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Workers for the harvest field

The right kind of damage

WORKERS FOR THE HARVEST FIELD
Eds. Vaughan Roberts & Tim Thornborough
The Good Book Company (http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk). 192 pages. £8.00
ISBN 1 905564 30 9

Taking its cue from Jesus’s observation in Matthew 9.38 about a harvest ready to be gathered in and his exhortation to pray for more workers, this is a book that aims to get young Christians thinking about and responding to the Lord’s command.

The book is very clearly written, and its short chapters are often masterful examples of making the complex accessible. It is full of sane, biblical teaching and wise observation. It is a great book to give to someone as a basis for talking together about how they can serve God in a needy world.

18 contributors explain and explore what it may mean if young believers were to let this verse seriously affect their life choices. Such a large number of contributors in many a book would leave readers confused, ‘so many points of view, all seeming to be right’. But here, though there isn’t a complete seamlessness of approach and individuals differ in emphases, there is a huge agreement about the importance of ‘getting the gospel out’.

Central to that are the recognition, training, and use of those who may have gifting for ‘Word’ ministry. The book talks about how this may be discovered and developed, and describes how ‘Word’ ministry can take various forms. Useful one-page examples from personal experiences complement the chapters.

Do I have some nit-picky points? Yes, but if I put them in the review, it would give the wrong impression; I would much rather the book be avidly read and the challenge of ‘the other Lord’s prayer’ be powerfully felt. So you will have to read and just guess what they may be!

The book faces up to the potential hardships of believing and living out ‘9.38’, and underscores the urgency and seriousness with which we must approach it. Yet there is also an infectious enthusiasm and confidence in God’s promises that each practitioner/contributor displays. This book could do serious damage to the kingdom of darkness!

Ray Evans,
part of the leadership team at Grace Community Church, Bedford, for 25 years, and strongly committed to training Christians to serve Christ