Book Reviews

 by
Bishop Warwick Cole-Edwardes

A GRIEF SANCTIFIED Author J.I Packer

Dr. Packer writes:

“Bereavement becomes a supreme test of the quality of our faith.”

Margaret, the wife of Richard Baxter died in June 1681 at the age of 45. Baxter, a prominent pastor and preacher was heartbroken. Only weeks’ later he wrote a memoir of Margaret’s life. C.S. Lewis suffered similar loss and wrote “A Grief Observed” shortly after the death of his wife.

Packer treats us to an illuminating comparison between these two bereavements and adds a wealth of his own wise reflection. He shows us how-to pass-through grief to peace and joy.

RESPECTABLE SINS Author J. Bridges

Have Christians become so preoccupied with the major sins of our society that we have lost sight of our need to deal with our own more subtle sins? Jerry Bridges returns to his trademark theme of holiness and addresses a number of “acceptable” sins that we tend to tolerate in ourselves such as jealousy, anger, pride, unthankfulness, impatience, irritability and selfishness.

Dr. James Packer said of this book:

“if we are not humbled into repentance by Bridge’s diagnosis of things that are wrong with us, then something is indeed wrong with us and badly so. Read this book … we need to … and be ready for a gentle surgeon’s sharp knife.”

THE STORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Author J.L. Hurlbut

If I could choose one book to give to our first-year students on the history of the Christian Church, I would choose this one. It is brilliant, easy to read and captures the main events and characters. The aim of the author is to supply a book accurate in all its statement, calling attention to great events and great leaders, and at the same time in a style that is interesting and attractive.

Here is a book on the history of the Church from the day of Pentecost to 1980. It is written from an evangelical perspective and I found it refreshing and instructive.

THE UNFOLDING DRAMA OF REDEMPTION Author G. Scroggie (Vol. 2)

In volume 1. of “The Unfolding Drama of Redemption” Scroggie covered the history of the OT, in volume 3. he will cover the Epistles and Revelation. In this volume he records for us the history of the inter-testamental period as well as the Gospels and Acts. To many Christians this period is sadly neglected and therefore little is understood of the great change which took place between the OT and the NT.

I only wish I had read this fantastic book when I was first converted.

JOHN BUNYAN Author Peter Morden

Who could have predicted that a ragged, impoverished, foul-mouthed tinker mechanic would live to pen the best-selling novel of all time? PILGRIMS PROGRESS has become the world’s second most printed book after the Bible.

Bunyan’s own life was one marked by trial and suffering, including 12 years in prison for refusing to stop preaching the Gospel.  John Bunyan is our role-model whose life works grips and inspires us.

I suspect this book will, as it has done for me, have you reading more of Bunyan and reading more into your own life and purpose.

Another must read biography.

GREAT LEADERS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Author E. Moyer

 

This actually constitutes Volume 1 of the Moodey Correspondence Course on Church History and is absolutely brilliant. He covers the history of the early church from the day of Pentecost up to the year 1054.

 

It was so good I want to make it set reading at KMBC. If you want a brilliant introduction to early Church History, then this is the book you must read.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOD DOING Author Ted Engstrom

 

Once you pick up this fascinating book you cannot put it down, it is a trumpet blast calling Christians of all nations to world evangelization and service. This fast-paced volume will hold the attention of pastors, laymen and all Christians who hear Christ’s command to disciple the nation – the 3 billion people who have yet to believe.

 

Dr. Peter Wagner wrote “no recent book I know can match” this book as a stimulating introduction and update to world missions for all Christian people. This book beats in cadence with the heart throb of God, that by all means His lost sheep be found and brought into the fold …”

 

Read this book to fire up your missionary heart …. and buy it for your minister.

TOM COLLINS OF KENYA by K.N. Phillips

 

“For 30 years his life was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize the native races” … so runs the inscription on David Livingstone’s tomb in Westminster Abbey. The same epitaph might fittingly be used for this other pioneer missionary servant of God, Tom Collins, who also gave 30 years of his life for Christ and for AFRICA.

