Reformed Reflections

If you are looking for anecdotes on missions and missionaries, don't buy this book. If you want a solid and well-written study on missions - by all means - buy it! Dr. Mariano DI Gangi, for years associated with the Bible and Medical Missionary Fellowship, well known through his eloquent sermons and speeches, his in involvement In the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Evangelical Theological Society of Canada, and currently on the faculty of the Ontario Theological Seminary, Toronto, Ontario, has made an excellent contribution to mission literature. He presents a wealth of ideas and digs up nuggets of biblical truths relating to missions.

Dr. Di Gangi has written this book because "in these days of doubt and confusion concerning the mission of the Church, we need to recover this sense of being under orders. We must renew our commitment to that Great Commission which comes by the royal authority of the King of glory."

The author cites the "surprising Indifference and shocking hostility to the furtherance of the gospel among some who claim to be followers of the Master." He writes about the wrath of God, a neglected truth in our days. He says; "The Saviour is also Lord and Judge of all. If we refuse to repent and believe the gospel of Christ, we remain under the wrath of God and bring ruin on ourselves Instead of receiving salvation." He stresses the need for Word proclamation, but he does not forget the deed ministry. "We are called to transform and possess the world around us for the King. As bearers of his image, In the family, the church, the state, In work and leisure, we can communicate the gospel by a quality of discipleship whose direction is the Scripture and dynamic is the Spirit."

Di Gangi dispels the romantic notion that missionary work can still be done on a shoe-string budget. He says: "Some people don't give as they ought because they haven't considered their responsibility In the light of what the Bible says, the world's needs, the church's program, and their own resources. They are painfully aware of what inflation does to the cost of living, but blissfully ignorant of certain facts of evangelical life. They do not know that it now costs almost twice as much to send a missionary overseas than it did a decade ago. They do not realize that it is more expensive to maintain a missionary family in Tokyo or Tehran than in New York or Toronto. Thoughtlessly, they keep on giving very much as they did In the past."

The book is excellent not only for the reader's personal benefit, but also for study groups as each chapter ends with a number of questions for discussion.

Johan D. Tangelder