Jerry Trousdale. Miraculous Movements. Nelson, 2012.

Miraculous Movements was recommended by the same insider who recommended A Wind in the House of Islam. Because it came out a few years earlier, I thought that I might just be reading an earlier version of A Wind in the House of Islam. I was wrong. Its thesis is something else. That is what makes it stand out.

Miraculous Movements does have some of the kinds of testimonies that the other book has. A testimony of one experienced Muslim leader illustrated what I wrote recently to my friend that Islam has no good news, no Gospel. Even Mohammad on his deathbed said that he could not be sure if he were going to Paradise.

Hanif’s commitment to Islam was genuine, but there was a deep void in his soul that Islam never really satisfied. He longed for certainty regarding his status with God. He struggled to find answers or reasons for the violence inside his Islamic world. He grieved at the lack of compassion for suffering people. And he recognized that his religion did not allow him or the people he led make choices for themselves, nor did it give them satisfying answers for the huge struggles of life. (18)

Jesus offered something else.

We read sometimes about dreams and miracles and people intrigued by the person of Jesus as we saw in A Wind in the House of Islam, but there is also a method involved. That is what Miraculous Movements focuses on.

The first few chapters of the Book of Acts describe the beginnings of Christianity in Judea and Samaria. These include some examples of what today we would call mass evangelism. This worked in those places because the people there were familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures. Some like the Samaritans and Sadducees just used the first five books, but they all had some background. Also many or most of the people had at least heard of Jesus and what he had been doing.

So when Peter and the others preached to the crowd on Pentecost, about 3,000 repented and were baptized. Acts 4:4 tells us that Peter and John’s preaching converted another 5,000. “Crowds” of Samaritans followed Philip in Acts 8:6. Mass evangelism has had some success especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. People like D. L. Moody, Charles Finney, Billy Graham, Reinhard Bonnke, and others brought many to Christ. But they mostly worked in places that were culturally Christian such as Europe, the Americas, Australia, and parts of Africa. They were more like the people in Judea at the time of Christ. They knew about Jesus: Now it was a matter of following Him and obeying Him.

However, once the Book of Acts takes us beyond Jesus’ homeland, the method is different. Indeed, it follows the pattern that Jesus actually gave his own disciples. Matthew 10 gives Jesus’ instructions to the twelve apostles, and Luke 10 gives very similar instructions to the seventy disciples He commissioned.

“And proclaim as you go, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.” (Matthew 10:7-13)

“Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Luke 10:2-9)

Notice that they are to go into a town, work for a living, and seek one “who is worthy” or “a son of peace.” They stay and make disciples.

Miraculous Movements emphasizes that the disciples make other disciples. While leaders and those who will be sent out will become obvious, there is no professional clergy as such. This is virtually identical to the way followers of Christ are multiplying in India as told in Bhojpuri Breakthrough.

Using the Bible as support, Miraculous Movements describes step by step how this normally happens. That part should be helpful for American and Western church people as well. So much of the culture today does not have the Christian background that people a generation or two ago used to have. There may still be a place for mass evangelism, but it seems as though the pattern described here works. It works because we see results, but it gets results because it was the way Jesus told His followers to do it.

We note these steps are also described in our review of Motus Dei. Miraculous Movements may be more accessible to some readers, but both teach Christians things we ought to know. Now let us act on them.

The actual results may vary. In some places, people are able to build some kind of pavilion or building to meet in. In other places, however, the work is very much underground and secretive. Some church planters have been martyred or imprisoned. Still, many people are discovering the difference in following Jesus, receiving hope and a true Spirit.

As a personal reflection, I think of my own experience. I was raised in the church. It was mainline, so not especially evangelical, but we learned the Bible, so I had some of that background. Even as an English major in college, we were required to study the King James Bible as literature. When I began to encounter people who spoke of a personal relationship with God and spoke of the Holy Spirit as operating today, I could see some truth in what they said. Eventually I—alone, not in a church setting—confessed Jesus as Lord (I used the word boss), the Holy Spirit came upon me, and my life has not been the same.

Though not an evangelist, I have had the opportunity to pray with a few people to receive Jesus the way I did. In each case, they were attending a Bible study, just as Trousdale describes. Somehow, they had become interested, and the person of Jesus had become appealing. They wanted Him, too.

Trousdale notes that the Bible studies are presented primarily as stories. People everywhere like stories. Even postmodernists who are skeptical about everything except power note the effectiveness of narrative. The stories are presented in such a way not simply to say that here is a story of Moses or Abraham or Jesus, but to promote action. What ought we to do if we consider this story? Too often Western Christianity tells about God, but minimizes actions we must take. As James wrote: “But be doers of the word and not hearers only…” (James 1:22).

Yes, Mr. Trousdale is onto something. Read this book.