April 2014 – HARVEY Christian Publishers

They Knew Their God Book Four, Edwin and Lillian Harvey

Posted on April 30, 2014June 7, 2018 by

As in the other volumes in the They Knew Their God Series written by Edwin and Lillian Harvey, the men and women in this book are from a variety of eras, cultures, and denominational backgrounds. The first sketch presents us with the commentators Philip and Matthew Henry whose lives spanned the years 1631-1714. Philip began his ministry as an Anglican priest but refused to sign the Act of Uniformity and so became a non-conformist. The second and third sketches cover the lives of American Methodists Freeborn and Catherine Garretson, both born in the mid eighteenth century. Next comes John Gossner, a Roman Catholic priest from Bavaria who eventually and rather reluctantly became Protestant in order to have more freedom to preach the Word.

After Gossner comes John Hunt, an English Methodist who became a missionary to Fiji. Elizabeth Prentiss, an American Presbyterian follows Gossner. She was the daughter of Dr. Edward Payson and author of Stepping Heavenward. The seventh sketch introduces us to the Englishman, Lord Radstock, who ministered to the aristocracy of Russia and through whose ministry, the subject of the next sketch, the German infidel Frederick Baedeker, was converted to Christianity and who also served God in Russia. Irish born Frank Crossley follows Baedeker. Businessman, philanthropist, and preacher, Crossley’s sacrificial life had such an effect on the city of Manchester, that when he died, the Manchester Guardian commented: “Had Mr. Crossley lived in ancient times he would have been a prophet; had he lived in the Middle Ages he would have been a saint somewhat after the style of Francis of Assisi; living in the end of the nineteenth century, he was and remains a witness to the reality of those things to which the prophet and saint bore witness.” P. 154) Two women follow Crossley: the first is his wife Emily and the second, Baroness Von Wrede from Finland who became known as “Angel of the Prisons.” The thirteenth and last sketch in this book is about Henrietta Soltau, an Englishwoman and adherent of the Christian Brethren.
German, American, English, Finnish, Anglican, Methodist, Brethren, Presbyterian—the thirteen sketches of They Knew Their God Volume Four covers all this and much more. This book is published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their Online Christian Bookstore.
Trudy Harvey Tait

They Knew Their God Book Five, Edwin and Lillian Harvey

Posted on April 30, 2014June 7, 2018 by

The first four volumes in They Knew Their God Series were written by Edwin and Lillian Harvey. Even although Edwin passed away in 1983, his wife continued to use much of the material they had prepared together before his death. The last two volumes, however, do not have Edwin’s name on them.

Volume Five has twelve sketches, and like its predecessors, these sketches span the centuries beginning with the life of English poet and Anglican Priest, George Herbert who was born in 1593. The second sketch presents Miguel Molinos to the readers. Molinos was a Spaniard whose writings were to influence many Christian leaders, John Wesley among them. Molinos is followed by Joseph Alleine, another Anglican minister who is best known as author of the book, “An Alarm to the Unconverted.” Next comes the saintly John Fletcher, Vicar of Madely and close associate of John Wesley, followed by his wife, Mary. In the sixth sketch, we read of Lutheran pastor, John Frederick Oberlin from Strasbourg, who labored for God in the French Alps. Samuel Pollard follows Oberlin. Pollard grew up in Cornwall and became a missionary to China. The Scottish Presbyterian minister and hymn-writer, George Matheson, comes next, followed by Canadian missionaries to China, Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth, also Presbyterian. For the last two sketches, we go to England and read of Salvationist Kate Lee, and William Scroggie, author and Keswick speaker.
Spanish, Canadian, English, Scotch, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Salvation Army—the twelve sketches of They Knew Their God Volume Five cover all this and much more. This book is published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their Online Christian Bookstore.
Trudy Harvey Tait

They Knew Their God Book Six, Lillian Harvey

Posted on April 30, 2014June 7, 2018 by

The last two volumes in the They Knew Their God Series are written by Lillian Harvey. The previous four, Lillian co-authored with her husband who passed away in 1983. Volume Six was the last book Lillian ever wrote although she left some material for the seventh and what she intended would be the final book in this series. I hope, one day, to complete this final volume.

