John MacArthur’s Recommended First 750 Books For an Expositor of God’s Word

The First 750 Books for an Expositor’s Library

After the previous discussion of the importance of a solid library for an expository preacher, it seems appropriate to include a suggested list of materials and thereby identify a model library for one who has this goal. The works listed here are only suggestions. Each person will need to adapt the list to fit his own needs. “Books are like clothes: what fits one person’s needs and style may not fit another person’s at all.” Also, this list is limited to a basic collection in the fields of biblical studies and theology, and does not identify other items that an expositor may wish to acquire. The expositor should acquire a number of important items on current biblical and theological issues to assist him in his study and keep himself current. The purpose of this list is to assist a new generation of aspiring expository preachers in gathering a collection of tools for this worthy task. It includes books which have or will stand the test of time and tries to avoid items based on current theological speculation.

The list has a wider purpose, however. It is for a wide spectrum of readers who are seeking to assemble a well-rounded library. Serious expositors should consider the entire list as a model library. A reasonable goal is to acquire the 750 volumes in ten years. The first items to purchase have been marked with an asterisk (*). These same ones can serve as a basic list for a serious layman or devoted pastor who wishes to accumulate fewer than the proposed 750 for assistance in Bible study. The following are clarifications regarding the list:

1.   Some of the volumes listed under individual commentaries are parts of sets that are also included in the list. They have not been counted twice.

2.   When entire sets are recommended, it is understood that individual volumes within each set are of uneven quality because of a variety of authors. The expositor should sometimes buy selectively from sets with this in mind. In other cases, he should own entire sets so that he has resources on the whole Bible.

3.   The expositor may choose to wait to purchase commentaries on individual books of the Bible until he needs them. He should remember, however, that books are in and out of print and that he may not always have the time or be in the right place to secure good materials. The key to building a good library is a good “want list” carefully pursued over a period of time. Books tend to show up when least expected and often cannot be found when needed! They are often cheaper when the need for them is not so urgent.

4.   The list can also be used as a study guide for those with access to a theological library. It can also be modified and made suitable as a basis for a church library in biblical studies.

I. Bibliographic Tools

Badke, William B. The Survivor’s Guide to Library Research. Zondervan, 1990.

*Barber, Cyril J. The Minister’s Library. Moody, 1985–. 2 vols. plus supplements.

*Barker, Kenneth L., Bruce K. Waltke, Roy B. Zuck. Bibliography for Old Testament Exegesis and Exposition. Dallas Theological Seminary, 1979.

Bollier, John A. The Literature of Theology: A Guide for Students and Pastors. Westminster, 1979.

*Carson, D. A. New Testament Commentary Survey. Baker, 1986.

Childs, Brevard S. Old Testament Books for Pastor and Teacher. Westminster, 1977.

Kiehl, Erich H. Building Your Biblical Studies Library. Concordia, 1988.

Martin, Ralph P. New Testament Books for Pastor and Teacher. Westminster, 1984.

*Rosscup, James E. Commentaries for Biblical Expositors. Author, 1983.

Spurgeon, Charles H. Commenting and Commentaries. Banner of Truth, 1969.

*Wiersbe, Warren W. A Basic Library for Bible Students. Baker, 1981.

II. Bibles

American Standard Version. Nelson, 1901.

The Amplified Bible. Zondervan, 1965.

*King James Version (or Authorized Version). Various publishers.

The Living Bible, Paraphrased. Tyndale, 1971.

*New American Standard Bible. Lockman, 1977.

New English Bible. Oxford/Cambridge, 1970.

*New International Version. Zondervan, 1978.

New King James Version. Nelson, 1982.

New Century Version. Word, 1991.

The New Scofield Reference Bible. Oxford, 1967.

The New Testament in Modern English. Macmillan, 1973.

The NIV Study Bible. Zondervan, 1985.

*Ryrie Study Bible. Moody, 1978.

The Scofield Reference Bible. Oxford, 1917.

III. Biblical Texts

*Aland, Kurt. The Greek New Testament. 3d ed. UBS, 1983.

———. The Text of the New Testament. Eerdmans, 1987.

*Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Ed. by Karl Elliger and Wilhelm Rudolph; Deutsche Biblestiftung, 1984.

*Bruce, F. F. The Books and the Parchments. Revell, 1984.

*———. The Canon of the Scripture. InterVarsity, 1988.

———. History of the English Bible in English. 3d ed. Revell, 1978.

Greenlee, J. Harold. Introduction to New Testament Textual Criticism. Eerdmans, 1964.

*Harris, R. Laird. Inspiration and Canonicity of the Bible. Zondervan, 1969.

Lewis, Jack P. The English Bible From KJV to NIV, A History of Evaluation. Baker, 1982.

Metzger, Bruce M. The Canon of the New Testament. Oxford, 1987.

———. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration. Oxford, 1968.

*———. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. UBS, 1971.

