Review: Anointed to Heal: True Stories and Practical Insight for Praying for the Sick

Anointed to Heal: True Stories and Practical Insight for Praying for the Sick by Bill Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is essentially a minuted version of Randy Clark and Bill Johnson interviewing one another. So you can search for the Audio Book or the DVD if you prefer those formats to reading this book. I felt that the book ended too soon - this is one of the few books whereby the authors could have probably added more content, elaborating on the existing material or supplementing them with more illustrations/examples/explanations of testimonies/personal insight.

I grew up in a thoroughly charismatic church and am studying in an Assemblies of God-affiliated seminary. However, my love and passion for faithful, exegetical preaching/studying of Scripture has drawn me toward my present expository-centered church, which has led to my leaning toward a more reformed position toward healing, miracles and deliverance - that these are not the normal operations of the Holy Spirit.

While I still am not a cessationist, I acknowledge that my posture toward pain and suffering - physical, psychological, economical etc. - is that of desiring more of a reality of God than for deliverance from the problem. I am therefore highly encouraged by Clark and Johnson, who challenge my theology and remind me how my brothers and sisters in Christ are so precious in God's sight and how we complement one another in ministry. I am also compelled to reconsider my level of faith and expectation for divine intervention when I pray for another person, even if he/she is a pre or post Christian. I highly recommend reading (and lending the book to others to read) Randy Clark's personal healing testimony (first chapter in Part 2 of the book).

If I enjoyed the book so much, then why the 4 star rating? While I understand the intention to faithfully reproduce the interviews, the impromptu follow up questions and a back-and-forth dialogue do not make for readable or thorough coverage of a topic/subject matter. I felt that many of the chapters, especially in the second part of the book (Bill Johnson interviewing Randy Clark) were abruptly cut off pre-maturely without covering what they were discussing. Hopefully in the subsequent editions these could be ironed out so that readers would not be left hanging.

I received this book from Baker Publishing Group's Chosen Books Blogger Review Program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

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Review: Healing Breakthrough

Healing Breakthrough by Randy Clark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was horrified when Clark described his allegorical handling of a bible passage as "typological" (p29). In fact, I was so incensed that I put the book down and only managed to force myself, a week later, to finish reading it so I could write the review and get rid of it. ‎‎
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I was amused to find that Clark too was not in favour of hype (Chapters 4 & 5). I had assumed that "these hyper-Charismatic types" would be cozying up with the over dramatisation of hype as readily as with the violence to Scripture.‎

When I picked the book up the second time, ‎I was extremely cautious of what I would read and had expected to give the book a 1 or 2 star rating. Clark's sincere sharing of his journey with healing did not "weird me out‎." Rather, I found that I was often reflecting upon and reconsidering my own Theological position on healing (that prayer would be for a desire more for God than the healing; that a heavenly grace be granted in the pain and suffering rather the removal of the latter). I was surprised and rather pleased by the substantial discussion about unanswered prayer (Chapter 21), which I presumed would often be a taboo topic in healing circles.‎

This skeptic‎ found that he was thoroughly blessed by and was sincerely surprised to have enjoyed the read.‎ If Clark or the publishers correct the wrong use of "typological," I'd be happy to revise my rating to 5 stars. Nevertheless, I would recommend it to all Christians, to the reformed and the charismatic, to the liberal and the conservative. Ministers and Pastors should find the book especially helpful.

I received this book from ‎Baker Publishing Group's Chosen Divison Blogger Review Program‎ for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

View all my reviews