I originally wrote Thorn in the Flesh sitting in a boat on the bonefish flats in Key Largo some 15 years ago. What started out as a series of sermons became a book. It went into reprints both in the USA and UK and also has been translated into several languages. Paul Crouch chose it as a giveaway for TBN viewers – I believe he said they gave away 197,000 copies.

I got interesting responses, mostly from offended people enamored with ‘prosperity teaching’ and the notion that you should never be sick or poor. A follower of a well-known prosperity teacher wrote me, “Satan loves your book man” but he did not sign his name or give address. Yogi Berra said “Never answer an anonymous letter” so I didn’t! The anonymous writer followed the man who said, “If the Apostle Paul had my faith he would would not have had his thorn in the flesh” – possibly one of the most despicable, reprehensible, sick, disgusting and theologically unsound statements I have heard in my (almost) 79 years.

Paul said that he was raised up to be an example – pattern – for those who would receive eternal life (1 Tim.1:16). How dare some man disregard Paul and imply he is more spiritual than Paul! This is what happens when you deny the supremacy, infallibility and finality of Holy Scripture when it comes to sound doctrine.

In any case, Paul testifies to a thorn in the flesh. I am glad we don’t know what it was; otherwise, we would dismiss the idea and say “only Paul had that”. But because he used an “umbrella term” – we an all get under the phrase “thorn in the flesh” – and know that God sends such to all believers! The Greek word likens  Paul’s thorn to getting stuck with a fish hook; you can’t get it out and if you try it hurts all the more – so you live with it. That is the idea.

We won’t know until we get to Heaven (of course) what Paul’s thorn was. It could have been his bad eyes. Health. Enemy. Living single. Who knows? I am glad he admitted to praying “three times” that it be taken away – for God who gave it could have taken it away; if Paul doesn’t get all his prayers answered why should I feel bad if I too experienced a lot of unanswered prayers?

Do you have a thorn in the flesh? I do – latest count: three.

The thing about the thorn in the flesh is that it is painful – and you can’t not think about it all the time. It is “in your face” (so to speak) – so intrusive. But it is God’s way of keeping us humble.

No single translation explains the purpose of a thorn in the flesh. One translation is “lest I be exalted above measure” (KJV) – implies that it kept people from thinking too much of Paul. Other translations – to keep him from being “conceited” (NIV ESV) – shows how human Paul was (does this surprise you?).

If you had a choice between the removal of your own thorn in the flesh and a double anointing of the Holy Spirit, which would you choose? Paul wasn’t given a choice but God answered his prayed with the promise of “sufficient grace” – which surely is better than having the thorn removed. I would prefer a greater anointing of the Spirit on me than anything. So if this is why I have my three thorns, I say “YES LORD – leave things as they are”.

We are selling Thorn in the Flesh at the discount price of $8.97 this month!

Theology and worship

Having had one foot in the reformed camp and the other in the Charismatic-Pentecostal camp, I have been increasingly alarmed at the trend in some of the worship among the latter camp. The early Methodists got their theology mostly from their hymns. This made them theologically-minded – a trait you and I must never lose. Whose hymns did the early Methodists sing? They sang those written by such people as Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Charles Wesley (1707-1788), William Cowper and John Newton (1725-1807). Read them. Sing them. Have you had a look lately at the words of hymns like “And can it be that I should gain and interest in my Savior’s blood?”, “When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died”, “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform”, “How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds”, “O for a heart to praise my God, a heart from sin set free”? I would plead for the present generation of all Christians to sing the new as well as the old. Jesus spoke a parable about “the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old” (Matt.13:52), a truth that could readily apply to new and old hymns.

What worries me most about some contemporary worship is its lack of good theology. Some seem to have almost no theology at all! This is not good. I fear that we are producing a generation of people who are vulnerable to heretical movements partly because of a lack of good grounding in the truth. That said, I thank God for hymns like Chris Bowater’s “Jesus shall take the highest honour”, Graham Kendrick’s “Restore O Lord the honour of your Name”, “Knowing you, Jesus”, “Such love”,  Stuart Townend’s “How deep the Father’s love for us”, “In Christ alone”, Matt Redman’s “Blessed be your Name”, “Ten thousand reasons”, Stephen Fry’s “Oh the glory of your presence”, Darlene Zschech’s “Shout to the Lord” and others.

