Flattening Pulpits

Do not talk to me of mild and gentle men, of soft manners and squeamish words, we want the fiery Knox, and even though his vehemence should ‘ding our pulpits into blads,’ it were well if he did but rouse our hearts to action.

-C.H. Spurgeon, from Iain Murray’s Forgotten Spurgeon

I’ll Take the Ditchdigger

Take any county throughout England, you will find poor men hedging and ditching that have a better knowledge of divinity than one half of those who come from our academies and colleges, for the reason simply and entirely that these men have first learned in their youth the system of which election is a centre, and have afterwards found their own experience exactly square with it.

-C.H. Spurgeon, quoted in Iain Murray’s, The Forgotten Spurgeon

My, Such Refined Sheepdogs!

If there were only one prayer which I might pray before I died, it should be this: ‘Lord, send thy Church men filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire.’ Give to any denomination such men, and its progress must be mighty: keep back such men, send them college gentlemen, of great refinement and profound learning, but of little fire and grace, dumb dogs which cannot bark, and straightway that denomination must decline.

-C.H. Spurgeon, quoted by Iain Murray, The Forgotten Spurgeon

Apostolic Succession

Ask me ‘Where is the Church?’ and I can find her at any and every period from the day when first in the upper room the Holy Ghost came down even until now. In one unbroken line our apostolic succession runs; not through the Church of Rome; not from the superstitious hands of priest-made popes, or king-created bishops (what a varnished lie is the apostolic succession of those who boast so proudly of it!), but through the blood of good men and true, who never forsook the testimony of Jesus; through the loins of true pastors, laborious evangelists, faithful martyrs, and honourable men of God, we trace our pedigree up to the fishermen of Galilee and glory that we perpetuate by God’s grace that true and faithful Church of the living God, in whom Christ did abide and will abide until the world’s crash.

-C.H. Spurgeon, as quoted in The Forgotten Spurgeon, by Iain Murray

September & October Reading

Because I know how much you all appreciate having the most awesome posts obstructed by worthless mementos of my reading habits, here’s what I read in September and October.

September:

The Reformed Pastor – Richard Baxter (for class)

Reformed, as in, changed for the better. If you’re a pastor or an elder, training to be one, or thinking about becoming one, you should read this book. And then reread it. You know, like… once a year or so. It’s a tough read (a little archaic) but well worth it. I say, (from my vast experience, of course), this is the single most important read for any pastor, anywhere. I say that without hesitation, without equivocation, and without doubt.

2000 Years of Christ’s Power (Vol. 1) - N.R. Needham (for class)

Big volume. Whirlwind tour of the early church. Easy read. Very helpful. I especially appreciated the extended excerpts from pertinent primary sources (key works of church fathers, for example) at the end of each chapter. That was wonderful. I only wish he footnoted more extensively within the chapters.

Orthodoxy – G.K. Chesterton (for fun)

An absolute blast. Chesterton is loads of fun and is absolutely hilarious. He’s a Roman Catholic, so you have to get over his distaste for, you know, BIBLICAL DOCTRINE, but looking past all of that, there’s hardly anyone from the 20th century that’s more worthy of your attention. Absolutely brilliant.

Living the Cross-Centered Life – C.J. Mahaney (for the discipleship group I teach)

It’s okay. I wish there was something better, but it’s definitely a helpful. Recommended as a tool to use with high school students, some college students, and most new believers that need a good foundational understanding of applying the gospel to their lives.

October:

Lectures to My Students – C.H. Spurgeon (for class)

Spurgeon is a hero. I don’t know that any dead man feeds my soul, equips me for my work as a college minister, and spurs me on to faithfulness than this guy. I heartily recommend this book to anyone involved in ministry. Because of this book, I’ll likely always have some piece of work by Spurgeon I’m chewing on.

Persecution in the Early Church – Herbert Workman (for class)

Heart-rending. Stunning. Convicting. I’d call it a must-read, but I’ve already done that 3 times so far.

