Customer Reviews

Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God: The Life Story of the Author of My Utmost for His Highest

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I finished reading this book about a month ago. It is the best biography I have ever read! I knew that I liked Oswald Chambers already, but now I can say I love him. What a man of God he was. What depth, compassion, heart he had. He was so wise, yet not a highbrow know-it-all. His poetry is intriguing and very thought provoking. What he wrote as a teenager is completely amazing and I was in awe of his talent and gift so well written about in this book. Many thanks to David McCasland for his thorough, dedicated research,and diligent effort to provide us a reference to one of the greatest, most inspiring men of God who ever walked this earth. Buy it soon. Read it sooner. You won't be sorry. You'll be altered! susie melkus

After reading Chambers' word daily for the previous three years, I had already been changed by the man's insights into the God's Word and the disciple's walk. As Richard Halverson (former Chaplain of the United States Senate) said of My Utmost for His Highest, "No book except the Bible has influenced my walk with Christ at such deep and maturing levels."

When I began to read what I thought would simply be a pleasantly uplifting and inspiring life story of a man I already admired, I did not imagine how much McCasland's biography would enrich my appreciation of Chambers' words and life. The book is quite well written, and was most certainly enjoyable, but it provided far more enriching rewards. The details of Chambers' life and thinking that McCasland's work painted became a context which greatly deepens the significance of Chambers' writing - especially My Utmost for His Highest. Provided with Chambers' background, upbrinning, struggles, failings, loves, sacrifices, ambitions, convictions, conversations, correspondences and more, his own writing has led me to even deeper appreciation and understanding of the walk of a faithful servant of Christ. I am still astounded that he died at my own age - how could such a young man come to know the Lord and the yoke of service so well in such a short time?! I am grateful that McCasland went on to relate the story of Biddy, Oswald's widow, and her incredible faithfulness to the work that Oswald was unable to continue.

I have already purchased and given away several copies of Abandoned to God, and will continue to recommend and share it. McCasland has done more than simply told the story of a man, he has revealed and shared a noble life with us. In summation, I must say that this book has become my favorite biography, and has probably made more difference in my life than any other I have read. Thank you, David McCasland!

I have to admit: Only a few years ago I was quite convinced that Oswald Chambers simply could not be worth reading. I had first heard of the man through the context of a sudden rush of interest that seemed to be spearheaded by the Christian music industry. Several Christian artists banded together to record an album and the devotional classic My Utmost For His Highest was packaged with it. I assumed, somewhat unfairly, that if he garnered this amount of interest from Christian musicians there must be something wrong with him. I am ashamed to admit this today.

In the last few years I have come to develop an appreciation for the life and ministry of Oswald Chambers. I still know only very little about the man but have come to see an almost prophetic aspect to his writing. Much of what he wrote almost 100 years ago seems as relevant today as it was then. There were some strange and even unbiblical aspects to his ministry, but what shines most clearly about Chambers' life is his all-out devotion to Christ. He knew the Savior deeply and profoundly and sought to submit his life entirely to the Lord.

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) was born in Scotland, where he also spent most of his youth. He was a gifted artist and intended to follow that path in life until, at age 22, he felt called into the ministry. He studied (and later taught) at a small seminary in Dunoon and, upon graduation, teached and preached in Britain, America and Japan. In 1910 he married Gertrude Hobb, whom he affectionately called "Biddy," and soon after opened a Bible College. When war engulfed the world, Chambers left the comforts of home and left for Egypt to be chaplain to British troops stationed there. His life and ministry were cut short when, in 1917, he died from complications following surgery to remove his appendix. Biddy continued his ministry in Egypt and, after the war ended, returned to England and began to publish his words which she had often transcribed from sermons, lectures and talks. This amounted to near 30 books, the most famous of which is My Utmost For His Hightest. Oswald Chambers, while appreciated in his day, has become widely known to evangelicals through the labors of his wife.

