One moment I was browsing social media half-heartedly, allowing my brain to slow down from a rough day at work. The next, my brain was racing in a million directions, my imagination captured by a small, insignificant to most, announcement: the Sunrise Centenary Edition inventory was up for sale.
Books have fascinated me as far back as I can remember. Growing up on the mission field, we didn't have a library to browse through, so every book in the house, except those cryptic tomes in papa's office, was...
]]>Books have fascinated me as far back as I can remember. Growing up on the mission field, we didn't have a library to browse through, so every book in the house, except those cryptic tomes in papa's office, was a precious treasure to be read and re-read. The best of these would be read together as a family, one chapter a day at the dinner table.
Books, like most of our clothes, toys, and that zenith of American cuisine: peanut butter, found their way into our excited hands through those marvelous treasure chests known to the outside world as care packages. One day an unknown angel included some innocent-looking books that would forever change my life: The Laird's Inheritance, The Fisherman’s Lady, etc.: wonderful retellings of MacDonald's work for today's readers by Michael Phillips.
George MacDonald quickly became a favorite around the house. The stories were exciting enough, but the underlying message was what really set them apart. And in my heart at least, the pages in these novels slowly began to stir mysterious channels. Could what MacDonald hinted at be the most authentic way to look at God? Could it be so simple, and yet so profound? Could I dare to believe it?
It took a few years to transition to the originals and then, one day I discovered the unedited reprints - the Sunrise Centenary Editions. The pinnacle of book heaven: not only were the words in these editions perfect reproductions of the originals; the books themselves were veritable works of art. Surely standard fare gracing the shelves of princely abodes in the next world!
...
When the opportunity to purchase the Sunrise Centenary Edition inventory appeared on my horizon, I immediately started to count the cost. Could I make the radical decision to start a new business and dedicate some of my time, already stretched to the breaking point, to pursue a dream like this? Would it be even possible financially? Would my wife, my wonderful partner in life get behind it?
Quickly everything started falling into place. My lovely wife immediately was supportive. Business had been fairly good the previous year, and the asking price was within our means. Having a technology background and with the amazing turn-key shops available through Shopify.com, it became apparent that setting up an online bookstore would not be very difficult.
However, the biggest obstacle to what we now call WisePathBooks.com came from a completely unexpected source: Michael and Judy Phillips. You see, the creators of the Sunrise Centenary Editions were not very eager to sell. They started questioning if this could really work. Why was I interested in doing it? Could I really afford it, or would it be a big financial blow? What if the books never sold? Did I have a space big enough to store them? They tried to talk me out of buying!
At first I didn't know what to make of it. Were they having second thoughts about selling the books? Or was it just selling to me that was the problem? But as the communications went back and forth I began to understand what was going on.
It slowly became apparent that Michael and his wife Judy are honest and true like you don't find in business these days. Their main concern was not to sell their book inventory, but rather they were concerned for the eventual buyer. If the financial or business burden would have been too much for me, they didn't want to put me in that situation, no matter how excited I was about it. So they questioned if I was ready in order to make sure they were doing the right thing in selling to me. I can honestly say this is the first time I've run into business dealings of this sort, outside of a MacDonald novel that is.
Another factor was also important in this business deal. Michael Phillips has been on a decades-long journey to bring the message of the Father's heart to recent generations, and he is tireless in that pursuit. Until more recently, he has been almost single-handedly carrying the torch of the message MacDonald reintroduced to the modern world. So, of course, Michael was cautious about whom he would partner with in selling the original reprints!
Even though I felt, and still feel, far from worthy of partnering with undoubtedly the most important writer in the MacDonald resurgence, I am deeply grateful to be here. I was able to meet and spend some exciting time with Michael and Judy, about which I may write at another time. WisePathBooks.com is now a reality, selling not only the Sunrise Centenary Editions but also other amazing books related to MacDonald. Who knows what the future holds for this little bookstore?
]]>Turning his back on Christianity, a good friend of mine explained his thinking on social media. The gist of it was: “... any God who would allow a horrible, nightmarish, place of eternal punishment containing people who simply believed the wrong thing arbitrarily, would be a terrible God. Not even bad people deserve such a place from a just God ... eternally.”
Interestingly, George MacDonald, undoubtedly closer to the heart of God than most Christians, repeatedly said similar things in his writings over a hundred years ago...
