Kim Gentes

Review of "Naturally Supernatural" by Gary Best

View more about Gary Best.

Gary Best

Over the last 25 years, I have had the opportunity to meet Gary Best only a few times. Each time, Gary has continued to live out his desire to train others, to see the kingdom of God expand and to see the love of God reach the hurting. Gary's book, "Naturally Supernatural" is written to help explain the process of praying for others and living a naturally supernatural life that exemplifies his understanding and practice of that kingdom of God teaching.

Since I first met him in 1987, Gary was the first person I knew of that used the term "Naturally Supernatural". The book title seemed appropriate when I heard it. It's a phrase that has since been used elsewhere, but none more fittingly than the no-hype, low pressure, but faith-building and love-centered approach that is unique to Gary. In this respect he the best of what he represents from his Vineyard tradition- solid biblical examination of the working of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and kingdom of God (i.e. continuationist) theology.

Gary Best served as the National Director for the Association of Vineyard Churches, Canada and oversaw the Pacific Rim theatre for AVC missions. He has traveled extensively, speaking in conferences throughout North America. Europe and Asia. He is married to Joy. He was the founding pastor of the Langley Vineyard Christian Fellowship, BC. Five congregations developed out of the church during their leadership. Gary and Joy now reside in New Brunswick, Canada, where they oversee the Dominion Hill retreat center near St. Andrews, NB.

Gary continues to travel and speak on "Naturally Supernatural" and other topics of ministry. I highly encourage you to contact Gary if you are interested in inviting him as a guest, speaker or conference leader. I've been to a number of events he has led and they are some of the best, most impactive events for equipping churches and their leaders.

For more info on Gary Best, his teaching and ministry, go to naturallysupernaturalthebook.wordpress.com .

Let me share a true story with you.

It was 1987. I was visiting friends in Surrey, BC, Canada. One night, they invited me to go to a church class on praying for the sick. I went. At the end, the leader announced it was 'clinic time'. He invited sick people to get prayer. Brave man, I thought. He asked each person what was wrong, and taught others to pray for them. One person had to literally whisper because his throat had swollen so much over the last few days, it was causing him to barely be able to speak. The leader stopped, like he wasn't sure what to do. He looked at the class and said "Jesus often healed from compassion. Let's see who the Lord puts His compassion in their heart for this man."

As soon as he said the word "heart", my heart took one giant beat, feeling as if it was going to explode out of my chest. I'd never experienced this before. At the same time this happened I involuntarily and immediately gasped for air. The leader turned and looked straight at me.

"Oh no," I thought. I wasn't sure what was happening to me, but I didn't think it had anything to do with the meeting and I hadn't meant to get his attention. I quickly said out loud, "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

"No, that's ok. What happened?" he asked. I explained that the moment he said the word heart my own chest felt like it was going to explode. He smiled and asked me to come to the front to pray for the man. I was unsure and not filled with faith. After a few moments of following his instructions and praying for the old man with the throat problem, the man's eyes got wide and excited. He smiled, and his eyes began to tear up. He started speaking. The swelling had gone down and he was feeling completely better. I was shocked.

This was my first time meeting Gary Best. From that time forward, my life has been changed with a desire and faith see God's kingdom become present in my life. I became aware that God's love was ready to intervene, to heal and to confront the evil of this world with the power of His Spirit. This book clearly articulates the main points of Gary's thesis- that the Good News of the gospel of Jesus is really "good news"; and that we are to join in the mission of Jesus and the early disciples to see that same good news demonstrated today.

The book is well written and very easy to follow. Beginning with Gary's personal story of his reluctant introduction to the "Naturally Supernatural", the author traces through the gospel of Mark and explores the challenges of the equally confounded first century apostles who found stepping out in faith as mystifying, yet necessary, if they were going to follow Christ. The author explores a logical progression of his own building faith through trial and error as the book teaches the reader about the gifts, seeing what God sees, prayer, empowerment, reaching out and persevering.

The content and personal exploration (and humility) of the author with the topics make the book not only easy to read but enjoyable. If you are the type of person that is skeptical about "healing", I'd recommend this book to you. Not because it argues indepth about theological points and wins the day, but because it balances nicely between the concepts, the scriptural underpinnings and personal examples. More than any other book I've read, "Naturally Supernatural" clearly articulates the passionate, yet thoughtful approach that is the main-stay of the Vineyard church's kingdom of God approach to ministry. What makes the book wonderfully Christ-centered, in my opinion, is it's unrelenting focus on God's love. As Best puts it:

"Our great encouragement," I told them, "is that we can't heal anyone. If anything is to happen, the critical factor will be God's faithfulness. What we can do, however, is love and then simply reach for all that God will gift us to do."1

Gary Best never allows the gifts become the "toy" or trophy of his teaching or practice. In "Naturally Supernatural", the place of healing and all supernatural gifts are the subordinated functionaries given to spread the good news of God's love to a broken world.

