Book Reviews

One might expect the biography of a mission administrator to be rather boring. Not so with this well-written volume from noted evangelical author Robert Niklaus. With energy, passion and candor, he tells the life story of one of the twentieth century’s great missionary statesmen, Dr. Louis L. King.

This is a good book, well worth reading. The first four chapters provide an historical overview of evangelical attitudes toward and proclamations about the social dimension of the gospel. The final chapter provides a preliminary evaluation of three basic ethical models for approaching social concerns.

In our ever-changing, pluralistic world it is more than a challenge to communicate the gospel effectively to others.

Sharpe’s book is a critical assessment of the life and work of the Indian evangelist and missionary “Sadhu” Sundar Singh (1889-1929). This Sikh background believer came to Christ through a vision during his teenage years.

The number of Christians participating in short-term missions has increased dramatically in recent years. Just like long-term missions, short-term missions are essential in world evangelization. As Leon Greene puts it, “every Christian is called to missions” (159).

“Microenterprise Development” (MED) is the new buzzword in missions today. With evangelical missionaries attempting to present a holistic gospel, economic and business development is now a component of many missions. Yet, MED remains an under-researched topic riddled with far more questions than answers.

The wide-ranging first chapter develops his thesis in Socratic, dialogical fashion. That thesis is two-fold. First, instead of secularism triumphing in our world, the human religious spirit has boldly emerged in a “worldwide Christian resurgence.”

Dearborn wrote this interactive workbook to resolve his own question of whether most short-term trips reflect one’s commitment to Christ or personal desire for adventure.

Few words in the Christian lexicon of the early twenty-first century are as exhilarating as “revival.” The word causes one to think of cleansing fire, fresh wind and Spirit power that resuscitates comatose souls.

The book makes a valuable contribution by highlighting the involvement of missionaries and national Christians in the demise of colonial powers and the spread of nationalistic independence movements in Asia and Africa.