 

Tom Collins was born on 28th September, 1910 of Christian parents in Johannesburg, South Africa. When only 9 months of age he developed cataracts in both eyes but the specialists refused to operate on the baby … so the family went to live in England. By God’s grace he became an amazing missionary in Kenya where he was described as

“the nearest to David Livingstone of anyone I know in East Africa”.

 

Phillips wrote: “I felt the urge to place before the Christian public a record of the missionary labours of one who had performed unusual feats for the Kingdom of Christ.”

A READER’S GUIDE TO CALVIN’S INSTITUTES by A.N. Lane

 

I have needed this book for years but at last I found it!! Having Lane’s book with you as you read CALVIN’S INSTITUTES is like having an enthusiastic teacher sitting alongside you, helping you with the background and context, pointing you to key ideas, offering succinct summaries, sometime challenging you to consider whether you agree with Calvin, but above all assisting you in understanding Calvin.

 

For those who want to read the Institutes … this is a MUST.

BILLY BRAY by F.W. Bourne

 

Billy Bray was born near TRURO in Cornwall, England in 1794. In his early days his remarkable natural powers and wit turned him into a wild young man, full of drunkenness and problems. But he was wonderfully converted and he became one of the most powerful agents for God and was greatly used across Cornwall. He could no more help speaking of Christ and His salvation than the sun can help shining. “I am the son of a King” was his favourite saying.

 

A lovely story of God’s grace.

AGAINST ALL ODDS by Jim Stier

 

Against all odds chronicles a triumphant struggle to transcend overwhelming personal and spiritual barriers. This account documents how one couples desire to reach out to a hurting world became a permanent international outreach touching 1000’s of lives. From the threatened tribes deep in the Amazon to the abandoned street children in Brazil’s cities, witness the amazing move by a gracious God to touch those in need.

 

A young couple’s true story of God’s faithfulness in overwhelming circumstances.

REFLECTING ON MISSION by H. L. Pretorius

 

In spite of what the Gospel teaches, mission is nowadays in many circles not a popular theme. This to a large extent may be due to a lack of understanding of what mission is all about. This therefore makes it necessary to reflect once more on mission.

 

But the AFRICAN context is one which is continually in transition. When the spirit of the times changes, it is essential to consider the role of miss in the current situation. Also the reader interested in mission in the African context searches in vain for a systematic treatment of how missiology addresses our time. Most books of missions are also written from a western point of view.

 

So the importance of this book – a relevant handbook for missiology, written not only in but also for the African context. Of particular interest was the section which dealt on how to witness to those in the African Independent Churches.

 

An excellent book.

GOLD CORD by Amy Carmichael

 

THE DOHNAVUR FELLOWSHIP is a group of Indian and European Christians who work together in the south of India. Its friends wanted to know how it all began and they asked for something that would link up the stories already written. Others asked for another kind of cord … “what holds you all together” they asked … we answered “a gold cord”.

 

This old book tells the amazing story of DOHNAVUR FELLOWSHIP and the work of Amy Carmichael.

THE LIFE OF PETER CAMERON SCOTT by C.S. Miller

 

Peter Cameron Scott was not well known while living and sadly he is not well known today, but his memorial is the AFRICA INLAND MISSION which he founded in 1895. The appeal of Scott is pleasant and challenging. He died young, he did not live to witness the amazing growth of his labours, yet the fruits of his life are apparent today as seen in the Africa Inland Mission.

 

He was a modest young man with a great depth of Christian love in his heart that sought expression in a passion for the lost souls of men. For this cause in Africa he gave his life. His life is an inspiration to us all.

