Books, Books and MoreBooks, Winford ClaiborneThroughthe encouragement of my father, several others, and kindness of Albert Farley,the editor of The West Virginia Christian,I have been honored to have both written and lectured on recommending books ofvalue for church libraries for over 12 years now. R. R. Bowker, a specialist in Bibliographicmaterial, estimated there are some 479 books published daily. True are the words ofSolomon—“Thewords of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are likewell-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books thereis no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh” (Ecclesiastes12:11-13, NKJV). Recognizing that thevast majority of books published today would provide little to any value to achurch library, one is still faced with the daunting challenge of keepingabreast of the issues impacting the church in the large number of booksrequired. One has to prioritize theirreading in order to come close tokeeping up, but how does one know which books are the better books on a givensubject? If you are a slow reader, as Iam, then prioritizing is essential! Oneof the resources I use is brother Winford Claiborne’s digest of books, Books, Books and More Books.
Brother Claiborne was aProfessor of Bible at Freed-Hardeman University, Lectureship Director for thehighly acclaimed Freed-Hardman University Bible Lectureship and is now Directorand Speaker for the International Gospel Hour. One could not conduct such greatresponsibilities effectively without being an effective reader—on all kinds ofsubjects. In an interview for theHuntsville Times, the late Wallace Skipper stated that Winford readsapproximately 125 books each year and retains what he reads. Winford was my teacher for GeneralEpistles. When my future wife and I hadhim for General Epistles, he would come to class with an arm full ofbooks. He would spend a few momentsusing the books in illustration of the material when appropriate. Today, I cannot recall the title of any ofthose books; however, I can tell you that each class period was a totallydifferent set of books.
The church in Duluth,Georgia, invited Claiborne for a gospel meeting. This congregation’s gospel meetings includedpreaching at night but also classes in the day time too. They requested brother Claiborne spend allthe time in the day classes speaking about the importance of reading andrecommending various books on an array of topics. Thankfully, Paul Sain bound Winford’s notesfrom this meeting into a small book format that we all can profit from. The book, Books,Books and more Books is available from International Gospel Hour (www.gospelhour.net) for a donation.
One of my favoritequotations in this book is the one by Mark Twain—“Theman who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannotread.” We need to be readers of good books, ones which can be used inthe proclamation and defense of the gospel. This book contains a listing of books under various subjects: Abortion, Apologetics, Character, CulticGroups, Ethical Issues, Modesty, New Age Movement, Suicide, Racism,Homosexuality, Evolution, Islam, Pluralism, Post Modernism, and others. Someone once told me that they needed to be abetter reader and just did not know where to begin. When I heard that, I handed them this bookand in an encouraging way said “Start by reading every book in this book. When you have completed that, you will neverhave to ask that question again.” Whenever I am blessed to hear Winford lecture or preach, I always makeit a practice to jot down the title of any book he recommends. I hope someday to be able to say I have readall those titles! Now, back to myreading.
Originally printed in West Virginia Christian, Vol. 19, No. 11, November 2012, p. 8. Reprinted by permission.
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