Living Radical Discipleship 2022 book of the year
Stott-inspired book wins prestigious award
John Stott’s legacy of faithful Christian discipleship continues to impact Christians on every continent and in every sphere of life. This book pays homage to that legacy and to “Uncle John’s” unwavering commitment to Christ’s transformative Lordship over all facets of existence, especially those we may find particularly convenient to ignore.
In this collection of essays, integral mission scholars and practitioners from around the world – many of whom knew John Stott personally and worked with him extensively – reflect on several of the concerns that developed and deepened over the course of Stott’s life, reminding us that Christian obedience must include caring for God’s creation, engaging in social action and advocacy, and supporting church leadership of the Majority World. Christianity Today has given it the ‘Book of the Year Award’ in the ‘Christian Living & Discipleship’ category.
Langham Publishing delighted
The award is a first for Langham Publishing. Its Director, Luke Lewis, said: “We are delighted to see one of our titles receive recognition with this prestigious book award, alongside so many other great books recently published. “It seems fitting as we near the end of the year in which we have celebrated the centenary of John Stott’s birth, that we have a book inspired by his own call ‘that faith commitments must be evident in the everyday lives of Christ’s followers.’
Dr Laura S. Meitzner Yoder edited the book, which was the outcome of a symposium held at Wheaton College, USA, in 2019. Luke Lewis said “Congratulations to Dr Yoder for all her hard work in making this book a reality, and thank you to each of the contributors.”
Reacting to the award, Dr Yoder said: “I’m grateful to the amazing people at Langham Publishing for embracing this project, and for Langham’s faithful, everyday work in amplifying the work of scholar-leaders from Majority World regions. “I am hopeful that this book, with contributors from five continents, will invite readers to consider anew John Stott’s prompting to follow Jesus in all of life and with loving obedience.”
How you can get a copy…
Matt Reynolds, books editor for Christianity Today, said the award-winning books represent “some of the year’s most exemplary Christian thinking”. Like John Stott’s last book, The Radical Disciple, which he wrote at age 88, Living Radical Discipleship calls us to repentance, to recommitment, and to wholehearted discipleship.
As Ruth Valerio of Tearfund says in the Foreword, “Please don’t read this book if you only want your brain tickled…read this book to be stirred and challenged and called to deeper action for God’s Kingdom.”
You can purchase a copy from Langham Publishing for approximately $21 (postage included) by visiting https://langhamliterature.org/living-radical-discipleship or your favourite online book seller. If you don’t have internet access and would like a copy, contact Jenny in the office for assistance.
Please also join us in prayer for…
PREACHING
- Langham Preaching is committed to making resources available to our preaching movements in mother tongue languages. Please pray that gifted translators will be identified as we seek to create an international translation team to support this commitment around the world.
- Pray for Tukana Nakesu as he leads the Preaching movement in Fiji; that he will have wisdom in all the planning and preparations for the various trainings they hope to run this year. Pray also for them as they seek to translate the participant training materials into Fiji Hindi and Itaukei, needed for those in the rural areas.
- Thank you for praying for these upcoming Preaching training events (where a country is sensitive, the region is given).
- 13 – 19 Feb West Africa, Cambodia, Slovenia
- 20 – 26 Feb Uganda
- 27 Feb- 5 Mar West Asia, Thailand, Uganda
- 6-12 March Burkina Faso, Argentina, Burundi, Uganda
- 13-19 March Uganda, Sweden
LITERATURE
- The 2021 / 2022 Library Grant season is now underway. Pray for Literature staff and for all the logistics involved in sending books to over 600 colleges. Pray that all the books will arrive at their destinations without delays in the shipping process.
- Please pray for the indigenous Christian publishers that Langham support, especially those whose countries are in crisis due to the COVID pandemic, war or poverty.
SCHOLARS
- Langham Graduates from Spanish-speaking Latin America will be meeting together from 8 to 11 March in Costa Rica. This is the first Forum for over two years, so pray for safety and health as they travel to this event but also renewed enthusiasm, encouragement and support as they plan future writing and research projects.
Pray for other Forums being planned for 2022 – hopefully in Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines. The aim is to bring Langham Graduates together in these countries, to share resources, plan joint projects and learn from each other. Pray for all those involved in the planning of these events. - Pray for wisdom and discernment for the International Scholars Selection Committee as it meets in March to discuss the shortlisted applications.
- Pray for Ugandan Scholar Joseph Byamukama (supported by LPA) as he studies for his PhD in Kampala.
Gillean Smiley writes …
When a gift of books is given to a theological college in the Majority World, there are considerations to be taken into account that simply would not occur to most of us. Can the library accommodate more books, or is there simply no room on the one or two small shelves that currently serve the faculty and students? Does it have the necessary administrative back up to manage cataloguing and borrowing of resources? Are the books being donated the ones that are truly needed and wanted? Can the staff and students even read the language in which they are written? With the best of intentions it would be all too possible to overwhelm a small library with more books than can be kept safe, dry and accessible. This is why the Library Grants given by Langham are in response to the needs expressed by the recipients, in conjunction with a comprehensive catalogue that enables the college to choose the greatly subsidised resources that will be most helpful to them. Sometimes the grants are smaller than we might imagine — in the order of AU$200 per year. But for the hundreds of colleges accessing the grants, this enables them to build up their resources in a manageable way, with the books that will be of the most help.
Thank you for your help in bringing good books for study to the colleges of the Majority World.