The video is a summary of a book called "Discipleship" by William McDonald. The book aims to present principles of New Testament discipleship and emphasizes the practicality of these principles in the modern age. McDonald acknowledges the impact of a group of young believers who demonstrated the effectiveness of these principles in their lives. The video also mentions other influential books like "Through Gates of Splendor" and "Grace Awakening" that complement the teachings of "Discipleship." Overall, the video encourages readers to embrace the Savior's terms of discipleship and make the best use of their time in pursuing spiritual maturity.

Hello, my name is George Verwer, and it's a privilege to be able to share with you right from my own living room here in West Wycombe, Kent in England, a great burden that's on my heart, especially about some of the greatest Christian books that have ever been produced. I especially want to thank those of you who have financially supported our ministry and who have prayed for our ministry, and especially for those of you who gave financial support to enable OM to buy this house so that my wife and I could remain here. How we praise God for the privilege of serving together with you. I've had two very wonderful weeks as I was just operated on, a minor operation on the inside of my nose to help me to breathe better, while at the same time they could check my vocal cords, and I'm very grateful to God they did not find anything growing on my vocal cords as I have had in the past. So this has been the first two weeks in a long time where I've not had any public ministry, as the doctor wanted me to reframe from that during this period. Often when you're listening to one of my tapes, it's a message where I'm sharing with a group or at a conference or my own international coordinating team, but today this is a totally different kind of tape. It's not a message, and I'm sitting here all alone in my living room with a pile of books in front of me, and I'm going to talk to you about those books. I hope that many of you already use cassette tapes to receive challenging material. It's hard for me to describe how much cassettes have meant to me. Ministry, book summaries, magazine summaries, business tapes, Bible study tapes, all kinds of tapes over the past 30, 35 years have been a major part of my own spiritual life. Books, of course, is the other side of the coin, but there are many situations in our modern world, especially when we're sitting in our car driving down a motorway or we're doing something else when we can't read a book but can listen to a tape. I'm reminded of those words in Ephesians that tell us to redeem the time, and to me the whole challenge of making the best possible use of time is one of the most exciting challenges in the whole of the Bible. When we learn how to redeem the time, we can really accomplish more for God, but we can also enjoy life more. It's not a bondage to be committed to redeeming the time, but it's a freedom, and I'm hoping this series of cassette tape book reviews is something generally that most of you can listen to when you're doing something else, though in some cases you may want to listen to the tape again if the material stirs your heart in order to write down titles or take notes. Books, the power of the printed page. Even when I was sitting in a vehicle an hour or so ago reading one of my latest issues of Renewal Magazine, I noticed a news article about John Stott, whose book Contemporary Christian was given a special award at the Christian Booksellers Convention in Bournemouth. Addressing the convention, John Stott spoke of the increasing reluctance on the part of Christians to read at all. He called for a new emphasis on cajoling and browbeating people to read books. He said that the spirit of truth should lead believers to devote themselves to study and applying their intellects. I'm convinced one of the reasons people often don't read books is that they don't know about the great books, and maybe no one's recommended some of the really great books to them. The first 25 books I've chosen are not necessarily the greatest Christian books. It's actually taken from a list we circulated to our OM teams some weeks ago, just mentioning 25 of the books that we were trying to push and distribute in our own meetings and through the post and in other ways. So I felt this was a good place to start, and in my next tape I'll share another 25 titles. Quite a few of which will be more important than perhaps even this first 25, though. Certainly some of my favorite books and some of the great Christian books are on this first list. I want to start with the book Grace Awakening, which I think many of you have heard me talk about. I guess this book is especially important for us in OM, where we had such an emphasis on zeal and discipline, on evangelism, on redeeming the time, that tended to lead at times to a lack of grace and to, in some cases, us even becoming the kind of grace killer that Charles Swindoll talks about in his book. When I first read this book a couple of years ago, I just got so excited, especially as I began in the middle of the book. In Chapter 5 we have that powerful message entitled Squaring Off Against Legalism. Perhaps that's a good place to start. I think I may have started even more in the middle and read in both directions. It was a challenge, though I guess it was a little confusing as well. The first part of the book is also excellent, but it's very basic, especially for mature Christians who have read other books on this subject. The chapter on Oiling Your Marriage Through Grace and the chapter Graciously Disagreeing and Pressing On, to me, are prophetic and should be read a number of times. It's my hope that you'll not only read Grace Awakening, which we have available here in Britain in paperback at just £3.50, but that you'll get involved in giving this book away and distributing it to others. It's truly one of the greatest Christian books of all times, and I believe the Holy Spirit is going to continue to use it. It's not the total answer, and for that we have to go to the Bible. We know as we read different books, we have to always measure that book against Holy Scripture. Some people are threatened by this book as they don't agree with some of the ideas that Charles Swindoll has, and of course, just as Grace can be abused, so the book Grace Awakening can be abused, and people can try to use it as an excuse for sin, even though the book itself gives a very clear call for discipline and holiness. The second book I want to mention is a book about missions. Yes, you guessed it. It's called Priority One, and the subtitle is What God Wants. I wrote the foreword to this book, and perhaps I could read that to you. It is my sincere burden and prayer that people who read this powerful book will do it with an open mind and a contrite heart. I have known Norm Lewis for almost thirty years, and I know he's a man who has put into practice what he speaks and writes about. I believe many people today are missing God's will for their lives. This book is going to help some of them to get back on target for God. What Norm has to say about material possessions is especially important in this day when very few are speaking biblically