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Book Review: “Smith Wigglesworth. The Secret of His Power”

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Title: “Smith Wigglesworth. The Secret of His Power”
Author: Albert Hibbert

Availability: Published by Harrison House, Oklahoma @1993. Koorong stocks it ~$10.95

 

Quick outline:

3 chapters, 104 pages, easy to read.
1. Smith Wigglesworth – The Man
2. Smith Wigglesworth – The Spirit
3. Smith Wigglesworth – Life in the Spirit

 

Brief Overview:

The book begins with Hibbert (the author) describing how he met Smith Wigglesworth through a miracle when he (Hibbert) was only a boy. Hibbert lived near Wigglesworth and Higgins contracted double pneumonia and was in a deep coma. Expert brain specialist said that he would never regain consciousness and suggested that that was for the best since his brain was so badly damaged that he would be mentally and physically incapacitated for life. The local minister came and asked the family what their reaction would be if God healed their boy. Hibbert’s older brother said he would serve God. The minister and Wigglesworth said that they were going to pray but the healing may not happen immediately so don’t be disappointed. They prayed and then had a cup of tea, during which time Hibbert woke up and was completely healed.

The book was full of great examples of when Wigglesworth prayed for healing for people and the miraculous results. One of the examples came from when Wigglesworth was staying with a curate of the Church of England who had had both legs amputated. Wigglesworth told the man to go and get a new pair of shoes in the morning, which the man did. Apparently the shop assistant was not impressed when the curate came into the shop asking for a pair of shoes to try on. However, as soon as the curate put one stump into the shoe, a foot and then a leg formed. Then the same happened to the other leg.

Wigglesworth was known for being sensitive to the moving of God’s Spirit, but not necessarily to that of other people. One time, Hibbert’s aunt complained of stomach pain. Wigglesworth punched her in the stomach. She screamed out, but was healed. Wigglesworth said “I don’t hit people. I hit the devil. If they get in the way, I can’t help it….” (p12).

Because he was so sensitive to the voice of God’s Spirit, Wigglesworth was unpredictable. He dealt differently with everyone to whom he witnessed. He recognised that there was no one formula for healing people. In ministering to sick people, he would anoint some with oil, lay hands on some or just speak Biblical truth to others. No matter what method he used, the results would always be the same with healing occurring.

When Wigglesworth’s own wife lay dying, he rebuked death in the name of Jesus Christ. She sat up and said that God wanted her and to let her go. Apparently they talked for quite some time, then he let her go.

Wigglesworth believed that Christians should not be governed by their temperament. He had a problem with anger so he shut himself away, completely alone with God, until he dealt with his problem of anger. He then became very compassionate and never again reacted in anger. He was strong about not being governed by our feelings, saying that “We are not saved by feelings, but by the Word of God. Salvation does not fluctuate as do feelings.” (p24) Wigglesworth believed that “trying to act in faith without living a corresponding life of faith is sheer presumption.” (p13)

Wigglesworth never went more than 15 minutes without reading the Word of God, regardless of where he was or in whole company he found himself in. He also never let more than half an hour go past without praying. Wigglesworth never became involved in theological debate or scriptural interpretations. He believed it was more important to know God personally than to debate about God. Wigglesworth never read the newspaper, only glancing at the headlines. He believed it was more important to read the Word of God and get the whole truth than waste time reading a newspaper that only had partial truth.

He had a passion for the souls of men. He and his wife spent every Saturday night praying, claiming at least 50 souls for the next day which was Sunday. He also fasted every Sunday. The results were that he couldn’t remember ever seeing fewer than 50 souls saved every Sunday.

He gave the following challenge to all Christians (p 99) “Live ready. If you have to get ready when the opportunity comes your way, it will be too late. Opportunity does not wait, not even while you pray. You must not have to get ready, you must live ready at all times. Be filled with the Spirit; that is, be soaked with the Spirit. Be soaked so that every thread in the fabric of our life will have received the requisite rue of the Spirit. Then when you are misused and squeezed to the wall, all that will ooze out of you will be the nature of Christ.”

As the final page states in summing up Wigglesworth “(He) was an ordinary working man but with an extraordinary Source of power.” (p104) He never claimed any glory for any miracle of healing.

