Logic on Fire!

This for me is certainly a huge challenge as I begin to preach more. This is what we should be hearing every week:

What is Preaching? Logic on fire! Eloquent reason! Are these contradictions? Of course they are not. Reason concerning this Truth ought to be mightily eloquent, as you see it in the case of the Apostle Paul and others. It is theology on fire. And a theology which does not take fire, I maintain, is a defective theology; or at least the man’s understanding of it is defective. Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire. A true understanding and experience of the Truth must lead to this. . . . A man who can speak about these things dispassionately has no right whatsoever to be in a pulpit; and should never be allowed to enter one.

What is the chief end of preaching? . . . To give men and women a sense of God and His presence. . . . I can forgive a man for a bad sermon, I can forgive the preacher almost anything if he gives me a sense of God, if he gives me something for my soul, if he gives me the sense that, though he is inadequate himself, he is handling something which is very great and very glorious, if he gives me some dim glimpse of the majesty and the glory of God, the love of Christ my Saviour, and the magnificence of the Gospel. If he does that I am his debtor, and I am profoundly grateful to him. Preaching is the most amazing, and the most thrilling activity that one can ever be engaged in, because of all that it holds out for all of us in the present, and because of the glorious endless possibilities in an eternal future.

– Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures

Well tonight I finished reading this great book.

I did a short post about it a few weeks back but have now finally got round to finishing it and I would recommend it so very highly to anyone.

Lloyd-Jones seems to have such a brilliant way of applying the principles of writings in the Epistles to our Christian lives and our pursuit of Joy in the Lord. I found that as I read each passage it was so applicable to me and it is jam-packed with practical ways of how to apply the teachings.

I have been very challenged by much of what Lloyd-Jones talked of and I feel better equipped and prepared as a follower of Jesus to face trials and hardships when they arise. Not only just in these times but also just how in my life to seek Jesus more and find that as I do that I will find Him to be so much more satisfying than anything the world can offer.

I sincerely hope that you will read this book and share a similar experience, and please let me know if you have done or do!

Disciplined for God

I have just been reading some more of Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. It has taken me a long time to read it mostly because I have had a lot of things on but also because of my own laziness!

Out of the chapters I just read one of them was all about Discipline. Its funny that I say part of why I have not been reading it is my own laziness, well it is things like this that Lloyd-Jones so well points out can hamper our faith and make us un-fruitful for the Kingdom of God. It can be just the smallest things: what we eat, what time we go to bed, what we watch on the TV, how much TV we watch, all of these things can breed laziness and lethargic Christians which are a contradiction.

I have really just been, in the last 30 mins but not for the first time, challenged to spend more time with Jesus and doing things that are going to benefit me spiritually and help me know my greatest friend and awesome saviour better! Much of this hints at Christian Hedonism, where you seek to find your greatest pleasure in God, which I think is such a true doctrine and we will find we are so satisfied in life when we are going all out for The Lord and find ourselves being satisfied by Him and not TV or the computer or even blogging! How the creator can satisfy us so much more than all of these trivial things!

I am convinced one of the reasons John Piper’s ministry is so brilliant and effective is because he seeks to live this, to find his pleasure in Jesus. When talking about watching TV he said this:

I have so many things I want to accomplish in this one short life. Don’t waste your life is not a catchphrase for me; it’s a cliff I walk beside every day with trembling.

TV consumes more and more time for those who get used to watching it. You start to feel like it belongs. You wonder how you could get along without it. I am jealous for my evenings. There are so many things in life I want to accomplish. I simply could not do what I do if I watched television. So we have never had a TV in 40 years of marriage (except in Germany, to help learn the language). I don’t regret it.

I think he really shows how pursuing Jesus above all else leads to a truly fulfilled existence!

Once again Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures has challenged me on this, and another great read is The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges which also really challenged me on similar issues.

We need to all seek our pleasure in God and spend more and more time with Him, this will lead to fruitful, joyful, and fulfilled Christian living!

Spiritual Depression: It’s Causes and Cure

I thought I should do a quick post about this book that I’m reading at the moment although I’ve not finished it yet.

Its called ‘Spiritual Depression: It’s Causes and Cure by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. This book has been incredible so far. Recently I also did a post on When I don’t Desire God by John Piper and so much of his material he gets from this book.

I have found it so relevant and helpful and have been in full agreement with everything the Doctor says in this superb book. If you have ever had struggles in the christian walk, which is a given for any Christian so I would assume all of you, then read this book! A full book review shall follow when I finish!