FROM THE BOOK – THE BOOTH BY ANGUS BUCHAN

About the author
Angus Buchan is a well known KwaZulu Natal Midlands farmer who felt a calling on his life in 1980, to ministry, and subsequently set up on his farm, “Shalom Ministries” to serve the local community. He has traveled throughout South Africa as well as abroad, evangelizing, preaching at Christian gatherings and on TV, running “Mighty Men” ministries, as well as being an author who has written many books. To name just two, “The Booth” and the “Faith like Potatoes”. In addition he was written publications for daily Bible reading and meditation.

About the Book
The content of this book could be summarized simply by quoting Matthew 06:06 (NIV) “But when you pray, go into your ROOM, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen. Then your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” The emphases is on the ”ROOM”, the place or space where we should conduct our pray life, and Angus’ wife Jill, writes in the “Foreword” of this book, “My pray is that it would encourage many Christians to realize our need of a “booth” in our lives. A place where we can open the door, leave concerns of this world outside, go in, and close it, and find only the stillness of God’s presence”. She goes on to say that it is here, in the “Booth” that we will receive God’s assurance, His peace and His sustenance from His Word.

Some Content
The Jews in the Old Testament period, built a small booth called a “Succoth” at the bottom of their gardens, from young popular tree branches. They decorated these booths with fruit and lived in them for seven days at a time. They did this to celebrate the bringing in of the harvest, but the main reason was to remember that the Lord loved them and protected them in their wilderness experience.
It was a special place and we are challenged in this book to create our own little booth where we can have our “Quiet Time” spend time alone in prayer and meditating on the Word. Angus shares the following about the time he spends in his “booth,
“I use the time to pray and give thanks to God for using me”.
“I spend time in the booth, hearing from God”.
“It quietens my spirit, opens my heart and God speaks to me through the Scriptures”
“To have a quiet time with the Lord Jesus Christ every day, keeps me alive”
“In this place, in my mind, I quietly have a heart to heart talk with Jesus”
“I need to spend time with God otherwise I will have nothing to offer”
The book encourages us to have a regular, real and living experience with Jesus and to do this we need a “private place” away from any distraction, noise or interruptions (Perhaps away from cell phones could also have been added): where we can spend time with our Lord.

Touching on a romantic moment to make his “quiet time” point, Angus shares the time in his life when he fell in love with his wife. “ We didn’t have much money so in those days we would go to the park, buy an ice cream and sit on a bench and eat it and just talk about different things. Sometimes we didn’t even talk, we just stared into each other’s eyes. We did not have to be told that we needed to spend time together”. Spending time with God should never be a huge discipline.

It is suggested in this book that we are all often more concerned about our physical health, than we are concerned about our mental and spiritual well-being? This book provides us with many helpful ways in which we can grow our spiritual well-being in the privacy of our “Booths”.