Come Down, Lord!

The following was originally posted in 2016.  I have since edited and updated it.  The picture is of Dr. Lionel Gurney founder of the RSMT now call Reach Across. In 2016 I received the following in a mass email sent to the local ministerial:  "Because I am up thinking about this, I thought I would bring it to everyone as well. I am always fascinated by what shapes people's thinking, choices, life, be it family, culture, books, dogs, amoebas, etc. So I was just wondering if as an exercise you would like to answer the top ten (at the moment) people, books, movements that have shaped your thinking in your ministry and view of God and the world. Obviously outside the Bible, and it does not have to be solely "Christian"." Its an intriguing invitation and one that got me to thinking... who/what has most influenced me?  The author of the email assumes - as he should! - that the Lord Jesus will be first on everyone's list.  He assumes, too, that the Bible will be i...

This is a near impossible task as I particularly love biographies (and own hundreds).  I chose to name this list of six, Favourite 6 Reformed Biographies,  first because I wouldn't presume to name the top 6.  There are so many I haven't read!  I chose the title, second, because my own library is divided between reformed biographies and non-reformed biographies.   In a future post I will share my favourite 6 non-reformed biographies. I should note here that I include among the reformed, reformed Baptists, reformed Methodists and reformed Anglicans.   What do I mean by 'reformed'?  Simply that they hold to the doctrines of grace and to the 10 commandments.   Here, then, are my favourite 6 (of the reformed): 1. Memoirs & Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne  - Charles Spurgeon said this one should be in every Christian's library.   2. Diary and Journal of David Brainerd   - Few books have had the impact on the C...

There are, of course, a number of useful treatments of the subject that do so technically.   I have been helped, for example, Mark Jones'  Knowing Christ and  B.B. Warfield's  The Emotional Life of our Lord .   But there are other books that offer something more.    My aim for each section is to limit myself to just 6 books.  So here are not necessarily the six most comprehensive or most technical books on the subject, but the six which have shown me most of Christ.    Here, then, are 6 recommendations on the very best of themes: 1.  Looking Unto Jesus   by Isaac Ambrose - When I visited Mr. Sprinkle's warehouse a few years ago I asked him for a recommendation.  I asked, "if I could buy just one book of all the books you have published which would say it should be?"  Mr.  Sprinkle immediately pulled this one off the shelf.  [His second choice was the  Christian's Daily Walk  by Henry...

The following was originally posted on our church blog in 2018.  I have revised and updated the list.  Two books from the previous list have been replaced. I have offered more than once a list of favourite books and in doing so I have tried to confine my selection to just a very few.   More recently I have concentrated on books that I would want to feed upon if shut up alone with just a few books other than my Bible.    I have done a number of posts recommending what I consider to be the top 6 books on a variety of themes ( see bottom for more ).   This time I am recommending books on the subject of Christian living or the Christian's progress in holiness (ie. sanctification).   I have come up with a list of 6  books dealing very generally with the Christian's progress in holiness and Christian living.  On this subject there are almost endless options and many many excellent books, but I committed from the beginning to limit my...

The following article was originally posted on our church blog in 2018. As a pastor I am always reading commentaries and theological works, so it is important for me to keep the Sabbath somehow different.  Here is a day of worship, and I have sought, then, to read material that will bring me into worship.  To that end I generally confine my Sunday reading to sermons.    There are, of course, other books appropriate for the day.  I think, for example, of Octavius Winslow's  Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul  or some of the great Christian biographies (M'Cheyne, Bonar, Nettleton, Whitefield, Lloyd-Jones, Elias, Harris, Burns, Dabney, etc.) or histories of revival or any of the great books on the person of Christ listed in an earlier post. In this post, however, I will offer just 8 books - the best 8 that I am aware of - which contain sermons suitable for this day which ought to be for the Christian a kind of heaven on earth.  ...

We all know  what  it  is to be discouraged and  sometimes even depressed.  These are night seasons when we long for the morning.  In such times it is hard to find our way out.  Reading becomes difficult and often in my experience adds to the sense of failure and futility.  I am one who loves biographies, but there are times when I can hardly bea r to get through one.  When I am confronted with my own weakness and failure and feeling low it is almost too discouraging to read of men (or women) whose lives were marked by such consistent faithfulness and fruitfulness.  I believe my discouragement in such times is due - at least partly - to pride (and perhaps as R. Erskine said "a legalistic spirit"), so I try to read anyway.  But in those 'night' seasons I don't read with the same relish or edification.  Still, there are books that have helped me immensely in those times , and I want to share a few of them here.   ...

Updated October 28, 2020 Here I want to recommend books on the theme of revival.   By that I do not mean biographies of men used in revival like Whitefield, Wesley or Elias. Rather, I mean books written either about the subject itself or books that give accounts of revival. Years ago I was introduced to Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill.   That book (in 2003) changed my life.  In fact it had more of an impact on me than any book since.  From that point I have had a growing interest in the subject of revival and also a growing burden to see the Lord revive the Church in this country.    In 2004 I discovered Sermon Index .  That year I heard three sermons/talks that dramatically impacted me.  The first was titled Ten Shekels and a Shirt .  Though it isn't a sermon on revival, the subject of revival came up.   It was a sermon that changed my perspective on God, missions, salvation and revival.   The second was a gripp...