But there are pitfalls in conservative Evangelicalism too. One teaching that is common in reformed theology is called “cessationism”. The idea is that the miraculous “ceased” sometime after the last apostle died or when the canon of Scripture was complete. Cessationism is not a fad. It has been around for a long time. Those who uphold this are not heretics. They are good people. But cessationism quenches the Holy Spirit as much as the previously mentioned teachings that displease him. You will not likely convince a cessationist to believe that the living God heals supernaturally today. A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still! I just don’t want some of these people to convince you! So do not let those who hold to their views that God will not manifest his power today deter you from seeing the God of glory show himself in our generation. That is why I wrote Holy Fire.

My own theological stable is reformed. But I came into it not by reading reformed theology. My purpose in writing this book however is not to change your theology but make you hungry for the Holy Spirit. If you walk in the Spirit, know your Bible and spend sufficient time alone with God, your theology will take care of itself. My greatest mentor was Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Through this book I want to make him better known and a blessing to you as much as he was to me. The greatest thing he ever said to me was this: “The worst thing that can happen to a man is to succeed before he is ready”. This statement is what helped me “keep my head” when God did not manifest his power in my own ministry as quickly as I hoped. But I never gave up. I don’t want you to give up!

RT

We are selling Holy Fire at the discount price of $11.99 this month!

Today I feel like the man who dropped the first atomic bomb. It is said that the bombardier who released the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945 put his head in his hand and said, “My God, what have I done?”

When I first conceived the thought that the Pentecostal – Charismatic Movement is Ishmael and that the greatest outpouring to come is Isaac, I had no idea that one day I would be saying this to some of the most important leaders of this movement. Today I addressed the Board of Oral Roberts University. This board is made up of some of the most influential and highest profile people of the Pentecostal – Charismatic Movement, including the leading historian of this movement. It is the nearest equivalent I can think of to a “Pentecostal-Charismatic Sanhedrin”! Imagine facing these powerful men and women and calling their precious tradition Ishmael.

When I finished my talk I had the exact same feeling as I had when I first unveiled my thoughts along this line at the Wembley Conference Centre in London in 1992. I feared I had offended some of the best people on earth. In a similar way, some twenty-two years later, on the plane back to Nashville I kept asking, “What have I done?”

Some readers of this blog will recognize that the final chapter of my book Holy Fire is called “Isaac”. The idea is this: for thirteen years Abraham sincerely believed that the promised child was Ishmael. But one day God said to him, “Ishmael is not the promised child. Isaac is coming”. This did not please Abraham. At first.

I once asked a Charismatic leader in England, “If you were to decide whether the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement is Ishmael or Isaac, which would you say it is?” He replied: “Isaac”. I then said to him, “What if I told you it is Ishmael?” He said, “I hope not”. In 1992 I gave my talk at the first Word and Spirit Conference at Wembley Conference Centre in London in which I purported that what we have experienced up to now is Ishmael – but Isaac is coming! As the promise to Abraham concerning Isaac was a hundred times greater than the promise to Ishmael, so what is coming down the road will be a hundred times greater than anything we have seen in the historic Pentecostal-Charismatic movement. Many Pentecostals and Charismatics have understandably assumed that the power and success of this vast movement is as good as it gets before the Second Coming. After all, over six hundred million – some say it is a lot more than that – believers scattered throughout the world could be called Pentecostals or Charismatics. This to many is proof that the greatest outpouring of the Spirit has already happened. “We are it”, many might well say.

I believe many have underestimated what God is going to do next.  It is my view that the next thing on God’s calendar is the Word and the Spirit coming together as seen in the book of Acts. Smith Wigglesworth prophesied three months before he died in 1947 that the next great move of God would be the coming together of the Word and the Spirit. That is what I am saying. I have given it the name Isaac. I plan to write an entire book on this.

The members of the Board of ORU had no way of being prepared for what I shared with them today. They knew of many of my books but had no time to read Holy Fire.  I was honored to be asked to address them. They responded with a polite applause. But I could not help but wonder what they really thought!

