Journal: Grace Journal
Volume: GJ 12:1 (Winter 1971)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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GJ 12:1 (Wtr 71) p. 46

Book Reviews

For Missionaries Only. By Joseph L. Cannon. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1969, $2.95. (cloth).

This short but well-written book will probably be like a bombshell exploding in some of our evangelical bunkers. It may shake our “good earth” and raise the dust (perhaps also some disgust) but it is the type of literature on missions which has been needed for some time.

The author paints his picture of missions by means of forty-seven short stories and commentaries on the work of missions today. He speaks on issues which are very much alive in every geographical area where a foreign missionary might serve, the intensity depending on the area and people involved. He writes on such subjects as: fruit-bearing, frustrations and finance, homeland deputation, the homing pigeon tendencies of missionaries, indigenous church policies, paternalism, new missionaries, the drop-out problem, incompatibility between missionaries themselves and between missionaries and nationals, missionary wives and kids, culture-shock, language study and what he likes and hates about missionary life.

While I believe this book is intended to disturb the sleep of some of our Church people and hopefully arouse them to a new understanding of the missionary endeavor, the author did not spare criticism of missionaries. Such statements as the following show the balance with which Mr. Cannon approached his subject:

It is possible to be called a missionary and not actually be one…you can be sent to save souls and not actually, personally, save one…sometimes the presence of a missionary makes it hard on the local preacher…(missionaries) brow-beat the audience, make themselves superior and every one else inferior.

Mr. Cannon is to be commended for his candid evaluation of the joys and sorrows of modern mission activity. Not every missionary would dare speak openly as he has on some basic areas of universal concern,

GJ 12:1 (Wtr 71) p. 47

but every missionary should read the book. Pastors interested in missions and supporters of missionaries should read it. The only ones who might not profit from it are the immature and hypercritical.

P. Fredrick Fogle
Grace Theological Seminary

It’s Always Too Soon to Quit. By Mel Larson. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1968, $3.95. 157 pp.

Football enthusiasts will enjoy the story of Stephen Orr Spurrier. He is an outstanding athlete, record holder and active Christian molded into one person. With innate ability, excellent coaching and heavenly blessing, he became an All-American selection from the University of Florida, the 1966 recipient of the co...

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