Review of Practicing the Power

Practicing the Power by Sam Storms has been an eye opening read for myself. Being from a cessationist background myself my only encounters with charismatic worship and use of the gifts have been seeing the types of uses Sam Storms would be critical of as well. One example comes to mind, for my world religions class in college we had to attend a worship service at a place of worship different from our faith background and I chose to attend a nondenominational charismatic church. That day they had a guest speaker who commanded everyone to speak at tongues at the same time, no order no interpretation just unintelligible noise. This book has helped me see that not all those who believe in the ongoing use of the sign gifts are like that or like the televangelist fakes found on TV.

I think the first four chapters of this book are probably the most useful as there are many points of application that would prove valid and useful for those in the cessationist camp. In those chapters he focuses on the importance of the Spirit’s presence in the believers life, the need to have an earnest desire for the work of the Spirit, and the importance of prayer and fasting in regards to the spiritual gifts. In those chapters he shows reflects in his writing the biblical balance between appropriate use of means and an understanding of God’s sovereignty. I did find his chapter on deliverance a help review of an area that seems to be largely neglected in Baptist circles.

The greatest issue I have with this book is the fact that Sam Storms seeks to differentiate between prophecy in the Old and New Testament, having one serve as authoritative while the other it seems to be is more subjective. I do not see anywhere in the New Testament where this distinction is made or where it is so subjective.

The most important thing this book has one for me is to help me understand those coming from a charismatic background better.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of the book from the publisher for the purpose of reviewing it. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.