I picked up this book because Bevere wrote one of my favorite Christian living book(let)s of all time, How to Respond When You Feel Mistreated. On that basis, when I saw this new release for $5 at the Mardel checkout, I was eager to give it a chance.
Unfortunately, the first part of this book is very weak, in my opinion. It is the author's assertion that the cessation of miracles in the church is due to sin in the body, that the acts of the apostles were meant to be the pattern of the church for the last two thousand years, and that the only reason that the shadow of a passing Christian falling on a sick person isn't instantly healing them is because the local church tolerates members who are unrepentant. His basis for this reasoning is 1 Corinthians 11:30, Paul's blaming physical illness on improper administration of the Lord's Supper. I find this a utopian argument, difficult to square with a more holistic view of the New Testament which emphasizes that believers should not be surprised by suffering. While Bevere disavows the prosperity gospel, his teaching, taken to its logical end, is little different.
Bevere's ultimate argument, that the church is weakened by the tolerance of sin in its membership, is convincing, and his concomitant condemnation of a cheap-grace gospel which depends on persuading people to "ask Jesus in their hearts" without an accompanying emphasis on repentance and a changed life, is worth pondering. A personal anecdote about the Dallas Cowboys is convicting. However, in my opinion, Bevere's argument is weakened by an overstatement of the potential consequences of following his advice.
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