PASTOR AND POLITICIAN by R.S. Kumalo

 

On 27 April 1994, Nelson Mandela arrived at the OHLANGE INSTITUTE, a school that was founded by JOHN LANGALIBAELE DUBE, a minister of the American Zulu Mission and the first president of the ANC. At the age of 72 Mandela had come to cast his vote for the election of a democratic government in South Africa. After casting his vote, Mandela went straight away to Dube’s grave and said:

 

“Mr. President I am here to report that today South Africa is free”

 

But who was this President that Mandela was reporting to? This brilliant book consists of essays on the legacy of J.L. DUBE and seeks to revive the legacy of the man who made such a tremendous contribution to the liberation of the African people in South Africa. Dube was first and foremost a Christian, converted under the ministry of the missionary William Wilcox, who then became a devoted pastor but of his love for his people, worked for their freedom becoming the first ANC President. He started the world famous Ohlange School where men like Seth Makitini trained but above all it was his love for the Bible and Jesus that moved him.

 

I found this book deeply moving and I learned so much about the man, J.L. DUBE –

 

“A great, if not the greatest Black man of the missionary epoch in South Africa.”

 

This is a MUST read … for every South African …

LAWS OF LIVINGSTONIA by W.P. Livingstone

 

Here is a book which I doubt you will every find!!! One day in Cape Town I visited all the old second-hand bookshops in Long Street and came across it, it cost me a lot of money … but what a book! It is the story of Dr. Robert Laws, the man, who inspired by David Livingstone, went back to northern Malawi and established the Livingstonia Mission.

 

“love of the service he had entered seized him like a passion. The spell of Africa gripped him never to let him go.”

 

For all his life he had one goal:

 

“my scheme is an earnest endeavour to bring all my past study, observation, experience and travel to bear on the question how best to bring the Gospel of Christ to the people of Central Africa and to their children … saturate the people with the Word of God and you will stop Islam and Roman Catholicism.”

 

It was brilliant … 378 pages of riveting reading of the pioneer missionaries like Robert Laws who came to Africa and established Livingstonia as a memorial to David Livingstone.

THE CAPTIVITY AND TRIUMPH OF WINNIE DAVIES by D. Davies

Len Moules in the introduction to this book wrote:

“don’t read this book unless you really want to … this book is dynamite.”

Winnifred Davies, constrained by the compassion of Christ, gave herself for 21 years without restraint for the good of the CONGOLESE people. On her lonely mission station, at the end of a desperately treacherous road, in one of the densest spots of the great Iturie Forests, she built her hospital, the only maternity unit within 250 kms.

Then … the savage SIMBA rebels took her captive and held her for 33 months. The Congo Christians loved her. They willingly suffered to protect her. Alieni Paul was trussed and hung in a tree, released, beaten and again hung up and left hanging for hours.

Reports of Winnie’s Christian testimony among the Simbas are incredible. After 33 months the Simbas killed her. Hers was not the tragedy of a premature death but the triumph of a fulfilled ministry.

Wow … what a woman … what a book … it is dynamite.

THE MOST RELUCTANT CONVERT by D.C. Downing

 

His books have sold millions, including classics like MERE CHRISTIANITY, SCREWTAPE LETTERS, THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. Yet C.S. Lewis was not always a literary giant of the Christian faith. How did he go from a staunch atheist to one of the most beloved and renowned Christian authors of all time?

 

For C.S. Lewis enthusiasts and students alike, this book offers a unique look at Lewis’ personal journey to faith and the profound influence it had on his life as a writer and a follower of Jesus Christ.

 

Christopher Mitchell wrote:

 

“an intelligent and highly readable book that succeeds in taking the reader further up and further in to Lewis’ own story … here is a book that deals with the most important and neglected aspect of C.S. Lewis’ life – his conversion ….

It is really good …. No … it is brilliant.

THE CALLING by Nancy Charton

 

This book charts Nancy’s life from the moment of the calling of God in the garden of a miner’s cottage on the Witwatersrand, through her painful growing years when she was sexually abused and lost her faith, to her re-emergence into faith with a mission as a community activist, campaigner against forced removals, crusading academic as a Professor at Rhodes University and finally after 20 years as a pioneering advocate of full ordination for women in the Anglican Church.