I do not think it will be long before it will be seen objectively whether my word is truly from God. There is not much more I can say at this stage. Only wait. I only know it is a perspective I have held for some forty years, reaching back to the days when I talked about this with Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Many Charismatics were initially offended when I first gave this position in 1992. But afterwards some have embraced my position. There is a widespread feeling that “We need something – desperately”. The world has no respect for the Church of God. They laugh at us. The church is in a deep sleep. It is my view that when the Word and Spirit come together – resulting in the awakening in the middle of the night (Matt.25:6) – the simultaneous combination will result in spontaneous combustion. It will mean Isaac. Isaac means “laughter” or “he laughs”. But as the old saying goes, “He who laughs last laughs best”.

RT Kendall

What you might learn from my book HOLY FIRE

I wrote HOLY FIRE for the young Christian, the new Christian, the theological student, the new pastor but also the seasoned minister who aspires more than ever to be jealous for the honor and glory of God. I wrote it also for the fence straddler out there who is sincerely baffled and unsure of what to believe about the Holy Spirit.

Jonathan Edwards said that the one thing Satan cannot produce in us is a love for the glory of God. So if the reading of  Holy Fire results in a greater love for the honor of God and deeper reverence for the Holy Spirit, you may be sure that the devil did not put that desire and respect there. This is also why Edwards stated that when the church is revived, so is the devil! So you may count on the devil putting every obstacle in your way to rob you of the joy that comes from intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hos.4:6). In this connection I would mention (1) lack of knowledge of God’s word and (2) lack of knowledge of God’s ways.

The first thing is the reading of the Bible. The devil does not want you to read your Bible, much less spending a lot of time reading the Bible. How well do you know your Bible? To understand the Bible you must be on good terms with the Holy Spirit. You  also need a Bible reading plan.

Second, the way you know someone’s “ways” is by spending time with them. You show your esteem of a person by how much time you give them. So I will come right to the point: how much do you pray? The devil does not want you to pray, much less spending a lot of time praying.

“Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees” 

– William Cowper (1731-1800).

I urge at least thirty minutes a day in your quiet time – including Bible reading and prayer. For the person in full-time Christian ministry I suggest a minimum of an hour a day (two is better) and this should be for private devotions and quiet time without using any of this time for sermon preparation. Martin Luther spent two hours a day in prayer. John Wesley spent two hours a day in prayer. According to a recent poll taken on both sides of the Atlantic, the average church leader (pastor, priest, evangelist, teacher) today spends four minutes a day in prayer. And you wonder why the church is powerless? You get to know God and his ways by spending time with him.

A defective view of the God of the Bible has resulted in dangerous teachings in some circles. One is called hyper-grace teaching. The view comes to this: since Jesus dealt with all our sin on the cross there is no need to confess sin – it has already been dealt with. No need for repentance in the Christian life, say these people. This is tantamount to antinomianism [anti– law] and can so easily lead to ungodly living. The people who uphold this kind of thinking have actually had to eliminate certain books of the Bible, for example, Hebrews and 1 John. Imagine that! To uphold a teaching they have to cut out part of the canon of Holy Scripture! I warn you, this teaching grieves the Holy Spirit. It is a fad. It will not last. But it can do incalculable damage in the meantime.

Another deadly teaching is called open theism. This view of God brings him down to the level of man so that such a God does not know his own mind without our input. The idea is, we actually help God know what to do next; without us he cannot move forward. This is sub-Christian teaching. It has astonishingly crept into certain Charismatic circles. When one leader of this teaching was asked publicly in London, “With this view of God, is it not possible that God could lose out in the end?” The reply was: Yes. Imagine a God like that. For the God of the Bible wins! But such a weak view of God is the ultimate consequence of denying his eternal sovereignty.

On the heels of open theism is the notion that we can virtually make God do anything. We can “decree absolutely true that God promises to bless the tither (Mal.3:10) – for we cannot out-give the Lord (2 Cor.9:8), beware of those who pitch this point of view mainly to advance their personal ministries. Some leaders go so far as to claim that their “words of knowledge” are superior to Holy Scripture. Some deny the Bible as being the complete and final revelation of eternal truth. One leader said, “If the Apostle Paul had my faith he would not have had a thorn in the flesh”. I’m sorry, but this kind of doctrine has emerged in Charismatic and Pentecostal settings. Be wise to teaching that exalts any man or woman and even appeals to a person’s greed. They emerge from strange fire, teachings that are alien to Holy Scripture.