 

Strengths:

This book is a concise overview of Smith Wigglesworth life. It is a huge encouragement on developing a relationship with God and being intimate with God. The fruit of his life and ministry are enough to make you want to read and learn more about him. I would definitely recommend this book to people wanting to live a naturally supernatural lifestyle.

 

Why I chose to read it:

To be honest, we were on holidays and my husband had the book with him. I didn’t have any other book to read, so started reading it but was soon captivated and challenged by it. I would definitely recommend it to every Christian.

Book Review: “The Seven Mountain Prophecy” by Johnny Enlow

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Title: “The Seven Mountain Prophecy” (Unveiling the Coming Elijah Revolution)
Author: Johnny Enlow Publisher: Creation House ©2008

 

Source:
1. Book Depository – www.bookdepository.com (free postage) $14.00
2. Koorong or Word Bookstores – $15.99
3. Amazon – $9.14 + postage or $8.68 Kindle Edition

 

Length of book:
197 pages. Easy to read with stand alone chapters.

 

About the Author:
Johnny Enlow & his wife pastor Daystar International Christian Fellowship in Atlanta, Georgia. He travels & speaks internationally on intimacy with God. In ~2006, “Cal Pierce prophesied over Johnny that God was about to show him the way the kingdom of God works”. (p 2) “Cal also said the Lord would teach him how to save a nation in a day.” (p3) Chuck Pierce then prophesied similar over Johnny.

 

Brief Overview:
Enlow begins by describing the tsunami of 2004 & comparing it with the spiritual tsunami which he believes has already begun. He then goes on to look at the Elijah Revolution & how that has the power to transform society as powerfully as a tsunami. Enlow believes that the Elijah Revolution will take us into the promised land. He describes the seven manifestations of Elijah, that of prophet, intercessor, exposer of Jezebel, decimator of Baal’s prophets, practitioner of the supernatural, eliminator of ambiguity, and anointer of the double portion.

Enlow describes the 40 years in the wilderness for the Israelites and why they didn’t enter the promised land due to their sin of looking at the surrounding seven nations who were greater & mightier than they were & feeling inferior. He then parallels those seven nations with the seven pillars that influence and shape our society.

Enlow devotes a chapter to each of these pillars, calling them mountains. In each chapter, he covers the definition of that mountain, the current ruler, the ‘antidote’, the levels of that mountain, the Biblical viewpoint, a multi-pronged approach, prayer strategy & action strategy.

Before his fantastic quick reference chart & quick reference overview, he exhorts us to live as the ‘head and not the tail’, He describes how the Israelites lived as the tail “because of their disobedience to the command to enter Canaan and dispossess the ‘seven nations greater and mightier than thou’.”(p181-2) Likewise, Enlow believes that our rebellion isn’t against the Ten Commandments but “having hearts of unbelief that God could use us to dispossess seven nations greater and mightier than us”. (p182)

 

Strengths:
The overview & quick reference guide to the seven mountains was fantastic & something that I will use again & again. It also has deepened my prayer life in that I know specifically what to pray about in each of these areas. A great initial resource book for those people who are wanting to become involved in climbing one of the seven mountains.

Enlow is definitely convincing in presenting a strong case for every Christian to be involved in one of the seven mountains. A question that one must ask oneself after reading this book is “Am I content to live in a Christian subculture that has little influence on society?” Therefore, am I prepared to do something about that so that entire nations can come into God’s Kingdom?

 

Weaknesses:
The initial few chapters were, at times, a bit off-putting as I don’t believe that he is totally accurate in his use of Scripture. Enlow believes that natural disasters are God’s way of punishing cities for the sins of the people. He tends to pick individual Bible verses to support his theories, without looking at the Bible verse in its proper context.

 

Why I chose to read it:
There were two reasons I chose to read this book. Firstly, I really needed to educate myself on the Seven mountains that leading prophets were talking about. Secondly, Gary, my husband, had been given a prophesy about the Elijah anointing, so I was on a mission to discover as much about that as I could. This book revealed more insights for me on the Elijah anointing.

This book was an easy read with a quick reference guide. I would recommend this book for people wanting an overview of the Seven mountains, realising that Enlow takes a very judgemental view of natural disasters which comes through quite strong, although ?not always totally biblically correct.

I definitely recommend reading this book to educate yourself on the Seven Mountains. The Seven Mountain Prophecy Quick Reference Chart (p190-1) is a valuable tool to familiarise yourself with as well.