Dean Merrill - 50 Pentecostal and Charismatic Leaders Every Christian Should Know

This book is like opening a front door and being invited into the living room of a significant person. As you read these chapters, you will feel like the main characters are speaking directly to you, as you sit spellbound at their Spirit-inspired stories.

Bishop Doug Beacham, International Pentecostal Holiness Church

I am so encouraged and humbled by the stories of these remarkable men and women who responded in faith to the Holy Spirits call on their lives and changed the world. Their lives are a testimony of what God can do with us if we step forward in faith and say yes to Him.

Samuel Rodriguez, president, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

Dean Merrill knows that history is fundamentally a story, and he tells many engaging ones about some of the most extraordinary men and women of the last 120 years. They rightly fall under the heading Pentecostal, yet they are people whose lives will impress Christians of any persuasion.

Mark Galli, former editor in chief, Christianity Today

Church history is filled with the amazing narrative of Gods grace and power working in and through human jars of clay. Dean Merrill has captured fifty of these incredible stories to remind us all of the potential within us when given to the Potter.

Tammy Dunahoo, vice-president, The Foursquare Church

Pentecostals and charismatics are a younger Christian family that has grown rapidly and been all too often misunderstood and stereotyped. Dean Merrill offers fifty windows into this movement that increasingly represents what global Christianity is becoming in the twenty-first century: ordinary people hungry for God and empowered by His Spirit.

Byron D. Klaus, former president, Assemblies of God Theological Seminary

I was thrilled when I heard about Dean Merrills book, Pentecostal and Charismatic Leaders Every Christian Should Know . This book creates a vital bridge to our past. I plan to share it with the young leaders I am discipling. My prayer is that the same fire of the Spirit that burned in the hearts of these legendary heroes of the faith will be rekindled in these challenging days.

J. Lee Grady, former editor, Charisma ; author, Set My Heart on Fire

Through diligent research and gifted writing, Dean Merrill invites us on a journey alongside a diverse group of Spirit-empowered leaders, who are amazingly gifted and humanly flawed yet tremendously inspiring. Youll want to move beyond the bus stations ticket counter for further exploration with intense longing for the Spirits miraculous demonstration in our generation.

Kay Horner, executive director, Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA)

Dean Merrill reminds us how our Lord uses women and men from various ethnicities, personalities and backgrounds to have Kingdom impact in their time through the Spirits empowerment. This book stirred up my calling as a Pentecostal leader and motivated me to trust the Lord for gifts of faith in my own life.

David R. Wells, president, PCCNA; vice chair, Pentecostal World Fellowship;

general superintendent, Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada

The vast number of Pentecostal and charismatic leaders who have played a role in the spread of these movements is often confusing. We are indebted to Dean Merrill for his judicious selection of key players. His short biographical sketches are clearly written and to the point. This volume should be a primer for anyone who wishes to learn about those who have contributed so much to the spread of the Pentecostal message. God is very much alive and acting through His Spirit throughout the world in ways fully consistent with the experience of the earliest Christians.

Cecil M. Robeck Jr., senior professor of Church history and ecumenics, Fuller Theological Seminary

Dean Merrill captures with exquisite clarity the diverse lives and multiple perspectives that shaped the Pentecostal and charismatic streams. Merrill reveals how encounters of the Spirit of God impacted imperfect people wrestling with racism, sexism, regionalism and differing viewpoints on war. A must read for students and scholars alike.

Daniel McNaughton, Ph.D., professor of practical theology, Southeastern University