The online Bible teaching ministry of John Brand

What God Starts God Completes

There is no doubt that the life story of Mike Milton is a remarkable one. He is at pains to point out in this short autobiography that he is where he is and what he is today only by the grace of God.

Born into a seriously dysfunctional home, he was brought up by a godly aunt and – after a period of church involvement followed by rebellion – came to a saving and living faith in Christ. He is now the senior pastor of a Presbyterian church in Tennessee. Milton does not wallow in the difficulties or sins of the past, but tells it as it is and genuinely glorifies the Lord.

However, I have major problems with this book. One is its evident lack of editing. The book reads as if it was being spoken and this simply doesn’t work. Also, the tone is very ‘southern states of America’ and it frequently grated on me. Certainly for a British market, this book needed some extra work done on it.

But my biggest problem is that, although intended for evangelistic purposes, the style is far too preachy and full (as they say) of the language of Zion. He continually addresses the unsaved reader as ‘my child’ – once even as ‘my beloved child, my dear reader, precious lamb of God’. I can’t think of a single non-Christian who would get anywhere near the end of this book.

Christian Focus (20 Sept. 2007) Review written in 2008