Rating: 
Summary: Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire
Review: A powerful book on the real power of prayer. When I was given this title by a friend to read, I told him I'd put on my reading list of which there are >40 other books. He said "Put it at the top, I'm reading it for the 7th time"! If you want to know how Christ would have done things in the 20th century, read this book. Cymbala, relies on prayer to bring a multiracial church of just over 20 members to a church of over 6,000. He is not a seminary trained pastor with a slick message. His church does outreach as Christ did, they go where the people most in need live and work. He has great sadness for those pastors rate their value in "attendance, building and cash, the new holy trinity." This book is a great testimony as to how God wants us to be, loving, forgiving and merciful, with the people in most need of God. A tremendous book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but had some problems
Review: Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire is a wonderful short book coauthored by Pastor Jim Cymbala and Dean Merrill. Pastor Cymbala describes how God has blessed him and his wife Carol in their ministries with the famous Brooklyn Tabernacle in the last thirty years. The title "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" draws parallel of this church to the first century church in Acts 2:1-4. This book is a remarkable testimony of the awesome work of the Holy Spirit in how He could do great and mighty things through His people when they humble themselves in prayers. The increase in number for the Brooklyn Tabernacle is spectacular, but it turns pale when comparing to the increase in Pastor Cymbala's faith and dependency in God. God simply turned him from an amateur into warrior. It is a short book, but it is an important book for every serious Christian.
This book is divided into three sections, namely (1) Waking Up to a Powerful Promise, (2) Diversions from God's Best, and (3) The Road Ahead. Section 1 centers on the promise God revealed to Pastor Cymbala in Florida, that if he and his wife will lead his people to pray and call upon His name, He will provide everything they need: sermon, money, church building, and people (p. 25). Once he realized that prayer meeting is the engine of the church, and serious about it, Lord never stopped blessing them. Section 2 underscores that our lukewarm churches nowadays are in trouble by the lure of novelty, marketing, pleasing people, and dead doctrine without passions and actions for the Lord. Section 3 warns us not to be proud of ourselves and take credits from God. He challenges us to "look at the scoreboard" and be brave for God. At the end, he encourages us that the never changing power of the Holy Spirit is all-sufficient as He has never changed since the day of Pentecost.
This book is full of powerful true stories with drug addict, male prostitute, demon-processed person, homeless, all for the glory of God and the expansion of His kingdom. Besides touching stories, this book refers to scriptures in the Bible just as well - an important attribute for any Christian writing. Pastor Cymbala quotes Acts a lot, and is a doer of God's words when he follows the model of first century church in Acts.
This book emphasizes the sufficiency of the power of Holy Spirit. As a church to proclaim God's message in this evil generation, nothing will work better than the Holy Spirit Himself working through his humble and broken people. This is nicely summarized in his comments after the biblical example of Asa, that "such [whatever works is the way to go] thinking is due for a rude awakening when we stand before the Lord." (p. 164).
This inspiring book has made me think a lot. As a choir member, I was touched that even the Tabernacle choir would devoted at least half an hour to pray before the practice. Why can their music be so touching? The answer is in prayer. Life in the music comes from prayer (p. 49). I was so moved when I read the determination of that prayer band member to pray for her pastor before the Jewish man disturbed the worship service with a gun. I was equally touched by Pastor Cymbala's story on his rebellious daughter after the prayer meeting. Why can they do those great and mighty things through prayers but we can't? Why is our prayer meeting so poorly attended? The book provides an answer: prayer has to be born out of a whole environment of felt need. We cannot just say "we ought to pray", but " we have to be driven to pray" (p. 49). I am a firm believer in prayer and the promise in John 15:7, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." How encouraging it is to see prayer and faith in full action in The Brooklyn Tabernacle! This book rekindled my faith in the Lord. Nothing is too difficult for Him (Jeremiah 32:17). Brethren, I encourage you to read this book, and get serious on the prayer ministry. When we work, we work. When we pray, God works! Amen.
Rating:
Summary: We Have to be Driven to Pray, Brethren!
Review: Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire is a wonderful short book coauthored by Pastor Jim Cymbala and Dean Merrill. Pastor Cymbala describes how God has blessed him and his wife Carol in their ministries with the famous Brooklyn Tabernacle in the last thirty years. The title "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" draws parallel of this church to the first century church in Acts 2:1-4. This book is a remarkable testimony of the awesome work of the Holy Spirit in how He could do great and mighty things through His people when they humble themselves in prayers. The increase in number for the Brooklyn Tabernacle is spectacular, but it turns pale when comparing to the increase in Pastor Cymbala's faith and dependency in God. God simply turned him from an amateur into warrior. It is a short book, but it is an important book for every serious Christian.
