Customer Reviews

Fresh Power: Experiencing the Vast Resources of the Spirit of God

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Like its predeccesors Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire and Fresh Faith, Fresh Power will stir your soul and cause you to say, "YES! That's what I need!" Fresh Power is a fresh look at the timeless and essential work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian's life. It is not some new twist on the Holy Spirit for the contemporary church, but a refocusing on the same Power who has always been available to every Christian just as He was to the apostles and all the believers in the first church. This Power changed lives by the scores and it is still changing lives when believers turn to the Him and allow Him to work in and through their lives. Cymbala once again fills his book with testimony after testimony to affirm these truths he is sharing, and these testimonies are as compelling as the stories recorded in Acts. This is the same Power who causes non-believers to stop and take notice, "Wow, there IS a difference when Christ enters a life." This is the Power who causes a fellow Christian to be able to say, "If she could get the victory then I know I can too! I surrender control to You, Holy Spirit." Every day God offers us Fresh Power through His eternal Holy Spirit ....read this book and you too will shout "YES" to His offer to fill you to overflowing with His fresh Power!

If you read only one Christian book this year, make this book be the one! Jim Cymbala has done it again with this 3rd book in his series. This book is about finding "Fresh Power" given to you by the Holy Spirit. I had to stop reading after every chapter just to reflect and breathe. This book is that powerful, and that inspiring. Thank you Pastor Jim for this gift from God.

It is often the practice of many mainline evangelicals to ignore any book whose sole purpose is to talk about the Holy Spirit. Sometimes this is because of a lack of understanding, sometimes due to an association with fringe movements. Do not pre-judge this book. Cymbala has put together an excellent admonishment to the church as a whole to become right with the Spirit. Admonishing both the cemetary churches (those who are dead spiritually) and the insane asylums (those that practice unbiblical "manifestations"), Mr. Cymbala makes a strong and convicting argument for the renewal of the church through the recognition and acceptance of the Spirit of God.

This is perhaps one of the best books I have ever read on the power of God, and how we should desire it for the callings God has placed on each of our lives. This book will perhaps make non-Pentecostals much more uncomfortable than the previous two books in this series... but at the same time it will probably challenge many Pentecostals/Charismatics as well.

As Cymbala walks us through the book of Acts, he calls us to earnestly seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and subsequent refillings. Cymbala says we should not focus on what manifestation occurs with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as the Scriptures do not limit it to tongues specifically. Rather, what the Scripture was concerned about was a demonstration of the power of God. Legitimiate demonstrations of that power... not the many things that are counterfeits passed off as God's power. This power is not to be confused with emotionalism. Rather, it is to be the power God uses to demonstrate that Christ is alive and on the throne today. A power that changes the lives of others.

It's a shame that this book hasn't received as much attention as Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. This book is probably just as good as the first book of this series, if perhaps not better. Cymbala's comments regarding the Church Growth movement is especially insightful. I hope this book finds its way into many Bible Colleges, Pastors, and the traditional pew dwellers.

If you have enjoyed books by such individuals as Leonard Ravehill (author of 'Why Revival Tarries,' 'Sodom Had No Bible,' etc.), then you will greatly enjoy this book, and the entire 'Fresh...' series.

Where "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" was a brilliant and commonsense vision of what the contemporary should look like, and how it should function, "Fresh Power" continues by showing us how we are supposed to live as contemporary Christians. This book uses and interprets biblical passages to explain what we are called to do as Christians and the power that the Holy Spirit enables us with. You can not read this book, and feel that you are too sinful to live for Christ. You will be reminded of your sin, and even more so, reminded of the Lord's grace. After reading this book, I'm very excited to explore the depths of the Lord.

Cymbala's book is an excellent read on letting the Holy Spirit have free reign in our lives.

Among the points Cymbala covers include:

1. We must seek the Holy Spirit instead of an experience.
2. We should not rely on glitz and glamor and instead let the Holy Spirit move as He wishes.
3. Accurate doctrine without the Holy Spirit is powerless.
4. When facing opposition, go to the Lord in prayer first instead of relying on your own strength or connections.
5. Christians bickering against one another is a sorry testimony.
6. Much more can be accomplished through powerful prayer instead of working in our own flesh.
7. Without the Holy Spirit, we are helpless and hopeless.
8. We have a deep longing that only the Lord can fill.

Read and be encouraged and challenged to have a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit and His power!

I'm so tired of Christian authors who fill up their books with fluff - having to sift through page after page of the same old Christian-ese, hoping that someday the author will get to the point. So I took a chance on Fresh Power (this being the first Cymbala book I've read). It only took me a few pages to warm up to his style. Cymbala doesn't mess around. He cuts right to the heart of the issue, and brings his years of experience to the table when comparing the early church to the trendy attitudes that have torn apart the Church in America today. He sorts out the different views that today's Christians have about the Holy Spirit, and how we need to compare our views to the written Truth - the Bible. I'm ordering the whole Fresh series right now!

If a congretation could grasp the reality of what the Holy Spirit teaches through Jim Cymbala that church would spark a revival that could spread. The teachings are scripturally based and are solid to the Glory Of God.

I love Jim Cymbala. I got Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire for everyone in our church. That was a book created out of a life of work and growth. Fresh Power is okay, but not up to the first book, nor as good as Fresh Faith (which came later). Read it, but after the other two.

Jim Cymbala's work in this book is a much-needed reminder to every believer of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and our tendency to ignore Him. This book will remind you of great truths, it will convict you of our complacency toward the Presence and Person of God in our lives and will challenge you to think, live and pray differently. Cymbala pulls no punches in dismantling much of the excess of the Charismatic extremists, but also nails the typical person or church who largely relegates the Holy Spirit to a Piece of Information rather than the real Power that He is for us. If you read this book, prepare to be convicted and changed.