and forcefully on this subject. May some strong prayers of repentance and faith be prayed by all of us who read this vital message. I hope when you finish this book you will also decide to do something in terms of world evangelism, and that many will write to the organizations mentioned in the back of this book for further facts and information. Let's not only read this book, but because we know how God uses the printed page, let's get extra copies and distribute them to our friends. Norm's book is not a hard book to read. It's a hundred and thirty-five pages, but I consider it one of the most significant, especially missionary books, of this decade. A young man said to me he started to read it not even realizing it was a missionary book, and he's now on the mission field. If we're ever going to see the people mobilize that we need for completing the task of world evangelism, then we need to stock up on books like Priority One and make sure we distribute them widely. The next book is a book called Spiritual Depression, Its Cause and Cure. All over the world for the past twenty or more years I've often been saying that of the approximate thousand books or more that I've gone through, Spiritual Depression, Its Cause and Cure rates number one. It's a book by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, who of course wrote many books. He was considered one of the greatest preachers and theologians in all of Europe for a couple of decades, so he is now with the Lord. Of all of his books, I feel that this book about basic spiritual life is his best. Again, the title I think keeps some people from reading the book. It's not really in a sense about depression. It's about walking for God. It's about being in the battle. It's about, as he talks about in one chapter, being in God's gymnasium. I was thrilled to discover, and we've been involved in it, that this book is going into quite a few other languages, and it's clear that the Holy Spirit is using it in a very powerful way. A man I never met, but I had the opportunity to speak to a number of times on the telephone, was Paul Billheimer, also now with the Lord. His unusual book, Destined for the Throne, has revolutionized the intercessory life and the prayer life and the worship life of many, many Christians all over the world. Billy Graham writes in The Forward, I have been inspired and challenged by the insights and fresh interpretations of the scriptures regarding prayer and the Church's place in the world. This is a book that really is going to help people understand not only prayer, but why God has created them in the first place. What are some of God's ultimate intentions for our lives? I really want to urge people to read Destined for the Throne, and then to follow up on some of other Paul Billheimer's books, which we'll be mentioning in a later tape. The next book I want to mention is Born Again by Charles Colson. I've just been listening to a cassette tape in which Charles Colson is sharing some of the material from his newer book, The Body. But if you haven't read anything by Charles Colson before, and his books are brilliant, you'll probably want to start with his testimony book, Born Again. This book, as many of his books, you can also give so easily to people who may not be committed Christians. A movie was even made in connection with this particular story. Charles Colson is a man that God is mightily using, especially in his ministry, to prisons all over the world. You'll want to read Born Again. It's the kind of book you can carry with you, and when you have some spare time somewhere, just pick it up and read it. It's also the kind of book you're going to want to distribute. Why do we hear so few sermons on the subject of sex? Five hundred or more verses in the Bible about sex, but still, despite so-called freedom, the Church is often, sadly, silent on this subject. Quite a few years ago, John White came out with his powerful book Eros Defiled, dealing with the problem of sexual guilt, and it is truly one of the outstanding books on the subject. Again, some Christians have disagreed with a few ideas that he set forth in this book, and I know he's made some revisions and some changes. Published by InterVarsity, John White's book Eros Defiled should really be required reading for every Christian, especially in this age of promiscuity. Right behind it, a book along similar lines, yet completely different, is Lois and Nauti's book The Snare. This book is about how to avoid emotional and sexual entanglements. Published by NAV Press, I consider it one of the most important books that's in circulation right now. It's very down-to-earth, very practical, and I'm convinced if this book had been distributed more widely over the past years, then a lot of the immorality that's taken place among Christians would have never taken place. It's amazing how naive we as Christians can be. Here's a book that I consider absolutely hot. We just bought an extra 3,000 copies for a major sort of campaign right across the world to get people into this book. The Snare by Lois Nauti, published by The Navigators. A book that you will want to read, that's for sure. The next book is one that we have distributed widely also for the last 10 or 15 years, and I was so amazed to discover that it also has become somewhat controversial. I speak of David Seaman's brilliant book, Healing for Damaged Emotions. Simply because some people have gone extreme in the whole area of the healing of memories, other people overreact and write off everything that's written along those lines. It's not fair really, because David Seaman's is not a psychologist, and that wouldn't necessarily be wrong, but he's a pastor. He's a man who's counseled thousands of people, especially in his many years with his ministry near Asbury College, and his book is very basic, down-to-earth, biblical Sermon on the Mount material. I remember when I lived in India and picked up a book, The Psychology of Jesus and Mental Health. No doubt these days some people would attack the cover, but in fact, just like Billy Graham's book, Secret of Happiness, The Psychology of Jesus and Mental Health was just an exposition of the Sermon on the Mount. There is basic psychology in the Bible, even if we may, or some people may, reject the word psychology, which I think actually is being a bit silly. Don't miss David Seaman's book, because it's been used to help hundreds of thousands of books. I will be talking more about some of his other books, like Giving Up Your Childish Ways in one of our future tapes. Hunger for Reality is my own book, and it's always hard to know what to say about it. It first came out by Tyndale as Come Live Die, I guess that was a quarter of a century ago, and has just continued to sell all over the world in about two dozen different languages. The title now is really the original title I chose, called Hunger for Reality. This is a book that's brought me more than 22,000 personal letters over these many years, and I've tried to answer most of them. It does seem that a lot of people are tired of the status quo spiritually. They're hungry for God, they're hungry for reality, and I'm hoping that the few thoughts that the Lord gave me from His Word, and in this book, will help people to get to know God and