 

Dr. Willem Meyer said of this book:

 

“this is also a quintessential South African story of a woman struggling against the multi-layered obstacles put in her way: sexual abuse, class prejudice, the evils of apartheid, all played their part in trying to keep Nancy Charton from achieving her destiny, but like a rock she has weathered, not broken but emerged fully into her calling as a priest and canon of the Anglican Church – South Africa.”

 

An interesting read for all those who love the history of the Church in South Africa. I was challenged again as to what people like Nancy did to fight against apartheid.

THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSITIES’ MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA by Henry Rowley

This book was phenomenal, a real classic and for a missionary enthusiast a real find. This mission was the first to respond to the call from David Livingstone to leave England and start a work in Central Africa. So they came to Malawi in 1857. They established their station at MAGOMERO in CHIRADZULU. But sadly their leader Bishop McKenzie died soon after arriving, then later Scudamore, Dickinson and Thornton. As a result of these deaths, together with the hostility they were facing from the surrounding tribes forced them to lose down the station at Magomero and move to Zanzibar. Some may feel that the mission was a tragedy … but … the work of Bishop McKenzie laid the foundation of what was to become the Anglican Church in Malawi. In 1885 the UMCA mission returned with Will Johnson and Chauncy Maples who established the new headquarters on LIKOMO ISLAND.

I laughed, cried and was hugely moved by this book which described the unbelievable cost paid by these pioneer missionaries who brought the Gospel to Central Africa.

LIFE OUT OF DEATH by P. Thompson

MOZAMBIQUE: a country in the past torn by Marxist revolution, civil war and in more recent years by natural disasters: – scene now of a miracle of Church Growth. After the expulsion of pioneer British missionary Gordon Legg, Martinho Campos emerged as a leader of the young and growing Church in Mozambique, the small, poor country bordering Zimbabwe and South Africa. Miraculously healed after 3 years of illness, this amazing man becomes a faithful pastor to scattered groups of new believers. Captured by rebel guerillas and reported dead, he is eventually released to continue his ministry.

This inspiring story has many parallels with the growth of the early Church. Opposition came first in the form of witchcraft and demonic activity and later through political pressure.   But … at every point of seeming death, the closing down of the mission, the banning of all Christian work, leaders falling into error – God brings life.

The story enfolded in this book spans more than 50 years (from 1935-1987) during which time many political changes occurred in Africa.

This was a brilliant book, a must read for all who love the history of missions in Southern Africa.

THE SHAME AND THE SACRIFICE by E. Robertson

In this book, Edwin Robertson, longtime editor and translator of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s many works, looks at the wholeness of the man who lived and died a disciple of Jesus Christ. Although Bonhoeffer had often created misunderstandings and even recognized that he had done and said the wrong things, he always rooted his actions and thoughts in the Word of God.

In this book Bonhoeffer’s dramatic story unfolds, in particular his opposition to the Nazis. After going through intensive theological training, preaching the Bible with passion, becoming the Principal of a Bible College he still continued to raise his voice against the persecution of the Jews, eventually returning to Germany where after much agonizing he joined the resistance movements, acted as a double agent and then conspired to assassinate Hitler. He was caught and imprisoned from where he wrote some of his greatest works including the COST OF DISCIPLESHIP. As the war was drawing to a close, he was tried, convicted and hanged.

I could not put this book down; I longed also to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

JOHN CALVIN by John Piper

We live in a flippant and frivolous day. The majestic weight of the glory of God rests lightly on too many Churches. We’ve lost our appetite for God’s majesty. A passion for His splendor has faded. John Calvin encountered a similar landscape 500 years ago. Nothing mattered more to Calvin than the supremacy of God over all things. He wrote that his life’s’ aim was

“to set before man, as the prime motive of his existence, zeal to illustrate the glory of God”

John Piper writes: “the essential meaning of Calvin’s life and preaching is that he recovered and embodied a passion for the absolute reality and majesty of God.”