After reading through this book, I realized how much of Gary's teaching had been a lifelong dedication to seeing God's good news become reality for others. What I had encountered back in 1987 was just a sample of how God has continued to use Gary over the last 25 years and, by God's grace on his continued ministry, travel and writing, the good news of Jesus has been flourishing.

If you haven't read this book, I strongly encourage you to get it and read it. Very good, and very worthwhile!

Let me end with another personal story.

I just finished reading Gary Best's "Naturally Supernatural". That night, my family decided to drive to a small chicken stop in northeast Nashville (a unique place called "Prince's Hot Chicken Shack", very spicy). While we were eating, a lady walked by our table, talking across the room to a friend about her recent battle with cancer. When we were done eating, my son Jared told me he felt like he should pray for the lady before we left. I encouraged him to go with that compassion. My other son, Jordan, joined him. They approached the lady and soon were welcomed at her table. They listened intently, and with compassion, to the lady's story of her battle with cancer. Then they prayed with compassion and asked God to heal her completely. She began to tear up and hugged Jared. Other members of the table shook his hand and embraced him as well. My sons had prayed in faith, taken a risk of showing love to a stranger, and left trusting that God's faithfulness would have to prevail for the woman to be healed. As a parent, you're never quite sure how your "words of wisdom" are being heard by your kids. But the things I'd been introduced to in 1987 have impacted my life and, later, that of my children. And what I have continued to learn, my sons had been learning too.

What encourages me about Gary's book is that it's message is something that can be a teaching tool and lens through which people can better understand the kingdom of God and its practical application of the good news of Jesus.

If you are interested in reading something that will encourage you in learning about those things, I strongly encourage you to consider this book.

Amazon Link : http://amzn.to/13XrKcn

 or 

Order from the author directly at : naturallysupernaturalthebook.wordpress.com

Also, if you are interested in more about the author, or contacting him you can do so at this link: Gary Best.

In Christ's love,
Kim Gentes

1. Best, Gary (2005-03-01). Naturally Supernatural (Kindle Locations 1290-1291). Vineyard International Publishing. Kindle Edition.

A Brief Review of Experiencing Healing Prayer

As a book, Experiencing Healing Prayer is largely an anecdotal text told from the author’s personal narrative.  Author Rick Richardson employs extensive personal examples and ministry situations as a means of covering both his own story and the major teaching points he has called out in this book. Richardson does this while focusing clearly on the topic of “inner healing” primarily. While the book connects to some physical aspects of healing, its primary concern is with the foundational change in the psychological, mental and spiritual aspects of a person. Physical healing is not discussed in depth, and certainly not the extent that inner healing is addressed.

Experiencing Healing Prayer is a  book which is a joining of two main ideas- restoring the holistic identify of the person, and restoring the communication/relationship to God and his presence. Out of these ideas the author explores everything from sexual issues, gender conflict, family archtypes (mother/father) and many more. The goal, it seems, is to explore the territory of identity to recover the missing elements (or confused ones) such that a person can “re-live” the confusing experiences in light of God’s love, allowing for “reprogramming” of the foundational understandings that were altered in light of such powerful experiences.

As these understandings are re-moored to God’s love, Richardson also explores how we might communicate better with God. He explores various ways we hear God, and helps walk through common misconceptions and guides us to clearer sense of knowing God’s voice. Towards the end of the book, he prescribes liberally the power of sacramental practice and human touch as remedy for all sorts of healing. More practical exploration of ministry techniques and personal freedom from various religious vices round out the book, as Richardson returns time and again to the power of forgiveness as a primary truth in our stories.

Readers will note an acknowledged reliance on the work of CS Lewis and Leanne Payne (along with theological underpinnings via Dallas Willard) making their way throughout this book. Philosophically, Richardson draws from Lewis on major points where he finds it difficult to work through complex understandings. Practically speaking, he leans on Leanne Payne for examples that help him work out a practice of healing prayer. Willard is not referenced much except for the beginning of the book for his theological influence.