We are selling Holy Fire at the discount price of $11.99 this month!

Holy Fire 

The Holy Spirit does not belong to you. Are you charismatic? He is bigger than your signs and wonders events. Are you Reformed? He will not be limited by your theology. The Lord Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, “He blows where he will” (John 3:8).

So begins my latest book, called Holy Fire. All authors think their latest book is the best and most important. So is Holy Fire my best and most important? Possibly. It is arguably the most relevant since I wrote Total Forgiveness.

Last March 20th a request came from Steve Strang (Charisma House). He got word that a well known Reformed Evangelical was writing a book called Strange Fire. They all knew it would be a broadside attack on all Charismatics and Pentecostals. For some reason they thought I should reply. So I did. I asked Pastor Jack Hayford to write the Foreword. He asked: “How long should it be?” I replied: “Write as long as you feel the anointing, then stop”. His Foreword went to thirteen pages. Steve Strang said to me, “I have known Jack Hayford for over thirty years; I have never known him to get so excited over a book”. This really encouraged me. Over thirty leaders have endorsed it. Not all of them are Charismatics or Pentecostals, including an endorsement from Christianity Today. I ask you to join me in prayer that God will use this book. Some will know I wrote a letter to the author and invited him to have a civil debate presidential style on cessationism (the view that the miraculous “ceased” at some stage in church history). Many have asked, “Has he replied?” Sorry, but No. I am not very surprised. He does not have a shred of biblical support for his cessationist position. He would not want to face me (or anybody) who upholds an anti-cessationsist position.

I was at some disadvantage not to have a copy of Strange Fire. I decided to start my book anyway – and call it Holy Fire (my wife Louise’s suggestion). I finished it in just over three months. When I read his book after my own went to press, I was relieved. I feared I might have left some important things out. I need not have worried. Some think my book is more convincing because I had not read his.

The people of Charisma House know I am not exactly a card-carrying Charismatic. I believe in and have experienced the gifts of the Holy Spirit of 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, but I don’t always take the “party line”. At the same time I am a reformed theologian but with a small “r”. I don’t dot all the i’s or cross all the t’s exactly as some of the Reformed people do. But God has given me close friends in both camps. I believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit as much as anybody I know and I believe in the sovereignty of God as much as anybody I know.

I have sought to write a book that will make people hungry for the Holy Spirit.

The feed-back I have received from nearly all who have read my book is that it is “balanced”. I am not sure however that being “balanced” is necessarily a good thing. I am not sure I always want to be perfectly balanced. However, please read my 2014 New Year’s Letter – and the last chapter in Holy Fire called Isaac – and you may conclude I am absolutely safe from the charge of being balanced!

One fringe benefit of my book Holy Fire is this: to those who do not know him, I introduce Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He was at Westminster Chapel for thirty years. I was there for twenty-five years. He is responsible for my being there. His view of the “immediate and direct” witness of the Holy Spirit does not please cessationists; they cannot bear his teaching on the Holy Spirit.

There are two chapters on cessationism in Holy Fire. But I emphasize that cessationists are not bad people. They are among God’s best vanguards of Christian orthodoxy.

The funny thing is, much of my book could be written by a cessationist. Read my chapter called Strange Fire – you will agree!

I hope you will read Holy Fire. If it blesses you, please consider giving copies away.

RT

We are selling Holy Fire at the discount price of $11.99 this month!

Win a Soul to Jesus in 2014

A few weeks after I began my ministry at Westminster Chapel I asked the congregation, “How many of you have never led a soul to Jesus Christ?” I am not sure how this went down with them, but one man – Mr. Bob George – told me that this shook him rigid. He said to himself, “Here I am 60 years old and I have never led a person to Christ”.

Five years later I made the most controversial decision of my twenty-five years at Westminster: I invited Arthur Blessitt – the man who has carried a cross all over the world – to preach for me for several weeks in April-May 1982.  (The Guinness Book of Records has since given him an award for the “longest walk” – the equivalent of one and a half times around the world). Although having Arthur got me into more trouble than any decision I have ever made  – I almost got fired, it was the best decision of twenty-five years.