*Nestle-Aland. Novum Testamentum Graece. 26th ed. Deutsche Bibelstiftung, 1979.

*Rahlfs, Alfred. Septuaginta. Wuerttembergische, 1962.

Roberts, B. J. The Old Testament Text and Versions. Wales, 1951.

Swete, Henry B. An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek. KTAV, 1968.

Wurthwein, Ernst. The Text of the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1979.

IV. Old Testament Tools

*Armstrong, Terry A., Douglas L. Busby, and Cyril F. Carr. A Reader’s Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Zondervan, 1989.

Botterweck, G. Johannes, and Helmer Ringgren, eds. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Vols. 1–. Eerdmans, 1974–.

*Brown, Francis, Samuel R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford, 1907.

Einspahr, Bruce. Index to Brown, Driver, and Briggs Hebrew Lexicon. Moody, 1977.

*The Englishmen’s Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of the Old Testament. Zondervan, 1970.

*Even-Shoshan, Abraham. A New Concordance of the Old Testament. Baker, 1989.

Girdlestone, Robert Baker. Synonyms of The Old Testament. Eerdmans.

*Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke, eds. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. 2 vols. Moody, 1980.

Hatch, Edwin, and Henry A. Redpath. A Concordance to the Septuagint and the Other Greek Versions of the Old Testament. 2 vols. Akademische, 1955.

*Holladay, William. A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1971.

Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner. Lexicon in Verteris Testament Libros. 2 vols. Brill, 1958.

Liddell, Henry G., and Robert Scott. A Greek English Lexicon. 9th ed., rev. by. H. S. Jones and R. McKenzie. Oxford, 1968.

*Owens, John Joseph. Analytical Key to the Old Testament. 4 vols. Baker, 1989–.

Seow, C. L. A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew. Abingdon, 1987.

Unger, Merrill F., and William White. Nelson’s Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament. Nelson, 1980.

Waltke, Bruce K. An Intermediate Hebrew Grammar. Eisenbrauns, 1984.

Waltke, Bruce K., and M. O’Connor. An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. Eisenbrauns, 1990.

*Weingreen, Jacob. Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew. Oxford, 1959.

Wilson, William. Old Testament Word Studies. Kregel, 1978.

V. New Testament Tools

*Abbot-Smith, George. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. T. & T. Clark, 1936.

Alsop, John R., ed. An Index to the Revised Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich Greek Lexicon. 2d ed. by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker. Zondervan, 1981.

Balz, Horst, and Gerhard Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans, 1978.

Barclay, William. New Testament Words. Westminster, 1974.

*Bauer, Walter, W. F. Arndt, F. W. Gingrich, and F. W. Danker. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2d ed. University of Chicago, 1979.

Blass, F. W., A. Debrunner, and Robert W. Funk. A Grammar of New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. University of Chicago, 1961.

Bromiley, Geoffrey. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Ed. by Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich. Trans. by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Abridged in 1 vol. Eerdmans, 1985.

*Brown, Colin, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. 4 vols. Zondervan, 1975–86.

Burton, Ernest DeWitt. Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in New Testament Greek. T. & T. Clark, 1898.

Cremer, Hermann. Biblico-Theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek. 4th ed. T. & T. Clark, 1962.

Dana, H. E., and Julius R. Mantey. A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament. Macmillan, 1955.

Gingrich, F. W. A Shorter Lexicon of the Greek Testament. 2d ed. Rev. by Frederick W. Danker. University of Chicago, 1983.

Hanna, Robert. A Grammatical Aid to the Greek New Testament. Baker, 1983.

Kittel, Gerhard, and Gerhard Friedrich. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. by Geoffrey Bromiley. 10 vols. Eerdmans, 1964–76.

Liddell, H. G., and R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon. 8th ed. Clarendon, 1897.

*Machen, J. Gresham. New Testament Greek for Beginners. Macmillan, 1923.

Moule, C. F. D. An Idiom Book of the New Testament Greek. Cambridge, 1963.

Moulton, James Hope. A Grammar of New Testament Greek. 4 vols. T. & T. Clark, 1908–.

——— and George Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-Literary Sources. Hodder and Stoughton, 1952.

Moulton, William, and A. S. Geden. A Concordance to the Greek Testament. 5th ed. Rev. by H. K. Moulton. T. & T. Clark, 1978.

Richards, Lawrence O. Expository Dictionary of Bible Words. Zondervan, 1985.

*Rienecker, Fritz. A Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament. Zondervan, 1980.

Robertson, A. T. A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research. Broadman, 1923.

Smith, J. B. Greek-English Concordance to the New Testament. Herald, 1955.

*Thayer, Joseph H. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Zondervan, 1962.

Trench, Richard Chenevix. Synonyms of the New Testament. Eerdmans, 1953.

Turner, Nigel. Christian Words. Nelson, 1981.

———. Grammatical Insights into the New Testament. T. & T. Clark, 1977.

*Vine, W. E., Merrill F. Unger, and William White. An Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Nelson, 1984.