This book is divided into three sections, namely (1) Waking Up to a Powerful Promise, (2) Diversions from God's Best, and (3) The Road Ahead. Section 1 centers on the promise God revealed to Pastor Cymbala in Florida, that if he and his wife will lead his people to pray and call upon His name, He will provide everything they need: sermon, money, church building, and people (p. 25). Once he realized that prayer meeting is the engine of the church, and serious about it, Lord never stopped blessing them. Section 2 underscores that our lukewarm churches nowadays are in trouble by the lure of novelty, marketing, pleasing people, and dead doctrine without passions and actions for the Lord. Section 3 warns us not to be proud of ourselves and take credits from God. He challenges us to "look at the scoreboard" and be brave for God. At the end, he encourages us that the never changing power of the Holy Spirit is all-sufficient as He has never changed since the day of Pentecost.
This book is full of powerful true stories with drug addict, male prostitute, demon-processed person, homeless, all for the glory of God and the expansion of His kingdom. Besides touching stories, this book refers to scriptures in the Bible just as well - an important attribute for any Christian writing. Pastor Cymbala quotes Acts a lot, and is a doer of God's words when he follows the model of first century church in Acts.
This book emphasizes the sufficiency of the power of Holy Spirit. As a church to proclaim God's message in this evil generation, nothing will work better than the Holy Spirit Himself working through his humble and broken people. This is nicely summarized in his comments after the biblical example of Asa, that "such [whatever works is the way to go] thinking is due for a rude awakening when we stand before the Lord." (p. 164).
This inspiring book has made me think a lot. As a choir member, I was touched that even the Tabernacle choir would devoted at least half an hour to pray before the practice. Why can their music be so touching? The answer is in prayer. Life in the music comes from prayer (p. 49). I was so moved when I read the determination of that prayer band member to pray for her pastor before the Jewish man disturbed the worship service with a gun. I was equally touched by Pastor Cymbala's story on his rebellious daughter after the prayer meeting. Why can they do those great and mighty things through prayers but we can't? Why is our prayer meeting so poorly attended? The book provides an answer: prayer has to be born out of a whole environment of felt need. We cannot just say "we ought to pray", but " we have to be driven to pray" (p. 49). I am a firm believer in prayer and the promise in John 15:7, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." How encouraging it is to see prayer and faith in full action in The Brooklyn Tabernacle! This book rekindled my faith in the Lord. Nothing is too difficult for Him (Jeremiah 32:17). Brethren, I encourage you to read this book, and get serious on the prayer ministry. When we work, we work. When we pray, God works! Amen.
Rating:
Summary: Prayer works!!! Awesome testimony!!!
Review: I have heard the positive testimony of several church friends who have either experienced Brooklyn Tabernacle (BT) or been members (of which the book chronicles). There are some valid points to be gleaned in this work. However, I was uncomfortable with the first chapter, which casts a shadow on the rest of the book. The author and (unseminary trained/nonordained) self-proclaimed pastor of BT reports confronting members from the fledgling church, suggesting that they leave. I'll stand corrected, but this seems unChristian. The practice doesn't fit Paul's letter to the Ephesians. I suggest that those interested in church renewal read Miracle in Darien by Bob Slosser where Spirit lead and Spirit filled leadership along with sound Biblical scholarship and ordination were seen to all come together. If one reads this work, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, do so with discernment.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome challenge
Review: I have now read this book for the third time, as well as attended Brooklyn Tabernacle on 3 separate occasions. It is an awesome church, and it shows what GOD, not man, can do. The book is, quite simply, life changing, showing how God took an inner city dying church and transformed it into one of the biggest churches in America. Everything done at the church is based on prayer, and the Tuesday night prayer meetings have lines forming around the block to get in. Jim Cymbala talks in the book about the lives that are changed, but there is nothing there that glorifies Jim Cymbala or anyone else at all. It shows how all of our Hollywood style programs in churches are simply a sham. After you read it, you will want to get copies for everyone in your congregation!