Arthur got us out on the streets – giving out tracts and talking directly to people about their eternal state. I had never done this in my life, and I certainly did not invite Arthur to the Chapel for him to do this! Such never entered my mind. But one evening while I watched Arthur witness to passers-by on the steps of my church I had a vision – of a pilot light, a light in an oven or cooker that stays lit day and night. In that moment I died a thousand deaths. “My ambitions, plans and wishes at His feet in ashes lay”, as the hymn “I will praise Him” put it. I knew from that moment I was being called to be a personal soul winner – not just preaching from the pulpit (which is easy) but talking to people face to face (which is not easy)

The funny thing is, only a few days before, I had asked Arthur to pray for me that I could have his anointing. I knew he had something I didn’t have – and I wanted it. I honestly felt he was the most like Jesus of anyone I had met. And yet what I really wanted was more “unction” – a greater anointing on my preaching. So he prayed for me. On our knees together in my vestry at Westminster Chapel Arthur laid his hands on me that I might have his anointing.

Not long ago I was Arthur’s guest on TBN. We were discussing my book These are the Days of Elijah. In the course of that interview Arthur asked, “R. T., what do you do when people ask for your anointing, like when Elisha asked for Elijah’s mantle?” I replied: “Well, Arthur, to be honest I actually did that – don’t you remember? In my vestry at Westminster Chapel that is exactly what I asked from you?” Yes, he remembered. Then I asked a question I had not thought of until that moment: “Was that prayer answered?” I thought for a few seconds.

YES. Arthur’s prayer was answered. First, our Pilot Light Ministry (witnessing on the streets in Westminster between Victoria and Buckingham Palace) was born a few days later. Over the next twenty years we had hundreds of people from many nations of the world pray to receive Christ (some even went into the ministry). By the way, Bob George was the first to join us on the streets. Before he went to Heaven (over twenty years later ) he had over 500 to pray to receive Christ. He made up for lost time. Second, my own life was never the same again. Apart from people praying to receive the Lord on the steps of Westminster Chapel, I have been an evangelist wherever I have gone over the past thirty years – on trains, planes and automobiles – everywhere.

Arthur’s anointing did truly fall on me. I am surprised I had not seen this before. I don’t carry a cross. I don’t preach in jeans. Or give out Jesus stickers. But I have had many hundreds pray with me to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

What about you? Have you ever led a soul to Christ? I challenge you – make it a goal to lead at least one soul to the Lord before 2014 is over. A small suggestion: try to do it soon. The months will fly by.

Legitimizing Christmas

All my life I have come across sincere Christians who not only oppose
Christmas as a celebration but positively feel it is wrong and not
pleasing to God. I know one minister who preaches against Christmas. He
believes he is glorifying God by doing this. I have another very close
friend who has refused to celebrate Christmas for many years, but recently
made a slight turn and now accepts it and blesses those who do.

My opinion has always been that, even if people are right by opposing
Christmas, is it worth the effort? What good is accomplished by printing
tracts and carrying placards against Christmas. The funny – or sad – thing
is, they could join an ever-increasing number of atheists who have decided
to spend money on trying to get rid of Christmas. So these anti-Chrstmas
Christians and anti-Christian atheists could have a party!

But I want to put another view. I think God likes and accepts Christmas
and – possibly – honors those who do. Why? Because of the worship of Jesus
on Palm Sunday. I have a sermon  called WORSHIPING GOD FOR THE WRONG
REASONS – namely, what they did on Palm Sunday. Those who shouted HOSANNA
on the original Palm Sunday were excited because they were convinced that
Jesus would reveal His power and purpose in coming – by overthrowing Rome.
That is what the crowds were excited about. NOT because He was the Son of
God. NOT because He would shortly be dying on a cross for our sins. But
because He was the promised Messiah that would succeed David as the new
King of Israel and put Jerusalem back in glory as it once had been. That
is why they were shouting. No other reason.

