Word Spirit Power , livre ebook

© 2012 by R. T. Kendall, Charles Carrin and Jack R. Taylor
Published by Chosen Books
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.chosenbooks.com
Chosen Books is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-5995-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All quoted passages from hymns, poems and other outside sources in this book are in the public domain.
Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quoted through chapter 7 taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com .
Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quoted in chapter 8 and beyond are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007
Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
Cover design by Kirk DouPounce, DogEared Design
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Introduction by R. T. Kendall
Part One: Word by R. T. Kendall
1. My Testimony: “He Can Have It”
2. The Remarriage of the Word and Spirit
3. Isaac Is Coming!
Part Two: Spirit by Jack Taylor
4. My Testimony: Who Is This Stranger?
5. Filled with the Spirit
6. The Works of the Holy Spirit
7. More Wondrous Works
Part Three: Power by Charles Carrin
8. My Testimony: Transformed by the Power
9. Ananias: Bringing God’s Power into My Life
10. Theology of the Anointing
11. Receiving the Power
Conclusion
About the Authors
Back Cover
O n the day I finished writing my part of this book, a friend happened to ask me, “What do you think is missing most in the Church today?” I replied: “Power.”
I believe that, generally speaking, for too long the Church has existed with a form of godliness but without power (2 Timothy 3:5). What was promised by Jesus to the earliest Church namely, power (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8) is precisely what we do not have at the present time. It has been stated by more than one observer that if the Holy Spirit were completely withdrawn from the Church today, 90 percent of the work of the Church would carry on as if nothing had happened. Not long ago, a Chinese pastor was given a tour of American evangelical churches. At the end of the tour he was asked, “What is your opinion of American churches?” He replied: “I am amazed at what you accomplish without God.”
It is our view as coauthors that, in general, a silent divorce exists in the Church today between the Word and the Spirit. When there is a divorce in a family sometimes the children stay with the father, sometimes with the mother. In this divorce we have what might be labeled “Word” churches and those that could be called “Spirit” churches. Although Jack, Charles and I are not necessarily calling for such churches to come together, we are calling for a remarriage between the Word and the Spirit in the Church.
I first met Jack Taylor in July 1985 at the First Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when Dr. O. S. Hawkins was the senior pastor. Meeting Jack was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Dr. Hawkins announced that Jack and I would have a book signing on the following Saturday morning. As soon as people got in line to get their book, I noticed that dozens were queuing up for Jack’s book. Not a single soul came to get mine, although one or two (feeling sorry for me) finally walked over and purchased my book.
I met Charles Carrin at the Central Baptist Church in Hixon, Tennessee, in the spring of 2000. I was deeply impressed with his preaching and ministry. I felt he should come to Westminster Chapel in London, where I was pastor. He came the following November and he moved us out of our comfort zone. During that time I remember announcing, “Westminster Chapel is now a Spirit church as well as a Word church.” It was pivotal for us and I felt grateful to God that He used Charles as He did.
The next time Jack and I met was at the First Baptist Church in Ada, Oklahoma, in July 2000. Jack and I were invited there to do a “Word and Spirit” conference one weekend. Both of us stayed in the home of our friends Pete and Melissa Cantrell. On the last morning, just before breakfast, Jack walked into the living room where I was talking with Pete and said, “R. T., I’m going to make you rich and famous.” This made me laugh. But Jack had reckoned we could work together doing “Word and Spirit” conferences once I retired and moved back from London to the United States.
I liked the idea but wondered: Could we bring Charles along with us? Yes, Jack was all for that. Indeed, the three of us held a memorable “Word Spirit Power” conference in Westminster Chapel during my final year there. I spent exactly 25 years at Westminster Chapel, retiring in 2002.
Although Jack has made me neither rich nor famous, the three of us have held over fifty “Word Spirit Power” conferences all over America, from Florida to Alaska and from New England to the Southwest. Not all churches apparently want us. We seem to appeal mostly to those who equally want both the preaching of the Word and manifestations of the Holy Spirit. I wish there was not the polarization that exists between the Word and Spirit in churches today. Some may doubt or deny that this polarization exists. You decide as you read our book.
Here’s the deal: I am the “Word” man, Jack is the “Spirit” man and Charles is the “Power” man, although the three of us equally believe in these three essentials; we are merely drawing upon our individual gifts. We work beautifully with each other and I thank God for our friendship and our ministry together. Never in my life have I known men for whom respect and appreciation has deepened and grown so much as with them. Each of us will begin our sections in this book with our personal testimonies, then we will speak through these printed pages much as we do when we hold conferences. The only thing missing in this book will be the laying on of hands of conference participants, which is a vital part of our ministry.
We were recently approached by Chosen Books to do a book together. The truth is, we had thought of it but the invitation has galvanized us. The three of us are over 235 years old, and we have been in the ministry for approximately 170 years! Charles is the oldest, Jack is the best looking and I am the most unworthy and possibly the most grateful. Could it be that our legacy will be this very book rather than in the individual areas where we have sought to leave a deposit?
This book you hold in your hands explains the rationale for our ministry, but more than that it is intended to make a contribution to the Church at the present time. We believe in this formula: Word + Spirit = Power. Jesus promised that we would receive “power” (Acts 1:8), but this power is manifested today where the Word is faithfully preached and the Holy Spirit is warmly welcomed. Agree or disagree with our premise, I pray that this book will stir you and be a blessing to you but, most of all, that it will bring honor and glory to God.
R. T. Kendall

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:14–17
Honor the blood, and honor the Holy Ghost.
R. T. Williams (1883–1946)
T his chapter is all about the aspects of my spiritual and theological development that eventually led to this book. I am passing over countless autobiographical events that, though important to me, do not bear directly on the theme of this book. I merely want to show what brought me to the place that I became convinced of the need for the Word and Spirit to come together simultaneously.
I was converted at the age of six on April 5, 1942 which happened to be Easter Sunday. I went to my parents in tears, saying, “I want to be a Christian.” My dad had the presence of mind not to wait until we got to church but had me kneel at their bedside right then. I confessed my sins and asked Jesus to come into my heart as Lord and Savior. The only sins I can recall were my speaking rudely to my parents, but in any case I knew I needed to be saved.
I was brought up by godly parents in the Church of the Nazarene in Ashland, Kentucky. It was a lively church; the neighbors called us “Noisy-renes.” I reckon we were the tail end of the powerful momentum started in the previous century known as the Cane Ridge Revival, sometimes called America’s “Second Great Awakening.” We had good preachers who would come to hold “revivals.” I was made to go to church every time the door was opened. I hated it then, but not now.
My parents were very strict in their standards. I was