Audrey Featherstone I presume?

Missionary biographies are always popular and this new one should be no different. The story of Audrey Featherstone, an 'ordinary lady' who was converted from a non-Christian home and went on to spend 25 years in the African Congo teaching and evangelising amongst the Congolese is a fascinating one. Audrey may consider herself 'a nobody' but her story has much to teach us about sacrifice in the work of the Lord and it becomes clear that she was given gifts specifically for this missionary work that may not otherwise have been apparent. I only wish she could have been persuaded to write this book herself. An autobiography is so much more personal than a biography. When I think of the autobiographies of other missionaries in the Congo, Helen Roseveare (Give Me This Mountain, CFP, £6.99) and Margaret Hayes (Missing, Believed Killed, Day One, £8.00) there is more in these of spiritual lessons learnt in the daily trials of missionary life. However, I suspect that Audrey's reticence to tell her own story in itself gives us an insight into her personality and Tim Shenton has done well to gather together the story that he has. He also does well to clearly explain the complex political situation of the time. Well worth reading with some interesting insights into the changes in missionary work over the years.

Audrey Featherstone I presume? by Tim Shenton, published by Evangelical Press, £8.95

Lorna

The Least Likely Holiday Read?

Is this the least likely book to be read on holiday this year? The thought came to mind whilst scanning the biography section looking for holiday reading to promote. Who wants to read about Van Til? The denseness of his own prose style does not somehow recommend him as an interesting subject for being written about. But in a moment of pity for the underdog, I picked it up there and then and started reading...and I found it hard to stop! One man's meat is another man's poison. First, I found it very informative about the context to Van Til's life. I feel I can now appreciate better the layout of the American evangelical/reformed/fundamentalist scene of the 20th century. Second, his approach to apologetics is noteworthy. The Dutch Reformed heritage was strongly influential on him, not unsurprising as he was born in Holland, and he looked back to Kuyper and Bavinck. So he determined to defend reformed truths by an unvarying method, which he judged to be itself wholly reformed - presuppositional apologetics. Thus 'worldview must be set against worldview', no one is neutral in relation to the truth, let alone autonomous in being able to judge what it is. We must confess God's word, not argue it. I think he has been derided for this 'counsel of despair' approach, but it impressed me, and he successfully exposed the errors of Karl Barth with it.
For more formal blurb on the book, which costs £14.95, go to this link to the publisher's website:
http://www.prpbooks.com/inventory.html?target=indiv_title&id=1592
And to think that Lorna has been giving out the impression that I have turned into a mere software developer!
Jeremy

Wet Holidays?

This is getting disgraceful - no new posts for over a week. Sorry. I'd like to say we've been run off our feet, but unfortunately not - at least not with customers. We haven't exactly been putting our feet up either though. Jeremy is working very hard on our new stock control system so that it will be ready for a month of testing during August. This means that his head is currently full of 'queries', 'visual basic' and 'runtime errors' (don't ask, I have learnt not to!) Having said that I have spotted him relaxing with the new biography of Cornelius Van Til, so you may get to hear his opinion on that sometime. Our July Bulletin was emailed this week with some suggestions for holiday reading, you can read this by clicking the link on our homepage. Of course, if you let us have your email address, you could get our monthly bulletin direct to your desktop! One thing we didn't mention on the bulletin was activity books. With holidays looming and the wet weather looking set to stay, it may be worth your while stocking up on some activity books to keep the children busy. The TBS have recently brought out a new range with puzzles, wordsearches and crosswords covering a range of topics. These cost just 65p each. Plus we have sticker books, colouring books, dot-to-dot books and many more - give us a call or check the site for more info.

Lorna

Caleb's Lamb

Christian fiction for children - I have mixed views on it. Often it incorporates a poor storyline with an 'in your face' Christian message that is doctrinally dubious. Caleb's Lamb is different (as is most of the Christian fiction that we stock I hasten to add!) Truly historical fiction, this book centres around a Hebrew shepherd boy at the time of the Israelite slavery in Egypt. It is reverent and biblically accurate in its detailing of the plagues and the role of Moses in leading them out of Egyptian bondage. But the main thrust of the story is Substitution. The death of one for the life of another. And the storyline is so gripping it cannot fail to move and drive home this principle. The applying of this message to New Testament times and the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ is not mentioned and in my opinion is well omitted. It leaves the stage open then to the adult who can discuss and apply as appropriate for each child.

