reformed blogging.

So for the upcoming months I decided I would spent a little more time with one particular theologian. There are so many men worth getting acquainted with: the reformers, the puritans, the Princetonians, the Scottish divines, all those great Dutch theologians, the early church Fathers, etc. it’s an impossible task to know them all without compromising some depth with any particular one. John Piper recommends choosing one dead theologian and spending your life getting to him and his theology. While I’m far from making any life commitments I thought it might be worth my time to try to read up on at least the basic works of some theologian, a major biography or two, and more contemporary things pertaining to the man. And as you may have guessed by the title of this post, I decided on Martin Luther.

This decision was made for several reasons: (1) because I read Bainton’s biography on Luther and still feel like the Luther is a complete stranger. (2) Luther’s Bondage of the Will about a year ago was an invigorating read, his style of writing is so straightforward and bold that it would get any Christian’s blood rushing. It’s not hard to see why Luther was regarded as a “bull in a china shop.” He was unbounded in his zeal for the true gospel, particularly the doctrine of justification by faith alone. (3) Carl Trueman’s recommendation of The Genius of Luther’s Theology as well as his mention of the impact Luther’s theology has had on him moved me towards this direction. (4) Carl Trueman’s lectures on Martin Luther a couple months ago also did much to generate interest. (5) John Piper’s biographical sketch on Martin Luther (with an emphasis on Martin Luther’s time spent in the study). (6) Lastly, God used this man to develop the theology of the reformation! This is enough in itself to get anyone to invest some time in getting to know him.

So here are the books I’m planning on reading:

1. Biography: Luther: Man Between God and the Devil - Heiko A. Oberman
2. Works: Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings (1st edition) - Timothy F. Lull
3. Contemporary: The Genius of Luther’s Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church - Robert Kolb, Charles P. Arand

Most people today have so little experience of deep, earnest, reverent, powerful encounters with God in preaching that the only associations that come to mind when the notion is mentioned are that the preacher is morose or boring or dismal or sullen or gloomy or surly or unfriendly…
Since they have little or no experience of the deep gladness of momentous moments of gravity, they strive for gladness the only way they know how–by being lighthearted and chipper and talkative.
Pastors have absorbed this narrow view of gladness and friendliness and now cultivate it across the land with pulpit demeanor and verbal casualness that make the blood-earnestness of Chalmers and the pervading solemnity of Edwards’s mind unthinkable. The result is a preaching atmosphere and a preaching style plagued by triviality, levity, carelessness, flippancy and a general spirit that nothing of eternal and infinite proportions is being done or said on Sunday morning.
- John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, 55.

“Hebrews 11 is a divine mandate to read Christian biography. The unmistakable implication of the chapter is that if we hear about the faith of our forefathers (and mothers), we will “lay aside every weight, and sin” and “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1). If we asked the author, “How shall we stir one another up to love and good works?” (10:24), his answer would be: “Through encouragement from the living (10:25) and the dead (11:1-40).” Christian biography is the means by which the body life of the church cuts across the centuries.” - John Piper, Brothers We Are Not Professionals, 89-90.

Some good Christian Biographies (in no particular order, except for no. 1):

1. The Life and Times of George Whitefield (vol. 1 & 2) - Arnold A. Dallimore — (I think it safe to say that these two volumes changed my life. Dallimore’s pastoral heart comes through his writing so that the two volumes are more than mere biography.)

2. Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography - Iain H. Murray (classic!)

3. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Vol. 1 & 2) - Iain H. Murray (comparable to Whitefield’s biography in richness!)

4. The Life of A.W. Pink - Iain H. Murray (the life of a brilliant man, who is not too well-known. Good read –like all of Murray’s biographies!)

5. The Life and Diary of David Brainerd - Jonathan Edwards (can be dry at times, but it is the realness of the biography, that God would work through an earnest and melancholy man like Brainerd, that makes it so good (an understatement)).

6. Here I Stand: The Life of Martin Luther - Roland H. Bainton (classic!)

7. To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson - Courtney Anderson (Anderson was a screenwriter so some parts of the bio seem really dramatic, especially in describing Judson’s childhood. Yet, the book is well-written and good!)

8. William Tyndale: A Biography - David Daniell (written in a scholarly manner. gain a good history of the english reformation as well as appreciation for our English bible through reading this. Reaading this will make you so thankful for the Reformation!)

9. John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides - John G. Paton (makes for an easy and fun read since Paton writes so well! Like reading an adventure book.)

10. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners - John Bunyan (another classic!)

There is an earnestness in John Piper’s preaching that makes it very attractive to those of us tired of the shallower type of Christianity. John Piper presents a brand of Christianity that seems to be the sort that people die for. Listening to his messages, it’s not hard to see why a man will go halfway across the world to share the gospel and say “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This is the sort of Christianity found in Scripture, in 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Corinthians 1:23 and the sort that seems consistent with what Paul says in Philippians 3:10.

However, many of us, myself included, tend to think that mere endorsement of John Piper’s preaching is enough. We, sometimes, subconsciously equate listening to a sermon with applying it to our lives–the more we listen, the better we are. That, however, is not the case. The man who built his house on sand was not the man who was ignorant of the word, but one who listened and did not act. I fear that many of us are in danger of being, or already are, that man. True Christianity consists of more than simply endorsing the right preachers, or having sound doctrine. We must never separate our own lives from that which we know, or claim to know. The book of James describes such a man as a “forgetful hearer.” We must examine ourselves to see whether what we have is a true and acting faith, or mere mental assent. Brothers, test yourselves and take to heart the words of Christ:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

Some Christian Hedonism for you:

“It is not a thing contrary to Christianity that a man should love himself, or, which is the same thing, should love his own happiness. If Christianity did indeed tend to destroy a man’s love to himself, and to his own happiness, it would therein tend to destroy the very spirit of humanity; but the very announcement of the gospel, as a system of peace on earth and good-will toward men (Luke 2:14), shews that it is not only not destructive of humanity, but in the highest degree promotive of its spirit. That a man should love his own happiness, is a as necessary to his nature as the faculty of the will is; and it is impossible that such a love should be destroyed in any other way than by destroying his being. The saints love their own happiness. Yea, those that are perfect in happiness, the saints and angels in heaven, love their own happiness; otherwise that happiness which God hath given them would be no happiness to them; for that which any one does not love he cannot enjoy any happiness in.” - Jonathan Edwards, Charity and its Fruits, p.159

It’s difficult for me to say anything on this topic seeing that I’m still under my parents’ roof and have no monetary indepedence. I pray that by God’s grace I will live in such a way so as to glorify God with my money with what I have now, and with what I might have in the future:

[Christian people] have been taken in by the half-truth that says we glorify God with money by enjoying thankfully all luxuries He enables us to buy. The true half is this: we should give thanks for every good thing God gives us. That does glorify Him. The false half is the subtle implication that God can be glorified in this way by every decent purchase we make. - p.169, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals

God is not glorified when we keep for ourselves (no matter how thankfully) what we ought to be using to alleviate the misery of unevangelized and uneducated and unhoused and unfed millions. - p.169

We can only justify the exorbitance of our lifestyle by ignoring the lostness of the unreached and the misery of the poor. - p.170