My Journey: An Autobiography of Dr. Lula Baird

My Journey: An Autobiography of Dr. Lula Baird, by Lula Baird. Turlock, CA: The Author, 2004.

Lula Baird is part of, to use Tom Brokaw’s words, “The Greatest Generation.” Lula — along with thousands of other mostly unheralded men and women who were born in the first two decades of the twentieth century — built the Assemblies of God. Born in 1908 in Utah to a family of Mormon lineage, few could have imagined that Lula Ashmore Baird would serve as a leader in the emerging Pentecostal movement. But she did — serving as an Assemblies of God missionary and pastor to the Chinese people in Asia, Cuba, and the United States.

A Desk for Billie

A Desk for Billie. Film produced by the National Education Association, 1956. Rereleased on DVD, 2007.

Dr. Billie Davis, one of the best-known educators in the Assemblies of God, started life in the hopyards of Oregon. She spent her childhood during the Great Depression of the 1930s traversing across America with her parents, who were migrant farm workers. They were “homeless” before the term became fashionable. They lived and traveled in a battered Model A Ford with a makeshift wooden frame constructed on the back to provide shelter. She describes herself as a child as “a small ragged hobo” who would “[sit] on the ground beside a campfire, hungrily licking the fishy oil from the lid of a sardine can” while studying her school lessons.

Testimonies of Signs and Wonders

Testimonies of Signs and Wonders: Evangelistic Crusades of Maria Beulah Woodworth-Etter in Moline, Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa in the Years 1902-1903-1907, or Redigging the Wells of Holy Spirit Renewal: Our Forgotten Heritage in the Quad Cities, compiled by Kenneth Richard Kline-Walczak. Revised version. Davenport, IA: The Author, 2006.

Maria Woodworth-Etter, among the most prominent of the healing evangelists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, became one of the best known Holiness preachers to embrace Pentecostalism. Her popularity was due in large part to her practice of faith healing and other charismatic gifts, which began occuring in her meetings in about 1885. Her ministry attracted large crowds, fierce detractors and fervent supporters, as well as widespread coverage in newspapers from coast to coast. Newspaper editors, who often deemed the excitement and large crowds sparked by the woman evangelist to be worthy of critique, helped to spread her fame. The standard biography of Woodworth-Etter, Maria Woodworth-Etter, For Such a Time as This (Bridge-Logos, 2005), was authored by former Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center Director Wayne E. Warner.

Now Kenneth Kline-Walczak has cataloged Woodworth-Etter’s influence in one corner of the world — the Quad Cities on the Iowa-Illinois border. His book consists largely of an impressive collection of articles (1884-1907) about Woodworth-Etter from regional newspapers, assembled in chronological order and reprinted for the purpose of introducing the region’s readers to its Pentecostal past. The compiler also includes a helpful guide to the people and places mentioned in the articles. Kline-Walczak’s detailed research will aid not only historians, but also people in the Quad Cities as they seek to recover the sacred stories of God’s work among them in previous generations.

Reviewed by Darrin Rodgers

Paperback, xxvi, 194 pages, illustrated. $20, plus $4.00 shipping. Order from: Griggs Music, c/o Ken Kline, 3849 Brady Street, Davenport, IA 52806 (email: woodworth65@yahoo.com ; phone: 563-210-3282).

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A Prairie Lad’s Walk with God

A Prairie Lad’s Walk with God, by Les Arent with Joan Kruger. [Lenexa, KS]: 3Cross Publishing, 2007.

Les Arent, a Nebraska native and a long-time Assemblies of God lay leader in Wausau Christian Assembly (Wausau, Wisconsin), has recounted his life story in A Prairie Lad’s Walk with God.

Balance! Priorities! Attitudes!

These may be just words to most of us, but to Les Arent and his wife, Iloe, they are the foundation stones for success.

Life began for Les Arent 80 years ago on the western prairies of Nebraska in a home that he describes as “three rooms and a path with a pig pen next door.”

“God brought me from a prairie lad on a dirt farm in Nebraska to the number one dairy farmer in Wisconsin,” he said.

I’m Glad I Lived

I’m Glad I Lived, by Ernest E. Holbrook. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2005.

Ernest Holbrook, raised on a farm near Lakeland, Florida, entered the ministry at age 18. Ordained by the Assemblies of God in 1952, he served as Senior Pastor of Faith Temple Assembly of God (Plant City, FL) for 27 years. Holbrook, in a folksy style and with humorous stories, tells his story and provides insight into grass-roots Pentecostal ministry.

