Teaching the Untaught

In the late sixties and early seventies the Holy Spirit moved throughout the world in what became known as the charismatic renewal. This brought Americans, including large numbers of young people, to the Lord in tens of thousands. At the same time multitudes of Christians in old-line denominations were renewed through the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Because of their hunger for foundational teaching material to help them understand the Bible, Derek Prince published his first books, the Foundation Series.

This series, originally in seven books, unfolds in logical order the great basic doctrines of the Christian faith with special emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit. Derek updated this series in 1987, and topical indices were added in 1993 before its publication under the title The Spirit-filled Believer's Handbook. He says, 'If I had only one thing to leave to the body of Christ, it would be The Spirit-filled Believer's Handbook.'

This book has become the foundational teaching material for the church in many nations and especially those which came out from under communism at the end of the 1980s. It has been translated into Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Mongolian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish. Portions are also translated in Danish, Dutch, Hebrew, Korean, Portuguese, Swedish, Telugu and Vietnamese. Many churches use it as a textbook in classes for new Christians.

The Christian Foundations correspondence course, which supplements this book, has enriched the lives and strengthened the faith of thousands of Christians.

His Self Study Bible Course, published about 1965, is used throughout the world to ground and strengthen Christians in their faith. It has been translated into at least twenty-six languages and is probably used more widely than any other of his books - being easily understood in cultures as diverse as those in China, Africa, Mongolia, Latin America, Indonesia and Russia.

As Derek and Lydia traveled in ministry in the United States, they became acquainted with many of the other traveling teachers who were responding to the new hunger for understanding of the Bible. In Florida in 1969, Derek Prince, Bob Mumford, Charles Simpson and Don Basham met together to pray about a serious situation in the leadership of a conference where they were speakers. Derek says,

When we stood up from prayer we all realised that God had joined us together in a special way for a special purpose. Subsequently, we made a commitment to cover one another with prayer, to submit our personal lives to one another's scrutiny and to confer together before making any major personal decisions.

The four teachers, later joined by Ern Baxter, became the leaders of the discipleship movement, centred primarily in the United States. The teaching magazine New Wine published their articles and reached many Christians throughout the world.

As the relationship between the five teachers strengthened, younger men came to the teachers and asked for oversight in committed relationships. The younger men, in turn, would disciple others, forming a type of discipleship pyramid.

By the mid-seventies reports were beginning to circulate that people were being manipulated and brought into bondage to other men. The movement became extremely controversial.

By 1983 it had become clear to Derek that he could not continue to support the movement, and he withdrew. Subsequently, the other men disbanded and the pyramid disintegrated. Derek says,

I believe we were guilty of the Galatian error: having begun in the Spirit, we quickly degenerated into the flesh. In the light of this, I repented of my involvement and renounced the error. I deeply regret the damage that was done to the body of Christ and in the lives of many promising young men and women.

At the same time, the mass production of the cassette tape recorder opened a new dimension in Bible teaching. Unlike Bible teachers of an earlier age who spoke one time to a limited audience, Derek learned that his messages were being reproduced by the thousands and were touching a wide audience in various parts of the world. In 1971 Derek Prince Publications opened its offices in Fort Lauderdale, where he and Lydia were then living, and he began to distribute his own books and cassettes.

Although he was at times quite controversial because of his ministry of deliverance and also his involvement in the discipleship movement, his teaching has always been broad-based, covering many areas of biblical truth. In the seventies, Derek Prince Publications produced the books Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting, Faith to Live By, The Grace of Yielding and The Marriage Covenant.

Appointment in Jerusalem, the story of his first wife Lydia, is a departure from his usual teaching style. Dramatic and fast-moving, reading like a novel, it has drawn many into deeper faith and commitment to the Lord Jesus. The book was published just days before Lydia's sudden death from heart failure in 1975.

Lydia's influence on Derek's life is impossible to calculate. Older and more experienced than Derek, she willingly stepped back and undergirded Derek as his ministry developed. She was always seated on the front row, praying for Derek as he preached, and participated in the ministry of deliverance and healing.

Read on about Lydia and Ruth, Derek's wives