration send this report of recent healing miracles at Northwest Healing Explosion in Seattle, WA:

Winnie and I are writing to you from the glorious Northwest where we are in the middle of a "healing explosion" — an incredible 10 day regional event. We are enjoying the unity in the body and the infectious excitement and hunger for more of Jesus. Last night there was an ongoing stream of people coming forward with reports that Jesus healed them. Each one testified with excitement and joy, and so many were healed without anyone but Jesus touching them. Tumors have vanished, a woman that has not walked in three years got out of her wheelchair and walked across the room, a family was completely healed from asthma, neck injuries have been healed, chronic pain disappeared from many people's bodies, the list goes on and on.

This woman had not walked for three years, but at recent meetings in Seattle she got up out of her wheelchair and walked all around the room. Here is a video clip of her testimony:


God continues to do today what He has done through the centuries.

No More Holes in Her Heart

Kevin and Cynthia Ford, founders of Sozo Ministries, report this healing testimony:

Last August I had the pleasure of ministering at the Greenville Christian Center in New York with Pastors Alan and Norma Babcock. After some awesome worship and preaching a word of faith we had an atmosphere of divine healing and an expectancy for the working of miracles.

Jesus was being made manifest as He was taking pain out of peoples bodies when a young lady, a 5 year old named Ciara, came up and asked if Jesus would make her better.She had been dealing with heart problems as she had holes in her heart, I believe, since birth.

We laid hands took her to The Table of The Lord and decreed her Inheritance in the Blood of Jesus. As she was leaving church that morning she told her mom Jesus healed me!!!

I received a call last week from her mother Beverly. Ciara went for her regular cardio visit August 27th and was given a clean bill of health. She is feeling awesome, Praise God! a creative miracle, the holes in her are heart gone!

Our God gives new body parts.

Six-Month Old Girl Miraculously Healed

A six-month old girl with a multitude of medical problems was miraculously in the name of Jesus.

Doug Dayton, pastor of International Word of Faith Church in Arlington, TX, tells how he answered a call to go Children's Hospital in Dallas to pray. Among other problems, the little girl had two holes in her heart and required a heart transplant. Things got worse when her parents were informed that she was ineligible for that operation.

The pastor and others laid hands on her and began to pray for her: "Father in Jesus Name … Mankind can do nothing to heal this little girl. But you created her and you can fix her… In the name of Jesus We command Her Physical Body to line up with the Word of God! Be Made Whole!"

After prayer, her stats began to stabilize and there was no only one hole in her heart. A few days later, she was taken off ICU machines, totally stabilized, and she is now at home with her family, who refer to her at "Miracle Baby."

You can read the testimony here.