to run in God's great marathon race. Peace with God is the next book I want to talk about, which is one of the first Christian books I ever read. I was converted through the preaching in the ministry of Billy Graham in New York City in March 1955, and this book came into my hands shortly after that. It helped, I believe, really ground me in the basics of the faith. And as a book, it's a book both for the non-Christian and the Christian. The edition I have in my hand, published by Word at only £2.50, and of course it's available all over the world in dozens of different languages, is in fact revised and expanded. I remember when a great evangelist came to minister at a conference in the early days of OM here in the UK, and he said to us, and he was a man that had had considerable experience in evangelism, he said to us, if you want to know how to win people to Christ, read this book, and he held up Peace with God by Billy Graham. I feel there's a danger today that because this book has been around for so long, it in fact gets neglected. It's a book, of course, you could easily give to someone who doesn't know Christ, because most people have heard of Billy Graham, and only when we get to heaven will we discover how many thousands of people have come to Christ through this powerful book. A great book at a very, very fair price, with a great picture of Billy Graham on the back cover. Peace with God. Rebuilding Your Broken World is another one of my favourite books, because it's so different and it's so unique. I think most Christians know that Gordon MacDonald, many years ago, had a moral failure while being pastor of a rather famous American church. Later on, when he was the president of InterVarsity, this suddenly became public, even though it had all been repented of and dealt with, and Gordon immediately resigned from that key leadership position. He took an even further time in the desert, so to speak, in a time of rebuilding, before being commended back again into the ministry. During that time, he was already an author of many great books. He wrote Rebuilding Your Broken World. He shows in this book how many in the Old Testament and in the Bible had broken world experiences today. And if we're really honest, we have to acknowledge that a high percentage of Christians sitting in our churches today have had heavy broken world experiences. Here's a book, now also in paperback, though the one I have in my hand is hardback, that we can give to people who perhaps are losing hope, who perhaps feel such a weight of sin and failure. And this book will be used to bring many of them back into a bright and powerful walk with God. Rebuilding Your Broken World by Gordon MacDonald is one of the outstanding books, surely, of this decade. A unique book I got my reading teeth into a couple of years ago is called Your Work Matters to God, again published by The Navigators. Most of these books I'm talking about I have with me right here, but I couldn't find a single copy of this book around because we've been giving away so many of them and selling so many of them. It's a book that shows that working in the so-called secular world in the marketplace is not second class with God. And I believe that's a message greatly needed today. It's so wrong, especially when we give the idea that those who are missionaries, those who are in ministry, they are sort of God's special ambassadors. And then there's the rest of the people who have the nine-to-five jobs, who work in factories they don't like or on farms they don't want to be at, etc. This book is revolutionary, and it's a book that needs to be read and distributed, yes, in the marketplace. Probably many of you have never heard of this book, From the Pinnacle of the Temple by Charles Farah, Jr., with a forward by Jamie Buckingham. It talks about the difference between faith and presumption. I don't think it's anything to laugh at, as we see so many people get into extremism, even committed Christians, and especially in the area of prosperity and healing and wealth. Let me read what it says on the back cover by Jamie Buckingham. Health, wealth, prosperity. Are these the measures of a true faith? There are so many excesses in the Christian world in the area of faith. Dr. Charles Farah, the only man I know who has the scholarship, the insight, and the personal experience necessary to write a book on the balance necessary in the Christian faith, From the Pinnacle of the Temple will find its place as one of the most relevant books of our generation. It's interesting that Charles Farah, by the way, received an M.A. from Wheaton College and a B.D. from Fuller Seminary. He then received his doctorate from the University of Edinburgh and has been a professor of theology and historical studies at Oral Roberts University. I think he's actually retired now. This book is greatly needed. It's not written by a man who's throwing rocks, for example, at the charismatic movement, because probably he considers himself a part of that movement, but it's a man speaking out against excesses and extremes, and it's a book that needs wide circulation and wide reading, even though there have been newer books that have come off the press recently on that particular subject. Operation World by Patrick Johnson, and in a few months we'll have the new edition. The copy I have in my hand, co-published by O.M. and Weck, says over 250,000 in print. This book many years ago died and was not being distributed anymore. I found the old blue edition once and put a note in it across to Jerry Davey, who was the head of STL at that time, saying, let's see if we can reprint this and push it around the world. It's a great book. A lot of things happened since then, and Operation World has become one of the most widely circulated missionary books in the history of the Church. It has prayer requests on almost every single nation in the world. To get a copy even of this out-of-date edition to use over the next few months before the new edition comes is still very worthwhile. In fact, when you read this old edition, you'll get excited about the many answers to prayer and the many changes that have taken place through prayer, especially in what was once known as the communist world. It's set forward in a form that you pray through it over a April 13th. Information and prayer requests on the Dominican Republic. Let's see what my birthday is. July 3rd and 4th, we're supposed to be praying for Kenya. Get a copy of Operation World. Get involved in distributing it. And keep in mind, a children's edition also is coming in the very near future. Continuous Revival is actually a follow-up book in some ways, on a book I'm going to mention later called Calvary Road. Continuous Revival is by Norman Grubb, a man who's in his nineties and still alive, who wrote that famous biography of C.T. Studd, who was his father-in-law. Continuous Revival is a small little book, hardly known, but I believe it contains one of the most significant messages for the Church of Jesus Christ today. Revival is our privilege in Christ. Maybe that's a good lead-on for me to talk about the next book, Calvary Road. I guess in some ways, in OM, this is still number one. Even some of the new young people in OM, in saying what they felt was the most important piece