John Wimber (1934–1997)

When I first read this book, in the early 1990s, I found it fascinating. It's a mixture of theology and personal testimony about the 'Signs and Wonders' that permeated the Vineyard movement of Christianity (and many other denominations) in the 1980s and thereafter. When I read the book, I didn't know much about these things, and can remember finding it well-written and very interesting, as well as inspiring and encouraging.

I re-read it in the past ten days or so, about a chapter at a time. I was slightly surprised that it now seems fairly 'old hat'. It was interesting to read of John Wimber's personal experience again, beginning from a rather cynical conservative evangelical standpoint. But twenty-five years after the book was first published, there's not much that seems radical. Perhaps these theories, so startling at the time, have now become absorbed into mainstream Christianity.

Indeed, what surprised me was that Wimber was so positive about what he terms 'programmatic evangelism', and about congregational church life in general.

It felt like a three star book, reading it this time; it's well laid out and clear, with plenty of sound Scriptural explanations. It just didn't seem to say anything new. But since I'd have rated it five stars fifteen years ago, I'm compromising on four. Worth reading by anyone who is still suspicious of the charismatic movement (as it was termed) and the use of Gifts today, and perhaps as an interesting historical document for anyone who has been part of the Vineyard or similar groups. But don't expect anything mind-blowing.… (mais)