Be encouraged
‘I’m gonna live for ever!’ went the song for the 80s TV series Fame and speaks of people wanting to be so famous everyone will know their name in entertainment history. This expresses well the ambition of so many, judging by the contestants of The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, which actually seems to prove the opposite!
Peter Mawson, pastor, Trinity Baptist Church. Tenterden, Kent
IN SWEET OBSCURITY:
Learning from Some of the Bible’s Lesser-Known Saints
By Kurt Strassner
DayOne. 111 Pages. £6
ISBN 978 1 846 255 403
Perhaps you are secretly unhappy and even depressed about what seems to be the mundane and inconsequential in your Christian service? If so, this short book is just for you. Strassner, in seven short chapters, describes thrillingly the lives of people who seem to have so little prominence in the Bible, yet were used wonderfully by God. Strassner’s writing is engaging and there is a wealth of careful thought and study plainly expressed in every chapter. Here is the antidote for the Christian who is feeling overlooked or of little worth in the church. His chapter on Jehosheba (who’s she, I hear you ask?) alone makes the book worth buying! With great clarity Strassner shows how each person was used by God in a strategic way, although most would not have recognised it at the time. What is also gratifying about this book is that we are always led back to Jesus Christ and are left marvelling at him, rather than at his faithful servants. At the end of each chapter are three pertinent and helpful questions to drive home the lessons learnt. I thoroughly recommend this book for anyone who needs encouragement in their Christian service.