of orientation material, said they felt it should. It was Calvary Road. This particular book I have in my hand, published by CLC, is actually a combination of the book Calvary Road and a book by Roy Hesschen about the Holy Spirit, called Be Filled Now. Roy wrote many other books. He's now in glory. He was a personal friend, and his books speak on and on. It's so sad that today there are many Christians who do not even know about great Christian classics like Calvary Road, available in a couple of dozen languages, a book that's changed hundreds of thousands of lives. I don't really know if OM would have ever continued in some ways if it hadn't been for the emphasis in this book on brokenness, on personal revival. The chapter called Revival in the Home is worth the price of the book. My wife and I read it shortly after our marriage, and it's been a foundation stone in our marriage ever since. So few Christians seem to understand repentance, humility, brokenness, what it is to esteem others better than ourself, what it is to deal with things like irritability, bad attitudes, dispositional sins. Don't miss Calvary Road, one of the truly great books of all times. I guess the leadership book we push the most, even though we distribute many books about Christian leadership, is Oswald Sanders' book Spiritual Leadership. It used to be required reading for all those going through OM's leadership training courses, filled with powerful quotations from other people's books. Like A.W. Tozer, and we'll be talking about some of his books in later tapes, it's a book that needs sort of recirculation, even though there are so many other books now along this line. Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders, the man who led OMF, formerly China Inland Mission, for many years, who ministered the Word of God right up until around 90 years of age. In fact, I think it was only a few months ago he went to be with the Lord, and even in those senior years he was writing a book a year. But in my view, this is still his very best book. Knowing God by J.I. Packer is another Christian classic. I remember years ago when we first started to use it as a study book in Operation Mobilization. Many great books like Knowing God do have study workbooks that you can get to use along with the main book. Tozer, Andrew Murray, many other men who have influenced our movement, have also had that similar emphasis. Knowing God. In spiritual work, in ministry, and in the church, our first burden should be Knowing God. Then, our second burden, to make God known. A basic book that every Christian should read. Knowing God by J.I. Packer, who of course has written many other books since then. Michael Griffiths is another man that has ministered often at OM conferences, formerly with OMF, always involved with inter-varsity in different ways, then the principal of London Bible College, then over to Regent College. Michael Griffiths is one of God's great marathon runners. He's written a number of books, but Take My Life is his best. Somehow on this British edition, a sentence of mine is on the cover. Let me read it. One of the truly great Christian books of our time. An IVP OM publication. It's probably one of the very best basic books on commitment, discipleship, discipline, and wholehearted Christianity. And it's a book that needs far greater circulation than it's getting right now. Chapter 1 is hot. Balance or fanaticism? You need to read it. Michael Griffiths, Take My Life. Honorably wounded is the other side of the coin. We know that when young, zealous people launch very quickly into missionary work and front line, trench evangelism, some of them are going to be wounded. There will be casualties. There will be every kind of difficulty one can imagine, and we'll be referring to that in one of our future tapes as we talk about Philip Yancey's book, Disappointment with God. But this particular book by Marjorie Foyle, a very close friend of ours, an OM, is called Honorably Wounded. It's about stress among Christian workers, and it covers many, many different areas, including the whole area of sexual stress, language study stress, talks about some of the basic problems of re-entry in Chapter 9. Praise God, we now have a whole book on that subject, which I'll be mentioning in a future tape. Honorably Wounded is a great book to give to missionary friends, to people in the ministry, hopefully before they get back from the field. Unless we have a greater understanding of some of this material, which again we find so clearly in the Word of God, then I think we're going to have a lot more hurt people coming back from the mission field or right out of ministry. Honorably Wounded by Marjorie Foyle, published by Mark, but as they've gone out of business, I'm not sure who's going to publish it in the future, but I certainly hope it stays in print. The Bible. I put on this list the Bible because I wanted it to be a reminder to our co-workers around the world that when we set up a display of books, we should always have a copy of the Bible. There are so many translations, and I'm not going to go into that right now, but I believe the neglect of the Word of God is one of the reasons that so many people in the church are spiritual midgets or spiritually immature. So whatever you do as you read different Christian books, as you listen to cassette tapes, don't neglect the Bible itself. And then lastly, Telling Yourself the Truth by William Backus. Actually in my hand I have one of his other books called Telling Each Other the Truth, The Art of True Communication. Absolutely brilliant material. The insight that this man sets forth in his books has helped thousands of people. I'm amazed that he's not more well known, and I hope that somehow you'll get some of those William Backus books, especially his original book Telling Yourself the Truth, which sold over 200,000 copies, and contextualize what you read in them into your own situation and your own spiritual walk with God. It's been a real privilege to be able to be with you during this time and tell you about some of these great books. I hope perhaps you'll listen to this tape again or share it with friends. There's no copyright, so you can make as many copies as you want and give them away or do whatever you want with them. It would be great to get some feedback from you. I hope you'll go to your Christian bookshop and ask them for these books. Maybe give them a copy of this tape. It urns them to carry these books and the other books that we'll be talking about in future tapes. These are books that have proven themselves out in the battle fronts of Christian service this last 38 years since God saved me. I have seen the Holy Spirit using the printed page, and I've seen the Holy Spirit of God using these particular books. I've read almost every one of these books. Perhaps there's a few of them I haven't yet finished, as some of them are relatively new. And quite a few of them I reread and refer to as I prepare for ministry or as I have times alone with God. It's a privilege to be able to share with you in a small way that which I have been privileged to receive from others and especially through the printed page. And remember, readers make leaders, and leaders will be readers. If you'd like copies of these books