Rating: 
Summary: Some Truth on a Slippery Slope
Review: Although there may be some truth in Bevere's book, his other books and the tone which he uses to get his points across cause me some concern.Bevere has always seen a wide gulf between the ministry gifts and the "layman", demanding that the lay person submit to those in authority. And as I stated in my other reviews of Bevere's books, he has you losing your salvation for some reason in practically every one of his books. With this said I offer a few observations. First, every believer is a priest. He can deal with his own sins and does not need an intercessor between him and God. Though there are ministry gifts, there is no biblical support that we are to submit even when the Pastor is wrong. This isn't right. The truth is we are to seek the Word and the Spirit of God and get direction when a minister is wrong--not blindly obey. We have a responsibility to be watchful. And if a ministry gift is in error, each and every believer has a right to take action accordingly. The key is to do it with love and respect. Bevere seems to think that we can't even do this without the errant minister's consent. Give me a break. Addtionally, teaching of this kind is positioned on a slippery slope. Where will it end? Ministers who want to "lord it over" the flock love this kind of teaching. Is there a middle ground? Thank God there is--and Bevere isn't positioned on it. We are to submit to those whom God has placed over us in love. We are to respect these ministry gifts as they are placed there by God. But the fact that they are a gift of God to the body doesn't make them a "covering" per se. I can't find any concept of "covering" in the New Testament. And if this covering concept were taken to its logical end, then we would have a pope-like individual in the body of Christ because a covering supposes being under the authority of someone else, and two people cannot be "covering" for each other. I like what Kenneth Hagin said about this: he said that Jesus was his covering and that he needed no other. Be careful with teaching like this as it has caused much abuse in the church. And unfortunately, some preachers use this type of teaching to get their way instead of leading by the Holy Spirit. The only covering you need is Jesus--because any other "covering" is fallible and unbiblical.
Rating: 
Summary: Undercover...
Review: I don't agree with the previous entries regarding this book Undercover. Surely there is a misguided perception of authority in today's society. John Bevere even says that if leadership is corrupt it is your obligation to leave the church as a christian. They aren't opening their minds to the authority placed over pastors and leadership. John's insightful analogy to the Kingdom of God make sense in all aspects of the word. Although we don't have to talk through a high priest anymore to speak to God directly because of Jesus Christ, there surely is authority placed over church administration. The point of this book is to point out the purpose of authority and in respectfully doing so explaining the covering that God is willing to place on his children if they do so. Comparing this ideology to that of the catholic clergy is nonsense and doesn't relate to what John Bevere is trying to get across to the church. Authority is delegated throughout the New Testament as well, understanding the need for obedience is a very important factor in following God's word. Surely everything should be tested by the scripture but totally disregarding the need for authority is dangerous territory. I highly recommend this book to anybody, it will open your eyes to some of the truths that the average christian is often unaware of.
Rating:
Summary: Under Cover
Review: I have been familiar with the concepts of submission and obedience for about 15 years, so the ground covered by John Bevere was not new to me. However, he presented even the material I learned 15 years ago in modern, fresh, and applicable terms so that I was more easily able to understand the difference between obedience and submission and how to more effectively apply them to my own life so I can receive more of the blessings of God on my life. If I didn't aready own this book, I would definitely buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Book That Feeds The Clergy/Laity System
Review: I have enjoyed John Bevere's books in the past. His book THE BAIT OF SATAN is a must read for every Christian who suffers from hard leaders, bitter memories, or bitter members. However, I was disappointed with UNDER COVER.
Bevere promotes an unbiblical view of authority that will only feed the present day error of the clergy/laity system. The church I attend recently suffered from this perspective when half the membership wanted a "do it all" pastor while the others wanted a servant among the people to teach and equip (Eph. 4:11-16) but not be a CEO type leader. The CEO members left.
In UNDER COVER Bevere tries to promote the idea that God has placed spiritual leaders in authority to help the saints and therefore the saints must submit to their leaders (Hebrews 13:17). However, the Greek word for "submit" is a word that means "to be persuaded by." Biblical leaders don't lord it over those in the Church (1 Peter 5:1-4) but they lead by example (John 13:1-13; 1 Cor. 11:1; Hebrews 13:7,17). Further, all members are equal (Gal. 3:26-29) and all have equal access into the King's prescence (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1-2). We no longer need a priest for Jesus is our High Priest (Hebrews 7:25). We are all priests (1 Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:6). God raises up leaders (Acts 20:28) but these leaders are Spirit-led servants and not harsh task masters (Matthew 20:20-28).
A good read is Frank Viola's book WHO IS YOUR COVERING? or Gordon Ferguson's GOLDEN RULE LEADERSHIP.