*Wingram, George V. The Englishman’s Greek Concordance of the New Testament. 9th ed. Zondervan, 1970.

Zerwick, Max, and Mary Grosvenor. A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament. Biblical Institute, 1981.

VI. Hermeneutics and Exegesis

Ferguson, Duncan S. Biblical Hermeneutics, an Introduction. John Knox, 1986.

Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. Toward an Exegetical Theology. Baker, 1981.

Mickelsen, A. Berkeley. Interpreting the Bible. Eerdmans, 1963.

*Ramm, Bernard. Protestant Biblical Interpretation. Baker, 1970.

Sproul, R. C. Knowing Scripture. InterVarsity, 1977.

*Tan, Paul Lee. The Interpretation of Prophecy. BMH, 1974.

*Terry, Milton S. Biblical Hermeneutics. Zondervan, 1974.

*Thomas, Robert L. Introduction to Exegesis. Author, 1987.

Traina, Robert A. Methodical Bible Study. Author, 1952.

Virkler, Henry A. Hermeneutics, Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation. Baker, 1981

VII. General Reference Works

*Bromiley, Geoffrey W., ed. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 4 vols. Eerdmans, 1979–88.

Buttrick, George A., and K. Crim, eds. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. 5 vols. Abingdon, 1962–76.

Douglas, J. D., ed. The New Bible Dictionary. 2nd ed. Tyndale, 1982.

——— and E. E. Cairns, eds. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Zondervan, 1978.

———, ed. New 20th-Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Baker, 1990.

Elwell, Walter A., ed. Encyclopedia of the Bible. 2 vols. Baker, 1988.

*———, ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker, 1984.

Ferguson, Sinclair B., David F. Wright, and J. I. Packer. New Dictionary of Theology. InterVarsity, 1988.

Harrison, R. K. Encyclopedia of Biblical and Christian Ethics. Nelson, 1987.

Hastings, James, ed. Dictionary of the Apostolic Church. 2 vols. T. & T. Clark, 1915.

———. Dictionary of the Bible. 5 vols. T. & T. Clark, 1898.

———. Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels. T. & T. Clark, 1906.

McClintock, John, and James Strong, eds. Cyclopedia of Biblical Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. 12 vols. Baker, 1981.

*Orr, James, ed. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 5 vols. Eerdmans, 1939.

Reid, Daniel G. Dictionary of Christianity in America. InterVarsity, 1990.

*Tenney, Merrill C., ed. The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. 5 vols. 1975.

*Unger, Merrill F. The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Rev. and updated edition. Ed. by R. K. Harrison. Moody, 1988.

VIII. Concordances

Anderson, Ken. The Contemporary Concordance of Bible Topics. Victor, 1984.

Elder, F., ed. Concordance to the New English Bible: New Testament. Zondervan, 1964.

Goodrick, Edward, and John Kohlenberger III. The NIV Complete Concordance. Zondervan, 1981.

———. The NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Zondervan, 1990.

Hill, Andrew E., comp. Baker’s Handbook of Bible Lists. Baker, 1981.

*Monser, Harold E. Topical Index and Digest of the Bible. Baker, 1983.

*Nave, Orville J., ed. Nave’s Topical Bible. Nelson, 1979.

The Phrase Concordance of the Bible. Nelson, 1986.

*Strong, James. Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Abingdon, 1980.

*Thomas, Robert L., ed. New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Holman, 1981.

*Torrey, R. A. The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Bagster, n.d.

*———. The New Topical Textbook. Revell, n.d.

*Young, Robert., ed. Analytial Concordance to the Bible. Rev. ed. Nelson, 1980.

IX. Works on Archaeology, Geography, and History

Aharoni, Yohanan. The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography of the Bible. Westminster, 1979.

*———. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Macmillan, 1977.

Baly, Denis. The Geography of the Bible. New and rev. ed. Harper, 1974.

Barrett, C. K. The New Testament Background: Selected Documents. S.P.C.K., 1958.

Beitzel, Barry J. The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands. Moody, 1985.

Blaiklock, E. M., and R. K. Harrison, eds. The New International Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology. Zondervan, 1983.

Bouquet, A. C. Everyday Life in New Testament Times. Scribner, 1953.

Bruce, F. F. Israel and the Nations. Eerdmans, 1963.

*———. New Testament History. Doubleday, 1971.

*Edersheim, Alfred. Bible History. 2 vols. Eerdmans, 1954.

*———. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. 2 vols. Eerdmans, 1954.

*Gower, Ralph. The New Manners and Customs of Bible Times. Moody, 1987.

Harrison, Roland K., ed. Major Cities of the Biblical World. Nelson, 1985.

*———. Old Testament Times. Eerdmans, 1990.

Heaton, E. W. Everyday Life in Old Testament Times. Scribner’s, 1956.

Jeremias, Joachim. Jerusalem in the Times of Jesus. Fortress, 1969.

Josephus, Flavius. Complete Works. Kregel, 1960.