and can't get them from your bookshop, don't hesitate to write to us here on the International Coordinating Team, Box 17, Bromley, Kent, Great Britain. Or you can write to me, care of any O.M. office, as post mail is forwarded to me from all over the world. Or you can write to me, care of any O.M. office, as post mail is forwarded to me from all over the world. Dave White here on the team, together with my secretaries May and Vera, my own wife and other people like Kathy Rendell, help in answering the letters and getting the material out that people request. Copies of these tapes, of course, are available. And if people can send a small donation just to help with the cost of the tape, that's always an encouragement. Thank you. Hello again, this is George Verwer, and it's hard to express how excited I am about this box of books that I have here on the floor in front of me. This is part two in this series of tapes in which I'm really opening my heart and sharing about some of the great books that have been a great blessing to me or that are in the midst of blessing me because they're new books that I'm just reading right now. Like, for example, John Stott's The Contemporary Christian. The first book, however, I want to mention is a book that's very historic in connection with Operation Mobilization, and it's a book called True Discipleship. William McDonald wrote this book partly, as he says in the forward, because of the impact one of the early OM teams that went to Mexico made on his life. Let me just read that forward. This book is an attempt to set forth principles of New Testament discipleship. Some of us have seen these principles in the Word for years, but somehow concluded that they were too extreme and impracticable for the complicated age in which we live. And so we surrendered to the chill of our spiritual environment. Then we met a group of young believers who set out to demonstrate the Savior's terms of discipleship are not only highly practicable, but they are the only terms which will result in the evangelization of the world. We acknowledge our indebtedness to these young people for providing living examples of many of the truths set forth here. To the extent that these truths are still beyond our own personal experience, we set them forth as the aspirations of our heart. Bill McDonald's book is filled with powerful quotations and examples from the lives of all kinds of disciples. And it's a book that the Holy Spirit continues to use in a mighty way as it's in dozens of languages and continues to be reprinted and distributed around the world. It's a small book, 96 pages. You can easily read it in one night, but it will take your entire life to really put it into practice. Of course, like so many books, it has to be brought into balance by other great books, like the first book I mentioned in part one of this series, Grace Awakening. The next book in my hand is Ralph Shallis' From Now On. Is Spiritual Maturity Only Possible for Super Saints? Here are seven provisions for spiritual growth. Again, I had the privilege of writing something about this book and it ended up getting published on the back cover. Let me just read that. It has been an inspiration and challenge to know Ralph Shallis over the past 15 years. Of course, this was written many years ago. Ralph is now with the Lord. He is a man who knows God, as you will soon detect as you read the pages of this penetrating book. I find everywhere that Christians are failing to grow up into fullness in Christ, and this book in many ways meets the need of the hour. It teaches us how we can grow to become mature disciples of Jesus Christ. It is written by a man who has put these things into practice for several decades. The Lord has already wonderfully used this book in the French-speaking world and I know he will use it now among those of us who speak English. My prayer is that many will not only read it, but also distribute it widely in their ministry to others. Ralph Shallis was one of the closest friends of OM here in Europe for 20 or more years, often ministering in our conferences. His tapes, distributed by the Things That Matter tape library, are tapes of in-depth spiritual sharing that unfortunately many people have missed out on in the last 10 years. Don't miss Ralph Shallis' book from now on. The book I have in my hand now is relatively new and it's an evangelistic book entitled Breaking Free by David Hall. It's the testimony of nine shattered lives who were made whole by the power of God and salvation. A sea captain with a weak heart, which in fact was Bjorn Kristiansen, the first captain of Lagos. An intellectual Frenchwoman, a Czechoslovakian army officer, a one-time male prostitute with AIDS, a depressive career girl, a travel-hungry Dutchman, a Lebanese Muslim immigrant, a housewife from Vienna, a violent inner city teenager, which in fact was Stuart McAllister, who has led Love Europe over these past couple of years. It's not easy to find evangelistic books that you can just feel so free to give to someone who doesn't know Christ and that they'll read. But here's that kind of book and I hope you'll read it and use it in your ministry. My mind jumps back to more than 33 years ago when at Maryville College where I met Dale Roton and before I ever went to Moody Bible Institute, I picked up this little book, Through Gates of Splendor. These five men had just been martyred about the same year, I think, that I came to know Christ. And this particular book brought me to tears as I saw the commitment of men like Jim Elliott and his co-workers. This book has been reprinted again under the AOM imprint here in Great Britain and it's available in print in other parts of the world as well. A number of other books have come after it, but this is one that everyone should read, Through Gates of Splendor. I believe actually a movie was also done about that. Basic Christianity by John Stott. Again an evangelistic book, but an evangelistic book that Christians also need to read. Over a million copies already sold. Recently a group of people got together and I guess because of someone's generosity they produced a new small edition here in Britain that sells for just one pound. Only heaven will tell how many people have come to Christ through this basic, simple, yet thought-provoking presentation of the Christian faith and our reasons to believe. I'm convinced if God's people would begin to distribute books like this more widely that we would be seeing more people come to Jesus Christ. Philip Yancey, a favorite author of many people. I have in my hand his book Disappointment with God, which was published in Britain under a different title about having faith. A totally unique kind of book that probably will upset some people, and I believe people who really don't want to face the realities of life here on this very mysterious planet, where often there are many disappointments, even for the most committed and spiritual followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of you may remember his earlier book, Where is God When It Hurts, and the Lord has used his books in a very, very powerful way. Again, let me read what Charles Swindoll says about this book. Few are better than Yancey in providing answers that can soothe a faith that's almost been