The following review was written by Kevin Huizing on the book Go into All the World by Daniel Holstege (Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing, 2025). The review was originally published in the Grandville Gleaner. The version below has been lightly edited for grammar and clarity.

Go into All the World by Reverend Daniel Holstege is a book about the Christian's calling to be actively involved in mission work. Reverend Holstege works to dispel the notion that the Reformed view of the covenant is an impediment to mission work.

In the first few chapters of the book he explains that while God's covenant is only with the elect that the elect are called from many nations, tongues, and tribes. He points to God's covenant promise to Abraham as evidence of this. In this covenant promise God revealed that all who believed as Abraham did would be saved into his everlasting covenant.

The book then goes on to explain how part of our duty as Christians is to heed the command of Jesus to go into the world and bring the gospel to those around us. We do this because God not only establishes his covenant through the line of continued generations, but through missions as well. He explains that this mission work is not only to be accomplished formally by the church hut also by our individual witness to those around us.

Finally, he spends time writing on creating a culture of missions within a church and finding the right motivation to pursue missions. He explains that while catechizing and instructing our own children is extremely important, we can't pursue that at the expense of our calling to bring others to Jesus. When touching on motivation, he expresses that the beauty of what the covenant truly is, a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, ought to be our motivation. We should want to see others experience the peace, joy, love and gladness that that relationship provides.

I found this book an enjoyable read. It served as a good refresher on the beauty of the Reformed view of the covenant. It's that beauty, when truly grasped and appreciated, that should motivate us all to confess Jesus before men. While reading this I couldn't help but feel that I often don't appreciate that enough. It's very easy to be so focused on my children, my job, my church, etc. that I forget about my neighbor, my co-worker, and others I interact with who may not know Jesus, who God, through my testimony, could call unto Himself and into His covenant. It's easy to look at that annoying neighbor and view him or her as that, an annoying neighbor, instead of someone who need to know about the gospel and needs Jesus in their lives.

This book also reminded me of the importance of the mission work that our church engages in. These missions, though small, are being used by God to bring people from other nations and tongues into a covenantal relationship with Jesus. The need for these missions and missionaries is no less important than the need for pastors in our churches.

I think this book is a great read for anyone who wants to grow in their zeal to be a witness of Jesus and for the price of $21.95 retail, you can't go wrong. You can order the book online at www.rfpa.org or by phone at 616-457-5970.

Click the image or this link to order the book reviewed in this post!