Gary Long and Terry Wolever were my friends. Gary was the pastor of the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri, and Terry was a faithful member of that Church. Additionally, they were the heart and soul of the Particular Baptist Press, which operates out of the basement of the Church. I have dozens of valued books from Particular Baptist Press that I have purchased and read over the years.
Terry was promoted to glory in 2020, and Gary was promoted to glory several months ago. They were two of the most faithful and kindest Christian men I have ever known. This book was in its final stages of preparation before printing when God took Terry home. The book had been out about six or seven months when God took Gary home. Though I was not a member of their families, a friend for an exceptionally long time, or even a very close friend living so far away, I loved those men, and their passing has left a void. I admired and loved them both.
I never knew Cleve Brantley, but brother long and I discussed his work on this book before publication.
Cleve Brantley was a Baptist pastor who was profoundly faithful, an excellent writer, and a man of considered and strong opinions. I imagine that he and I would not have agreed on everything, but we would have agreed on the essential things and respected each other’s differences.
By most contemporary pastors’ reckonings, Cleve Brantley was not a successful Gospel minister. However, by God’s reckoning as revealed in Scripture, Cleve Brantley was an astonishingly successful Gospel minister, and that by the grace of God. First a Christian, then a Bible student, he was also a pastor and a writer/poet.
I commend this book to every believer in Christ who is between third-base and home plate in the baseball game of life. I promise that you will not agree with everything Cleve Brantley wrote. I do promise that you will be profoundly moved by the depth of his devotion to God, his commitment to the integrity of Scripture, and the quality and profundity of his articles, poems, and letters.
My approach was to read just a few pages a day. So it took me months to get through the 412 pages. But the book moved me. Cleve Brantley, now in heaven for 33 years, has become my cherished and beloved friend, my colleague in the Gospel ministry through this book. You will benefit from reading this book.
