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LifelinesSane meditations for a mad worldSparkling!LIFELINES It’s not often we give so-called ‘Christian’ radio broadcasts a second thought. They usually either make us cringe, or want to ring up and complain. Thankfully, there are exceptions to every rule! Geraint Fielder is such an exception. For many years he broadcast brief, but beefy messages on BBC regional and national radio and this book contains a rich selection of them, edited for a written form. He pulls no punches, never diluting the Christian message, while at the same time engaging his audience in a way that is captivating. Each one takes about two minutes to read and at first you might think, ‘There’s not much here for someone who’s heard it before!’ But it isn’t very long before you’re being struck again and again, not just by what is being said, but by the way it’s put across. It bears all the marks of great preaching: arresting listeners in a world that’s a million miles away from God’s world by flagging up its messiness, then showing them God’s world and the God of grace who lies behind it. The original talks have not only been edited into a written format, but they have also been arranged into five major sections: Our Flawed Life, Restoring our Life, Living the Life, Invitation to Life and Life’s End or, New Beginning? These in turn contain either individual addresses, or mini-series, that have been collated into one. The style is a mixture of pithy exposition combined with potent little anecdotes and illustrations — no words are wasted. It is wide-ranging and yet deeply penetrating. It’s got something for complete outsiders, yet it has no end of gems for all kinds of Christians (not to mention illustration ideas for preachers). It’s a book that literally sparkles from beginning to end with flashes of brilliance. It really does bring some biblical sanity into the madness of our crazy world. Mark G. Johnston, © Evangelicals Now - May 2005 |