Did Jesus get upset with these people? Did He rebuke them? Did he say “NO
– stop it. You are worshipping me for the wrong reason”? Not at all. Jesus
accepted their praise. He said if they didn’t praise him the rocks would
cry out. As for the children who were in on this celebration, what could
they possibly know? And yet it was the Pharisees who were offended at them!

A couple years ago I was in a church where the worship went over the top –
in my opinion. It was noisy. I mean horribly loud. People were jumping up
and down. Carrying banners and flags. Worst of all I was on the front row.
To be honest, I not only was uncomfortable; I was resentful. When all of a
sudden a voice entered into my mind: “They are worshipping Me”. I was
smitten and sorry for my attitude. I could see that Jesus didn’t mind at
all. I minded. He liked it.

I think Christmas is something like that.

RT

 Holy Fire

On March 20^th of this year I received a surprising phone call from Steve Strang, publisher of Charisma House. He asked me to write a book about the Holy Spirit. This was an invitation I could not refuse. Louise said, “Call it ‘Holy Fire’”. I knew that was the right title. I began writing Holy Fire. Steve’s wife Joy gave me a most wonderful suggestion: “Write a book that will make people hungry for the Holy Spirit”. If this book is as good as some seem to think, I have Joy to thank for it.

I finished Holy Fire in four months. It was possibly the easiest book I ever wrote. Words flowed; insights and sense of direction came faster than I could write. I asked Pastor Jack Hayford would he kindly write a Foreword? He agreed. I then sent the manuscript to a number of church leaders. All but one came back to me with an endorsement. Over thirty leaders gave very positive commendations. To my amazement Jack Hayford called it “a landmark book”. His original Foreword went to thirteen pages. Steve Strang said to me, “I have known Jack Hayford for over thirty years; I have never known him to be so excited about a book”. 

It is easy for any author to think that their latest book is “the best and most important yet”. I have this temptation with almost every book I write! But if I am completely honest, this book may truly be my most important.

Funnily enough, there are probably more religious books available on the Holy Spirit than any other subject, but I fear that the Third Person of the Trinity is still the least understood. The Evangelical wing of the church at the moment is largely divided between those who believe that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are available today and those who believe they “ceased” – long ago. Those who hold to the latter view are called “cessationists”.

Holy Fire is written for the new Christian, the mature scholar, the layman and church leader. I sought to keep Joy Strang’s advice before me as I wrote every line. If this book does not make one hungry for the Holy Spirit I will have failed in my goal.

I have tried to write a book for those with a limited education or no Christian background. I have sought to introduce the Holy Spirit to the reader as if he or she knew nothing about Him. Early in the book is a chapter on twenty-one things every Christian should know about the Holy Spirit. I also introduce Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones to my readers, although many will know who he is. He was my predecessor and the man responsible for my being at Westminster Chapel. I explain his beautiful concept of the “immediate and direct” witness of the Holy Spirit. I also have a chapter called “Strange Fire” in which sadly I have to talk about certain unbiblical positions and practices among some Pentecostals and Charismatics today. You could think that a “cessationist” wrote this chapter!

There are two chapters on “cessationism” in my book. I carefully and simply explain the term – its history and meaning. The irony is: there is no biblical support for it – not even a little bit. It is a theory some sadly have chosen to believe; they have sought to turn an unwarranted theory into a dogma and without any question quenched the Holy Spirit Himself in the process. They did not mean to, but they did.

Cessationists are not bad people. I have a section “Be Fair With Cessationists”. Many of them are the salt of the earth; they have been vanguards for the Christian faith, maintaining a robust belief in the infallibility of Scripture.

I have an important chapter called “The Baptism with the Holy Spirit”, showing all points of view (that I know of) and then I explain my own position. I have a chapter on the “gifts of the Holy Spirit”, dealing with the nine gifts referred to in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. At the request of my publisher I included a chapter devoted to my own testimony – how I myself was baptized with the Spirit and how it changed my theology and life thereafter.

The final chapter is called “Isaac” – my word for the next great move of the Holy Spirit which I believe is coming soon – very soon. It is when the Word and the Spirit come together simultaneously as it was experienced in the earliest church. Three months before his death in in 1947 Smith Wigglesworth prophesied this (which I quote at the end of the book). The next great move of the Holy Spirit will sweep the earth and demonstrate a power not seen in some two thousand years. There will be no “cessationists” after the next move of God on this planet.

