Book Review: I am number 8 by John W Gray
Book Review: I am number 8 by John W Gray
9 December 2017
“God’s about to reveal to you a purpose so necessary, so critical, so essential that he had to hide it behind pain, grief, and misunderstanding in order to protect it until this very moment” – John Gray.
I had the pleasure of taking some time out last July to attend the 2017 Hillsong Conference at Sydney ‘Qudos’ Area with a group of friends from my home church, Box Hill Salvation Army. 
Amongst some of my long-time favourite preachers at this event was one that I really didn’t know much about, but felt moved to read more. John W. Gray, Associate Pastor at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, in Houston, Texas, brought the house down with his preaching, so naturally I found his book I am Number 8, and it’s a good one.
I Am Number 8 is a look at God’s calling upon our lives through the story of David – the humble, forgotten shepherd boy later to become powerful, a man after God’s own heart, King of all the Israelite tribes.
Gray use this story to outline how a specific group of people, who he calls the ‘Number 8’s’, are positioned to lead their lives in humble servitude of the Lord God until the day he calls them into their anointing.
King David was the 8th, and youngest son, of his father Jesse, under-valued, forgotten, unseen and written off, and Gray uses the story of the shepherd King to tell his own story from “bucktoothed fatherless failure” to dynamic instrument of God.
The reader begins to understand the journey of two lives: John Gray and King David. From academic scholarship to flunking college, from choir church boy to touring with Kirk Franklin and the Family, from misfit to comedian and playwright, from a calling to preach at 13 years old, to now captivating many thousands at the largest church in the USA. Gray’s story is insightful and captivating.
This book spoke to me about feelings of being unnoticed and humble in the flashy ‘take all the praise’ moments when making life defining decisions. The moments that impacted me most had little to do with me being a ‘Number 8’ but instead spoke to being called to integrity and stewarding the blessing that has been deposited within, and worshiping in the private mundane while remaining patient for God’s timing to reveal the result.
I enjoyed I Am Number 8 and would recommend it to anyone looking for some affirmation that God see you at all times, even when others don’t – the good, the bad and the lonely.
I Am Number 8 is available through Koorong.
Published with permission by DaveBGeorge.com.
Comments
No comments yet - be the first.