This is the aim and burden of this book. By telling the story of Calvin’s life, Piper aims to ignite your zeal for the centrality, supremacy and majesty of God.

It is a short book (only 58 pages) but dynamite – read it and get one for a friend!

A HUNDRED HOUSES by A. Rayment

Life as a missionary is often seen as romantic, but Irene Rowley tells of the reality – coping with disease, misunderstanding, a handicapped child and homesickness. Yet her determination to work for God in Brazil carries her through and gives purpose to all that she does.

People will be challenged after reading this down-to-earth honest book. We can learn of the tensions of missionary life, the heat, dust and squalor of Brazil.

A short but challenging missionary biography of a missionary’s life in Brazil.

THE ZANZIBAR CHEST by A. Hartley

The Zanzibar Chest is a necessary book … you will struggle to find a more authentic, urgent or brilliant account of the underbelly of contemporary Africa … It is a truly impressive and haunting book, a beautifully written account of Harley’s journey to the heart of darkness and then his slow, painful voyage back. Underpinning the grisly details of wars in Somalia, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi, Hartley tells of his experiences there as a journalist but then weaves into this quagmire the story of his childhood in Colonial Africa. You therefore have a powerful blend of family history and a war correspondent’s memoir.

For those who have a love for Africa you will not be able to put this book down … it is brilliant. It was in fact short listed for the BBC 4 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction in 2006.

THE GREAT COMMISSION by T.O. Jenkins

In the great commission the supreme business of the Church is all ages was clearly and authoritatively spelt out in unmistakable terms by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the Church. The work of redemption was all accomplished, complete and perfect; what now remained was that the good news concerning it, the Gospel, had to be carried and proclaimed to the ends of the earth.

This book is a challenge to all Christians to heed once again His last words and to pray and to work as never before, with their confidence solely in Him who promised to be “with you always even to the ends of the age.”

This book shows Omri Jenkins giving a clear and robust exposition of the Saviour’s comprehensive plan for making disciples of all nations.

NEW MOVEMENTS by Alan Thompson

This excellent book is Part 3 of the TEF Church History Course initiated by John Foster. It takes us up to 1800 covering the period when new movements of reform and expansion were setting the stage for the missionary explosion and development of the 19th and 20th centuries which are described in Part 4. He covers Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany, Ulrich Zwingli and the Reformation in Switzerland, Calvin and the Reformation in France, the Radical Reformers, the Reformation in England, the Puritan Movements in America, Pietist Christianity and then the beginning of Liberal Theology and Rationalism.

For those who also love Church History this will be a great read.

MICHAEL RAMSAY by Michael De-La-Noy

This is a portrait of Michael Ramsay, the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury written by his former Press Officer. George Carey who later was to become the Archbishop wrote:

“this indeed is a book that recaptures the real Ramsey … it expresses all the signs of journalistic writing: a vivid style, excellent quotations – with an awareness of the questions that ordinary people ask.”

An interesting book but not one I would give my bed for!!

BELOVED PARTNER by M. Dickson

On September 7th, 1819, Mary Smith of Manchester, England sailed for Africa on her way to marry the young nursery gardener, Robert Moffat. He had come out 3 years previously to serve with the London Missionary Society. For the next 50 years, Mary and Robert Moffat worked as pioneer missionaries in the lands north of the Orange River. It was a harsh, demanding life in conditions of physical hardship and spiritual barrenness far removed from the picture imagined back in England of rewarding missionary activity. In the midst of drought, famine, raiding migrations and wars, Mary Moffat built a home, taught the Gospel, bore her children, ran the mission station while her husband Robert traveled across Africa.

