Have a little faith, Rev Kate Bottley
/Rev Kate Bottley shot to fame a few years ago, and her engaging personality has kept her on our screens ever since. Peter Crumpler reviews her latest book.
Read MoreOur Preach Christian book reviews build a reading list for preachers and leaders.
Each detailed review is based on a thorough reading, and provides an excellent introduction to the text and its usefulness for students, preachers and church leaders.
Rev Kate Bottley shot to fame a few years ago, and her engaging personality has kept her on our screens ever since. Peter Crumpler reviews her latest book.
Read MoreShould Christians get involved in politics? Or is it impossible to do so and to lead a righteous life? In his book A Mucky Business, veteran Christian politician Tim Farron looks at the issues.
Read MoreHow familiar are you with the entire story arc of the Bible, and why does it matter to mission? Christopher J H Wright explains in his book, The Great Story and the Great Commission.
Read MoreIn A Call Less Ordinary, Rich Wilson, founder of student movement Fusion, considers how we find out what God wants us to do, and how we should act on that call.
Read MoreWhat effect is increasing cultural and religious diversity having on the Christian church in the UK? In Multicultural Kingdom, Harvey C Kwiyani finds out.
Read MoreBOOK: Working from a place of rest: Jesus and the key to sustaining Ministry
AUTHOR: Tony Horsfall
(BRF, July 2023)
Tony Horsfall has been writing books to encourage Christians, particularly leaders, for many years, and this one is a revised and reissued version of a previous book. It is definitely worth a read.
His main thesis is that Jesus models a different way of working, that is not only counter-cultural in the sense that it goes against the way the western world works, but it also goes against the way the church tends to act in the Western world as well. Because as far as idolising hard work and overcommitment is concerned, the church and the Western world tend to be in lockstep.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
Taking the John 4 story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well as his foundation, Horsfall explores what made Jesus different, his security in his identity and his ability to say ‘No’ – there is even a list in the back of occasions when he did so! He points out that we tend to believe the Protestant work ethic is God-ordained, piling pressure upon pressure, either upon ourselves or each other. Our measure of success is ‘numerical growth’ which leads, he believes, to greater pressure on those who work for the big successful churches – both to ‘keep producing results’ and through an ‘unacknowledged perfectionism’.
But at the well, Jesus stopped. He rested.
He was tired and stopping was okay. Not only was it okay, it turned out to be fruitful. Stopping, says Horsfall, is a discipline – whether we want to do it or not, we need to intentionally build it into our lives, in order for our ministry to be sustainable. ‘As Christians,’ he writes, ‘we have a strong theology of work but virtually no theology of leisure’, and he sets out to reset the balance a little here, exploring what leisure does, the different types of leisure, and why it matters. But he goes beyond that, to point to a new way of working – allowing God to work in and through us, finding our security in him, leaving the results to him, and developing the spiritual disciplines necessary to integrate resting and working.
Reviewer: Ali Hull
Ali Hull has spent nearly thirty years working with words, as a writer, editor and writing coach. Now the Book Editor for Preach magazine, her ‘to be read’ pile is approaching frightening proportions.
Christians need to take more seriously the prayer of Jesus that we should be united, and be able to model to the world a better way of disagreeing with each other. Jonathan Lamb sets out the issues clearly. What matters? What doesn’t?
Read MoreBOOK: Lighting the Beacons: Kindling the flame of faith in our hearts
AUTHOR: Jill Duff
(SPCK, February 2023)
This book is the spiritual equivalent of lemonade on a hot day: it fizzes with the joy and vitality the Spirit brings. Like Jesus, Bishop Jill delivers her message mainly through story-telling – stories from scripture, personal accounts of people in her community and faith-fanning ‘God-incidences’ and serendipities of the Spirit drawn from a rich devotional life.
The main aim of this book is to kindle flames of faith which collectively blaze like beacons, lighting the way so that ‘many lost daughters and sons might come home.’ It’s refreshingly accessible and crammed with contemporary references to popular culture – music, movies and football. The author’s favourite analogy for school assemblies, that Jesus paid the ultimate transfer fee to have us join his team, reveals her heart to communicate the gospel in ways people can relate to, as well as her strong ties with ‘key beacon-lighters - the poor, the humble and children’.
