All of Life for God
Blank looks. I have had more than a few, at conferences, at churches, and during visits to potential bookstore customers on behalf of Reformation Heritage Books (RHB). The blank looks suddenly appear when I show people the kind of resources we enthusiastically produce and promote.
Here’s why: out of the roughly forty-five titles RHB releases each year, half are by authors who went to be with the Lord many generations ago. Some of the remaining books are contemporary titles about that very same period.
The following questions probably lie behind those blank looks::
Why would you print this kind of book?
Who would possibly want to buy, and then read, them?
What could we possibly learn from that (much older) generation?
The truth is that we at RHB are utterly convinced that this is where the gold is. The men and women of times past have so much to teach us today about what we would call “Experiential Christianity”—truths that impact the head, heart, and hand, every single aspect of life.
Thus, in different ways, our tagline for nearly thirty years has been that ALL of life must be impacted for and by God. This is the transformational truth espoused by the Puritans. In simplistic terms, the Puritans took the baton from the Reformers of the sixteenth century. They took the precious foundational truths of the Reformation, that were rediscovered and expounded at such high cost and (even ultimate) sacrifice, and made them deeply practical. The Puritans began to apply rich biblical truth to every aspect of life without leaving a stone unturned.
I can almost hear them saying—Yes, Calvin, Luther, Knox, Beza, Latimer…we agree with the pillars of the faith you have presented, but how then shall we live? How must these truths impact the way we run the church, preach the gospel, arrange the home, manage money, bring up children, conduct our marriages, right down to the very basic and even seemingly mundane elements of life?” Ultimately, the Puritans asked the essential question “how I can submit every area of my life to the purpose of the glory of God?”
The writings are so precious because these were men (and some women) who wrote in times of threat, difficulty, and persecution. Theirs was not a nominal Christianity, they were not writing the next Christian bestseller while sipping a latte in a trendy coffee shop. These time-tested resources come from believers on the front line, in complete dependence on their God, the very same faithful God we worship today. They were giving all of their lives to God, and while the cost was very much before their eyes, so was the beauty and glory of their dear Lord Jesus Christ and the infallible hope of heaven that he secures on behalf of his people.
Rich, deep writings from generations ago are not to be stared at blankly. They are to be treasured and absorbed, read and shared with our families, preached from the pulpit, meditated upon in quiet moments. The Puritans’ God is our God, and he is still transforming people today.
We too need to live by the mantra, “All of life for God,” and this is the reason RHB exists today.
David Woollin, CEO, Reformation Heritage Books