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Frank Viola | Beyond Evangelical

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One of the Greatest Influences on My Life & Ministry

People sometimes ask me about my influences.

One person who has had a profound influence on my life and ministry is T. Austin-Sparks. Looking back on my Christian life, I’d say that Sparks has influenced me more than anyone else.

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Here are three of his books that I would recommend to all Christians:

Prophetic Ministry

We are in living in a time when many young Christians (usually “heady” ones) do not understand prophetic ministry. When they are exposed to someone with such a ministry, they are immediately put off. “They sound so certain” is the common complaint.

Yet God has always raised up prophetic voices to bring His people back to His original thought when it has been lost sight of. God always raises up voices that bring us back to Christ. Relatively speaking, they are not popular. And they are never rock stars. But they effect real change in the lives of countless people through the Spirit of God who inspires them.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who have gone to seed on “prophecy” and “prophetic words,” but their views on each are not fully in synch with New Testament prophetic ministry (as Sparks points out).

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Click to order Prophetic Ministry

The Stewardship of the Mystery

We are living in a time when God’s Eternal Purpose and Grand Mission is coming back into focus in the church again. To my surprise, my book, From Eternity to Here — which explores the unfolding drama of God’s Eternal Purpose — made the CBA Bestseller list. This is an evidence of the present hunger.

As far as I’m concerned, “The Stewardship of the Mystery” is the pioneering work on this subject. It’s an incredible unveiling of the Purpose of God. It contains an extraordinary vision of Jesus Christ and God’s Purpose in Him. I wish every missional leader and all who are part of the present missional church movement would not only read this book, but master it.

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Click to order The Stewardship of the Mystery

God’s Spiritual House

An amazing revelation of the church of Jesus Christ. Please note: You cannot separate the church from Christ Himself. Thus those who say “the church isn’t important” are really saying Christ isn’t important, though they may not realize it.

You can’t cherish Jesus and ignore His Bride. You can’t love Jesus and think His very Body is irrelevant. You can’t say you want to know Jesus, and write off the vessel through which He has chosen to reveal Himself. As I’ve often said, if you get to know the Lord Jesus well, He will lead you to see and long for His church, and you will desire to experience her in her reality. Not as an institution or a religious service, but as a living organism.

Sparks makes all of these things crystal clear in this magnificent book.

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Click to order God’s Spiritual House

In short, T. Austin-Sparks is a man whose shoulders I respectfully and gratefully stand.

All devoted followers of Jesus would do well to have these three books in their library.

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You’ll also want to get The School of Christ. Perhaps his most influential.

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Here is a rare photo of T. Austin-Sparks, DeVern Fromke, and Stephen Kaung from the 1966.

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Category: Reviews

About Frank Viola

Frank Viola is a best-selling author, blogger, speaker, and consultant to authors and writers. His mission is to help serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply so they can experience real transformation and make a lasting impact. To learn more about Frank and his work, go to 20 Years of Projects. To invite Frank to speak at your event, go to his Speaking Page. Due to a new problem with persistent spam that we haven’t figured out how to control, comments are closed for the present time. To contact Frank, use the “Contact” page in the top menu.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mike

    March 10, 2018 at 4:19 PM

    What do you think of Sparks book on the centrality and universality of the Cross?

    Mike

    • Frank Viola

      March 10, 2018 at 6:43 PM

      It’s a fantastic statement. https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/centrality_and_universality_of_the_cross_the.html

  2. Nonyem Abena Ibeneme

    March 27, 2016 at 9:39 AM

    I discovered the writings of Bro. Austin-Sparks two years ago and that day was as vivid as the day I gave my life to Christ. His writings quenched a hunger and thirst no other Christian writer has been able to fill. I just praise the Lord for such a vessel. Now I can say that I see men as trees…….and am trusting the Lord to see clearly. Amen!

  3. Tim Temple

    May 24, 2009 at 2:53 PM

    Yo, read it.

    haven’t read T. Austin-Sparks, though. All I need is more books on my eight tall bookcases that are maxed out.

  4. Andrew Wehrheim

    May 21, 2009 at 8:54 PM

    Wow. It was in Bible College that I first encountered the ministry of T. Austin Sparks through School of Christ published by World Challenge. Sparks has definitly been one the biggest influences in my life. It’s amazing the streams out there in the Church right now that Sparks has directly affected………a true prophet. Hidden in his day but a golden ministry that continues on.

  5. Angela

    May 18, 2009 at 3:56 AM

    Sparks has had a profound influence on me since Bible School days when David Wilkerson published some of his stuff. I have much yet to read, though.

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Frank Viola

Frank is a bestselling author, speaker, podcaster, and blogger. He helps serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply so they can experience real transformation and make a lasting impact. His blog – frankviola.org – is regularly ranked in the top 5 of all Christian blogs on the Web and his podcast – Christ is All – has ranked #1 in Canada and #2 in the USA on Apple Podcasts. He and his conversation partners also host The Insurgence Podcast. Frank’s books have sold over 600,000 copies and they’ve been translated into many languages.

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