Mary Moffat was a remarkable woman. She came to Africa to be not only Moffat’s wife but also a partner in his missionary work. Neither ill health, disaster nor family pressures reflected her from this aim.

Robert wrote in 1859:

“Would that some knew, even were it a tithe of what you have had to suffer for the cause of Christ among the Bechuana.”

It was a moving biography, absolutely brilliant.

REACHING BEYOND BARRIERS BY F. Rittenhouse

This is an amazing story of how faith and persistence prevailed to get the Word of God to West Africa through Trans World Radio. You will be amazed how God works through intriguing stories of His faithful followers. What happened in LIBERIA and BENIN demonstrated the way Africans and expatriates are working together to meet the unique challenges of using radio to reach oral cultures.

HUDSON TAYLOR by S. Mills

This book is part of the ‘CHRONICLES OF FAITH” series and is geared to children from the ages of 8-12. It is a brilliant summary of Hudson Taylor’s life and will certainly encourage the seed of missions in the hearts of young lives. Brilliantly written it tells of the call which came to Hudson Taylor and then of his amazing adventures as the first Christian missionary into the heart of Africa.

Make sure your children and grandchildren read this …

TEACHING JOHN by Dick Lucas and William Philip

Preachers find themselves turning to John’s Gospel time and again to proclaim its wonderful message about Jesus. This short book explores the main themes of John’s own teaching. John makes his purpose clear in Chapter 20. The stated intention must guide the exposition of his words today. It shows a way to explore the text so that the preacher may expound the message of John as John intended, he should.

The author expands Chapters 3-6 in detail and you will love it. An excellent book for anyone wanting to teach John.

ISBN-13: 978-1857927900

GOD’S POLISHED ARROW by Michael McMullen

This is a book in a million, I loved reading it. It is the biography of WILLIAM BURNS, the missionary to China for many years. This book is entitled GOD’S POLISHED ARROW because that is what Burns desired that he himself would be. He longed, he wrote, that God might find him as a polished arrow and that He might use him as an arrow flying straight, swift, and true towards its target. The book is divided into four sections:

Section 1 – an account of the life and ministry of William Chalmers Burns

Section 2 – extracts from his journals

Section 3 – letters from William Burns

Section 4 – notes from sermons Burns preached

McMullen says “therefore as you read this volume, treat what you read as not just another book to pick up and put down, but as a direct challenge to see whether you too can say with Burns “here I am, send me.’”

Perhaps the most amazing comment made on William Burns came from Hudson Taylor, who wrote:

“William Burns is better to me than a college course with all its advantages, because right here in China is lived out before me all that I long to be as a missionary.”

One of the finest biographies I have ever read ….

TOUGH-MINDED CHRISTIANITY by W. Dembski

Here is a diamond; I found this book such a blessing. It is an excellent resource for the modern apologetics enthusiast. Tough-minded Christianity is a collected of 44 essays about the great work of JOHN WARWICK MONTGOMERY, a living legend in the field of Christian apologetics.

Norman Geister wrote on Dr. Montgomery:

“I was for many years a colleague of Dr. Montgomery and have shared with him in the defense of the faith. He is a man of encyclopedic knowledge and unswerving commitment to orthodox Christianity … one of the pioneers of historical apologetics and one of the foremost apologetics of our time. His extensive knowledge, voluminous writings, and vigorous defense of evangelical Christianity are virtually unparalleled in this field.

Part 1 – deals with the Christian worldview

Part 2 – the nature of nature

Part 3 – doctrinal integrity

Part 4 – defending the faith

Part 5 law, ethics, and society

Part 6 – tribute

Read these essays on 44 different subjects and you will be challenged, stretched, rebuked, and hugely encouraged.

MOTHER TERESA by Eileen Egan

Mother Teresa’s work among the starving, the dying, the lepers, and the very poorest of the poor in Calcutta is now well known and honoured worldwide. Formal recognition has included the Nobel Peace Prize, and although she is not a British citizen, the order of Merit.

