AWAKENING
By David Robertson
Authentic. 201 pages. £8.99
ISBN 1 84227 173 3
Any Christian autobiography and biography worth our time and money must glorify God and encourage the reader in their daily walk with Christ. That's why I would recommend this biography on the life and ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne by David Robertson.
Robert McCheyne is a name known to many Christians and his life is something of a mystical legend to most. Yet Robertson sets himself the task of making McCheyne's life accessible and understandable to us mere mortals. Robertson is the current minister of St. Peter's Free Church in Dundee where McCheyne served the majority of his ministry. With this background, Robertson writes with a passion for McCheyne, Dundee and theology, which really shines through as you read the book. What is truly unique about this biography is that each chapter ends with a meditation (series of questions and a prayer) to encourage us to apply each chapter to our lives as we work through McCheyne's story. Some might be frustrated by this structure of meditations but my advice, particularly to those who know nothing about McCheyne or find these meditations distracting, is read the book through, without using them and then go back and benefit from these penetrating meditations. They are written by someone with a pastoral heart who's determined for us to apply the lessons of McCheyne's life.
