Lighting the Beacons, Jill Duff

AUGUST BOOK OF THE MONTH

REVIEWER: Charmaine Yip

Lighting the beacons: kindling the flame of faith in our hearts

BOOK: Lighting the Beacons: Kindling the flame of faith in our hearts
AUTHOR: Jill Duff
(SPCK, February 2023)

This book is the spiritual equivalent of lemonade on a hot day: it fizzes with the joy and vitality the Spirit brings. Like Jesus, Bishop Jill delivers her message mainly through story-telling – stories from scripture, personal accounts of people in her community and faith-fanning ‘God-incidences’ and serendipities of the Spirit drawn from a rich devotional life.

FLAMES OF FAITH  

The main aim of this book is to kindle flames of faith which collectively blaze like beacons, lighting the way so that ‘many lost daughters and sons might come home.’  It’s refreshingly accessible and crammed with contemporary references to popular culture – music, movies and football. The author’s favourite analogy for school assemblies, that Jesus paid the ultimate transfer fee to have us join his team, reveals her heart to communicate the gospel in ways people can relate to, as well as her strong ties with ‘key beacon-lighters - the poor, the humble and children’.

FIRE OF THE SPIRIT

The greatest strength of this book is that it identifies the biggest danger for church-leaders: ‘That we all grow weary and give up,’ and opens our eyes to how we might quench the fire of the Spirit, for example through an intellectual cynicism which does not take God at his word. The author offers powerful antidotes to discouragement, including pragmatic insights drawn from a deep dive into Nehemiah on facing opposition, resisting and overcoming. I loved the testimonies of spiritual giants like Polycarp; it’s a stirring reminder that we are called to share in Christ’s sufferings, that we overcome by not loving our flesh (or egos) so much as to shrink from death.

It would have been good if Bishop Jill had used this opportunity to correct the fallacy about Mary Magdalene which is unsupported by scripture, ie, that she used to be a prostitute, but this is a tiny quibble in an otherwise inspiring book.

Lighting the Beacons is highly recommended for all church leaders, especially for those feeling the effects of burn-out. This writer has been climbing the mountain to meet with the Lord and this book is written from that place of humility and encounter.

Reviewer: Charmaine Yip
Charmaine Yip writes for Preach magazine, occasionally preaches short sermons for Premier Radio, and is the 2022 winner of Sermon of the Year.