Book Review: Overflow
Michael Reeves, author of Delighting in the Trinity, has applied the truths articulated in that book to the world of Christian missions in his book Overflow: How the Joy of the Trinity Inspires Our Mission. The content, first given in addresses at the Moody Bible Institute’s Missions Conference, is now available in this short work that anyone with missions interest will enjoy.
Reeves’ strength lies in taking believers back to the source for motivation in missions. Too often, we are driven by guilt, pride, or some other less-than-perfect motive. By returning to and being refreshed by the knowledge of our Triune God, our souls well up with new desire and enthusiasm to make him known.
The four chapters of Overflow are as follows:
God’s Love: The Fountain of All Goodness
God’s Glory: The Radiance of the World
God’s Abundance: The Barren World of No Trinity
God’s Light: Shining in the Darkness
As the knowledge of God’s nature is unfolded, we see that “because God is triune, his very being is found in giving, not taking.”
Reeves goes on, “But going out on mission is not the primary thing; it is a secondary thing. I want first and foremost for you to love God so that your mission is nothing other than speaking to the world who you love. To go on God’s mission is to speak of Him out of a heart that is captivated by His beauty. And to do this, we must know who He is. So I want to start by thinking simply, by asking, ‘Who exactly is this God who shapes mission?’ And our answer is that He is the triune God, for only a triune God can be truly missional—not just as a mission sender, but missional in His own being.”
That’s only the beginning of the treasure that will fill your heart from this little book. So, take up and read, and pray that the Lord will align your heart with his purposes as the God who desires to make himself known.