Read and Found the Joy of Knowing Christ #LeadersAreReaders April 2024

I was reading one of powerful stories from Richard Wurmbrand's Tortured for Christ (1969) about how he witnessed to a Russian lady officer on the street during the communist period in Romania. "I know that it is impolite to accost an unknown lady on the street, but I am a pastor and my intentions are earnest. I wish to speak to you about Christ," Wurmbrand said as he approached her. She asked, "Do you love Christ?" "Yes!" he replied passionately, "From all my heart." She fell into his arms and kissed him again and again. It was an embarrassing situation to do this in public, so he kissed her back, hoping people would think they were relatives. She exclaimed joyfully, "I love Christ too!"

He then took her home to meet his wife and talked to her where it was safer. He read to her selected Scripture passages. Along the way, he discovered that she knew nothing (Biblical facts, Gospel stories, what the Saviour and salvation mean) about Christ - absolutely nothing - except the Name. And yet she loved Him. He wondered, "How can you love somebody if you know only his name?" When he inquired, she explained, "As a child, I was taught to read by pictures. For an 'a' there was an apple, for a 'b' there was a bell, for a 'c' a cat, and so on. When I went to high school, I was taught my holy duty to defend the communist fatherland. I was taught about communist morals. But I did not know what a 'holy duty' or 'moral' looked like. I needed a picture for these."

"Now I knew that our forefathers had a picture for everything beautiful, praiseworthy, and truthful in life," she continued. "My grandmother always bowed down before this picture, saying it was the picture of one called 'Cristos' (Christ). And I loved this name by itself. This name became so real to me! Just to say this name gave one such joy!" Wurmbrand commented in the book: "Listening to her, I remembered what is written in Philippians that at His Name every knee should bow. Perhaps, the anti-Christ will be able for a time to erase from the world the knowledge of God. But there is power in the simple Name of Christ (Jesus) and this will lead to the light."

That day, the lady officer found (and was found by) Christ in the pastor's home and since then, the One whose name she loved lived in her heart in person. So, what does this story have to do with reading books, especially the Scripture? The goal is to know the personhood of God, and the primary means, special revelation, is through the Book. Secondly, through books about the God of the Book. Read and be led to the light! May you find the joy of knowing Christ. From pictures to words to Person.

 #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain #LeadersAreReaders #1Book1Week

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Read the Bible But Don't JUST Read the Bible #1Book1Week October 2021

“When people refer to a man as 'a man of one book’, meaning the Bible, he is generally found to be a man of multitudinous books, which simply isolates the one Book to its proper grandeur,” said Oswald Chambers, a preacher, teacher, and writer of a well-known devotion My Utmost for His Highest. “The man who reads only the Bible does not, as a rule, know it or human life.” I agree wholeheartedly! Mr. Oswald loves for books came in part from his sitting at the feet of the Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte, who taught a series of classes that Oswald attended as a young man. Many times Oswald saw Whyte hold up a battered old book, telling the students, “Sell your beds and buy it.”

Afterward, Oswald never went anywhere without a book. Once, while traveling, he wrote to his sister Florence saying: “My box has at last arrived. My books! I cannot tell you what they mean to me – silent, wealthy, loyal lovers. To look at them, to handle them, and to re-read them! I do thank God for my books with every fiber of my being. Why, I could have almost cried to an excess of joy when I got hold of them again. I see them all just at my elbow now – Plato, Wordsworth, Myers, Bradley, Halyburton, St. Augustine, Browning, Tennyson, Amiel, etc. I know them. I wish you could see how they look at me, a quiet, calm look of certain acquaintance" (quote taken from David McCasland's Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God).

As Christ-followers, the Bible is our one and only chief Book that we all need to read, study and meditate daily. But this doesn’t mean that it is the only book that we need to read. Broaden your mind, enlarge your visions and uplift your spirit by reading other types or genres of books too. If I need to be inspired to walk in the faith, I read biographies like those of William Carrey, John Calvin, Hudson Taylor, Martin Luther, Charles H. Spurgeon, John Sung, etc. If I want to learn about the Scripture and theology, I turn to John McArthur, J.I. Packer, David Pawson, John Stott, etc. If I want to improve my leadership, I read John C. Maxwell and J. Oswald Sanders. To improve my critical thinking skills, I read Tony Buzan and Edward de Bono. So many subjects, so many choices, so little time! Read widely. Read more. Read daily.

