Seventy-seven years after his “promotion to glory,” Samuel Logan Brengle, who rose to the rank of Commissioner in The Salvation Army and authored nine books on the subject of holiness has a new book officially releasing today...and I got to play a part in it!
Take Time to Be Holy is a one-year book of devotional readings drawn from the writings of Brengle, published by Tyndale Momentum, an imprint of Tyndale House Publishers. It presents the timeless words of a Salvationist saint in a new format, updated for modern readers.
The book is the product of a unique series of partnerships. It began with my pitch to the USA East literary department and publications council. Soon after, the territory agreed to partner with me and commissioned me to compile the manuscript.
My agent
Steve Laube was engaged to represent the project to publishers. Laube, a friend of The Salvation Army whose father was awarded the organization’s prestigious “Others” Award for his service to the Alaska Division as a volunteer and advisory board member, contacted Tyndale and negotiated the contract.
After contracts were signed and the manuscript was edited by Lynell Johnson, senior editor for the USA East Territory, it was entrusted into the hands of Caleb Sjogren, an editor for Tyndale House who is a soldier of the Oakbrook Terrace (IL) Corps. “As a lifelong Salvationist,” Sjogren says, “I requested this assignment as soon as I learned that Tyndale was publishing it. Having read Brengle's writings before, I know the potency of his holiness message, and I pray that God might use this new work to bring many people into closer fellowship with his Holy Spirit.” Sjogren worked with Hostetler and the Johnsons to guide the work through the publication process.
Lynell Johnson says, “I couldn’t be more excited about
Take Time to Be Holy. Throughout the long process of getting it ready for release by such a prominent Christian publishing house, I found my heart and soul repeatedly stirred by Brengle’s words. And I am thrilled at the potential of this new format, not only for a revival of holiness in The Salvation Army but also among Christians who by means of this book may discover Brengle’s teachings on holiness for the first time.”
The book boasts an impressive array of endorsements. Author and speaker
Gordon MacDonald says, "Samuel Logan Brengle embodies for me everything I could imagine a holy person to be. What I see is a man who knew lots about life in the streets but saw it from the perspective of knowing lots about life in the Lord's presence. Bob Hostetler has done us a service by arranging Brengle’s holiness writings into bite−size pieces, one for each day of the year, to help us spend time in secret with Jesus."
Leonard Sweet, author and professor at Drew University and George Fox University, says, "
Take Time to be Holy is a splendid book—in the richness of its devotional selections from the writings of Samuel Logan Brengle, the depth of its insights into the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, its subtle delineation of biblical holiness, and the diligent unraveling of a multi-faced subject and a multifaceted character who deserves to be rediscovered as a 21st–century 'prophet of holiness.'” And
Kevin Mannoia, founder and chair of the Wesleyan Holiness Consortium and professor of ministry at Azusa Pacific University says, "This daily diet of wisdom from Brengle’s life affords a wonderful opportunity to deepen the health of your own journey toward wholeness. The simplicity of a day-to-day dose of wisdom from such a Godly man is a gift that will multiply in effect each day. Holiness in its generous and transforming nature is the perfect reflection of the deep complexity of God's own heart. Taken one drop at a time, daily, the Holy Spirit will work its restoring way in your heart as you walk this path of daily devotions. God's holy nature will become a new and fresh breeze each day."
Take Time to Be Holy can be purchased online (
here), in Christian bookstores, and through The Salvation Army’s territorial trade departments.