They Knew Their God Volume Six has fourteen sketches, and like its predecessors, these sketches span the centuries, and in fact, the opening sketch is the earliest of all the sketches in this series. It is about John Chrysostom, one of the early Church Fathers, who was born in 347 in Syria and was known as “The Golden Mouth” on account of his oratorical skills. From the fourth century, we jump to the eighteenth in the second sketch which tells the story of Scotsman John Brown, who began life as a cowherd but became known to posterity as one of the ablest of theologians and Bible commentators. John was a member of the Secession Branch of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. From Brown we turn to Charles Simeon, Anglican minister in Cambridge, England, whose godly life and teaching influenced many students, one being Henry Martyn, who is the subject of the next sketch. Henry became Simeon’s curate for a while before setting sail as missionary to India and Persia. He died at age thirty-one. The next sketch takes us to the beginning of the twentieth century and tells the story of Helen Ewan, the young university student from Glasgow, Scotland, who died before graduating but whose brief life influenced many throughout Great Britain. From Helen we jump over two centuries and read of Edward Payson, Harvard graduate and minister in the Congregational Church of America. Then, following Payson, we have James Turner, Scottish fisherman and preacher. Next, we read of Englishman Thomas Waring, who became a missionary to Africa. The ninth sketch tells us of another missionary, Anthony Norris Groves, who became a member of the Plymouth Brethren and brother-in-law to George Muller. Groves’ wife Mary, is the subject of the next sketch. The eleventh chapter is centered around the life of William Wilberforce, well known English reformer and philanthropist. The next sketch tells the story of John Pierpont, tutor, attorney, merchant and finally, minister of a Congregational church which finally evicted him on account of his stand on temperance. His grandson was the well known businessman and philanthropist, John Pierpont-Morgan. In the thirteenth sketch we travel to Germany and read of Johann Christoph Blumhardt, “the pastor who confronted devils,” among other things and influenced whole communities through his prayerful living and dauntless courage. Finally, in the last sketch, we turn to American E. M. Bounds, well known author of many books on prayer and one time pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Syrian, German, American, English, Scotch, Anglican, Methodist-Episcopalian, Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran—the fourteen sketches of They Knew Their God Volume Six cover all this and much more. This book is published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their Online Christian Bookstore.

Trudy Harvey Tait

They Knew Their God Volume Three, Edwin and Lillian Harvey

Posted on April 16, 2014June 7, 2018 by

They Knew Their God Vol. 3 begins with the fascinating story of the Frenchman, Marquis DeRenty, who was born in the early seventeenth century. He is followed by another Frenchman, Stephen Grellet, who was forced to seek refuge in America during the French Revolution and became a Quaker and worldwide traveling preacher. The third sketch presents the life of the Englishman Samuel Pearce, sometimes known as “the Brainerd of the Baptists.” Pearce is followed by the Methodist preacher from Yorkshire, John Smith, known as “The man with calloused knees.” The fifth sketch is short but moving and introduces the reader to Ann Cutler, who was born in Preston, England in the mid eighteenth century.

Her life of prayer influenced more than one prominent Methodist preacher even though she died at the young age of thirty-five. In the sixth sketch, we read of Uncle John Vassar, otherwise known as “God’s sheep Dog. John was a colporteur for the American Tract Society. In the next sketch we are taken back to England and the Salvation Army as we read of the devout, albeit somewhat eccentric George Railton. Railton is followed by the Scotsman John G. Govan, founder of the Faith Mission in Edinburgh, Scotland. Next, comes Oswald Chambers, whose devotional books make him practically a household word in many Christian homes in both the UK and America. His books still challenge, bless and sometimes shock the reader into a closer walk with Christ. He is followed by his wife, Gertrude, who, after her husband’s death at age forty-three, made sure that the legacy Oswald left in unpublished manuscripts, was made available to the Christian world. In the last three sketches of the book, we read of Evan Hopkins, the Anglican clergyman who became a well known writer and speaker at the famous Keswick convention; Mary Mozely, missionary to Africa, and Francis Asbury, the English born American bishop who did so much to establish Methodism in the New World.
—Trudy Harvey Tait.
This book, like its predecessors, is written by Edwin and Lillian Harvey, and is published by Harvey Christian Publishers. It is available on the Online Christian Bookstore.

They Knew Their God Book Two, Edwin and Lillian Harvey

Posted on April 15, 2014June 7, 2018 by

They Knew Their God Vol. 2, like its predecessor, contains a wide variety of men and women who illustrate that knowing God is available to every Christian irrespective of nationality, gender, or religious affiliation. Unlike Volume One, however, the first sketch in this book was born in the late seventeenth century. He is Gerhard Terstegen, the German Pietist, mystic and hymn-writer. We then move into the eighteenth century in the next two sketches: two Americans—the Quaker John Woolman, and Methodist itinerant bishop, Elijan Hedding. The fourth sketch in this volume is about Robert Aitken, the Scotsman who became an Anglican minister and labored in Pendeen, a small town in Cornwall.