In truth, Richardson does win the empathy of most readers with his personal stories and thoughtful inner explorations about the nature of people (beginning notably with his own failed and healed nature).  This gives life to his writing and allows him to lay out his six (6) main “signposts” (as he calls them) which are his self-described roadmap for a journey from brokenness to wholeness. These signposts are clearly articulated through the book and drive the chapter layouts, sub-points and stories.  Richardson has thought well and given a nice sketch of the healing journey of a soul, but one should be careful not to take the architecture as a highly prescriptive formula to inner health. The next section will discuss details of some of these points and also some of the main critique of those points within the book that we can see.

Critical Review of the Book

My initial reading of Experiencing Healing Prayer was very positive. I found his insights quite compelling and helpful. The signposts he uses are reflective of many people’s understanding of the main issues that need to be addressed in bringing holistic renewal to human beings. In his signposts I found both my main positive support and my main criticism are contained in the first of his points. While there are critiques to be made on this work, they are relatively small, and don't deter from the effectiveness and positives this book makes to the field of healing prayer. My critiques given below represent nuances and positions which would improve the book, in my opinion, and should not take away from anyone referencing and garnering the overarching positives that this book brings to us.

I appreciated the initial focus of his signposts was the person’s actual relationship with God, specifically the need to hear his “voice”. In fact, Richardson uses this as his first point.  While many of the points in his signposts are not necessarily required to be sequential for application, he is pointing out that we must first practice faith of our Christianity in that we rely on the reality of God’s presence and care to be our profound “reality check”. That is, Richardson is saying that apart from God’s voice and inclusion in the matter of healing, we cannot even begin such a process.

...we practiced the healing presence of God and waited to hear God’s still small voice. In that environment, healing descended on our hearts...[1]

This is a profound and positive point to be made, and this inclusion of the reliance on God’s presence to enter into and bring about revelation in the hurting person is a repeated point in the IHP model presented by W. Thiessen (found in the “prayer based” section[2], the “God of IHP” section[3], and the article “Turning Inner Healing Outward”, where it is stated explicitly that the process is ‘followed by a direct invitation from God into at least the potential “embrace”’[4]).

The benefit of this focus is clear- this is a uniquely Christian approach that appropriately requires the presence and activity of God for any healing to occur. One cannot apply the methods taught in Experiencing Healing Prayer (or the IHP model presented by W. Thiessen) without this foundational element. This also seems useful as both a distinctive of Christian inner /healing prayer therapies and a boundary for which Christian practice of the such therapies (as far as they are called “Christian”) can possibly be laid.

This very point also leads to a possible problem. While Experiencing Healing Prayer excels at its Christian centric solution path, it occasionally does so at the expense of validating counseling or talk therapies. Richardson says, crisply:

Counseling can lead us to talk our feelings round and round without any ultimate relief or change.[6]

Likewise, he also perjures himself slightly against talk therapies by saying:

Talking about our emotions can lead us into self-absorption, enmeshment in an anxious, subjective inner world.[7]

This is an interesting tact to take, since, while God is clearly the center of the therapeutic map, Richardson expects people to get their using their own faculties of the mind and emotions. Specifically, an entire chapter is engaged on exploring the concept he starts regarding the need for the client imagination to be in full cooperation of the process:

Images and the imagination matter.[8]

The criticism being made by the author against other (counseling and talk) therapies may not be necessary and might wane on the credulity of his request for the use of the imagination (instead of God intervention) as part of the process.

That said, the need for God-focused solutions was especially helpful to me to see, especially in a context when trying to help in a problem saturated situation was not having success at taking the focus off of the broken person.

Amazon Product link: Experiencing Healing Prayer - Rick Richardson

Review by Kim Gentes

[1]Rick Richardson, Experiencing Healing Prayer (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005) Pg. 46

[2]See the section on “Prayer-based” component in the notes from - Walter Thiessen, Inner Healing Prayer - Draft (St.Stephen’s. NB: VBI, 2005), Pg. 4

[3]Walter Thiessen, Inner Healing Prayer - Draft (St.Stephen’s. NB: VBI, 2005), Pg. 9

[4]Walter Thiessen, Turning Inner Healing Outward / Practical Theology in South Africa (South Africa: University of South Africa, 2008), Pg. 138

[5]Walter Thiessen, Narrative Therapy from: Summary excerpt from chapter 2 - Praying in a New Reality (St. Stephen’s, NB: University of South Africa, n/a), Pg. 1

[6]Rick Richardson, Experiencing Healing Prayer (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005) Pg. 36

[7]Ibid., Pg. 36

[8]Ibid., Pg. 36