Reviews and Endorsements
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[Endorsement]
- “Meticulously researched and engagingly readable, Following the Spirit draws us from the biblical into our contemporary world. The complexity of the 21st-century world will resist any evangelistic endeavour less than a God-directed, Holy Spirit-empowered model that Following the Spirit provides.”—Rex D Edwards, theologian and author of Every Believer a Minister (1979) and Every Believer the Church (2013)
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[Endorsement]
- “It is not a surprise that Following the Spirit would come out of the pen of someone who has devoted his life to following the Spirit as described in the Bible and especially in the book of Acts. Practical applications for today are at every corner and thought-provoking questions will flare the passion for experiencing the transforming power of the Spirit now.” —Danijela Schubert, theologian and church administrator
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[Endorsement]
- “Following the Spirit” is practical and simple, yet transformational. At this critical time, it breathes life into our understanding of what it means to “be the church” and is a compelling call to be a disciple-making movement of Jesus Christ. We have been personally inspired, blessed and challenged by Peter’s Spirit-driven and down-to-earth teaching - Alina and Martin van Rensburg, Multiplying young adult missional leaders, Queensland
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[Endorsement]
- Peter is an absolute legend in the Australian church planting scene, having launched multiple congregations across our continent and in Europe. This book is part commentary on the Book of Acts and part mission/discipleship field manual. Weighty and insightful. - Michael Frost, Morling College, Sydney
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[ Bookshelf Review ]
- Acts is undoubtedly the Bible’s most exciting book, as we watch the Holy Spirit transform the wavering and disappointed disciples into a fast-growing movement that continues with you and me today.
Exploring this history, Following the Spirit traces the power of the Holy Spirit and dependence on prayer, beginning with the 120 disciples waiting for the promise after Jesus’ ascension.
The Holy Spirit begins a deliberate and dramatic reversal of the curse of Babel, breaking down language barriers at Pentecost in Acts 2 and, throughout the progression of the early church, breaking down many other cultural and ethnic barriers. With a bias for those at the bottom of the Jerusalem class system, the disciples built the gospel movement through the lower city of old Jerusalem. Jesus suffered to save suffering people, so the church ministered to suffering people.
As such, the gospel embraces cultural diversity. The first church plant in Acts is in Antioch, a multicultural church in which many were refugees. It’s usually the disinherited and those on the margins who create gospel movements. We also see that the Holy Spirit included gender diversity in the call to spread the gospel. Consider the ministries of Dorcas, Lydia and Priscilla, or the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch In Acts 8, whom the Spirit pursued through Phillip and became the church’s first foreign missionary.
Following the Spirit is essential reading, showing the simplicity of sharing Jesus with non-believers and how the Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting on our behalf. Throughout Acts, we see the leaders and believers take the gospel to where the people lived. The identity of churches is not in their size but whether or not they are multiplying hubs of new groups of believers.
While Following the Spirit stands alone as a study of the church in Acts, as a sequel to Following Jesus, it demonstrates how the disciplemaking method of Jesus played out in the life and mission of those first disciples. While Following the Spirit has more explication of the text than did Following Jesus, Dr Roennfeldt’s new book is another prompt to deep study and discussion, ideally suited for use by church leadership teams or small groups, as well as for individual or family study.
—Dr Leigh Rice, Discipleship Ministries Team, South Pacific Division