Lohse, Eduard. The New Testament Environment. Abingdon, 1976.

Merrill, Eugene H. Kingdom of Priests. Baker, 1987.

Metzger, Bruce Manning. The New Testament, Its Background, Growth, and Content. Abingdon, 1965.

Miller, Madeleine S., and J. Lane. Harper’s Encyclopedia of Bible Life. Rev. by Boyce M. Bennett and David Scott. Harper, 1978.

*Pfeiffer, Charles F. The Biblical World. Baker, 1966.

*———. Old Testament History. Baker, 1973.

*——— and Howard F. Vos. The Wycliffe Historical Geography of Bible Lands. Moody, 1967.

Reicke, Bo. The New Testament Era. Fortress, 1968.

Schultz, Samuel J. The Old Testament Speaks. 3d ed. Harper, 1980.

*Tenney, Merrill C. New Testament Times. Eerdmans, 1965.

Thompson, J. A. The Bible and Archaeology. Eerdmans, 1972.

*———. Handbook of Life in Bible Times. InterVarsity, 1986.

Vos, Howard F. Archaeology in Biblical Lands. Moody, 1987.

Wood, Leon. Israel’s United Monarchy. Baker, 1979.

———. The Prophets of Israel. Baker, 1979.

*———. A Survey of Israel’s History. Rev. by David O’Brien. Zondervan, 1986.

Yamauchi, Edwin M. Pre-Christian Gnosticism. 2d ed. Baker, 1983.

X. Survey and Introduction

*Alexander, David, and Pat Alexander. Eerdman’s Handbook to the Bible. Eerdmans, 1973.

Andrews, Samuel J. The Life of Our Lord Upon the Earth. Zondervan, 1954.

*Archer, Gleason L. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. Rev. ed. Moody, 1974.

*Bruce, A. B. The Training of the Twelve. Zondervan, 1963.

Bruce, F. F. The Letters of Paul and Expanded Paraphrase. Eerdmans, 1965.

———. Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free. Eerdmans, 1977.

Bullock, C. Hassell. An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books. Moody, 1988.

Conybeare, W. J., and J. S. Howsen. The Life and Epistles of Saint Paul. Eerdmans, 1954.

Craigie, Peter C. The Old Testament, Its Background, Growth, and Content. Abingdon, 1986.

*Culver, Robert D. The Life of Christ. Baker, 1976.

Farrar, Frederic W. The Life of Christ. 2 vols. Cassell, 1874.

———. The Life and Work of St. Paul. 2 vols. Cassell, 1879.

Foakes Jackson, F. J., and Kirsopp Lake. The Beginnings of Christianity. 5 vols. Macmillan, 1920.

*Freeman, Hobart E. An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets. Moody, 1968.

*Gromacki, Robert. New Testament Survey. Baker, 1974.

*Gundry, Robert H. A Survey of the New Testament. Zondervan, 1981.

Guthrie, Donald. The Apostles. Zondervan, 1975.

———. Jesus the Messiah. Zondervan, 1972.

*———. New Testament Introduction. Rev. ed. InterVarsity, 1990.

*Harrison, Everett F. Introduction to the New Testament. Eerdmans, 1964.

Harrison, Roland K. Introduction to the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1969.

*Hiebert, D. Edmond. An Introduction to the New Testament. 3 vols. Moody, 1975–77.

Kaiser, Walter C. Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation. Baker, 1972.

Kidner, Derek. An Introduction to Wisdom Literature, The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. InterVarsity, 1985.

Kistemaker, Simon. The Parables of Jesus. Baker, 1980.

*LaSor, William Sanford, David Hubbard, and Frederic Bush. Old Testament Survey. Eerdmans, 1982.

Morgan, G. Campell. The Crises of the Christ. Revell, n.d.

———. The Parables and Metaphors of Our Lord. Revell, n.d.

———. The Teaching of Christ. Revell, n.d.

Pentecost, J. Dwight. The Words and Works of Jesus Christ. Zondervan, 1981.

Ramsay, William. The Church in the Roman Empire. Baker, 1954.

———. The Cities of Saint Paul. Baker, 1960.

———. Saint Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen. Baker, 1949.

Robertson, A. T. A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ. Harper, 1950.

Schultz, Samuel J. The Old Testament Speaks. Harper, 1970.

Scroggie, William Graham. A Guide to the Gospels. Revell, 1948.

*———. Know Your Bible. Pickering, 1940.

———. The Unfolding Drama of Redemption. Zondervan, 1970.

Shepard, J. W. The Life and Letter of Saint Paul. Eerdmans, 1950.

*Tenney, Merrill C. New Testament Survey. Rev. by Walter M. Dunnett. Eerdmans, 1985.

*Thomas, Robert L., and Stanley N. Gundry. A Harmony of the Gospels with Explanations and Essays. Harper, 1978.

———. The NIV Harmony of the Gospels. Harper, 1988.

