Review: Vision for Missions:
Vision for Missions: by Tom Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m not sure how I acquired this book. I believe it was given to me at some point. It sat on my shelf amidst other volumes until one day when it piqued my interest. Little did I know when I pulled it from its resting place that it would prove to be an epochal book in my life.
It was one of those books that seemed to appear at just the right time. I was only a few years into the ministry. I was like a little boy with a new set of Legos. I had the important blocks but they were in a jumble. I was wrestling with them, moving them around, turning them over, and trying to put them together cohesively to build something sensible and useful.
I was fully persuaded of God’s absolute sovereignty and supremacy in all things, but this book revealed an inconsistency and prompted an articulation of God centeredness in all things. What does that look like in the realm of missions? What should be our chief aim and motivation in missions? Before reading this book, I would have answered: Our chief aim and motivation in missions is the salvation of the nations.
That answer is not right and Tom Wells helped me see that in this book. God is always first. He is sovereign and supreme. So our first aim and motivation in missions is to declare His glory among the nations.
This crucial truth profoundly impacted my life and ministry. The pieces were there, but they weren’t fit together quite right. Looking back at my sermon log, I see that after reading this book I preached messages like “Declaring God’s Glory” from Psalm 96:1-3 and “God’s Commitment to His Own Glory” from Isaiah 42:8. I owe a debt here and I am grateful. I want God centeredness to saturate every aspect of life for me.
I highly recommend this book to you and hope you will consider well the primary message it contains.
Review: Poke the Box: When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time?
Poke the Box: When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time? by Seth Godin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
You have to start in order to finish, but if you don’t finish, you never really started at all. So, start then finish and repeat. Godin’s message is astoundingly simple. Don’t wait to get picked. Don’t wait for permission. Don’t wait to be asked. Go ahead and start.
This is a stimulating read though I warn you that it will unmask your many excuses for not doing. He writes just broadly and generally enough that the applications are vast. Yet, he is specific enough to be understandable and to hit home. I recommend reading it, supplying your own context, and then starting.
Review: Arthur W. Pink Born to Write
Arthur W. Pink Born to Write by Richard P. Belcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a brief biography of Arthur W. Pink and it is well done. Belcher has been an avid reader of Pink for many years and has a great appreciation for him. He does however deal quite honestly with some of Pink’s shortcomings.
Pink’s writings have been of inestimable value to me. I also read the old version of Ian Murray’s book on Pink. It has been recently updated and expanded. I recommend both books to you.
Review: The Law of the Offering
The Law of the Offering by Andrew John Jukes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jukes goes through the Levitical offerings centering everything around Christ. Jukes can have a very vivid imagination in some of his other works dealing with types, but here he richly describes the offerings and explains their meanings. This was one of those books that I did not want to put down and was sad that it was over. I recommend it.
Review: Stop Stealing Dreams
Stop Stealing Dreams by Seth Godin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Seth Godin is a stimulating thinker and writer. He writes with the view that his book isn’t the end, rather it is the start of a conversation. He doesn’t write to give the “final answer,” but rather to make sure you don’t think you have asked the “final question” on the subject.
His latest manifesto centers around education. He raises necessary questions about the system of education while looking back to see how we got here. Godin doesn’t try to answer all the questions or solve all the problems. He recognizes that changing the system would take at least one generation. So, he pushes all of us to pick ourselves and change our education now.
I certainly don’t agree with all the solutions he points toward and some of the ideas are raw and need a lot of work. Godin doesn’t really address the spiritual and moral dynamics to the education question. His treatment of the history of schooling also neglects these aspects. As a Christian, I am concerned about faith in all aspects of life. Nevertheless, I am glad somebody is raising the questions in the public arena.
I highly recommend this ebook. It will provoke you to thought and hopefully even some action.