Rating: 
Summary: Beware: This is a Tragic and Terrifying Book
Review: I read Under Cover a couple times after it being recommended by an acquaintance. For any who are attracted to this title, I suggest you do an internet search under "spiritual abuse" and see what you find. Bevere prescribes a system of belief in Under Cover that lays the groundwork for tremendous abuse. It is basically a re-working of typical "authority-submission" doctrine from the 1970's (Mumford, Prince, et al.). Frankly, I am surprised that Nelson published the title. Their editorial staff must be napping. Bevere constantly denigrates as demonic deception all critical thought which questions his doctrine. It is a closed intellectual system which brooks no dissent. Throughout the work he displays the most egregious forms of error regarding biblical studies and interpretation. He makes up definitions of Greek words when it suits his purpose. Uninformed readers would have no way of recognizing this. This book traps sincere Christians who want to please God with their lives (just like the authority movement of the 1970's). Bevere himself may well be sincere (I believe he is), but the teaching is deeply flawed. Be cautious. In order to understand how and where Bevere misses the boat, at least in his (mis)use of the Bible, I highly recommend Fee and Stuart, "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth" (Zondervan). It is an excellent read (a little heavy at times, but worth it). To understand Under Cover and its relation to abusive religious systems, I recommend Johnson and VanVonderen, "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" (Bethany House) and Ken Blue, "Healing Spiritual Abuse" (InterVarsity Press). Or, if you read Under Cover, at least do some reading on spiritual abuse so you can balance it with something else.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT book!!!
Review: I'm Holy Spirit filled and go to an awesome church and this book STILL helped me to repent of the little pebbles of sins! Some times it's not the big bolders that Christians need to overcome and repent of, some times the worst are the little pebble sins that go subtle and unackowledged! This book is filled with the revelation of the Holy Spirit and helped me repent and get my spiritual life back going. Thank you God and for using John Bevere! Lucy
Rating:
Summary: This book feeds the spirit of control over God's children
Review: If your church leaders have a spirit of control then this book will feed that spirit and give them even more positional power over church members. I think that books like this is exactly what church leadership is looking for to make the church members servants and make church leaders their masters or lords. On top of page 101 in "Under Cover" Bevere quotes scripture as saying: Servants [employees, church members, civilians, etc.] respectfully obey your earthly masters [employers, church leaders, civil authorities, etc.].... (Eph. 6:5-8) I was floored when I read that. I had to double check to make sure scripture didn't include what was in the brackets like Bevere did. So church members are servants and church leaders are their masters. I think that the above verse says it all about the direction of this book. That word master is the same word for Lord. I'm sorry but I serve only one Lord. There are so many things wrong and unbiblical about this book as noted by the other posts that I wouldn't recommend it. After bringing up my concerns about this book to the pastor I was told that I couldn't come back to church.
Rating:
Summary: no review, only a question
Review: Is there a video "Under Cover" by John Bevere?
Rating:
Summary: One of Bevere's better books, will not be his most popular
Review: John Bevere has done it again, writing yet another book that will bring you deeper into the mysteries of Christ. In this book, Bevere shows you the difference between submission and obedience. John shows us that you can submit to somebody, and not always obey them, and that you can obey somebody and never submit to them. Using many excellent personal examples of his own life and ministry (frequent readers/listeners of Bevere will be familiar with many of these examples), as well as corresponding biblical examples, Bevere teaches who we are to submit to - all genuine authority - and what we are to obey by submitting to authority - everything save for something that would be disobedience to Christ. This submission includes even ungodly men and women, be it a president, local government, or even your husband or parents. Bevere says "obedience deals with our responsive actions toward authority. Submission deals with our attitude toward authority" (p. 134) Hard to believe that we have to submit even to ungodly men and women, but as Bevere shows we don't have to obey them where they ask us to be disobedient to the Gospel. Bevere reminds us that we are to be obedient to decisions of authority that may not always appear to be wise, because they are authority- God's appointed authority of Romans 13 - but if it is an unwise decision we are to remember the heart of the King is in God's hands, and God will judge that ruler for his decisions based on the authority God gave him. If you disobey authority simply because you don't agree with how something should be done, you will be cursed, but should you obey them even if you disagree with them, you will be blessed. By submitting to authority and obeying it, you will go under God's presence. Because now you are under God's divine protection, and should this authority do something wrong to abuse his position of authority, he will have to answer to God for it, while you will be protected by God's grace. As hard as it might be to agree to the above- you probably already disagree with this book - buy this book, for it will carefully show you that the above is very biblical. An excellent book that will transform forever how you look at and deal with authority. It will probably not be one of John Bevere's most popular books, but surely will be remembered as one of his better ones.
Rating: 
Summary: Good principles
Review: John Bevere has good points in this book. He doesnt over emphasize that authorities are to be "super authorities" But he does have balance over different issues. There is another book that brings balance which is "Revolution in the church" by Dr. Michael L. Brown. He writes 3 chapters about authority in the church on how its misused and how it supposed to be used. John Bevere does miss a point. In the book "Revolution in the church" speaks about if an authority tells you to do something that goes against your conscience, should you obey. Meaning, even if an authority tells you to do something, even if its not against the commands of God, do you obey. For example, if you were a person that lived in the NT time and did not have faith to eat certain foods. Even though Jesus said every food is clean, your conscience is not clear. And because its not clear, you dont have faith to eat it. Doing things without faith is sin. John misses another aspect about conscience. Is it disobedience when an authority tells you to eat "unclean" food? You cant obey if your conscience is not clear. You would be in sin if you ate the food not in faith. So, the authority would be a stumbling block. Overall, this book has good points. For those that disagree, please do not throw out the baby with the bath water.
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