October 27, 2006

Merry Christmas? II

In my last post (see below), I said that Banner of Truth's upcoming U.S. Christmas mailer includes sections with gift ideas "For Him" and "For Her," etc., to which a man asked, "What sort of books does BoT publish that you can include the "For Him" category?" Actually, that is an interesting question because, as far as I'm concerned, most of Banner's books are appropriate for any "him" or "her" to read. My purpose of this "Gifts for Him" section is really to simply throw out a few suggestions for the person who might be otherwise overwhelmed by all of these books.
What did I include in the "For Him" section and why? The obvious one was Thomas Watson's Puritan Paperback, "The Godly Man's Picture" in which almost the entire book is one chapter titled, "Characteristics of a Godly Man." Beyond that, I chose Gurnall's 3-volume paperback set, "Christian in Complete Armour," because in the few months I've worked at Banner I have had 5 guys come up to me at conferences and tell me how this book/set has changed their lives. One of our accountant's all-time best reads was "But Now I See: The Life of John Newton," so I included that. Certainly M'Cheyne's "Memoirs and Remains," had to be there for any guy who doesn't yet own and have read that classic. My pastor suggested the hardback, "Letters of Samuel Rutherford," as the most devotional book he has ever encountered, to which I tend to agree. I also wanted another biography and two local Christian men have each mentioned the book, "Ernest Reisinger: A Biography" to me. I know Ernie's name isn't recognized far and wide so, quite honestly, I thought I would put this back in the spotlight and perhaps encourage some to read and benefit from it. And the last one I included was "Christian Leaders of the 18th Century," because it's a J.C. Ryle book, for starters, and it relays the lives of several men who are said to have shaken all of England. Why not? I hope that helps.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Steve! Yes, I can see how the biographies in particular would be good for men rather than women.

A friend of mine visited Gurnall's old church recently, but found that the minister there hadn't heard of him... :(

Steve Burlew said...

The minister at Gurnall's old church had not heard of William Gurnall? That is sad, but good that your friend was in a position to fill him. Volume 1 of the paperback set of "Christian in Complete Armour" is one of several books that I am in the midst of reading at the moment. Given all the positive feedback, I wanted to give it a closer look. Anyway, thanks for stopping back, John.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm sure he hadn't heard of my friend either. ;)