Paperback, 474 pages, illustrated. $22.95 retail. Order from: Amazon.com

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Sponsored by the Holy Spirit

Sponsored by the Holy Spirit, by Gene Burgess. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc., 2005.

Gene Burgess, pastor of First Assembly of God (Bartlett, TN), has written an inspiring account of God’s work in his life and ministry. Raised in Memphis First Assembly of God, he recounts his youthful friends and acquaintances, including the Blackwood Brothers, James Hamill, and Elvis Presley. When Burgess left his position as a pharmacist in 1963 to launch out into evangelistic ministry, many people questioned his wisdom. However, God’s call was evident, and he went on to serve as an international evangelist, missionary to Asia, pastor, and college instructor.

Paperback, 164 pages, illustrated. $16.95 retail. Order from: Amazon.com

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Who Else … But God!

Who Else … But God!, by Fred Smolchuck. Springfield, MO: The Author, 2006.

Almost eighty years ago, Fred Smolchuck felt God’s call to the ministry. Following that call led him around the world, and he became a leader within Slavic Pentecostalism, both in the United States and in eastern Europe. Smolchuck’s strong voice and mind, his smoldering passion for souls, and his leadership gifts continue to make their mark on the Pentecostal landscape.

Smolchuck, the son of Ukrainian immigrants to America, was a founding member of the Ukrainian Branch of the Assemblies of God (USA), he served as a pastor and district official in Michigan, and he authored sixteen books. Most of his books, published in the Ukrainian and Russian languages, offer practical advice and theological training to believers in eastern Europe and to immigrants in North America. His 1992 book, From Azusa Street to the U.S.S.R.: A Brief History of Pentecost Among Slavic Immigrants, 1900-1991, provides a valuable overview of the people, places, and themes in Slavic-American Pentecostal history. Now, in Who Else … But God!, he has told his own story, which is inextricably intertwined with the emergence of the Slavic churches in the Assemblies of God. His story is significant, as he traces not only his family’s spiritual pilgrimage, but the development of Pentecostalism among the Slavic peoples in the U.S. from the 1920s until the present. Importantly, Smolchuck has served as a bridge between an earlier generation of Slavic Pentecostals and the more recent waves of Slavic Pentecostal immigrants to North America.

The Old Path to Peace

The Old Path to Peace: A Cruger Family Journey, by Carolyn Cruger Williams. Enumclaw, WA: Pleasant Word, 2003.

This well-documented family history contains a treasure trove of information about early Pentecostals in Spokane, Washington, including stories of John G. Lake, Aimee Semple McPherson, the Philadelphian Church, and Bernard Hebden.

Paperback, 438 pages, illustrated. $22.99 retail. Order from: Amazon.com

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Is There a God?

Is There a God?: The Life and Times of Frank Reynolds, by Frank Reynolds with Joan Kruger. Lenexa, KS: 3Cross Publishing, 2006.

Filled with anger after his father deserted his family in the midst of the 1930s Depression in rural New York, Frank Reynolds was determined to graduate from high school and go to college. He became an atheist early in life, was convinced success was in wealth and education, and graduated from Cornell University. However, after an extended period of research and reflection, he came to believe in God and accepted Christ. He immediately felt a call to the ministry, was ordained by the Assemblies of God, and became one of the early leaders in Teen Challenge, a Christian drug and alcohol treatment program. He ultimately served as the first National Representative for Teen Challenge. In Is There a God?, Reynolds shares his own faith-building story, which provides an insider’s perspective concerning the early years of Teen Challenge.

Paperback, 139 pages, illustrated. $12, plus $1.60 shipping. Order from: Frank Reynolds, 4626 S. Crescent Ave., Springfield, MO 65804.

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Azusa East: The Life and Times of G. B. Cashwell

Azusa East: The Life and Times of G. B. Cashwell, by Doug Beacham. Franklin Springs, GA: LSR Publications, 2006.

“It has long been acknowledged that G. B. Cashwell played a significant role in the spread of the Azusa Street revival across the United States. Coming as he did to Dunn, North Carolina, fresh from the revival in Los Angeles, Cashwell’s message had a powerful impact upon a number of Holiness pastors and congregations. Until now, however, the story of G. B. Cashwell has been largely elusive. We are all in debt to Doug Beacham’s new account of this man and the role he played in taking the revival east. Beacham has unearthed previously unknown sources, which he has skillfully and carefully used to weave the story of Cashwell with color and vitality. Where he lacks the evidence that would clinch his account, he has employed his imagination in ways that are fully consistent with the known facts. I am pleased to recommend this volume to you for study. It goes far in helping us to understand a number of the early developments that took place in the churches that are heirs to Azusa East.” — Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., Fuller Theological Seminary