Around the World in Eighty Ways: A Life of Ministry - David Coffey OBE

REVIEWER: Ali Hull 

BOOK: Around the World in Eighty Ways: A Life of Ministry

(Malcolm Down: 2023) 304pp, paperback 

This collection of sermons, addresses and articles are drawn from across David’s years as a preacher, teacher and international leader and mentor. But what makes him noteworthy are not the titles or the offices, but the man himself. Allow me a personal note here: I have edited one of his books, and met him quite a few times in the course of my work. And when David Coffey asks, ‘How are you?’, he actually wants to know. I would like to say that was true of all the leaders I met, but it really wasn’t. It is that authenticity the underpins his writing and speaking: he is a godly man.

His book, as mentioned above, started life as a simple memoir for his grandchildren, but it soon became clear that other people would be interested in a more permanent recollection of David’s life, ministry, teaching and thinking. The book begins with a short family history, before moving on to his sermons, which look at various Bible passages, mainly from the New Testament. The addresses were given at more formal, larger events, and the subjects covered include marriage, the duties of a minister, and even the seven distinctives of a Christian organisation. Over and over again, the emphasis is on Jesus: his power, his Spirit, the importance of following him and serving him. Beyond everything else, this book – which can be read cover to cover or dipped into – is the story of a ‘long obedience in the same direction’, a lifetime of discipleship. 

I will particularly draw attention to pages from his journal, written during a visit in 2006 to the Holy Land at Christmas, which come towards the end of the book. With the current situation in that area, the entries are especially poignant, as he describes a situation which was ‘not good’ then and is even worse now.  

Reviewer: Ali Hull is the Book Editor for Preach magazine, and has spent nearly thirty years working with words, as a writer, editor and writing coach.