Trench, R. C. Notes on the Parables. Pickering, 1953.

Unger, Merrill F. Introductory Guide to the Old Testament. Zondervan, 1951.

*———. Unger’s Guide to the Bible. Tyndale, 1974.

Young, Edward J. An Introduction to the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1960.

XI. Theological Works

*Berkhof, L. Systematic Theology. Eerdmans, 1941.

Bruce, F. F. New Testament Development of Old Testament Themes. Eerdmans, 1968.

Buswell, James Oliver. A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion. Zondervan, 1962.

Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology. 8 vols. Dallas Seminary, 1947.

*Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. 3 vols. Baker, 1983–85.

Feinberg, Charles L. Millennialism: The Two Major Views. 3d ed. Moody, 1980.

Gill, John. Body of Divinity. Lassetter, 1965.

Guthrie, Donald. New Testament Theology. InterVarsity, 1981.

Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. 3 vols. Clarke, 1960.

*Kaiser, Walter C. Toward an Exegetical Theology: Biblical Exegesis for Preaching and Teaching. Baker, 1981.

———. Old Testament Theology. Zondervan, 1978.

*McClain, Alva J. The Greatness of the Kingdom. Moody, 1959.

Murray, John. Collected Writings of John Murray. 4 vols. Banner of Truth, 1976–82.

Oehler, Gustav Friedrich. Theology of the Old Testament. Funk and Wagnalls, 1884.

Packer, J. I., ed. The Best in Theology. Vol. 1 of multi-volume series. Christianity Today, 1987–.

Payne, J. Barton. Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy. Harper, 1973.

*Pentecost, J. Dwight. Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology. Zondervan, 1958.

Ridderbos, Herman. Paul: An Outline of His Theology. Eerdmans, 1975.

Ryrie, Charles C. Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Moody, 1959.

Shedd, William G. T. Dogmatic Theology. 3 vols. Zondervan, (reprint) n.d..

Vos, Gerhardus. Biblical Theology. Eerdmans, 1948.

Warfield, Benjamin B. Biblical and Theological Studies. Presbyterian and Reformed, 1968.

———. Selected Shorter Writings of Benjamin B. Warfield. 2 vols. Presbyterian and Reformed, 1970.

XII. One-Volume Commentaries

Guthrie, Donald, J. A. Motyer, A. M. Stibbs, and D. J. Wiseman, eds. The New Bible Commentary: Revised. 3d ed. Eerdmans, 1970.

*Harrison, E. F., and Charles F. Pfeiffer. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary. Moody, 1962.

XIII. Commentary Sets

*Alford, Henry. The Greek Testament. 4 vols. Moody, 1958.

Barclay, William F. The Daily Bible Series. Rev. ed. 18 vols. Westminster, 1975.

Barker, Kenneth L. The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary. 56 vols. when complete. Moody, 1988–.

Bruce, F. F., ed. New International Commentary on the New Testament. 20 vols. so far. Eerdmans.

Calvin, John. Calvin’s Commentaries. 22 vols. Baker, 1981.

*Gaebelein, Frank E., general ed. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. 12 vols. when complete. Zondervan, 1978–.

Harrison, R. K., ed. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. 15 vols. so far. Eerdmans.

*Hendriksen, William, and Simon J. Kistemaker. New Testament Commentary. 12 vols. so far. Baker, 1954–.

*Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. 6 vols. Revell, n.d.

Hubbard, David, and Glenn W. Barker. Word Biblical Commentary. 52 vols. when complete. Word.

*Keil, C. F., and F. Delitzsch. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. 11 vols. Eerdmans, 1968.

Lange, John Peter. Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical. 12 vols. Zondervan, 1960.

Lenski, R. C. H. Interpretation of the New Testament. 12 vols. Augsburg, 1943.

*MacArthur, John. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Moody, 1983–.

Meyer, H. A. W. Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the New Testament. 11 vols. Funk and Wagnalls, 1884.

*Morris, Leon, ed. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Various eds. 20 vols. InterVarsity.

*Nicoll, William Robertson. The Expositor’s Greek New Testament. 5 vols. Eerdmans, 1970.

Perowne, J. J. S., gen ed. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. 60 vols. Cambridge, 1880–.

*Robertson, A. T. Word Pictures in the New Testament. 6 vols. Broadman, 1930.

Vincent, Marvin R. Word Studies in the New Testament. 4 vols. Eerdmans, 1946.

*Walvoord, John F., and Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 2 vols. Victor, 1983.

*Wiseman, D. J., ed. The Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. 21 vols. so far. InterVarsity.

Wuest, Kenneth S. Wuest’s Word Studies From the Greek New Testament. 3 vols. Eerdmans, 1973.

XIV. Individual Book Commentaries

Genesis

*Davis, John J. Paradise to Prison. Baker, 1976.

Leupold, H. C. Exposition of Genesis. Baker, 1963.

Stigers, Harold G. A Commentary on Genesis. Zondervan, 1976.