shattered. A Christian magazine called Today's Christian Women says, offers solace and direction for those who ache to hear the voice of God. It goes on to say here on the back cover, step-by-step Philip Yancey retraces a long journey toward understanding the answers to those and other difficult questions, like is God unfair? Is God silent? Is God hidden? Here's a book that I've had the privilege of sending out, giving to a lot of people, that I personally have read, still read, because it's so significant. The book I have in my hand right now is actually a large book, a hardback book, and it's in Spanish, Renovado Día a Día. It's actually a daily devotional book of the writings of A.W. Tozer. Few committed Christians have not read something of A.W. Tozer, one of the most powerful authors of this century. I'm reading one of his new books, that is material that recently has been put together in book form, and again it's speaking so powerfully to my own heart. Perhaps his best book is the book by that title, The Best of A.W. Tozer. There was a little booklet that we published and distributed widely years ago that you may find in magazine form. I'd be happy to send you one called Gems from Tozer, quotations from many of his other books. Absolute spiritual dynamite. Please read some of the books by A.W. Tozer. You will not regret it, and you will find that Tozer has a way of being able to shatter some of the superficiality that is so prevalent in the Church and among the Lord's people in these days. It was Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, I believe, who really initially introduced Tozer to Great Britain. They were very similar in some ways, but also very different. I have in my hand a book called The Best of Martin Lloyd-Jones, compiled by Christopher Catherwood. In our first series we talked about Dr. Lloyd-Jones, and especially his book Spiritual Depression, Its Cause and Cure. He's written so many books, including two volumes on the Sermon on the Mount, that it's hard to know what to say and what book to recommend. Perhaps the next book to go to is this particular book, because again it draws chapters from his many different books. Joy Unspeakable, Healing in Medicine, The Cross, Enjoying the Presence of God, Life in the Spirit, Preaching in the Preacher, Knowing the Times, Final Perseverance, Growing in the Spirit. There are chapters from those books in this one volume which was only published last year in 1992, The Best of Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. I have two books in my hands right now, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, and Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Volume 2. Josh McDowell has probably helped more people to get established in their faith than any man living in the world today. These two amazing books have been distributed widely across the world and in a number of different languages. It says on the back, over a million copies in print of Volume 1. It also says a serious-minded work for every person who wants to overcome doubts about the Bible. I know in my own spiritual pilgrimage, it was only as I read books like this, and later on this material as well, that I had some of those tough intellectual questions answered that really helped give me strength and stability in my own faith. Sometimes we presume that young people don't need books like this, but in fact I believe time shows that we need that solid intellectual grounding in our faith that books like this can help us to have. The next book is very, very new, and most of you probably haven't heard about it, unless you read my international updates. It's called Sarian Chips. It's written by Ram Gudamal, a converted Hindu. It's a book showing the clash between Asian culture and Western culture. Steve Chalk says, shrewd, compassionate, full of fascinating insights. Actually, Ram Gudamal was an Asian who arrived in Britain in 67 and reconciled his own identity crisis when he became a follower of Christ. In Sarian Chips, he observes how tensions arise and suggests realistic ways in which individuals, families, communities, schools, and churches can work together to overcome them. This is a book that's getting a lot of publicity right now, and it's very, very relevant. I just urge you to read this book, because wherever you are in the world, you're living together with Asian people, and this will help you understand them and demonstrate love to them. Some of you listening to this tape are Asians, and this book will help you understand some of the struggles that you may face as you move to a different part of the world, or even as you attempt to relate to people of other cultures, wherever that may be. Another brand new book that I've been waiting for for over two years, because I met the author and knew it was coming, is called The Contemporary Christian Music Debate, Worldly Compromise or Agent of Renewal. Josh McDowell said on the back cover, a well-documented, biblically based, and culturally relevant insight into the debate on contemporary Christian music. Steve Miller has done a tremendous service for the church and the cause of Christ. For every mom, dad, and pastor, this book is a must. Then Robertson McQuilkin says, Steve Miller addresses a church-splitting and generation-splitting issue, which through, with thorough scholarship and a Renwick spirit, he persuades with a gentle approach that respects opposing viewpoints, and he charts practical ways for local churches to incorporate newer forms of music, while maintaining harmony in a music ministry for all. Again, some people may not think this book is so important, or that it's not relevant for them, but I believe this issue is ten times more relevant than many people would imagine. People are actually preaching anti-music messages in various parts of the world. Accusations are being made that are hurtful and that are causing people, many many people, to become confused or discouraged. We need a more sound, balanced, intellectual approach and biblical approach to this subject, and here's a book that I believe presents just that. Now in my hand, I have the book I referred to already, called The Contemporary Christian, by John Stott. When I was with John some time ago, he gave me a copy of this book, and of course that always motivates you to read it. I was on my way to minister in Italy, and so got through a good part of the book, even on that trip. It's a 432 page book, and to me, the word balance especially comes to my mind as I think of this book, because in talking about and ministering to us about a number of major, difficult, important issues, he seems to have the kind of biblical balance that is so desperately needed in the world today. I want to urge you, if you're looking for a really serious book to get your spiritual teeth into, to get a hold of The Contemporary Christian as soon as possible, published here by Inner Varsity, and having been given a special book award at the recent Christian Booksellers Convention. The Contemporary Christian is also a study guide you can get to go with it. Love Covers by Paul Bilheimer. We mentioned him in our last series. I was so excited about this book that for one or two years, I think I gave copies free to everybody who came on the summer campaign. Again, some