More: When a Little Bit of the Spirit Is Not Enough

by Alan Kraft

The church is filled with people asking, “Is this it? Is this all the Christian life is supposed to be?” They long to experience more of God’s presence—they just don’t know how to get there. Some have been burned by “charismania.” Others are fearful of it.

Is there a way to experience the Spirit—without the weirdness?

Author and pastor Alan Kraft provides a biblical pathway into the exhilaration of an everyday experience with the Holy Spirit, showing how normal it can be to hear His voice, know His love, and walk in His power.

• Learn how to hear God speak in personal ways and how to discern His voice.

• Understand and experience what it means to be filled with the Spirit.
• Be inspired and equipped to pray for the sick, without feeling awkward

or demanding.

• Relax about topics like prophecy and speaking in tongues, rather than feeling defensive or afraid.


Alan Kraft serves as lead pastor of Christ Community Church in Greeley, Colorado, (www.cccgreeley.org) and is author of Good News for Those Trying Harder. Alan holds an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is passionate about helping people experience God in greater ways. He and his wife, Raylene, have four children. Visit his blog at www.alankraft.me.

Genres: Christian

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 12, 2014

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting thoughts on contemporary theology of experiencing the Holy Spirit. Told by a non-Pentecostal pastor who found himself experiencing Pentecostal phenomena as a reality and had to come to terms with the dissonance.

[Kim Pollard · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book on Holy Spirit living

Anyone that may have a tainted view of the Holy Spirit’s current working in their life I highly encourage they give this one a chance. Anyone who diagnosed doubt of the Holy Spirits work but is confused how and where this works, Alan Kraft does a great job leading through this in the book.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly appreciated Kraft's thoughtfulness and maturity in handling one of Christianity's hot button issues: how Christians can experience the Holy Spirit. I recommend to all who wish to study the subject, even for those (like me) who don't consider themselves to be charismatics.

[Tim Wester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview and helpful

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent, but light, introduction to the topics of prophecy, divine healing, tongues, and the Spirit. In general, I appreciated the author's balanced approach towards such experiences - neither wanting to elevate the maturity of those who have experienced the Spirit in such ways nor wanting to write off such experiences. Anecdotes aren't my typical cup of tea, but I thought the author used them well. This is a very pastoral book, and I appreciated how deftly he handled that aspect of it.

Perhaps unfairly, but I wanted more tough thinking from this book. For instance, in the section on listening prayer (or prophecy) the author references Jesus' metaphor in John 10 of the sheep and the voice. This strikes me as the sort of approach to Scripture that the author later warns against - of searching for "hands" and "warm" (in this case "hear" and "voice") and concluding that something is biblical. The Good Shepherd discourse revolves around a debate as to who are the true leaders of God's people and who are the real children of God. It is not an argument with the Pharisees about how we can experience Jesus more fully in our prayer life.

Similarly there were a number of exegetical leaps where I was wanting more. For instance, the fulfillment of Joel in Acts 2 - the author seems to takes for granted that "from now on" things will be like so. Or in the section on healing, the author takes Jesus' commissioning of the seventy two and sees in it a granting of authority to heal to all believers. It's not that I don't agree with these conclusions, but I wanted to see the full logic from premise to conclusion.

I realize that the book is not intended to be an exhaustive study on its topics. And as a light introduction, it is a good book with some important correctives. But I was hoping for more careful arguments on what is, as the author acknowledges, a contentious set of topics.

[Doug Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should start by saying that my rating does not necessarily indicate my agreement with all of Alan's statements in his book. However, I still found this book very helpful. I tend to be skeptical at times when people attribute certain things to the work of the Holy Spirit. I've seen the supposed presence of gifts used to imply a greater level of spirituality among some Christians and I've also seen some feel like they were not favored by God because they did not display a certain gift.

Alan does a great job of addressing these types of concerns and, while recognizing the legitimacy of such concerns, discusses how such a skepticism can cause us to shut out the work of the Holy Spirit, something I certainly do not want to do. I know Alan a bit, pastoring in the same city that he does, and have a great deal of respect for him, so I appreciate hearing his perspective on these matters. His perspectives help me find a balance in mine.

I recommend this to anyone who is curious about this subject, even if you don't find yourself in full agreement. It certainly has caused me to think more about my relationship with the Holy Spirit.

[Andie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introductory read for those who are thirsty for a deeper, richer relationship with the Holy Spirit.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of wise words and practical steps for living with a deeper connection with God.