Exodus

Bush, George. Notes, Critical and Practical on the Book of Exodus. 2 vols. Klock and Klock, 1976.

Childs, Brevard. The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary. Westminster, 1974.

*Davis, John J. Moses and the Gods of Egypt. 2d ed. Baker, 1986.

Leviticus

Bonar, Andrew. A Commentary on the Book of Leviticus. Zondervan, 1959.

Bush, George. Notes, Critical and Practical on the Book of Leviticus. Klock and Klock, 1976.

*Wenham, Gordon J. The Book of Leviticus. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1979.

Numbers

Bush, George. Notes, Critical and Practical on the Book of Numbers. Klock and Klock, 1976.

Gray, George G. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers. International Critical Commentary. T. & T. Clark, 1912.

*Harrison, R. K. The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary: Numbers. Moody, 1990.

Deuteronomy

*Craigie, Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. New International Critical Commentary on the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1976.

Driver, S. R. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy. International Critical Commentary. T. & T. Clark, 1902.

Reider, Joseph. The Holy Scriptures: Deuteronomy. Jewish Publication Society, 1937.

Joshua

Davis, John J. Conquest and Crisis. Baker, 1969.

Pink, Arthur. Gleanings in Joshua. Moody, 1964.

*Woudstra, Marten H. The Book of Joshua. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1981.

Judges

Bush, George. Notes, Critical and Practical on the Book of Judges. Klock and Klock, 1976.

Moore, George F. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Judges. International Critical Commentary. T. & T. Clark, 1901.

*Wood, Leon J. Distressing Days of the Judges. Zondervan, 1975.

Ruth

Atkinson, David. The Message of Ruth. InterVarsity, 1983.

Barber, Cyril J. Ruth: An Expositional Commentary. Moody, 1983.

*Hubbard, Robert L. The Book of Ruth. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1988.

Morris, Leon. Ruth, an Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. InterVarsity, 1968.

1 & 2 Samuel

Anderson, A. A. Word Biblical Commentary: II Samuel. Word, 1989.

*Davis, John J., and John C. Whitcomb. A History of Israel: From Conquest to Exile. Baker, 1980.

Gordon, Robert P. I & II Samuel: A Commentary. Zondervan, 1986.

Keil, C. F., and F. Delitzsch. Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel. Eerdmans, 1971.

Klein, Ralph W. Word Biblical Commentary: I Samuel. Word, 1983.

1 & 2 Kings

DeVries, Simon J. Word Biblical Commentary: I Kings. Word, 1985.

Hobbs, T. R. Word Biblical Commentary: II Kings. Word, 1985.

*Keil, C. F. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Books of the Kings. Eerdmans, 1971.

Montgomery, James A. The Book of Kings. International Critical Commentary; T. & T. Clark, 1951.

Newsome, James D., ed. A Synoptic Harmony of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. Baker, 1986.

1 & 2 Chronicles

Braun, Roddy. Word Biblical Commentary: I Chronicles. Word, 1986.

Dillard, Raymond B. Word Biblical Commentary: II Chronicles. Word, 1987.

*Keil, C. F. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of the Chronicles. Eerdmans, 1971.

Wilcock, Michael. The Message of Chronicles. InterVarsity, 1987.

Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther

Barber, Cyril J. Nehemiah and the Dynamics of Effective Leadership. Loizeaux, 1976.

Cassel, Paulus. An Explanatory Commentary on Esther. Edinburg, 1881.

Keil, C. F. The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Eerdmans, 1970.

*Kidner, Derek. Ezra and Nehemiah, An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries; InterVarsity, 1979.

*Whitcomb, John C. Esther: Triumph of God’s Sovereignty. Moody, 1979.

Williamson, H. G. M. Word Biblical Commentary: Ezra, Nehemiah. Word, 1985.

Job

*Anderson, Francis I. Job. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries; InterVarsity, 1976.

Delitzsch, Franz. Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job. 2 vols. Eerdmans, 1970.

Dhorme, Edouard. A Commentary on the Book of Job. Nelson, 1967.

Psalms

Alexander, J. A. The Psalms Translated and Explained. Zondervan, n.d.

Leupold, H. C. Exposition on the Psalms. Baker, 1969.

Scroggie, W. Graham. The Psalms. Pickering, 1965.

*Spurgeon, C. H. The Treasury of David. 3 vols. Zondervan, 1966.

Proverbs

*Alden, Robert L. Proverbs. Baker, 1983.

Bridges, Charles. A Commentary on Proverbs. Banner of Truth, 1968.

Delitzsch, Franz. Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon. 2 vols. Eerdmans, 1970.

McKane, William. Proverbs. Old Testament Library; Westminster, 1970.

Ecclesiastes

Eaton, Michael. Ecclesiastes: An Introduction and Commentary. InterVarsity, 1983.

*Kaiser, Walter C. Ecclesiastes: Total Life. Moody, 1979.

Leupold, H. C. Exposition of Ecclesiastes. Baker, 1952.