people are not going to agree with everything they read in this unique book, but it's a book that needs to be read. It's about Christian unity. It's about the great controversy that has come between people who call themselves charismatics and people who call themselves holiness, and people who would be thought of as evangelicals. I'm so excited about books that are biblical and that bring greater unity in the body of Christ. It's so easy for people to generalize, especially about other groups and other churches, when they don't really know the facts. They really haven't studied it that much. I would ask people to at least study this book before they continue making generalizations about this group and that group, and especially on the controversial subject of healing and spiritual gifts and all that kind of thing. A newer book on prayer is Don't Just Stand There, Pray Something by Ronald Dunn. People, when this book first came out a couple of years ago, didn't expect it to get wide-scale distribution because I guess they thought there's so many books on prayer and many of them don't seem to sell that well, but people were surprised. And it seems there is a movement among the Lord's people to put prayer on a higher priority, and this is a book that the Spirit of God is using to cause that to happen. Richard Buse, Rector of All Souls Laying in Place, said, this is not only the most encouraging book I've ever read on the subject of prayer, it is quite simply one of the best books I have ever read. Very basic, very clear, easy to read, packed with scripture, a good book to read as part of your morning or whenever you have it, devotional time, and it'll help you to stay inspired in your praying. The next book I have in my hand, I have both in Spanish and English, Un Barco Llamado Lagos, The Ship or the Lagos Story by Elaine Roton. I guess certainly it's not a very famous book except within Operation Mobilization, but I wanted to mention it because I think it will help many of you who are interested in OM, and that's probably why you got a hold of this tape, to get a greater grasp of the ship ministry, and especially Lagos, the first ship administered around the world for 17 years until on January 5th, 1988, in God's sovereign purposes, allowed us to lose that ship as it ran aground on some rocks off the very southern tip of Latin America. Here's a picture of the ship on those rocks. It's the kind of book you can give to anyone. It's what probably Dr. Francis Schaefer would consider to be a pre-evangelistic book. It can break down prejudices, especially in a day when we see things on television, we read things that make Christians look bizarre or weird or cultic. These, well when I say these I'm referring to Spanish and English, but this book really is dynamite. The photographs also are very, very challenging. Keswick Gold, another interesting book. A lot of them went up in the fire when we had the big fire in the warehouse in Carlisle some years ago, but they decided to reprint it. Again, we have a series of messages taken from the Keswick Convention over the past ten or more years Eric Alexander, we will give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Alan Neitch, the face of God. Raymond Brown, Isaiah the King. One of my own messages about the Laodicean Church is there. John Stott on the Lordship of Christ. Life Samuel with all your heart. It's a brilliant book to give as a gift and I've had the privilege of giving many of them away. Some people I know in North America have never even heard of Keswick and for such people this book is especially important. If you can't find it in a bookshop, you can always get it from OM Lit in Waynesboro, Georgia. And if you don't have their address, you can write them care of any OM address or through me and we'll be happy to forward your request. Living with your passions by Erwin Lutzer, who's been the pastor of Moody Church where Alan Redpath once was, back when I was a student, for many years. A brilliant cover. A Christian's guide to sexual purity. Some people will find this book even more appropriate and straight forward than Eris Defile that I mentioned in part one. How to get God-given grace and power to deal with sexual desires. It says on the back cover, sexual passions have a even committed Christians need to choose between indulging sexual desire and maintaining God's standard for purity. Erwin Lutzer presents a rationale for sexual purity, giving special attention to the inevitable consequences of permissiveness. He deals specifically with adultery, lust, homosexuality and masturbation. Throughout he points the reader to God's grace and power for living victoriously with passions. If I had my way, I'd make this required reading for everyone that came on OM, because we know this is always one of the big fiery darts in missionary work. Please don't miss reading Living with Your Passions by Erwin Lutzer. C.S. Lewis is one of our favorite authors in OM and we'll be mentioning some of his books in our later series. The one I have in front of me now is called Mere Christianity. Who knows how many people have come to Christ through reading this book. The impact of the writings of C.S. Lewis cannot be measured and I would urge you if you haven't already started to read books by C.S. Lewis to pick up Mere Christianity and read it as soon as possible. You'll find you'll want to get a lot of copies and distribute them to others and especially people who think that Christianity is not intellectually acceptable, that it's just some kind of escape from guilt cop-out, some kind of a crutch because that book shows otherwise. Perhaps the greatest book on prayer in my view that's ever been written was written by a Norwegian called Hallowsby and it's simply called Prayer. I remember when I read this as a young Christian how it collided with some of my extreme thinking. But about ten years later during a day of prayer in Denmark I read right through the book or most of it and became impressed with it in such a way that I though I've read many books on prayer really felt it was number one. I'd urge you to get this great book on the subject of prayer the late Dr. Hallowsby one of Norway's leading preachers was for forty years professor of theology in the independent theological seminary in Oslo. Again published by Inner Varsity a book that is absolute dynamite. Alan Redpath is a man that I've already referred to and he also became one of Operation Mobilization's closest advisors and friends. It was an emotional moment to be at his funeral a few years ago and I've been in regular contact with his dear wife Marjorie who has put together this new book called Victorious Christian Living. Well I made a mistake I don't think this is the newest book because she has put together a book that I'll mention in a later series of quotations from his other books. But Victorious Christian Living on the subject of attaining spiritual maturity is one of Alan's greatest books. I'm not sure if it's still in print I hope so but if not his newer book that I'll refer to later certainly is. And if you go to a library you can find Alan Redpath books even though some of them may be out of print today and they will be a challenge and encouragement to your own heart. Some of his tapes are available