Pray that cessationists and new Christians will read my book. I believe they will find a home in the very position I maintain – a robust theology of the sovereignty of God alongside a firm conviction that Jesus Christ is indeed the same “yesterday, today and forever” (Heb.13:8).

 RT Kendall

Holy Fire is available now:

Nelson Mandela

Louise said to me this morning, “Here I go”. I asked, “What do you mean?” She said, “I am taking Nelson Mandela off my prayer list” 

I will never forget it. On a Sunday afternoon – February 2^nd, 1990 – when Nelson Mandela walked out of prison after twenty-six years, two things gripped me. First, Louise revealed to me that day that she had been praying for him every day for several years – beginning when he was on trial – long before he was in prison in Robin Island, near Cape Town, South Africa. I had no idea she had been praying for him. But for some reason she connected with him and began praying for him every day. Today she stopped. I would be surprised if there is a person in the world who has prayed more for Mandela than she has – every day for some forty years. Second, the phrase “the bearing of a prince” came to mind as I watched Nelson Mandela that day. We all wept. What a man. Sheer class. Utter dignity. Extraordinary presence 

A few years later I received a phone call from Ken Costa, prominent London banker and churchwarden of Holy Trinity Church, Brompton. “I am sitting in the car with Washington Okumu, the man who is responsible for putting Nelson Mandela in power, and he wants to meet you”. I had never heard of Washington Okuma, but I was happy to meet him. I found out later he was a protégé of Dr. Henry Kissinger at Harvard and became a professor in Kenya. He sat on the front row at Mandela’s inauguration in Pretoria. Dr. Kissinger walked over to Okumu and said, “You did what I tried but failed to do”. Okumu came to our flat in London. He said he wanted to meet me because my book God Meant it for God had changed his life. He shared something that was quite over-the-top: that Nelson Mandela would not be president of South Africa apart from him. His reasoning was that God Meant it for Good spurred him to get president de Klerk, chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Mandela together – which put Mandela in power. He wanted me to give him a signed copy of God Meant it for Good to pass on to Nelson Mandela (which he apparently did). I later asked Washington Okumu to write the Foreword to my book Total Forgiveness.

I did my best to meet Nelson Mandela. Never in my life have I tried so hard to meet anybody. But on a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town my Bible reading that day leaped out at me, “Should you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not?” (Jer.45:5). That verse brought me right down. I was smitten. My prideful motives surfaced and I felt pretty awful. I knew that I was not aiming for something God was in. Four different people assured me they could get me to Mandela (this in itself is a story!). I even had thirty minutes with the very man who was arguably the closest to him – Frank Chicane, and yet meeting Mandela never happened. Why? It was not God’s idea. It taught me a lesson. I wanted to meet Mandela for the wrong reason.

Louise cried when hearing the news last night of Mandela’s death. I do not know why she had this desire to pray for him. Her role in this was not to meet him but only to pray for him. She hoped that at some stage he would have a strong Christian testimony. I asked Chicane – himself a Pentecostal preacher, “Do you think Mandela is saved?” He smiled. “That’s a good question”, not the words I hoped to hear. However, for reasons I outline in my forthcoming book on Wisdom, I choose to believe he was a Christian.

That said, whether Mandela was saved or not, he rises above all the great men in history – whether Winston Churchill or Abraham Lincoln. I thank God for him. He was (in my humble opinion) the greatest man in human history outside the Bible.

RT Kendall

   “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over”

When preaching in Montclair, New Jersey sixteen months ago I learned that Yogi Berra, the great baseball catcher for the New York Yankees, lived in that town. I began trying everyway under the sun to meet Mr. Berra.

Why? For years I have hoped to write a book on the theme finishing well. I wanted to give the book the title “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over”, the famed phrase made popular by Yogi Berra. But I wanted to get Yogi Berra’s approval. I didn’t need it legally, but I would never use that title without asking him and getting his blessing on it.

I want to finish well. I’m sure you do too. But “it ain’t over til it’s over”. I hope to publish the book on my 80^th birthday – in July 2015.

