One Holy Fire

One Holy Fire is the most recent book written by Nicky Cruz. Although it doesn’t focus on his sordid past of violence and the New York street gang lifestyle, it has the same flavour and voice as Cruz shares his passion for the Lord and young people.

Cruz has a vision for the future and young people. In his own words, “God has planted in my heart a new message of hope as well as a deep burden to share it. This message is about freedom and spiritual abundance, about living life in complete communion with Jesus, about breaking through our earthly limitations and making a powerful impact on the world around us” (page 5).
Acknowledging the postmodern mind-set in the world today, Cruz understands that accepting Christ and becoming a part of His body is more difficult than ever. Yet, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Cruz has experienced firsthand Christ’s ultimate power in changing lives and saving souls.
In the chapter “The Spirit’s Detours,” Cruz contemplates how Jesus’ ministry would have been different had He “scheduled” His time with appointments.
Instead, Jesus “travelled wherever the Spirit led” and the fruit of His work was multiplied. So the same is with our ministry when we allow the Spirit to lead instead of making our own schedule and following our own map.
Filled with stories of the Holy Spirit’s power to heal, change and convert, One Holy Fire will inspire and challenge any reader. Cruz allows the Spirit to direct his path and ministry, which continually leads him to people in need: a young girl who is deaf and dumb; a crippled woman; and many others. Although he is an evangelist, with the power of the Holy Spirit these lives have been transformed and made new.
One Holy Fire challenges one to reflect on the early church and their faithfulness to God’s direction as they went out and preached the Word, led by the Holy Spirit. How would our world be different today? Our church? Your local church? You?

One Holy Fire
Nicky Cruz
Hodder and Stoughton 2003.
240 pages