Some New Books for the New Year
I have just begun to read through some early manuscripts of two new books coming out in the next two months from Reformation Heritage Books that I am quite excited about. The first is Encouragement for Today's Pastors: Help from the Puritans. The second is Building a Godly Home, volume 1: A Holy vision for Family life.
Here is some information on both books:
Encouragement for Today's Pastors: Help from the Puritans by Joel R. Beeke and Terry D. Slachter
Description:
The Scriptures advise us to learn from examples of faithful ministers (Heb. 13:7).The Puritans were a group of such ministers whose teaching and living can be particularly encouraging to troubled and discouraged pastors today. They were steadfast in adhering to Scripture as the Word of God, in confessing the great truths of the reformed faith, and in applying sound doctrine to the problems of life in an age and culture nearly as challenging as our own. In Encouragement for Today's Pastors, Joel R. Beeke and Terry D. Slachter examine the writings of these pastors of a bygone era considering how they can help struggling pastors today. Here pastors will find a helping hand, reminding them of the importance of cultivating personal piety, resting in God's sovereignty, recovering clarity in their calling, discovering means of support God provided, recognizing the dignity of their office, and taking comfort in grace and glory to come.
Endorsements:
"Rarely does one find a modern book that lifts one up to the level of spiritual and theological excellence that is to be found here. This is more than a book of encouragement for preachers. It is an encyclopedia of divinity drawn from the writings and lives of those Puritan divines whom God raised up to be examples of excellence to His church for all time to come. Not a page of what the authors give us here is dry or out of date. Those who want new wings to fly aloft in their ministerial work could hardly do better than read and re-read this book."
--Maurice Roberts, emeritus pastor of the Free Churches of
Building a Godly Home, volume 1: A Holy vision for Family life by William Gouge
Description:
For years, William Gouge's Domestical Duties has stood as the foremost Puritan treatment of Christian family life. Yet due to its size and antiquated expression, it has become almost unknown among current generations of believers. To help revive the usefulness of this classic book, Scott Brown and Joel R. Beeke divided Gouge's work into three manageable volumes, updated the language to modern standards, and have given it the title Building a Godly Home. In the first volume, A Holy Vision for Family Life, we hear the voice of a wise and loving mentor, calling us to the old paths laid out for the family in the Bible. Here is Gouge's helpful exposition of
Endorsement:
"Few issues spell countercultural Christianity as does a biblical view of the home and its various relationships and responsibilities. Those like the seventeenth century Presbyterian William Gouge, who attempted a lengthy exposition of domestic life as outlined in Scripture, got themselves into trouble with those who viewed biblical teaching burdensome (Gouge was vilified by wealthy city women, for example). But domestic reform is essential if we are to reflect godliness in the home, and Gouge's once enormously popular Of Domestical Duties is without equal in describing what it looks like. A masterful guide, Gouge is pastoral, clear-headed, thoughtful, and eminently Bible-focused as he writes about the tasks, ideals, and problems of Christian family life. Once as popular as Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Matthew Henry's Commentary, Gouge's Of Domestical Duties deserves a central place in the modern Christian home."
--Derek W. H. Thomas, Minister of Preaching and Teaching, First Presbyterian Church,