]]>Interestingly, George MacDonald, undoubtedly closer to the heart of God than most Christians, repeatedly said similar things in his writings over a hundred years ago, such as this:
“If sin must be kept alive, then hell must be kept alive; but while I regard the smallest sin as infinitely loathsome, I do not believe that any being, never good enough to see the essential ugliness of sin, could sin so as to deserve such punishment. I am not now, however, dealing with the question of the duration of punishment, but with the idea of punishment itself; and would only say in passing, that the notion that a creature born imperfect, nay, born with impulses to evil not of his own generating, and which he could not help having, a creature to whom the true face of God was never presented, and by whom it never could have been seen, should be thus condemned, is as loathsome a lie against God as could find place in heart too undeveloped to understand what justice is, and too low to look up into the face ofJesus.”
From Unspoken Sermons III, 1889.
These statements deal with an essential question that has plagued thinking believers and non-believers alike for many centuries. How could a loving God send somebody to Hell?
The question was especially pertinent in George MacDonald’s time, when a large portion of Christians in England held to Calvinist doctrine, essentially believing that God created some people for Himself, and other people He created for Hell. To many, these unfortunates had no chance of ever believing and being saved.
In our day most Christians believe in “free will.” Meaning, that everyone has a chance to know God and come into a relationship with Him. However, this does not completely answer the question raised by my friend, and by many others in our society. Why would God send people to Hell just because they misunderstood something? Or even if they chose to ignore Him –they obviously were not completely aware of what they were choosing. Like a child who wants to be a policeman before they understand what is involved. You wouldn’t send the 12-year old off to the police academy, would you? In the same way, how could God hold it against well-meaning people who simply didn’t believe he even existed?
These are tough questions.
Part of the answer may lie in our misunderstanding of God’s nature. Many today have this picture of God as an old man sitting in the clouds and looking down disapprovingly on mankind. When somebody dies, the Old Man pulls out his list of requirements and checks it against the poor bloke’s life, and if it doesn’t match up, well … let’s just say it doesn’t go well for the dead dude.
But, what if it isn’t like that at all? What if it has nothing to do with a decision based on arbitrary rules you must live by and things you must believe? What if there is avery good reason for Hell and a very good reason for the rules?
I recently saw something in the Bible that I had only glossed over previously. It is somewhat shocking when you think about it:
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 4:24
That isn’t the only place we are told such a thing. A quick search will bring up around a dozen references that speak of God being “fire,” including these:
In addition, the Bible often speaks of God as light, which is one of the qualities of fire, as in this example:
who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light,whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
1 Timothy 6:16
Passages like these paint a very different picture of God than the one in popular culture. Instead of a good, old, man, these describe something of a nature very different than what we are. So, what if the reason some can be with Him and some cannot is not arbitrary, but natural? Have you ever wondered why no man can look at God – and live?
Here is what I mean: would you blame a fire for burning up a piece of paper that landed on it by accident? Would you blame the sun for disintegrating your deep-space probe if it came too close without the proper protection? Of course not! The sun cannot help how hot it is! Fire cannot change its nature just to please the paper that happened to drift too close.
So why do we blame God for being who He is?
What if God’s whole purpose is to make us into men and women who can abide to live in His presence? Sons and daughters who can look into His face without being destroyed? What if the whole reason Jesus came was to give us a new life that is able to dwell in His presence? A life that is able to have fellowship with a Consuming Fire.
Is the fire different for gold and for dross? It burns up the dross and refines the gold. Is it the fire’s fault?
The fire is the fire. It doesn't change.
We see the same thing happen with soil. If the earth is well watered, it becomes moist and easy to work with when the sun comes out. If the soil has no water, it hardens into clay and becomes impossible to work with. The same sun hits them both, with different effect.
What if Hell - on some level – is just getting too close to God without being ready?
Throughout the Bible God is shown doing all He can to get us to follow His Son. Why? The only way we can be “Children of Light” and “Shine like Stars” is if we become disciples of His Son, and so begin to change in our very nature to be like Him. Then, we shall “see him like He is.” (Philippians 2:15, Ephesians 5:8, 1 John 3:2)
Let me know what you think about these musings...
