Paul Luckraft reviews 'Into The Land' by Mike Dwight (2016, RoperPenberthy)

This is another challenging and forthright book by Mike Dwight who draws once again on his extensive personal experience in the mission field and leadership training ministry. As in his first book, Out of the Desert (reviewed here), he combines this practical knowledge with insights into God's character and purposes as revealed in Scripture.

Previously Dwight explained how the desert can be regarded as training ground and a place where it is possible to have a fresh encounter with God. Now he emphasises that the desert cannot be a permanent residence. There must be a moment when the decision is taken to go 'into the land'.

The key questions will always be, 'Will we recognise such moments?' and 'Are we ready?'

God's Time vs Our Time

Dwight provides an excellent appraisal of the two different Greek words for 'time', chronos and kairos. We tend to be followers of chronos - watchers of the clock, counters of days, hours and minutes.

But this can make us oblivious to God's kairos moments, to the immediate 'now' opportunities that are on God's heart.

Dwight emphasises that the desert, though a training ground, cannot be a permanent residence. We must at some point 'go into the land'.

Regarding time from God's perspective rather than ours will make us more in sync with him. Kairos is that 'time' when God advances his purposes, when he moves. We need to be more aware of this than of any human time or timetable. These are moments when it is essential to heed God's commands and directives immediately, whether it is convenient or not.

God's Complete Renewal

We often talk of God doing 'a new thing' or of God's 'new day', but Dwight wants us to understand that 'new' can mean two different things: new in quality (kainos) - in contrast with the old - and new in time (neos) - that which is more recent. He asserts that "The God who loves to do new things will combine both of these" (p79). As such we should be looking for a complete newness or renewal rather than just the next thing on a list. He gives plenty of scriptural examples to back this up.

Dwight's main argument throughout is that God must change us before he can use us, though we might prefer this not to be so! To be ready to enter the land requires us to take a good look at our spiritual lives. Dwight has not been afraid to do this for himself and he is willing to share what he has learnt, especially from his personal trials when starting out as a missionary.

We need to be more aware of God's timing than any human timetable.

Being prepared to present ourselves to God regularly (in fact whenever he requires it) is a pre-requisite of entering the land. It is essential if we are to re-align our heart to his and serve him effectively within a spiritually dark and threatening environment. As Dwight states, "The temptation to breeze in and out of God's presence with little sense of His majesty is very much part of our microwave society" (p65), but we must do better than this.

Defining the Walk of Faith

How are our lives defined - desert wandering or entering new land? We settle too easily, seeking the comfortable middle ground rather than "living on the edge of impossibility" (p29). This is not just for the eccentric few. It should be normal Christianity, as defined by a walk of faith. But in addition to this challenge, Dwight reflects on those central qualities of God which make all this possible – his grace and mercy. If we sense God is moving, and if we desire to go with him, then we need these more than anything else. But they are readily available.

Dwight declares "I have been in awe of Moses and his leadership" (p98). That much is very clear in this book! For some time, God had been challenging Dwight to focus on Moses and Israel's preparation to leave the desert and enter into the land of Canaan. His book looks at the challenges and lessons of this journey. Its aim is both to encourage and sharpen us as we prepare for the coming of God's new day. We may have been in the desert a long time but we can leave it behind.

If we sense God moving and desire to go with him, we need his grace and mercy more than anything else.

This relatively short book has a potential impact far greater than its length might suggest. It can be read in a single sitting but will also reward being dipped into again and again in order to keep its message fresh and its readers ready for moving on. To this end, the book concludes with a useful recap in the form of bullet points to help us with the question 'What do we do, then?' One of the strengths of this book is that we are left in no doubt about this.

'Into the Land' (100 pages) is available from the publisher for £6.99 + P&P.