The greatest strength of this book is that it identifies the biggest danger for church-leaders: ‘That we all grow weary and give up,’ and opens our eyes to how we might quench the fire of the Spirit, for example through an intellectual cynicism which does not take God at his word. The author offers powerful antidotes to discouragement, including pragmatic insights drawn from a deep dive into Nehemiah on facing opposition, resisting and overcoming. I loved the testimonies of spiritual giants like Polycarp; it’s a stirring reminder that we are called to share in Christ’s sufferings, that we overcome by not loving our flesh (or egos) so much as to shrink from death.
It would have been good if Bishop Jill had used this opportunity to correct the fallacy about Mary Magdalene which is unsupported by scripture, ie, that she used to be a prostitute, but this is a tiny quibble in an otherwise inspiring book.
Lighting the Beacons is highly recommended for all church leaders, especially for those feeling the effects of burn-out. This writer has been climbing the mountain to meet with the Lord and this book is written from that place of humility and encounter.
Reviewer: Charmaine Yip
Charmaine Yip writes for Preach magazine, occasionally preaches short sermons for Premier Radio, and is the 2022 winner of Sermon of the Year.
Take a look at our book of the month for July - The Power of Reconciliation. The review is written by John Griffiths.
Read MoreBOOK: Defenders of the Faith: The British Monarchy, Religion and the Coronation.
AUTHOR: Catherine Pepinster
Timing in life is everything, they say.
No more so in the world of publishing – and anyone who will be preaching in the time before and after King Charles’s Coronation on Saturday May 6th will be grateful for this book.
Catherine Pepinster, a renowned author and broadcaster – and for many years the editor of the Catholic weekly, The Tablet – published the hardback version of this book just months before the Queen’s death last September. In it, she set out an authoritative and timely exploration of the British monarchy, its relationship with faith and religion over the last 500 years, and what the future might look like for the next monarch and the Church of England.
Now, Catherine Pepinster has written an extensively revised paperback version of Defenders of the Faith that will – among other features – help preachers to understand the deep religious significance of the Coronation service, and to communicate this to their congregations.
In this new edition, Pepinster includes a new introduction and conclusion, a new chapter on the Queen’s death and the events that followed, an expanded chapter on King Charles’s faith, a chapter on Charles’s accession and a more detailed look at the Coronation.
The Queen’s funeral may have been the most-watched Christian service of all time, with many millions of TV and online viewers across the world. The Coronation is also expected to attract a massive global audience for an Anglican service.
The Coronation, Pepinster explains, ‘is a moment when the country will consider values and meaning.’ She sets out what she describes as ‘the toughest challenge of all,’ and asks, ‘Can the Coronation, full of religious meaning, speak to a secular, cynical majority, weary of our nation’s leaders and suspicious of extravagance – or at least a majority that is not so much cynical but sceptical.’
She responds that the Coronation and the Monarchy could be more relatable to modern Britain, if it were ‘patterned less on power and more on justice, wisdom, sacrifice and humility – in other words, a biblical notion of kingship.’
Few TV viewers will be studying in detail the liturgy used at the Coronation, but they will be watching the spectacle, including the crowning, the anointing of the new monarch, and much of the symbolism being used. How much they will understand is debatable.
Enter preachers in pulpits across the land, explaining what kingship and service really means in a Christian context. This book will help them meet that challenge.
Reviewer: Peter Crumpler
Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England priest in St Albans, Herts, and a former communications director with the CofE.
RRP £12.99
Have you ever asked yourself, what day of the week the widow dropped her two coins into the temple treasury? Or when the disciples found the man carrying the water jar, who would show them the way to the upper room? In this fascinating book of devotional reflections, Andrew Nunn has put together the well-known events of the last week of Jesus’ life in a fresh and fascinating way. Starting on the Saturday before Palm Sunday and ending at Pentecost. The reflections focus in on key hours in the last week of Jesus’ life, then week by week through the weeks after Easter and ending, finally, with three reflections on Pentecost Sunday.
Although we can’t be sure exactly when each event happened in this last week of Jesus’ life, looking at the events in detail and reflecting on when they might have happened brings a fresh insight to the story. In particular, it allows us to appreciate the growing tension as Jesus’ death comes ever closer and the slow realization, in the hearts of Jesus’ disciples, of what the resurrection meant. Each section is very short – no longer than two pages long – and includes a passage from the Bible, some help into reflection and a prayer. It is a wonderful resource with so much to think about and reflect on. It will be well worth praying with in the lead up to Easter and beyond.
It comes highly recommended from me for anyone who would like to take time to get into the details of the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
[reviewer] Paula Gooder
Dr Paula Gooder is a writer and lecturer in Biblical Studies. She is currently the Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral in London.Reviewed by Esther Longe
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