Song of Solomon

Burrowes, George. A Commentrary on The Song of Solomon. Banner of Truth, 1973.

*Carr, G. Lloyd. The Song of Solomon. InterVarsity, 1984.

Durham, James. The Song of Solomon. Banner of Truth, 1982.

Isaiah

Alexander, Joseph A. Isaiah, Translated and Explained. Zondervan, 1974.

Morgan, G. Campbell. The Prophecy of Isaiah. The Analyzed Bible. 2 vols. Hodder and Stoughton, 1910.

*Young, Edward J. The Book of Isaiah. 3 vols. Eerdmans, 1965–72.

Jeremiah

*Feinberg, Charles L. Jeremiah, A Commentary. Zondervan, 1982.

Laetsch, Theodore. Jeremiah. Concordia, 1952.

Morgan, G. Campbell. Studies in the Prophecy of Jeremiah. Revell, 1969.

Lamentations

*Harrison, R. K. Jeremiah and Lamentations. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries; InterVarsity, 1973.

Jensen, Irving L. Jeremiah and Lamentations. Moody, 1974.

Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. A Biblical Approach to Personal Suffering. Moody, 1982.

Ezekiel

*Feinberg, Charles L. The Prophecy of Ezekiel. Moody, 1969.

Keil, Carl Friedrich. Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel. 2 vols. Eerdmans, 1970.

Taylor, John B. Ezekiel, An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries; InterVarsity, 1969.

Daniel

*Walvoord, John F. Daniel, The Key to Prophetic Revelation. Moody, 1971.

Wood, Leon J. Commentary on Daniel. Zondervan, 1972.

Young, Edward J. The Messianic Prophecies of Daniel. Eerdmans, 1954.

Minor Prophets

*Feinberg, Charles L. The Minor Prophets. Moody, 1976.

Keil, C. F., and Franz Delitzsch. The Twelve Minor Prophets. 2 vols. Eerdmans, 1961.

Laetsch, Theodore. The Minor Prophets. Concordia, 1956.

Pusey, E. B. The Minor Prophets, a Commentary. Baker, 1956.

Matthew

Broadus, John A. Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. American Baptist, 1886.

Hendriksen, William. The Gospel of Matthew. Baker, 1973.

MacArthur, John F., Jr. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew. 4 vols. Moody, 1985–89.

Morgan, G. Campbell. The Gospel According to Matthew. Revell, n.d.

*Toussaint, Stanley D. Behold the King, A Study of Matthew. Multnomah, 1980.

Mark

Hendriksen, William. The Gospel of Mark. Baker, 1975.

*Hiebert, D. Edmond. Mark, A Portrait of the Servant. Moody, 1974.

Morgan, G. C. The Gospel According to Mark. Revell, n.d.

Swete, Henry Barclay. The Gospel According to Saint Mark. Eerdmans, 1952.

Luke

Hendriksen, William. The Gospel of Luke. Baker, 1978.

Morgan, G. Campbell. The Gospel According to Luke. Revell, n.d.

*Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to St. Luke. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries; Eerdmans, 1974.

Plummer, Alfred. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Luke. International Critical Commentary; T. & T. Clark, 1922.

John

Hendriksen, William. Exposition of the Gospel According to John. Baker, 1961.

Morgan, G. Campell. The Gospel According to John. Revell, n.d..

*Morris, Leon. Commentary on the Gospel of John. New International Commentary on the New Testament; Eerdmans, 1970.

Westcott, B. F. The Gospel According to Saint John. Eerdmans, 1950.

Acts

Bruce, F. F. The Book of Acts. New International Commentary on the New Testament; Eerdmans, 1956.

*Harrison, Everett F. Acts: The Expanding Church. Moody, 1976.

Kistemaker, Simon J. New Testament Commentary, Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles. Baker, 1990.

Morgan, G. Campbell. The Acts of the Apostles. Revell, n.d.

Romans

*Cranfield, C. E. B. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. 2 vols. International Critical Commentary; T. & T. Clark, 1975–77.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Romans. 6 vols. Zondervan, 1971–76.

MacArthur, John F., Jr. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans. Multi-volume. Moody, 1991–.

McClain, Alva J. Romans, the Gospel of God’s Grace. Moody, 1973.

Murray, John. The Epistle to the Romans. New International Commentary on the New Testament; Eerdmans, 1968.

1 Corinthians

*Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. New International Commentary on the New Testament; Eerdmans, 1987.

Godet, Franz. Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians. Zondervan, 1957.

MacArthur, John F., Jr. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 1 Corinthians. Moody, 1984.

Robertson, Archibald, and A. Plummer. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians. International Critical Commentary; T. & T. Clark, 1914.

2 Corinthians

*Hughes, Philip E. Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. New International Commentary on the New Testament; Eerdmans, 1962.

Kent, Homer A. A Heart Opened Wide: Studies in II Corinthians. Baker, 1982.

