Our castaway in this our one hundredth edition is our Librarian, Steve Taylor. Steve is a member of the Church at Tollington Park. He was appointed Librarian in February 1991, having previously served as Assistant Librarian. By this stage he must know his way around the Library better than anyone. (published Spring 1998)
Well, here I am marooned on this desert island. It would be a blessing to have pictures of my wife and family. A "Walkman" would be useful too because I could listen to some soothing melodies and uplifting hymns. However, all my tapes (including sermon tapes which would have been a great help) have been washed away. Still, the batteries would have soon run out and at least I have this package of books which somehow survived the shipwreck (must have been good waterproof packaging!).
Some years ago I was asked to supply a list of my desert island books for the magazine of the church I was attending at that time. The first book I want to choose this time is the only survivor from that list! It is Holiness by J. C. Ryle. Oh to have a bishop of this calibre in our day! This book made a great impression on me as a young Christian. I read it a couple of times then and would love to do so again. You will find it in the B2.59 section at the Library. How clear and challenging Ryle's writing is: "Oh, believe me, hypocrisy is a losing game. ... The eye that saw Achan steal the golden wedge and hide it is upon you. ... He says, 'I know thy works'." Then later Ryle says to encourage the reader: "Jesus can see some beauty in everything that you do from a conscientious desire to please Him." Ryle, of course, also produced his helpful Expository Thoughts on the Gospels and I probably would have chosen them if I was allowed to expand my colledction on this island.
At the Westminister Conference a few years ago I heard Erroll Hulse give an interesting paper on Adoniram Judson. More recently my wife gave me To the Golden Shore by Courtney Anderson as a present and it was touching and thrilling to read more about this man and his life. How much he and his fellow missionaries sacrificed in the cause of the Gospel.
The Welwyn series of commentaries by Evangelical Press has been a very worthwhile addition to the vast amount ofliterature given over to the study of the Bible. We have a few of them at home and I particularly appreciated Stuart Olyott's Dare to Stand Alone -- his commentary on the book of Daniel. Not only did I read it all the way through but read again selected portions when preparing sermons on Daniel 1-6 some years ago. Here there is much to urge us on in the fight of faith, exhorting us not to compromise but to stand for the truth.
My fourth book is by Doctor Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I regret to say that I have only managed to read a few of DML-J's books thus far. My favourite one I have read is Preaching and Preachers in which he speaks from a wealth of experience on this subject. Any preacher will find help and stimulation here whether he agrees with all DML-J says or not.
Finally, it would be a great solace on this lonely island to have a hymnbook with me. Regrettably, I cannot read music, but just to have the words of "Rock of Ages, "O for a thousand tongues", "When I survey the wondrous cross", etc., would lift my spirits. I might possibly be a little frustrated if I cannot remember the tune of some hymns but this does not put me off. They hymn book I will choose is Grace Hymns, though there are many good ones available. It is always interesting to look at the Scripture index and even to see the dates of birth and death of the hymnwriters.
Books are always fascinating but without the King of kings, His Word, and prayer, life would be meaningless. The most important book on the island will be the Scriptures themselves and most of my comfort will be derived from there, especially the Psalms.