#ServeToLead #GrowingLeaders #LeadersAreReaders #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain

To read my October 2021 #1Book1Week reviews - obviously, my reading theme was on preaching this month - CLICK TITLES below ���

1) The Supremacy of God In Preaching (1990, 2004) by John Piper
2) Preaching & Preachers (1971, 1997) by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
3) Charles Spurgeon: The Prince of Preachers (1988) by J. C. Carlile,

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THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Preaching & Preachers (1971, 1997) by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Book Review

Preaching & Preachers (1971, 1997) by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

 

When I posted on my WhatsApp status after I finished reading this book, Dr. Thomas Chung, an itinerant preacher and a medical practitioner, texted me, "[This book] remain one of my most treasured books on the subject. From him, I learned the importance of 'diagnostic preaching' and tried using it every time I prepare a sermon. Glad you also like this man's writings." Dr. Thomas had sat on the preaching of Dr. Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel when he was studying medicine in London in the early 80s. "To watch the man preached stirs the spirit," he continues. "After listening to him one becomes consumed with the Majesty of God." I cannot say I feel the same since David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was born and died before God ever formed me in my mother's womb. But I trust that the testimony of Dr. Thomas - and few others who have witnessed the man and his preaching - is true. There are less than half a dozen of video interviews on YouTube available today that shows how soft-spoken, calm, and gentlemanly Dr. Lloyd-Jones was but there are hundreds of audio recording sermons at the MLJ Trust website that can give us a glimpse (although inadequate) of his passionate, piercing, and precise preaching.

This book is originally a transcript of his lecture series on the same title that he delivered to the students of the Westminster Theological Seminary. Besides reading the book, I also listened to the audio recordings of the 16 lectures available online (plus two question and answer sessions). I find that this practice of after reading a chapter, then listening to the session is very helpful for me to comprehend more, memorize important points, and capture the gems that I might miss along the way. Above all, I can somewhat imagine that I was sitting there in the lecture room with the other students to hear and interact with Dr. Lloyd-Jones. It is more lively, and I can hear his Welsh accent that is absent in the written pages. Also, you must understand that when he preached on the pulpit he is very serious but in the lecture room, you can hear his sense of humor. Try it! Knowing the man by reading his biography and listening to sermons on his life and ministry are very helpful too. I recommend watching Steven Lawson's The Passionate Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Iain Murray's The Legacies of Martyn Lloyd-Jones on YouTube for a start (To get a hold of how God uses this man to influence other faithful preachers today, watch a documentary about him entitled, Logic on Fire).

It is hard to say which chapters are the most important but obviously, the first two are essentials, namely, on 1) The Primacy of Preaching, and 2) No Substitute, because here Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues that preaching the Word of God or The Gospel or The Truth is not an optional but the very reason why the Church exists in the world. He observes from the Scriptures and history that: "The work of preaching is the highest and the greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called. If you want something in addition to that I would say without hesitation that the most urgent need in the Christian Church is true preaching; and if it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also." When he comes to the question of what is preaching? His famous words are "Logic on fire! Eloquent reason!… 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. I say again that a man who can speak about these things dispassionately has no right whatever to be in a pulpit; and should never be allowed to enter one." And what is the chief end of preaching? He simply said, "It is to give men and women a sense of God and His presence." One sentence that I can describe the man who is often known as 'the Doctor' is this: he cares about the Truth!

Unlike his preaching, since this is his lecture series, he shared lots of relevant stories, personal examples, and anecdotes to help his students by way of illustration to explain the Biblical preaching principles. But when he wanted to state his personal opinions about what is not clearly taught in the Scriptures, he said so and I sometimes (very few) disagree or remain skeptical with his diagnosis. It's okay. We are human beings bound by our perceptions, biases, and time. Only God is perfect, immutable, and fallible! Praise Him! I fully recommend this book to every Christian minister regardless of either you're a preacher or not. Not all are called to be full-time preachers (I'm not!) but all are called to preach the Word. Stephen and Philip in Acts 6 were chosen specifically to "serve tables" not to the ministry of the Word but when the Holy Spirit filled them with power and wisdom, they preached the Word boldly with logic on fire! (read Acts 7 and 8).

#ServeToLead #PreachTheWord #LeadersAreReaders #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain #MartynLloydJones #PreachingAndPreachers #LogicOnFire

To read my previous #1Book1Week book reviews, CLICK HERE  

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THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.