Trying to meet Yogi Berra was not exactly a piece of cake. I concluded it would be easier to meet the pope than to meet Yogi. Indeed, it took three well connected men to make it happen. First, Dr. David Ireland, the pastor of Christ Church (they have two campuses) of Rockaway and Montclair, New Jersey. Second, Harold Reynolds – the MLB sportscaster who is a member of Dr. Ireland’s church. Third, James Brown – known as JB – the CBS sportscaster for the NFL. JB was in our seminar last summer when I preached at The Cove (Billy Graham Training Center). JB felt led to get involved as well. He not only added his name to the previously mentioned men, but, after convincing Yogi’s people to see me, personally came from his home in Washington, D.C. to be there for the occasion!

If you follow me on Twitter you already knew that I met Mr. Berra recently. He is now 88, walks with a cane, and yet, with the Director David Kaplan, showed us around the Yogi Berra Museum which is part of Montclair University. Our son TR was there for the occasion too. For my 70^th birthday TR gave me an autographed baseball by Yogi with his handwriting on it “It ain’t over til it’s over”. For my 75^th birthday TR bought me a large plaque with nine of Yogi’s “Yogisms”. By the way, I have been a Yankee fan all my life.

I told Mr. Berra of my wish to write a book on finishing well. I pointed out that too many church leaders do not seem to finish well, not to mention prominent people and leaders outside the church. I wanted his blessing to use “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over” as the title. Not only that, if he would be willing – to allow a photo of himself and me on the cover of the book. He graciously did. We took several photos. Accompanying this blog you can see photos of Yogi with TR and me and one with Yogi, JB and me.

I asked Yogi if he could remember the first time he used this phrase which has become famous around the world. “Shea stadium”, he replied. It was not when he was a Yankee but when he was manager of the New York Mets. In mid season – July 1973 – the Mets were at the very bottom of the league and were apparently doomed to end there. A reporter asked Yogi, “Is it all over?” Yogi quipped, “It ain’t over til it’s over”. Yogi said to me, “It just came out”. And guess what? By the end of the season his team was first and won the National League pennant! Winning the pennant no doubt made the phrase all the more famous.

I have started writing my book. The opening words are: “I started well”. In fact, I had such a good beginning that I have no excuse if I don’t finish well. Great parents. Wonderful opportunities. An incredible wife. Beautiful family. And yet I fear I could still blow it before it’s “over”. One person came up to me very recently and said, “It is so good to meet someone who has finished well”. I tried to smile.

I’m not there yet. “It ain’t over til it’s over”.

When Jeremiah said “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah17:9), he described me. And you too. For that reason, none of us should presume how we will finish. I want to end well. Oh how true: “It ain’t over til it’s over”. I recently received a letter from someone who claimed that, surely, being redeemed by Christ’s blood gives us new hearts and therefore Jeremiah’s words do not apply to a Christian. Sorry, but no Christian is without sin. A new heart, or new creation (2 Cor.5:19), does not mean perfection in this life. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

We can know in advance that we are going to Heaven when we die. God wants us to know that we are saved and will absolutely go to Heaven. That is because Heaven is a free gift since Jesus Christ died on a cross for all our sins. Those who rely on His blood and not their good works will go to Heaven. But going to Heaven does not mean all will receive a reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is promised to those who finish well.

In 1 Corinthians 9:27, writing in 55 A.D., Paul was not absolutely sure he would finish well. “I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” – “prize” – being a word referring not to Heaven but used interchangeably with “reward”, “crown” or “inheritance” – an award handed out at the Judgment Seat of Christ to those who finish well (1 Cor.3:14; 2 Cor.5:10; 2 Pet.1:11). I have heard people say, “I don’t care whether I get a reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ; I just want to make it to Heaven”. I reply: You won’t feel that way then. Never forget that a reward at the Judgment was very important to Paul. But ten years later – in 2 Timothy 4:6 he said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day”. By then he knew he was finishing well. That’s what I want.

Today I am still in a 1 Corinthians 9:27 situation. Even if I do live to the age of 80, for all I know I may still be in that situation. So I will persevere to the very end. I know I am going to Heaven one day. I also want to finish well. But “it ain’t over til it’s over”.

RT