Phoebe Palmer, an American Methodist, comes next, succeeded by Robert Murray McCheyne, the well known Scottish Presbyterian preacher from Dundee. He is followed by his close friend, William Burns, who became a missionary in China. In the eighth sketch, we read about the Anglican poet and hymn-writer, Frances R. Havergal, and in the ninth, we span the seas and read of Pastor Hsi, the Chinese pastor and convert of David Hill, missionary in the China Inland Mission. Next comes George Watson, an American Methodist at the turn of the twentieth century. He is followed by Jessie Penn-Lewis, born in Wales and author of the helpful albeit somewhat controversial book: “War on the Saints.” The Three Garrat Sisters come next, who were born in Ireland and labored in South Africa for the Lord. The thirteenth sketch is about Englishman Paget Wilkes, who was co-founder with Barclay Buxton of the Japan Evangelistic Band. From Japan we turn to Latvia and read of Basil Malof, Baptist missionary to Russia, and then we turn back to America to the Quaker Thomas Kelly, the missionary martyrs, John and Betty Stam. The seventeenth sketch brings us once more to England and to George Henry Lang of the Christian Brethren.

And so we have the list of saints who knew their God. England, Germany, America, Latvia, Ireland, Russia, Japan, China, Africa—their lives span the world and embrace all peoples. Knowing God opens up a universe to those who will explore it, hand in hand with their God.

This volume is written by Edwin and Lillian Harvey and is available on the Online Christian Bookstore, made available by Harvey Christian Publishers.

They Knew Their God Book One, Lillias Trotter, John Hyde, Robert Cleaver Chapman

Posted on April 14, 2014June 7, 2018 by

In each of the six-book series, They Knew Their God, the authors, Edwin and Lillian Harvey have been careful to include a wide variety of men and women to illustrate that knowing God is available to every Christian irrespective of nationality, gender, or religious affiliation. Generally, the sketches in each book are placed chronologically. There are some exceptions. Take for instance in the first of this series.

The opening sketch traces the spiritual journey of Nicholas of Basle who was born eighteen years after the subject of the second sketch, John Tauler, who received spiritual help from Nicholas and is therefore placed after him. These men lived before the reformation and were both Roman Catholics. In the third sketch we jump to the eighteenth century and read about Christmas Evans, the “One-eyed Preacher of Wales,” who was a Welsh Baptist. Then we have an English Methodist, William Bramwell, an American Methodist, “Mother Cobb,” Felix Neff, a member of the National Church of Switzerland. These last three were all born in the mid to late eighteenth century. Moving into the nineteenth century, we come to Robert Cleaver Chapman, a Christian Brethren from England, followed by “Holy Ann,” the “Irish Saint.” Next come the Englishman, Isaac Marsden and the American born, Alfred Cookman, both Methodists. These two Methodists are followed by two English ladies: Elizabeth Baxter and Lillias Trotter. Next come two Americans, John Hyde, a Presbyterian, and Samuel Logan Brengle, a well known officer in the Salvation Army. After Brengle comes Sister Eva, born in Germany and who founded a sisterhood at Friedenshort. Sammy Morris from Africa comes next, and then Iva Vennard, an American Methodist deaconess and educator. Last but not least, we have Johanna Veenstra, an American of Dutch descent, who was brought up in the Christian Reformed Church and gave her life for Christ in Africa.
And so the list comes to an end–eighteen saints, each very different from the other, who trod very different paths but reached the same destination: knowing God in an intimate way.—Trudy Harvey Tait.
They Knew Their God is published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their online Christian Bookstore.

The Christian’s Daily Challenge

Posted on April 9, 2014June 7, 2018 by

There are many daily reading books out there on the market right now. The Christian’s Daily Challenge by E. F. and L. Harvey is one of them. The authors, however, felt the need when this book was compiled, to produce a daily devotional that would prove a real challenge to readers to strive after a deeper devotional life with Christ.

There were several well accepted and well written daily reading books available back then in the 1950′s but none seemed to exactly fit this category. They were comforting and inspiring but The Christian’s Daily Challenge provoked the reader to godliness in a rather unique way. And the fact that this “provoking” is coming from a variety of voices, each echoing through the medium of its particular culture and era and, with its own peculiar denominational flavor, adds both variety and persuasion to the central message–”Go higher; aim further; dig deeper; never be satisfied with mediocrity in your Christian walk. God is there every moment to be your enabling and your “exceeding great reward.”
This daily devotional is available on Harvey Christian Publishers’ Online Christian Bookstore.

Month: April 2014