Caleb's Lamb by Helen Santos published by Reformation Heritage Books

Lorna

Living Sacrifice

Helen Roseveare is so honest it is easy to warm to her style. Using illustrations from her life as a medical missionary in Africa, 'Living Sacrifice' is a candid analysis of her failings and the lessons she learnt about her practical Christian walk and specifically the need to sacrifice ALL to the Lord. Her chapter headings show how fully she deals with the subject: With all my heart, With all my soul, With all my mind, With all my strength, and in so doing encourages the reader to analyse their own Christian walk in the same way. Apologising, sacrificing possessions, re-evaluating priorities, submitting to physical weakness are all issues dealt with in a very practical way. To give you a taster, I will leave you with a quote taken from the chapter 'With all my Soul' when Helen was struggling with her 'rights' in terms of the way she did her job...
"If I would learn to love God with all my soul, I would have to learn to give Him my will. That would mean giving Him the right to exercise control over it. I had to learn that I had no rights. All rights are His. How was I ever going to learn to live in the atmosphere of the prayer: 'Not My will, but Thine be done' (Luke 22:42)? My right to be considered, to have my opinion listened to, to give my advice, to make choices and decisions, certainly insofar as these related directly to my own life and the outworking of the vision He had given me, all seemed so essentially right and reasonable. It is against all modern teaching and practice to deny any human being the right to be himself and to express himself. Hence the freedom of speech,and of the press, and many other avenues of self-expression have become precious and almost fundamental to our whole way of life and thinking. Psychologically it is sound. Intellectually it is reasonable. Practically, it may lead to anarchy and strikes and disruption of whole communities, though perhaps one might not say so (even in these days of freedom of speech!).This is considered a small price to pay for a basic freedom. However, spiritually, it is not God's way. He has a perfect plan for each one of us, a plan that fits into His overall purpose for the whole world. My individual liberty is safeguarded within His plan. If I truly believe in Him, I'll trust Him to desire for me that which is for my highest good, and to have planned for it's fulfilment. How hard this comes!"
There is certainly much food for thought throughout the book.
Living Sacrifice - Willing to be Whittled as an Arrow, by Helen Roseveare, £6.99 (first published 1980, reprinted by Christian Focus Publications 2007)
Lorna

Caring for Life continues

We spent our day off yesterday up at the Caring for Life farm in North Leeds. For those not in the know, Caring for Life is a charity that does an amazing work amongst the most deprived people of Leeds. Their motto is 'Sharing the Love of Jesus' and they do this by literally 'Caring for Life', each person that comes under their wing becomes part of the family. They house people, support people in their own homes and give each person an occupation, a reason for living, by involving them in activities on the farm and the many projects involved. I mentioned them in a post last year when the story of their work was published but I mention them again really to recommend a visit to the farm by anyone who is local or holidaying in the area. They have just this weekend launched their new 'Granary Cafe' and Farm Shop as a venture to help support their ministry. We enjoyed a light lunch in the cafe (freshly baked bread, veg,fruit and herbs from the farm gardens) shopped in the Farm Shop and spent an afternoon enjoying the Sensory Garden, the sensory pond and a walk down into the valley where a lot of work has been done on the Care in Creation conservation project. A highlight for the boys was seeing a calf just born to one of the herd of Old English Long Horn Cattle - the first of the season. Along with the Cafe and Shop the new Adult Learning Centre and also a People and Animals Meeting Building have been opened, both of which are to further the activities of the Charity with the people they care for.
This farm is a lovely place to visit and this Charity is well worth supporting.
Lorna

Pocket Puritans

I have to say, I think Banner have hit on a good one here. They have reproduced some puritan writings in bite-size pieces on topical subjects. They are certainly pocket size (13.5cm x 9cm) and perfect for a handbag or pocket - as one customer who was enthusing on 'Anger Management' (Richard Baxter) assured me, hers would always be in her bag to refer to! What Banner have not shouted about is the fact that each booklet also contains a short biographical sketch of the author.

In our musings on these booklets Jeremy and I have been wondering if the need for 'pocket' puritans is a reflection on the reading habits/abilities of people nowadays. Probably when Banner of Truth first brought out their 'Puritan Paperbacks' they were intended as 'bitesize' excerpts to give a reader a flavour of some of the writings of that era. Now there seems to be a need for even smaller bites. However, I believe Banner have accurately identified an area of need and we have had some very positive feedback from customers. Let's hope in their enthusiasm customers will progress to the Puritan Paperbacks and then on to the originals in all their multi-volume glory!

The titles currently available are:

Anger Management - Richard Baxter

Heaven, A World of Love - Jonathan Edwards

Impure Lust - John Flavel

Living Faith - Samuel Ward

£3.25 each

Lorna