Men of Old (Nearly Now Forgotten)...

F.W. Boreham

("the man whose name is on all our lips, whose books are on all our shelves and whose illustrations are in all our sermons." -- an introduction at a 1936 pastor's conference)

After Leon Morris, he is probably the second-most prolific Christian writers to have come from Australia.  "He authored 55 books, wrote 3,000 editorials in major papers and was a premiere preacher. Epworth Press, which published and reprinted most of the Boreham books said his book sales went into the millions," according to John Mark Ministries, and "Boreham's books are now collectors' items. Billy and Ruth Graham are reputed to have a nearly-complete set of his books. (I sent half a dozen titles to Ruth last year). I know only four or five Australians who have 45 or more. Two other North Americans who regularly acknowledge their indebtedness to Boreham are Drs. Ravi Zacharias and Warren Wiersbe."  He pastored the Armadale Baptist Church in Melbourne.  Find a list of his books here.  A friend at church is loaning me a copy of Boreham's A Bunch of Everlastings.  Although I am often a slow reader... especially when it comes to recreational reads... I have found His book astounding.  Since I am not good with names and am weak on my understanding of history and am horrible remembering dates, this book attracted me when Mr. Thompson offered it to me.  It is a collection of short stories of Christian men of days-gone-by.  The point of the book is to describe the Scripture text which they either point to as instrumental in their conversion, or the text that characterized and marked their lives and ministries.  Boreham's goal was certainly not to merely tell a few stories, but to present the gospel and uplift these texts which marked these men.  The lives and conversions of these men stand a mere picture frames for Boreham as he describes for us the gospel in all its splendor.  I highly recommend reading a book by F.W. Boreham if you are interested in some excellent devotional reading.  In addition, I recommend you not pass up an opportunity to read Boreham's writings if you ever come across anything, seeing how rare these books have become over the years.  I believe a resurgence of published Boreham's works is in the making as we speak.