5 Books That Influenced Me by John Richardson

We asked John Richardson, Chair of the Elders, to tell us about some books that have had a significant impact on his life... 

I read a great variety of books though I have a strong preference for fiction. I have a list of 5 books that I want to introduce you to.

One of the suggestions I was given was to include books that have had a great influence on me. One in particular comes to mind. It is a devotional book called Faith's Cheque Book by C.H. Spurgeon.  This devotional book is not any more exceptional than any of the literally thousands of devotionals available to us. It, however, was very special to me at a time of crisis in my life. Probably 5 years before the crisis one of my pastors had handed out Faith's Cheque Book to the congregation I was part of at that time. It went on my shelves. I hardly glanced at it. Then in the midst of my crisis my eye happened on it. I took it down and looked up the passage and reflection for that day. It spoke directly to my situation. Then day after day for months that book spoke grace and truth into my life when I desperately needed it. I believe God gave me that book years before so that when the need arose it was there for me.

One day you may go to your bookshelf and find God has a book for you that has been waiting on your shelves for a time of need.  

There are two books that are books that speak to relationships. No book, of course, should be taken as Gospel because they are one or two persons' perspective. They can though give us some helps as we work on the relationships in our lives. The first is Hold On to Your Kids:Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate. These are local Vancouver authors, one an experienced counsellor and the other a medical doctor. I read this to assist a friend who was having a struggle with a teenage child. It stresses the point that parents need to be the most important people in a child's life. It gives insights into how to do that. The bottom line is to spend valuable time with your children. This is a very useful book and it is local.  The second of these books is The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller. No matter how long we have been married (46 years for Joy and I) we can always be blessed by a new perspective that gets us to look beyond how we have done things in our relationships. This takes a very realistic view of marriage (“Marriage is glorious, but hard. It's a burning joy and strength, and yet it is also blood, sweat and tears, humbling defeats and exhausting victories.”) from a Biblical perspective.  

I am also a reader of poetry, especially Christian poetry. My daughter has been following the author of this book on instagram and thought I would like it. I do. The book is The Jubilee by John Blase. My daughter describes it as “both earthy and faithful”. Here is one of the poems from John Blase:  

Actually, Scratch That  

The timeline's different for each of us
but at some point you have to stop fighting
your parents or religion or 1950's America or
your no-good-cheating-ex-spouse or quite possibly even yourself.  Yes yourself.
Signify this truce by beating your sword
into a plowshare. Actually, scratch that.
I propose beating into wind chimes.
That way you'll be gently recalled to the
forgiveness when subsequent winds blow.
Those notes will be a charmer's tune
easing the air around you, an alarming
remembrance that by no means did you give up,
but that by choice you gave in to an older song.  

There are poetry books with a Christian focus for many different tastes in poetry.  My last book is a book of fiction. It is a murder mystery. I include it because it is a self-published book written by my brother-in-law. The book is Eye Spy: The Adventures of Auralie Duchene by Doug David. I include this as an encouragement to those among us who like to write and who might be encouraged to try their hand at a novel.