Abandoned to God is a biography of Chambers written by David McCasland who also authored, Pure Gold, a biography of Eric Liddell I recently reviewed. He is an excellent biographer who is able to major on the majors, focusing on the most important aspects of his subject's life. As often as possible he allows the man to speak for himself and he quotes continually from the writing and correspondance left by Chambers. He seems to present, as nearly as we could hope, Oswald as he truly was.

It has been several years since I first heard the name of Oswald Chambers. I am now glad to know that his writing has experienced a resurgence, especially in the form of My Utmost For His Highest which is still available in any Christian bookstore. A new generation deserves to be able to know the name of Chambers and to benefit from the example he left us of a man who gave all he had to His Savior. Abandoned to God is a well-written, thoroughly-researched and stirring biography and one I am glad to recommend to you.

As a reader of Oswald Chambers work, I was anxious to read more about the man. This book was life-changing, spiritually challenging and inspiring. Although an "easy" read in many respects, it's content was not easy to digest. I found it thought provoking and a time of self-examination. It's difficult to identify any current day lives so devoted not to "what God does, but who God is", as Oswald Chambers refers to early in the book. It's a book one would recommend without hesitancy.

This book was easy to read, very informative, and showed the very human side of a most spiritually minded man. I loved the little details that built the overall picture of who Oswald Chambers was as a man. It showed that he was flawed and weak just as we all are, but showed his sincerity and integrity before God. His life resembles in so many ways that great King David, who is known in the Scriptures as "a man after Gods own heart."

After reading his inspired "My Utmost For His Highest" daily for over 20 years, it was so rewarding to read of the man behind one of the most loved devotional books ever written.

For a number of years I have thoroughly enjoyed reading and being blessed by "My Utmost for His Highest". While I have been greatly blessed, I knew little of the author other than he served British troops in Egypt as a servant of the YMCA. Thankfully, McCasland has written a most interesting read of Reverand Chambers.

Among the areas covered in Chambers' life include:

1. Early life and large family he belonged to - parents and siblings.
2. How and when he came to Christ.
3. His education at various schools.
4. Marriage to his beloved "Biddy" and enjoying his daughter Kathleen.
5. His service for the YMCA and other Christian-related organizations.
6. Ministry to British troops in Egypt during WWI.
7. Many travels and friends he made throughout his life.
8. Circumstances leading up to his death at the early age of 43.

The book was so well-written and detailed about Chambers' life that I have grown to respect and appreciate the man even more. I (in addition to many others I'm sure) am also deeply grateful for his wife Biddy's efforts to publish many of his addresses to the British troops that ultimately resulted in the devotion "My Utmost for His Highest".

Read and enjoy the book and come to appreciate Reverand Chambers even more! Highly recommended.

A well-written and well-documented biography of one of the deepest Christians of the Twentieth Century. Engagingly written. Challenging

An inspiring story of a young man who grew through the power of God and many personal struggles to a life of complete surrender to God and faith in God's leading and care over him. Author of My Utmost for His Highest, and many other inpsirational books, Oswald Chambers died young, but his godly and joyful life lives on in his writings and in this biography that reads like a novel, though it is based on careful research of many primary sources.

Most people are familiar with My Utmost for His Highest, one of the great classic devotionals. But few are familiar with the man, Oswald Chambers. Oswald Chambers was originally from Scotland, formed a Bible College in England, and eventually went to Egypt where he served as a chaplain for WWI servicemen. He left this earth at a very young age. The marvelous thing is that Chambers had a wife who trained to be a transcriptionist. Her earthly ambition was to be the transcriptionist for the Prime Minister of England, but when she met and married Oswald Chambers, she began transcribing his words from his many teachings at the Bible College and to the servicemen. My Utmost for His Highest was published a year after his death, after Mrs. Chambers gathered together some of the gems of his teachings in one volume. Many more books followed over the years. Oswald Chambers would surely not be remembered today, if not for the partnership and labor of his wife. This book is wonderfully written as it tells the marvelous story of one man who dedicated his life to God's service...and whose words are treasured today because of his wife's gift of transcribing his words.

A must read for all who enjoy the daily devotion book "My Utmost for His Highest".