as well and what a blessing and challenge they are because in some ways his preaching is more powerful than his writing. A relatively new book is by Dr. Larry Crabb called Inside Out. For a couple of years this seemed to be one of the most widely read books especially among leaders and people who had been in OM for a number of years. I think as we get down the great Christian marathon track we begin to realize that especially in certain areas of our lives we haven't changed as much as perhaps we thought originally. This book deals with the whole area of how to bring about in depth change. Again not everybody is going to agree with everything they read in this book and perhaps there's some straw which is true probably in every book. But I'm convinced that if we're hungry for God and there's a book that's going to help us become more godly and more like Jesus Christ then it is well worth reading. Nav Press and Scripture Press together here in Britain have produced this book and the Holy Spirit is using it in a powerful way. I think there may be a study guide that you can get as well. Serving as Senders I guess became my hottest book in 1992. I discovered this book in California when after a prayer meeting I had the privilege of meeting Neil Parolo the author. Looking back over these 37-38 years of serving Christ I've never seen much on this particular subject based very much on a verse in Romans 10-15, how shall they go, how shall they preach unless they are sent. I've seen so many, hundreds, probably thousands of people who've wanted to go into world missions never see it happen because they didn't grasp the importance of sending and how to find senders, how to find people who will pray, how to find people who will stand with you, how to find people who will give. And this is a book I believe that really is going to help turn the tide. Distribution is greatly increasing and now we have a special OM edition where chapter 8 is completely changed so that basically chapter 8 is now something about Operation Mobilization. This is a book that needs to be priority on our book tables, in our own reading and in distribution to others. Ralph Winter says this, this key book makes the strategic point that mobilizers, the senders are as crucial to the cause of missions as front line missionaries. It is a book just crammed with solid exciting insights on the most hurting leak in today's missions movement. I also wrote something that's printed on the back cover. It says I strongly believe that this is one of the most significant missionary books of this decade. Unless the church and God's people respond to its message, the work of reaching the unreached is going to be greatly hindered. Every committed sender needs to get involved in distributing this book. Serving as Senders is distributed by the organization that Neil Parolo founded called the Emmaus Road International, but it's also available through our OM Literature Ministry in Waynesboro, Georgia, especially this new edition with the new chapter 8. Two other books right along that line that I want to mention are called Friend Raising, which I've just started to read, but I've read enough to be very excited about it, by Betty Barnett. This is a youth with a mission book published by then with a forward by Lauren Cunningham. Again, young people today and people who are not necessarily young need help in raising up their support team, in getting that necessary foundation, and this is a book that everyone preparing for the mission field needs to read and study and put into practice. It's loaded with scripture, it's loaded with practical advice, and in a sense it goes right together with another YWAM book called Re-Entry, Making the Transition from Missions to Life at Home, written by Peter Jordan with a forward by Floyd McClum. When I saw this manuscript I got very excited. They asked me to evaluate it and I sent back this little quotation which is published on the back of the book. I'm really excited about this book, and thank God for its important and vital message. It is 30 years overdue. Short term missions without this emphasis in teaching can easily end up as a tragedy instead of a triumph. I cry out to the Lord that Re-Entry will have a very wide circulation. It's interesting that Dick Hillis said something much stronger. He said this, as I read the Re-Entry manuscript I keep thinking if only Re-Entry had been written by William Carey 200 years ago, thousands of missionaries would have been spared the shock and the difficulties of Re-Entry. And then finally I want to mention Loving God by Charles Colson. Probably in almost every series I'll be mentioning a Charles Colson book because they're so powerful and they're being so greatly used of God. How vividly I remember reading this book and getting so excited about it. It's a book you can send to people in high places and I've had the privilege of doing that. It's a book that is powerful for Christians but it's powerful also for people that don't know Jesus Christ. Get a copy of Loving God as soon as possible. Get extra copies for your friends. Isn't it amazing how any ordinary person can get a hold of powerful Christian books and not only be blessed through reading them but can be blessing the lives of others through loaning them out, through giving them away. Why not have a book party where you get a lot of great books there in your home and bring people over for a cup of tea and coffee and some refreshments and then offer them the books? If we don't see a grassroots movement in connection with Christian literature then a vast number of people in our countries will never even read one Christian book. How about it? It says in James, let's not be hearers of the word. Listening to all these book reviews would be included in that but let's be doers. Let's get these books, let's read them, let's allow the Holy Spirit to work through us in touching other lives as we share our books, as we distribute books in various ways. I look forward to hearing from some of you about how these books that you start to read end up a mega blessing and a mega help in your own life. Thanks. I look forward to sharing with you again on some other great books that I'm in the midst of reading, some of which have just been published even in the past year. Don't forget for more information or to write to me personally, you can write here of any OM office or to me here on the International Coordinating Team, Box 17 in Bromley, Kent, Great Britain. God bless you. Things That Matter, which produced this cassette copy from a recording made by George Verwer himself, is a free loan cassette ministry. We list a large number of messages given by George and other speakers over the whole period since Operation Mobilisation began. You can write for a copy of our current catalogue listing about 500 titles to the address on this cassette label. The catalogue is 17 pence and the postage 28 pence, making a total of 45 pence which you can send as stamps. There is a second catalogue called Voices from the Past which is a 60-page booklet containing 1,500 more titles and costing 36 pence with postage at 34 pence. Both are available together for just £1 inclusive. We are a registered charity financially separate from Operation Mobilisation and all other groups.