God’s Ultimate Purpose – Martyn Lloyd-Jones (for the Fold)

Lloyd-Jones’ sermons on Ephesians 1. Read, skimmed, and referenced as I was preaching through Eph. 1 at our weekly meeting. Very helpful.

God’s Way of Reconciliation – Martyn Lloyd-Jones (for the Fold)

Lloyd-Jones’ sermons on Ephesians 2. See above.

There are other books I’ve been reading for class and for fun through September and October, but I’ll comment on them in the months I finish them.

What I Read This Summer

(Jake) I thought it might be fun to start sharing some of my reading with you guys and a one line review or so. Plus, I figured you’d rather read that than see the pictures of Amanda’s awesome pregnant-on-Halloween costume (not).

I’ll start with this past summer (June-August), but first a word about C.S. Lewis.

Lewis is one of those authors I have a visceral reaction to just because so many people love him–especially evangelical Christians. I know, I know… how pretentious, right? However, I loved reading The Chronicles of Narnia as a kid, and I jumped into rereading them with Amanda. So, as an act of faith (repentance, maybe?), this summer became what might best be called “The Summer of C.S. Lewis.”

The Chronicles of Narnia:

Prince Caspian – C.S. Lewis

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – C.S. Lewis

The Silver Chair – C.S. Lewis

The Horse and His Boy – C.S. Lewis

The Magician’s Nephew – C.S. Lewis

 

If you haven’t read these, you should. These books are fun and fun is good.

 

Everything That Rises Must Converge – Flannery O’Connor

 

Excellent. O’Connor gets at the heart of southern hypocrisy. These short stories are somewhat morose and depressing, but always in a good, wholesome way–if you ask me.

 

A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking

 

Brilliant, accessible, humble, and often funny. Very good writing from a very brilliant dude. He’s clearly one of the most strident worshipers of the Cosmos you’ll ever find. If you ever thought reading theoretical physics could be fun, this is the book for you.

 

Lectures to My Students – C.H. Spurgeon

 

Perhaps the best and most helpful book I read this summer–although I stopped reading it when I realized it was in my fall curriculum. Spurgeon is a hero.

 

The Man Who Was Called Thursday: A Nightmare – G.K. Chesterton

 

Exhilarating. Chesterton is always a ton of fun. Read everything he’s ever written.

 

Outgrowing the Ingrown Church – Jack Miller

 

Not ground-breaking by any stretch, but certainly helpful.

 

How to Read a Book – Mortimer Adler

 

Helpful. Very intuitive. Everyone should at least skim it once. It convinced me to mark up my books.

 

The Mortification of Sin – John Owen

 

Killer good, and a must read.

 

Shepherding a Child’s Heart – Tedd Tripp

 

A helpful guide to getting at the root of your kid’s behavior.

 

God the Redeemer – James Boice

 

Eh… Just read Calvin.

 

Sermons on Ephesians – John Calvin

 

Good, but not as helpful as I’d hoped. Probably because I rarely sat down and gave it the time I should have. Oh yeah, and never actually finished…

 

The Great Divorce – C.S. Lewis

 

Overrated. But not without merit.

 

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeline L’Engle

 

Read this one as a kid and wanted to reread it. Kind of gross, actually–not nearly as fun as I remembered.

 

The Space Trilogy:

Out of the Silent Planet – C.S. Lewis

Perelandra – C.S. Lewis

That Hideous Strength – C.S. Lewis

 

Absolutely brilliant. Adult fiction that couldn’t be farther removed from Narnia in terms of writing style and content. If you don’t read anything else I read this summer, read That Hideous Strength. Very insightful. Lewis’ strengths in fiction lie largely in integrating cultural commentary into the plot, and this book is masterful.

 

Defending the Faith – D.G. Hart

Biography of J. Gresham Machen, Princeton professor at the turn of the last century. Pretentious author, helpful content. Wasn’t able to finish, but definitely intend to when things slow down. Probably not worth your time, though.