Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala My rating: 2 of 5 stars With recommendations from Drs. Joseph Stowell and Warren Wiersbe, it was a given that Jim Cymbala’s Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire would become a bestseller. Full of relatable stories of struggle with sin, this pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle writes this engaging work that will encourages readers to turn the sufficiency of self to trust in the power of prayer. Even so, this is not a book I recommend. First, irony opens the book: a man who wasn’t called to be a pastor treated water by gaining footing on bad ideas. His father-in-law “coaxed” him into pastoring (11); Cymbala had other interests and balked at the idea, noting his lack of experience, training, and desire to fill such a role. The call Cymbala answered, then, came from the guiling of one who then left this family in the lurch, to learn without discipleship or even occasional input. How did this self-described amateur survive such whimsy? He did so by coming ...