When Heaven Invades Earth is a powerful statement and testimony on the Kingdom of God. Theologically sound, well supported, and extremely well argued, this message provides a carefully constructed biblical foundation for the average Christian to live and walk in the miraculous, supernatural power of God. Not only is the supernatural possible, it is also our commission. The Great Commission that Christ gave to the Church challenges us and makes us responsible to rise up to this supreme supernatural calling. Johnson shows you how you are called to dominion in the earth through the divine rule of God.

 

Amazon reader review: In his recently published book, THE SUPERNATURAL POWER OF A TRANSFORMED MIND: ACCESS TO A LIFE OF MIRACLES (hereafter, SPTM), Bill Johnson picks up where Oral Roberts's thirteen-week devotional, A DAILY GUIDE TO MIRACLES AND SUCCESSFUL LIVING THROUGH SEED-FAITH (Tulsa: Pinoak Publications, 1975) left off in teaching us how to become God's instruments for manifestations of the miraculous today. The revered Chinese evangelist, Watchman Nee's classic work, THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE (Tyndale House, 1977) also comes to mind because of the frequent use of the phrase 'normal Christian life' throughout SPTM.

Pastor Johnson tells us why he is writing this his second book: '. . . to address a very abused subject--the mind of the [Christian] believer' (Introduction, p. 27). He further expresses his heart's mission for the spiritual 'reformation' of the Christian churches when he says, 'I have come to see that the normal Christian life means miracles, spiritual intervention, and revelation. It means praise, joy, love, a sense of well-being and purpose--all these traits that elude so many Christians' (chap. 1, p. 31). The number and diversity of miraculous interventions (viz., food multiplications; healings; exorcisms; resurrections; et al) that Johnson relates as an ongoing string of testimony from both his own personal experience and the experiences of his many satellite ministers and ministries are dramatic indeed and truly amazing! Again, the earlier ministries of Kathryn Kuhlman, Smith Wigglesworth, Maria Woodworth Etter, the apostles, Jesus, and the Hebrew prophets all come to mind. But are what the apostle Paul describes as 'varieties of gifts' and 'varieties of ministries' distributed 'individually' but not pervasively (cf. 1 Cor. 12:2-30); to be rightly understood as normative and 'standard operating procedure' for every believer in every assembly? Johnson believes so, and he writes: 'It is unnatural for a Christian to not have an appetite for the impossible' (p. 29), and 'signs, wonders, and miracles are as normal to the gospel as it is normal for you to get up in the morning and breathe. Revival is the Christian life; you can't dissect the two' (p. 156).

Another question seems to be: Is the presence or absence of a Christian's 'mental transformation' or 'mind renewal,' THE deciding factor to either release or restrain the manifestation of God's miraculous power for revival, deliverance, healing, adequate food supplies, and resurrections in the lives of his children and those about to become his children? It would appear that with Jesus being physically absent, and the Holy Spirit being now present within us--WE MUST play the part, but is an 'appetite for the impossible' heaven's first and irrevocable prerequisite for God's manifestation? If we listen to Jesus on the subject, again, it appears to be true because 'EVERYTHING is possible for him who BELIEVES' (Mark 9:23, NIV, caps mine).

SPTM represents neither a 'false word of faith theology,' nor is the author (a fifth generation Christian pastor) caught in a spirtual aberration as one reviewer charges. Johnson writes with an above average degree of candor, disclosing a number of his own human frailties and the ongoing history of his own difficult struggle to grow spiritually and to keep an 'open heaven' above himself and the Christians who he oversees in Redding, California and beyond. His insights from the Scriptures are numerous and important. The absence of a Scripture index in SPTM is disappointing, however, and diminishes the book's value as a ready reference tool for searching the various biblical passages treated.

For Johnson's detractors (viz., the doubters, and the Christian 'cessationists,' who seem to be forever taking a perverse satisfaction in their confessed unbelief), one wonders with which group they would have been sitting at one of Jesus' 'revival' meetings--or if they would have attended at all for fear of a healing, an exorcism, or (God forbid) a resurrection from taking place. Of them I ask: If God is willing to give you more, why be content with less? Why continue to cheat him; yourself; and others out of a FULL Christian experience? If another servant of God dares to step out of the boat, why not let him walk as far and as long as he is able and cheer him on? Why content yourself with throwing stones from the railing? Jesus has commanded us not to try and stop such persons as they pursue ministry in his behalf (cf. Mark 9:38-40). Try saying: 'I am willing to learn.' 'I am willing to grow.' 'I am willing to be vulnerable to change for the sake of his manifest glory.' 'I will not allow my sins of fear, pride, and unbelief to stand in God's way any longer.' I think we have more than enough room in the church to permit what is so abundant in our heads to begin to trickle down to our hearts; our hands; and our feet--allowing the glory of God to be seen again.