THE CHURCH JESUS PRAYED FOR
A personal journey into John 17
By Michael Cassidy
Monarch Books. 415 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 0 857 213 303
Michael Cassidy is the founder of African Enterprise, a passionate preacher, evangelist and all round enthusiast for the gospel.
All of these features shine through the pages of this remarkable book. The author claims that it took him 13 years to write, not because he is a slow writer, but because he wanted to get this book right. Here we have a unique volume which explores the Lord’s Prayer of John 17 in such a way that, while remaining faithful to the text and context, the reader is taken on a heart-warming and mind-enlarging journey around many major biblical truths.
Ten marks
He highlights the ten marks of the church Jesus prayed for, giving helpful illustrations from his own lengthy and varied ministry. To use a kind of shorthand weaved around John 17, we are presented with a systematic and pastoral theology.
The book reveals the mind of an author who over the years has been marinated in the Bible and worked through the ups and downs of ministry with love and patience. It is a book that could be given to a new believer with confidence, it is one which should be read by every believer in order to be built up, and it is a great resource for the preacher. This is meant as a compliment; but reading this book took me back to the kind of books I used to read in my youth, the kind of evangelical writings by men, such as Michael Griffiths, Michael Green and Jim Packer, which fired my imagination. Highly recommended.