Rating: 
Summary: A blistering call to return to our Christian roots
Review: Jim Cymbala's "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" (with Dean Merrill) is a truly odd book. Part biography, part clarion call to a sleeping Church, it shares more with the Welsh Revival at the dawn of the 20th Century than it does with any modern church tome occupying the Christian bestseller list today.Cymbala traces the history of his church, The Brooklyn Tabernacle, from a down-and-out, nearly dead meatlocker of a church where the "frozen chosen" simply waited for the inevitable closing to a vibrant powerhouse that is packed out every weekend for multiple services. This first half of the book outlines the basic struggle Cymbala and his wife faced as they sought God and cried out for Him to work a miracle in their perishing parish. This first section of the book reads like any pastoral biography: filled with inspiration, miraculous occurances, and hankie-grabbing stories of prodigals restored and lives touched. Despite being soul-stirring, this is not the part of the book that grabbed me. About halfway through, the book changes entirely in tone. The authors shift the emphasis to what is happening in churches across the world. At this point the message becomes more pastoral and enlightening. The message that prayer should be the backbone of the Christian life comes through as Cymbala calls the Church to reevaluate its focus. The fallacies of chasing after church growth and the current trends are pointed out with alarm. It is here that the book picks up power and focus. Cymbala blasts church leaders for forgetting their first love, Christ, amid all the trappings of modern, cultural Christianity. It's not about marketing techniques or clever theologies, but about wholehearted devotion to the Lord of the Universe. The authors' heart for true revival comes through like a laser and is just like the fresh wind and fresh fire of the title. Along the way, Cymbala is not afraid to step on toes. His is a radical revisioning of discipleship, yet has its feet firmly planted on the backs of those associated with the Welsh Revival and its "children". You'll see several references to spiritual greats like Leonard Ravenhill and Duncan Campbell sprinkled through the text - a pleasure for me for certain. Cymbala's unrelenting pleas for sanity to be restored along with a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit rings true in the hearts of those who can accept what he has to say. We need humility, uncompromising faith and commitment to Christ, and a mightiness of spiritual power born of hours on our faces before God, allowing Him to make us the spiritual change agents He so desperately wants us to be. If I didn't know better I'd say that this book was written in the 1950's at about the same time Ravenhill was writing "Why Revival Tarries". It carries the same forcefulness of message. And it is a message we desperately need today as the church finds itself far too ensnared by sentimental Christianity and the pop culture around us. This book would have warranted five stars if it were not such a hydra. It's really two books in one. Being as small as it is - 185 pages in a trade paperback size, though a hardback - there should have been enough here for two good sized books. While I understand that the biographical section does illustrate the points the authors make later, it still feels as if one book starts and another stops part way through the book. Still, two really good books in one may be perceived by some to be a blessing. And no matter how you look at "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" it is just that; a great addition to any Christian library.
Rating:
Summary: Buy A Pack of Highlighters
Review: Prepare to read, and re-read this book. This is one of the elite Christian books that will inspire you to draw closer to Christ. It is easy to read, and doesn't present the next "great big thing". Fresh Wind Fresh Fire simply presents us with a snapshot of a church that truly hungered for the face of God. From crack addicts to cross-dressers, latinos to Brooklyn thugs, the Brooklyn Tabernacle prayed its way into God's favor. This books inspires you to pray, not for results, but to draw closer to the One who loves you.
Rating:
Summary: A great book with an even greater message!
Review: Several people in my church, including my Sunday School teachers and my Mom encouraged me to read this book. It's exactly what its title says, "fresh." Pastor Cymbala is right on target with his comments regarding churches and prayer. No matter what condition you're in spiritually this book will be a wake-up call and will encourage you to place your relationship with God priority number one! The sequel "Fresh Faith" is even better!
Rating:
Summary: Prayer is the key
Review: This book should be required reading for all christains everywhere. How well we've been told to pray without ceasing, but do we? Jim Cymbala's church did and look what God has done. The church growth is not what is so impressive, but how God took obedient, ordinary people and used them to accomplish the extraordinary. This matter of prayer, is not a 'now I lay me down to sleep' thing, it's an attitude, it's all day, it's powerful! I've been challenged to 'test' my God; to pray only according to His will and not mine; to pray fervently, in secret and outloud; to tap this resource that was given so graciously to us, an undeserving people. I'm looking forward to seeing the hand of God at work right here because I'm going to obey. Thank you, Jim Cymbala, for listening to God from the start. Your ministry has just expanded.
Rating:
Summary: Gives a ray of hope for a culture which is decadent.
Review: This is one of the most uplifting books I have read in many years. I did not believe that anywhere there were people who were zealous to find Jesus Christ. The congregation and their pastor point to a way out of the lack of spiritual power. Everywhere, but especially on the West Coast, churches have little to say that is relevant to the problems of ordinary people. But this church is alive and powerful, not because of superior preaching or even a wonderful choir. It is because they depend on Jesus Christ instead of the gimmickry that is so prevelant throughout this country which is supposed to make churches grow. It is a back-to-basics book for churches regardless of denomination. It is also an inspiring story of what happens when a man in humble submission to God, obeys his voice. Sprinkled throughout the book are stories like that of David, a vagrant who would be despised in most churches, but who found tremendous love and encouragement through Pastor Cymbala and those in his congregation. I would pray this kind of spirituality would spread to many churches. I also would pray that many of us who call ourselves Christians would spend large amounts of time in prayer not in some prefunctory manner but really getting serious about an intimite relationship with the living Christ. If this truly happens perhaps there is still some hope for this nation.
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