George Rose

I'm using a little booklet put together by Huntingtonian Press ('Altogether Lovely', £2.75) for some meditational reading at the moment. It contains a couple of sermons on the Song of Solomon by the late George Rose at Forest Fold Chapel, Crowborough in 1960. He preaches to the heart, and that is timeless. There is a beauty in Christ that he brings out from that Sacred Song which is altogether spiritual - not sentimental. I recommend it highly. Huntingtonian Press is only a very small publisher, but they have done a lot, particularly in the area of short selections of out of print material. I think our book selection would be very much the poorer without their contribution. They have an occasional Journal 'The Sinner Saved', which explains their raison d'etre as follows:
We consider that there is a need for what our fathers termed "Experimental Calvinism", the Calvinism which was preached by men such as (but not exclusively) William Huntington & Joseph Irons (Independent), Robert Hawker & David Doudney (Anglican), William Gadsby & J C Philpot (Baptist), and a host of other such witnesses of the truth. I wonder how many other - bigger - publishers have such a mission statement? At one end of the spectrum are not-for-profit Trusts which have money but no vision. At the other end are snappy Commercial outfits whose vision is money.
As a postscript on George Rose, Gospel Mission has already reproduced his autobiography 'Remembered Mercies Recorded' (£7.95)
Jeremy

New Banner of Truth Books

I was interested to see 'Raising Children God's Way' (p/b, £5.50) amongst the new Banner titles. This is an extract from Lloyd-Jones' popular Ephesians series. 'Life in the Spirit, in Marriage, Home and Work' is the sixth book in the series and covers Ephesians 5:18 to 6:9. It is a book I read a good few years ago and one I would highly recommend. This extract covers Ephesians 6:1-4 'Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.'


Walter Chantry is another author I have enjoyed reading in the past (His book 'The Shadow of the Cross' also published by Banner of Truth (£4.50) is an excellent little paperback on self denial) and therefore 'David: Man of Prayer, Man of War' (h/b, £12.50) is a book I am likely to be picking up sometime soon. Let me quote from the introduction to whet your appetite...

The one constant with David in every condition was expressed in Psalm 16:8: 'I have set the LORD always before me.' In all the rapid alterations of his life David thought of the Most High God and expressed his devout feelings toward his Maker and Redeemer. When he wept in shame for his loathsome sins, his tears were poured out before the Lord. When he felt the exhilaration of triumph, he shouted to the Lord who was his strength. Perhaps this most of all explains the vast variety of David's life experiences. The Lord made him into the Psalmist for all the saints in all subsequent ages. In his youth he knew a peaceful, tranquil walk with God; in later years he both walked upon the heights and fell into the depths, and thus was enabled to compose prayerful songs for every condition of life... We love this man for showing us how to pray from every point of life's compass. We love him for showing us how, in the midst of spiritual failure, we too can draw near to the Lord again in trust and devotion.

Also newly published are:

'The Life and Times of George Whitefield' by Robert Philip, £10. First published in 1837 this is a reprint of what is reckoned to be the best single volume biography of Whitefield and uses much of his own journals, letters and sermons.

'Let Christ be Magnified' by J H Merle D'Aubigne, £5.50. Another reprint, this was first published as 'Calvin's Teachings for the Present Day' in 1867. It includes a brief sketch of Calvin's life and work.

Lorna

The Mailing Room

Our volunteers continue to do a sterling job with our current mailing. Young and old have been working well together. By the way, if you receive one of our flyers with a rather skewed stamp on the envelope you will perhaps understand why when you see these pictures...
Lorna

Three cheers for the volunteers!!!

They say one volunteer is worth ten pressed men. I agree absolutely. We are blessed with not one, but a handful of unassuming people who willingly and sacrificially give of their time and energies to support the bookshop. Their work is not glamorous, but they see it as a ministry to the Lord. You have them to thank for independent christian bookshops like ours still having a presence on the high street, as well as able to reach out much further afield. One lady here has personally folded no less than 1000 of our latest flyers and placed them in envelopes! These are an important way of informing people that we still exist, and have something to offer. (By the way, if you don't receive one this month just ask). Another lady is assembling the text blocks for next year's calendar, and soon will be tying on the hanger ribbon. This just shows the DIY nature of the production of the AV Calendar in its finishing stage. That means the price can be pegged back to last year's. (Those who know nothing about this daily tear-off text calendar of ours - please get the flyer!) Other people do admin, window displays, cleaning, baby-holding (a great favourite), and packing. I don't know what we'd do without them.
Jeremy

Making the Right Impression

21 fascinating accounts of British home educating families. Particularly interesting because most books of this type are written by American home educators with the inevitable cultural differences being quite apparent. The stories in this book cover a wide range of families -large & small, single parents, part schooling/part home ed, structured, flexible etc. For anyone interested in the subject of Home Education - whichever side of the fence they feel to be on - I would recommend this as a good starting point.
Lorna

Tobias Crisp

I (amongst others) was quite taken aback to come across this edition of a spiritually valuable book, and most curious to find out its background. We already have the 4 volume Gospel Mission edition, but this is a new production altogether. On getting some in stock, I find that it is published by Diggory Press located in Cornwall. But there the trail becomes difficult to follow. They are a print on demand set up, and do all sorts of book genres, although they do claim to be a Christian Company. The book is a single volume paperback containing all 52 sermons along with the comments by John Gill - hence quite a slab of a book. The text has been completely re-typeset, so it is superior to the GM edition in that respect. I would be extremely interested to know who was behind this little project - how gratifying to think that there is someone out there coming at Crisp from a different direction to ourselves, and wanting to reprint him! Well, whoever wants to spread the true gospel of Christ, 'peace be on them' (Galatians 6 v 16).

Jeremy

Wedding Bells

It seems to be that time of the year -weddings, weddings, weddings. Some big, some small. Some wet, some dry. Some awkward, some cosy. But always a new beginning.

There are many books to help those getting married to seriously consider the commitment they are making. From the Banner of Truth booklet 'Whom Shall I Marry?' (Andrew Swanson, £1.00), and the easy to read 'Don't they make a lovely couple' (John & Ann Benton, Christian Focus Publications, £4.99) through to useful study guides such as 'No Longer Two' (Brian & Barbara Edwards, Day One Publications, £8.00). 'The Exemplary Husband' (Stuart Scott, Focus Publishing, £10.99) and 'The Excellent Wife' (Martha Peace, Focus Publishing, £9.99) are heavier reading looking in depth at the roles of the husband and wife.

'Marriage, The Mystery of Christ and the Church' (David J Engelsma, RFPA, £18.00) goes further and studies the doctrine of marriage and its reflection of the relationship between Christ and His Church.

Don't worry if you have been married a while - it is never too late to improve (or perhaps just to confirm that you really are the perfect spouse!).

Lorna