Dr. Richard Noble is the founder and director of the Center for Missional Engagement. He is also a pastor, an adjunct faculty member at Geneva College and Crown College, and the missions mobilizer for the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination. As you can see missions is a major focus of his ministry. In this book the reader will see that he wants missions to be the major focus of every Christian church.

The main body of On Mission Together consists of nine chapters, an afterword, and six appendices. In the chapters the author covers many topics. The following is a sampling of a few  of the chapter titles: “In Partnership with God,” “What the Bible Says About Missions,” “Missions Awareness and Education,” “Praying for Missions and Missionaries,” and “Giving to Missions.” The main focus of this book is global missions (xviii). In the appendixes one will find, among other things, ideas for hosting a missions conference and some thoughts concerning short-term missions ventures.

Dr. Noble has a passion for missions, he was raised in a family that supported missions (page xv). This passion becomes clear near the very beginning of the book. In the preface he says that “missions is not just a particular ministry program of the local church but rather a priority and a lifestyle for every follower of Jesus Christ” (page xvii). He points out that as Christians we have been called out of the world and then sent back into it in order to transform it (page 24). Jesus said that we are to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16). The author makes the observation that both salt and light “change the environments that they come in contact with” (page 44). The same holds true for us, we, as believers, are to change the world. Noble sees missions as the priority of all ministries in the church (page 25). This includes ministries to adults and children (page 27). While local missions are important Noble gives great attention to cross-cultural missions. Christians should be open to the idea of going overseas, at least for the short-term and possibly for the long-term. However, he recognizes that not everyone is called to go. Those who are sent are important but so are those who send them. Believers who remain at home need to pray, give, and minister to missionaries. The author is an advocate for missionary care and he offers a number of suggestions for how churches can provide this important ministry.

On Mission Together is a very practical book. The text includes biblical teaching but it also contains a wealth of information and ideas about how to actually make missions the focal point of church ministry. Some of the chapters contain a section called “Principle in Practice.” In these sections the author gives examples of what specific churches are doing in order to actively participate in a particular aspect of missions ministry. The examples he cites are diverse, they come from churches in different locations, different denominations, and different congregational sizes. The message that emerges from all this is that all churches can be mobilized for missions. In appendix F the author supplies a significant list of books about various topics related to missions. This is a great asset and may be of interest to those who want to read further on a particular topic.

One point that the reader will glean from this book is that churches need to be intentional about missions. And their intentionality needs to go beyond financial giving. In order for missions to take its rightful place in the church the involvement of the pastor is very important (pages 141-151). However, it is not just the pastor’s job to promote missions, Dr. Noble recommends having a team involved in the promotion of missions.

On Mission Together is a great resource, it is clearly written and easy to understand. This book will be a welcome addition to the libraries of missions directors, missionaries, pastors, missions committees, and anyone else who is interested in missions. Hopefully Bible schools and seminaries will become aware of it and use it in training their students. If the message of this book is taken seriously much more will be accomplished for the Kingdom of God around the world.

Reviewed by John P. Lathrop

I have been a history buff for much of my life with a particular emphasis on the history of the Holiness Pentecostal Tradition. I remember the weekend when I received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit on July 4, 1964 at the Belleville Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia as a Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International  convention came to a close.

There were several women standing at the bottom of the ornate staircase in that hotel lobby as I came down the stairs as the weekend began. One of those ladies said “lets get out of here; the place is full of holy rollers.” I had come 100 miles in the hope that I would “get” what they fled. I prayed for them as they made their hurried exit, and always wonder if my prayer came to avail for them.

I soon began to read about the Spirit-filled life, and that quest for more knowledge recently included Rev. Myron Noble’s And They Yet Speak. Noble has given us a labor of love. His book includes a snapshot of the history for each black Pentecostal church that came into existence in our nation’s capitol since the late 1890’s.

Noble interviewed the leadership of each of those churches in depth and attended a service at each church, a process that took 25 years to complete. Through that great effort, we get to meet 93 congregations, some large, some tiny but all Godly. I enjoyed the names—white people like me are no good at names but Noble’s people can name a church like the “Tried Stone Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas” or the “United House of Prayer For All People Church on The Rock of The Apostolic Faith” and the “Gospel Ark Temple Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ Bible Way World Wide.” Such lovely names.

I read through these vignettes, noting the names and humble beginnings, and was touched by the Love of God who came down from Heaven and inhabited the praises of those who gathered in His name. Every time one of these churches opened for worship, miracles occurred as the heavenly choir joined in the refrain offered by the congregation and heaven and earth came together for precious life changing moments of hope.

I was friends with one of those congregations forty years ago, and Rev. Noble described that church in detail, and I learned some things that I did not know. The church when I knew it was called Evangel Cathedral and its white pastor at that time was dismissed from his denomination because he had a mixed congregation. I cannot comprehend how we, the church of God, chose such an unloving path for so long.

Myron Noble has compiled a history that will bless you as you read it. His writing style is different than most but I finished his work with a deep respect for a man of God that loves his past and well he should.

Reviewed by H. Murray Hohns