This biography is the authorized biography on her life, beginning from her childhood in Albania to just before her death. In a world where suffering and destruction seem ever more widespread, Mother Teresa’s life is remarkable and a huge challenge. Her work also has developed all over the world and is a legacy to this small woman’s’ awesome vision of the street. Malcolm Muggeridge has written a shorter biography on her life entitled “Something Beautiful for God” and that title summarizes her life.

In answering question about her life and work, she would always say:

Jesus said:

“I was hungry and you gave Me food
I was thirsty and you gave Me to drink
I was homeless and you took Me in
I was naked and you clothed Me
I was sick and you took care of Me
I was in prison and you visited Me

Truly, I say to you, for as long as you did it to those the least of my brothers, you did it to Me.”

Read this moving story, it will bring you to tears and make you examine what you are doing for the poor …

THE THORN IN THE FLESH by R.T. Kendall

Do you want the prickly, uncomfortable thorn in your flesh to go away? R. T. Kendall wants you to know that God gives you thorns for your benefit. Most people think of this discomfort as a physical pain, but Kendall explains how God gets your attention through loneliness, a handicap or disability, an enemy, personality problems, an unhappy marriage, unhappy employment, even a chronic illness.

In this book Kendall helps you to understand how God’s grace is sufficient and how you can believe that your thorn in the flesh is for your good and that it is the best thing that will ever happen to you, next to your conversion.

This book will give you great comfort and help you to see you are not alone.

EVANGELICAL TRUTH by John Stott

Wow … here is John Stott at his very best. This heartfelt statement from one of the greatest Christians ever brings into sharp focus what it means to be an evangelical. His masterly distillation of 60 years reflection on Christian discipleship ranges over the history of the Church and its formative teachings, as well as the world-wide Church today. He expounds the Trinitarian character of the evangelical faith – the gracious initiative of God the Father in revealing Himself to us, of Jesus Christ in redeeming us through Christ, and of the indwelling Holy Spirit in transforming us. This is why the three-fold emphasis of evangelical faith is upon:

  1. the Word of God
  2. the Cross\the work of the Holy Spirit

However, to be an evangelical Christian is not just to subscribe to an orthodox Trinitarian formula. The evangelical reaches beyond belief to behaviour; it brings with it a multifaceted challenge to live accordingly.

If you have never read this one – go and buy one quickly and five other copies for friends.

SEARCH FOR THE 12 APOSTLES by W.S. McBirnie

Here’s a moving and exciting adventure into the world of the Apostles. What really happened to the men who knew and worked with Jesus? How did they turn the world upside down? Where did they go and what did they do?

By traveling to the places they once knew, by studying the Scriptures and Biblical history, by listening to local tradition and engaging in original research, Dr. McBirnie has uncovered the fascinating untold histories of Christ’s Apostles and their activities. The author begins where the Acts of the Apostles leaves off and he brings these astonishing men to vivid life as the human beings there were, with their dedication, humanity, zeal and triumphant faith.

The search for the 12 Apostles is not a book about bones and relics, but a dramatic take of the men who knew Jesus the best and were transformed because of it. So read this book if you want to know more about the Apostles and especially where they went to preach.

THE GAGGING OF GOD by D.A. Carson

In this Gold Medallion Award winning book, Professor Carson helps evangelicals respond to the question “is Jesus the only way to God?” This book affirms the deep need for the Gospel’s exclusive message in today’s pluralistic global community. It shows how the many ramifications of pluralism are all parts of the whole, and then offers a systematic Christian response. The book divides into four parts:

Part 1 – looks at the history of pluralism

Part 2 – addresses religious pluralism focusing on the works of Hick and Tracey

Part 3 – analyses the Christian stance in a pluralistic culture across such diverse fields as education, law and morals

Part 4 – how to evangelize in a post-modern generation

Not an easy book to read, but wow … it is meaty and deals with one of the biggest questions of the day. Brilliant read.

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