Leighton FordCritiques

Summary: A memoir in which Ford sums up his life as one of listening for God's voice, and the unique voice of his own he discovered as he did so.

I have been listening to Leighton Ford most of my life. As a young boy, I heard him preach on The Hour of Decision on occasions when Billy Graham was not on the broadcast. As a college student, I participated as a counselor in a crusade he led in Youngstown. Even then, his voice was different from Billy Graham, quieter, rich with cultural and spiritual insight. I was moved by his account of the death of his son Sandy, a parent's worst nightmare, and how he went on with God afterward. I saw a turn in his ministry as he focused on leadership and found his book Transforming Leadership deeply helpful as a rising leader. Much later, as I found myself giving increasing attention to the inner journey, his book, The Attentive Life, captured for me what seems the connecting point between those who love God and love learning, the practice of attentiveness. Now, as I think of this question of what it means to finish well in Christ, comes this memoir, in which Ford looks back and sums up a journey of listening to God.

In the Introduction to the book, he describes his youthful response to the call of Jesus after listening to a retired missionary and a college student speak of Jesus:

I was five then. Now, eighty plus years later, I can barely recall the voices and face of that missionary lady and that college student, but I know that through them I heard another Voice calling me, a voice I have been listening for ever since. So I write my listening story not because it is a perfect story or one to emulate but as a testament to the power of listening for the voice of my Lord.

The narrative traces this listening story from the early years as the adopted son of Charles and Olive Ford. Olive was the one who first taught him to read scripture and pray and took him to the Keswick conference where he responded to the voice of Jesus. He describes his teen years as he struggles to differentiate the voice of Jesus from Olive's strong, controlling, and protective voice. He narrates his first encounter with Billy Graham at a Youth for Christ rally he had organized, and how, amid discouraging results, Graham encouraged him, encouraging his own response to the growing sense of God's call to preach.

Graham also told his sister Jean about Leighton, and when they went to Wheaton, they eventually began dating, and in a decisive break with Olive, who disapproved, married Jean. The following years were one's under Graham's mentorship, first as an associate accompanying him and sharing some of the preaching, and then forming his own team and booking his own crusades as part of the Graham organization.

He describes the shift in his own ministry as he increasingly included social advocacy and outreach in his crusades, began discovering his inner life as he wrestled with depression, and met his birth mother and understood more deeply the pulls in his life between the sense of loss and longing represented in his birth mother, and the impulse to separate Olive's voice from the voice that was calling him. Then came the devastating death of his son Sandy, and the discovery of "places in our hearts we don't even know are there until our hearts are broken." His preaching was changing, and it became apparent, first to Billy Graham, and then him, that it was time to part ways organizationally, a move that actually deepened their friendship, and collaboration on things such as the Lausanne Consultation on World Evangelization.

The last part of the book covers the period from his fifties until the present as he embarks on what Susan Howatch called "the second journey." He learns both to listen more deeply for the Lord's voice and to find his own. He recounts the several year journey to developing a new ministry focus on developing rising leaders and evangelists. His last chapters explore the anamcharas through whom the voice often comes, his growing appreciation of beauty and hearing God's voice as he took up art, and the distinguishing character of God's voice and how it comes.

No two lives are alike, no two paths the same. Yet, at least for me, listening to those who have been listening to the Voice of the Master is a rich source of wisdom. Such is this book by Leighton Ford; not a substitute for listening to the only Voice who can lead us safe home, but as sage counsel for how to recognize the only true Voice from the many competing for our attention.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Moving Biography written by a Christian father following the death of his son from a rare heart problem. I'm sure this book will help those dealing with grief following the loss of someone close to them.

Recommended for those dealing with grief.

Leighton Ford gives the charge to a new generation who will guide the church into the next century.

Why new appproaches are needed. Our evangelism must insist that conversion is a beginning, not an end. The new birth gives the potential for personality change, but the change does not take place automatically. Conversion must lead to Christian Growth.

Kind of a nice devotional, and definitely a pleasant read. However, it is kind of like talking to your elder grandparent (and Leighton Ford *is* old) and listening to rambling reminiscences that are difficult to connect together. He couldn't quite decide whether he was using 'the hours' as a metaphor for life, or as a model for prayer and introspection. It would have been better if he had done one or the other, not both.

In short, I was kind of disappointed because I really would love some great advice on living an intentional and contemplative life in this busy world. I enjoyed this read, but didn't get any of the advice I had hoped for from it.

NCLA Review - Is attentiveness a gift to use? An art to practice? A work to perform? After practicing classical prayer during retreats at the Benedictine Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina , author Leighton Ford examines the how distractions of our post-modern world rob us of the time we spend with God. Ford looks at the various seasons of our life and spiritual journey, and the kind of attentiveness that each phase calls for. Through this easy-flowing book, he leads one into the practice of attentiveness, pointing out that the best and deepest things of life come through attentive waiting on God. The reader is challenged to respond in whatever way is appropriate--in word, action, or even ongoing silence. This book is appropriate for both new Christians and those of long-time faith. Rating: 4 —LW 225p, Intervarsity Press 2008, $18.00 [231.7]

Is attentiveness a gift to use? An art to practice? A work to perform? It seems to include some of all three. During retreats at the Benedictine Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina, Leighton Ford practiced the classical prayer hours and then expanded upon them in this book with a Protestant spin. He observes the distractions of our post-modern world, which rob us of the time we spend with God. We become tangled in veils that make us forget or refuse to lift up our eyes to the hills and remember the God of our life. A space that is preoccupied is so crowded—whether a house or mind—that it has little space for anything else to enter. We keep on hurrying and staying busy and chattering because we are afraid that if we did slow down, stop working, get still long enough to listen deeply, we might have to face our mortality and humanness and give up trying to run our lives like little gods. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). Many of us experience a loss of motivation for doing spiritual work. Ford responds to this by looking at the various seasons of our life and spiritual journey, and the kind of attentiveness that each phase calls for. Through this easy-flowing book, he leads one into the practice of attentiveness, pointing out that the best and deepest things of life come through attentive waiting on God. Depth speaks to depth, and deep things open themselves to deep places of the heart. The reader is challenged to answer back in whatever kind of response is appropriate—in word, action, or even ongoing silence. In conclusion, Ford submits that one’s destination in an attentive life is Christlikeness. This book is appropriate for both new Christians and those of long-time faith.

A thorough examination of the various ways in which Jesus modeled transformational leadership (as a son, strategist, seer, seeker, strong one, servant, shepherd-maker, spokesperson, struggler, and sustainer. Refreshing change to seek a book on leadership that focuses on Christ as our model.

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