]]>Sunrise Books is proud to offer these new "Centenary" editions of the works of George MacDonald, bringing back to the reading public a hundred years after their first publication, the stories, truths, insights, and spiritual perspectives of this man of God.
It is our sincere hope and prayer that these books will exercise an equal impact in our own generation as they did a century ago. Furthermore, when still another hundred years shall have passed...
]]>During the final forty years of the last century, Scottish author George MacDonald (1824-1905) produced some 53 volumes of great diversity, mostly novels but also including poetry, fairy tales, sermons, short stories, and literary essays. Though in his time MacDonald was one of Britain's top-selling and most respected authors, in the twentieth century his books gradually became unavailable. The time eventually came when not a single original full-length novel, not a single volume of poetry, not a single original sermon, and not a single literary essay of George MacDonald's was to be found in print on either side of the Atlantic. A great literary and spiritual legacy seemed in danger of being lost.
However, as MacDonald himself so perceptively noted in Paul Faber, Surgeon through the mouth of Joseph Polwarth, though fashions change and though trends may be neglected for a season, ancient, forgotten flowers can reappear in an old garden suddenly. All the time their essential life has been hid below the surface awaiting opportunity to spring into bloom once again. Such is true with writing styles also as we are witnessing in the late years of the 20th century. After decades of being overlooked, George MacDonald has once again become a literary influence in the lives of many thousands the world over.
As part of that process, Sunrise Books is proud to offer these new "Centenary" editions of the works of George MacDonald, bringing back to the reading public a hundred years after their first publication, the stories, truths, insights, and spiritual perspectives of this man of God.
It is our sincere hope and prayer that these books will exercise an equal impact in our own generation as they did a century ago. Furthermore, when still another hundred years shall have passed, perhaps these 20th century facsimiles will enable publishers, libraries, and editors to continue making MacDonald's life-changing message available to future generations. For it is a message which must be told anew to every generation. The call of George MacDonald's life and the essential cry of his heart through the body of his work is the call to a lifestyle of simplicity and obedience, a call to singleness of mind and purpose in that obedience. It is a challenge to the Christians of the world, both now and in the future, to practice daily, in the next five minutes, their faith in God. It is an exhortation to holiness. It is a call to live like Jesus.
Believing, therefore, in the importance and the permanence of George MacDonald's work, we have given every attention to detail in the reproduction of these volumes. We believe not only that the treasures to be found in these pages are deserving of quality reserved for true classics, we also desire to produce books which will stand the test of time, are worthy to be treasured as family heirlooms, and will provide enjoyment and enrichment for many years to come. We sincerely hope that your investment will yield a truly abundant harvest according to Mark 4:8 in your own life, and in the lives of those with whom you come in contact.
The corpus of George MacDonald's written life's work can roughly be divided into five groupings: Novels, Sermons, Stories, Poems, and Essays. These comprise the five divisions in the series of Sunrise Centenary Editions. We have produced new artwork for the covers. However, much of the front-matter - the pen-and-ink drawings, the 19th century quotations, and whatever dedications MacDonald made - has been taken directly from the original publications. Finally, whenever possible we have photographically reproduced actual original texts for the body of these editions, thus insuring that every word appears just as it originally did. When this has not been possible, every care has been taken to make sure there are no deviations from the original texts.
If through this publication effort, we can have but a small hand in keeping George MacDonald's spiritual heritage alive, we will have fulfilled what we set out to accomplish. Such is our vision, and in that spirit we offer you this present volume.
from the Preface to the Sunrise Centenary Editions
]]>Welcome to our simple, online bookstore with amazing books to sell.
We do not know yet the full extent of our little shop; what we will sell, what we will write about, what we will do. But we do know that our goal is to help Christians grow. Grow closer to God and closer to our brothers and sisters. To that end, we are beginning to sell original and edited works of one of the men who walked with God, over a century ago, with a closeness that many of us can only long for.
George MacDonald stepped up from the dead religion of his generation and gave us a picture of our Father that has inspired millions. Most know his ideas indirectly through the works of C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Oswald Chambers, and others, who fed off of MacDonald's vision of God. We hope, with these first books, to inspire today's readers to read the man himself, and so draw closer to the Eternal Father.
With many thanks to Michael and Judy Phillips for the trust they have put in us to continue to offer MacDonald's works in our day. We will do our very best.
To an amazing journey together!
In Him,
Joseph Dindinger
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