My Church Experience Today

I thought it would be interesting to blog my church experience today:

8:15am – Get up. Take a shower. Wonder if I could get awat with going to another church today to visit. Better not. May not be there next Sunday.

9:00am – Try to read the Word. Have a painful headache. Morning isnt starting off well. Give up.

9:15am – Get dress and go walk the dogs. Still wonder if I can get away with visiting another church.

10:00 – Eat breakfast. Wonder what I am going to do after church today. Probably just come home and take a nap.

10:25am – Leave for church. Listen to a Piper message on the way there. Bad move.

10:40 – Arrive at church. Have to park all the way in the back cause we got here later than everyone else.

Reading Owen

So I have been wanting to read through some of the works of John Owen for quite some time and yesterday I picked up a copy of Volume 1 of his works.

While I have been blessed by reading some of the Puritan Paperbacks of Owen, there seems to be a price to pay for reading abridgments of classic works.

So I am going to try and read the originals! This of course will take me a lifetime, but gotta start sometime! I’ll try to post nuggets of what I read here as I go.

If you’re interested in reading some of Owen yourself, check out www.johnowen.org as well as Monergism Books for a good price on the entire set.

How Shall We Fight…?

In John Piper’s book “When I Don’t Desire God“, Piper lists 15 things that we should remember during our daily fight for joy.

I have listed them here as well as made them a permanent page on this blog.

1. Realize that authentic joy in God is a gift.

2. Realize that joy must be fought for relentlessly.

3. Resolve to attack all known sin in your life.

4. Learn the secret of gutsy guilt – how to fight like a justified sinner.

5. Realize that the battle is primarily a fight to see God for who He is.

6. Meditate on the Word of God day and night.

7. Pray earnestly and continually for open heart-eyes and an inclination for God.

8. Learn to preach to yourself rather than listen to yourself.

9. Spend time with God-saturated people who help you see God and fight the fight.

10. Be patient in the night of God’s seeming absence.

11. Get the rest, exercise, and proper diet that your body was designed by God to have.

12. Make a proper use of God’s revelation in nature.

13. Read great books about God and biographies of great saints.

14. Do the hard and loving thing for the sake of others (witness and mercy).

15. Get a global vision for the cause of Christ and pour yourself out for the unreached.

3 Year Reading List

I came across this blog post yesterday and it had a great amount of recommended resources to read over a three year period. 

I thought I would list them here as well. Let me know if you have read any of them in the comments section below.

 

 

 

READINGS FOR THE FIRST YEAR

1. R. C. Sproul, THE HOLINESS OF GOD; Tyndale
2. Brian Edwards, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH; Evangelical Press
3. Arthur Pink, THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD; Banner of Truth
4. Jeremiah Burroughs, THE EVIL OF EVILS; Soli Deo Gloria
5. Gardiner Spring, THE ATTRACTION OF THE CROSS; Banner of Truth
6. J. C. Ryle, HOLINESS; Evangelical Press
7. James Packer, KNOWING GOD; IVP
8. Jerry Bridges, TRUSTING GOD; NavPress
9. George Smeaton, THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; Banner of 
Truth
10. Iain Murray, THE FORGOTTEN SPURGEON; Banner of Truth
Iain Murray, SPURGEON VS. HYPER-CALVINISM; Banner of Truth
(2 books count as 1)
11. James White, THE POTTER’S FREEDOM; Calvary Press
12. Iain Murray, D. MARTYN LLOYD-JONES, Vol. 1–THE FIRST FORTY 
YEARS, 1899-1939

READINGS FOR THE SECOND YEAR

1. Horatius Bonar, WORDS TO WINNERS OF SOULS; P & R
Charles Spurgeon, THE SOUL WINNER; Eerdmans
(2 books count as 1)
2. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, AUTHORITY (of Christ, the Bible & the Holy Spirit)
Banner of Truth
John MacArthur, ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL; Crossway
(2 books count as 1)
3. Tom Wells, A VISION FOR MISSIONS; Banner of Truth
Peter Jeffery, HOW SHALL THEY HEAR?; Evangelical Press
(2 count as 1)
4. Jerry Bridges, THE GOSPEL FOR REAL LIFE; NavPress
5. Thomas Watson, THE DOCTRINE OF REPENTANCE; Banner of Truth
Sinclair Ferguson, THE GRACE OF REPENTANCE; Crossway
Tom Wells, FAITH: THE GIFT OF GOD; Banner of Truth
(3 books count as 1)
6. James White, THE GOD WHO JUSTIFIES; Bethany Fellowship
7. S. M. Houghton, SKETCHES FROM CHURCH HISTORY; Banner of Truth
8. Kris Lundgaard, THE ENEMY WITHIN; P & R
Kris Lundgaard, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS; P & R
(2 count as 1)
9. Iain Murray, THE OLD EVANGELICALISM; Banner of Truth
10. John Bunyan, THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS; Tyndale edition edited 
by Cheryl Ford
11. Sinclair Ferguson, DISCOVERING THE WILL OF GOD; Banner of Truth
Sinclair Ferguson, A HEART FOR GOD; Banner of Truth
(2 count as 1)
12. Iain Murray, EVANGELICALISM DIVIDED; Banner of Truth
13. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, SPIRITUAL DEPRESSION; Eerdmans

READINGS FOR THE THIRD YEAR

1. Iain Murray, PENTECOST–TODAY?; Banner of Truth/Founders Press
2. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, REVIVAL; Crossway
3. Octavius Winslow, PERSONAL DECLENSION AND REVIVAL OF 
RELIGION IN THE SOUL; Banner of Truth
4. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, KNOWING THE TIMES; Banner of Truth
5. Sinclair Ferguson, DESERTED BY GOD?; Banner of Truth
6. Noel Weeks, THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE; Banner of Truth
7. Thomas Brooks, PRECIOUS REMEDIES AGAINST SATAN’S DEVICES;
Banner of Truth
8. J. C. Ryle, CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY; Banner of 
Truth
9. Don Whitney, SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE; 
NavPress
Don Whitney, SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES WITHIN THE CHURCH; Moody
Press
10. Jerry Bridges, THE GREAT EXCHANGE (My Sin For His Righteousness)
NavPress
11. R. C. Sproul, FAITH ALONE (The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification)
Baker
R. C. Sproul, GETTING THE GOSPEL RIGHT; Baker
(2 books count as 1)
12. Octavius Winslow, THE PRECIOUS THINGS OF GOD; Soli Deo Gloria
13. Maurice Roberts, THE THOUGHT OF GOD; Banner of Truth