Energion Publications Announcements

The video on why I started a new Christian publishing company, available from the home page, is now also on Google video. Due to various issues with viewers, this may be a better option. It is embedded here:

I have finally uploaded the final portion of the three part discussion I held with my wife around the dining room table on grief and her book Grief: Finding the Candle of Light.

Because this video was so long delayed, I have extended book of the week pricing until next Monday, July 28, 2008.

. . . on Grief: Finding the Candle of Light. This will allow posting of the final two parts of the home video of Henry and Jody Neufeld discussing the book and grief in general.

Here’s the second part of that home video discussion of my wife’s book Grief: Finding the Candle of Light. The first part is here, and the third will be posted tomorrow.

As a publisher, I do not want to take a public stand on the revival in Lakeland and Todd Bentley’s preaching, so I’m posting this under my own name, rather than Energion Publications staff. I would like to recommend some books, two by me, and one by another of our authors, that might help in discerning revival and related ministry activities.

The first is by my friend Dr. Bob McKibben, and is titled Holy Smoke! Unholy Fire! Bob was in the Pensacola area during the Brownsville revival and then pastored Pine Forest United Methodist Church, which was heavily impacted by the revival, during the years afterward. He writes from a Pastoral perspective, urging that ministry be conducted in accordance with God’s grace in Christ Jesus.

The second is my book Identifying Your Gifts and Service: Small Group Edition. I recommend the small group edition because it contains an extended discussion of the gifts of the Spirit, how they are given, how they should be used, and our responsibilities in connection with them.

The third is When People Speak for God which deals with both Biblical inspiration and the gift of prophecy and how to handle claims of prophecy in the church and for your personal life.

All three of these books deal extensively with discernment and Christian behavior and ethics. I hope they will be of help to you in your Christian walk and service to others.

As promised, here is the first part of my video discussion with my wife Jody, author of Grief: Finding the Candle of Light, which is our book of the week.

This week our book of the week is Grief:  Finding the Candle of Light by Jody Neufeld.  You can get a copy authorized by co-author Jody Neufeld for $7.00 when ordering directly from us using this link.

We will post more information about this book during the week including segments of a video of Jody Neufeld discussing this book and the reasons she wrote it.

Note: Generally you can get better prices by buying from one of the many fine retailers that carry our books, and we encourage you buy from them.  The link provided is solely intended for you to get an autographed copy during this book of the week offer.

We will be announcing special pricing on Grief:  Finding the Candle of Light for next week, which will start sometime early Monday and run through the next Monday.

Watch for a post here Monday morning that will include the coupon code links to get your special pricing on copies autographed by author Jody Neufeld.

In my book When People Speak for God, one of the key issues I discuss is how one hears God’s word.  One must test and discern when God is truly speaking.  Claims are easy to make–people do so every day.

• The proposed course of action violates ethical or moral standards.
• “God’s words” come to a person in the course of debate.
• “God’s words” deny established scriptural standards.
• “God’s words” are presented in a divisive way, or introduce an element of divisiveness.
• The person who presents God’s word reacts angrily to having that word tested by others.

I list these and expand on them in the chapter of my book, Practical Considerations of Hearing.  It is not enough for someone to think they have heard from God; what is said needs to be in accordance with good ethical principles and be verified.

A study of inspiration–how God speaks and reveals himself to people–can help you resist false claims and avoid manipulation.

(When People Speak for God is on sale this week, with autographced copies available for $15.00.  Details here.)

One of my favorite metaphors for the divine-human combination in the inspiration of scripture and the working of the gift of prophecies comes from the story of the One-Ended Telephone Cord.  This links to a story I wrote on my personal blog back in 2005, but I’ve been using it for even more years than that.

Why do I mention it now?  It goes with my special offer for autoraphed copies of my book, When People Speak for God.

For details, see the special offer here.