Plummer, Alfred. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. International Critical Commentary; T. & T. Clark, 1915.

Galatians

Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Galatians, A Commentary on the Greek Text. Eerdmans, 1982.

*Kent, Homer A., Jr. The Freedom of God’s Sons: Studies in Galatians. Baker, 1976.

Lightfoot, Joseph Barber. The Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians. Zondervan, 1966.

MacArthur, John F., Jr. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Galatians. Moody, 1987.

Ephesians

*Bruce, F. F. The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians. New International Commentary on the New Testament; Eerdmans, 1984.

Hendriksen, William. Epistle to the Ephesians. Baker, 1966.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Expositions on Ephesians. 8 vols. Baker, 1972–82.

MacArthur, John F., Jr. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Ephesians. Moody, 1986.

Salmond, S. D. F. “The Epistle to the Ephesians.” Vol 3. in Expositor’s Greek Testament. Eerdmans, 1970.

Philippians

Hendriksen, William. A Commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians. Baker, 1962.

*Lightfoot, Joseph B. Commentary on the Epistle of St. Paul Philippians. Zondervan, 1953.

Vincent, Marvin R. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles to the Philippians and to Philemon. International Critical Commentary; T. & T. Clark, 1897.

Colossians

*Bruce, F. F. The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians. New International Commentary on the New Testament; Eerdmans, 1984.

Hendriksen, William. Exposition of Colossians and Philemon. Baker, 1964.

Lightfoot, Joseph Barber. St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon. Zondervan, 1959.

Philemon

See Philippians and Colossians listings, above.

1 & 2 Thessalonians

Hendriksen, William. Exposition of I and II Thessalonians. Baker, 1955.

Hiebert, D. Edmond. The Thessalonian Epistles. Moody, 1971.

Morris, Leon. The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians. New International Commentary on the New Testament; Eerdmans, 1959.

*Thomas, Robert L. “1, 2 Thessalonians.” Vol. 11 in Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Zondervan, 1978.

1 & 2 Timothy, Titus

Fairbairn, Patrick. Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. Zondervan, 1956.

Hendriksen, William. Exposition of The Pastoral Epistles. Baker, 1957.

*Kent, Homer A. The Pastoral Epistles. Moody, 1982.

Simpson, E. K. The Pastoral Epistles. Tyndale, 1954.

Hebrews

Bruce, F. F. The Epistles to the Hebrews. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Rev. ed. Eerdmans, 1990.

Hughes, Philip Edgcumbe. A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Eerdmans, 1977.

*Kent, Homer A. The Epistle to the Hebrews. Baker, 1972.

MacArthur, John F., Jr. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Hebrews. Moody, 1983.

Westcott, Brooke Foss. The Epistle to the Hebrews. Eerdmans, 1970.

James

Adamson, James B. The Epistle of James. New International Commentary on the New Testament; Eerdmans, 1976.

———. James, the Man and His Message. Eerdmans, 1989.

*Hiebert, D. Edmond. The Epistle of James, Tests of a Living Faith. Moody, 1979.

Mayor, Joseph Bickersteth. The Epistle of St. James. Zondervan, 1954.

1 Peter

*Hiebert, David Edmond. First Peter. Moody, 1984.

Kistemaker, Simon J. Exposition of the Epistles of Peter and of the Epistle of Jude. Baker, 1987.

Selwin, Edward Gordon. First Epistle of Saint Peter. Macmillan, 1961.

2 Peter, Jude

*Hiebert, David Edmond. Second Peter and Jude. Unusual Publications, 1989.

Kistemaker, Simon J. Exposition of the Epistles of Peter and of the Epistle of Jude. Baker, 1987.

Lawlor, George Lawrence. The Epistle of Jude, a Translation and Exposition. Presbyterian and Reformed, 1972.

Mayor, James B. The Epistle of St. Jude and the Second Epistle of St. Peter. Macmillan, 1907.

1, 2, 3 John

Candlish, Robert Smith. The First Epistle of John. Zondervan, n.d.

Findlay, George G. Fellowship in the Life Eternal. Eerdmans, 1955.

*Kistemaker, Simon J. Exposition of the Epistle of James and the Epistles of John. Baker, 1986.

Westcott, Brooke Foss. The Epistles of Saint John. Eerdmans, 1966.

Revelation

Beckwith, Isbon T. The Apocalypse of John. Macmillan, 1919.

*Swete, Henry Barclay. The Apocalypse of St. John. Eerdmans.

Thomas, Robert L. Revelation 1–7, An Exegetical Commentary. Vol. 1 of 2 vols. Moody, 1992.

Walvoord, John F. The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Moody, 1966.

The Book recommendations above from John MacArthur. Rediscovering Expository Preaching. Dallas: Word, 1997, 108-208.

About the Author: Dr. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. Grace Church has grown from 450 members in 1969, when MacArthur accepted the pastorate, to over 12,000 today. He is also the president of The Master’s College and Seminary in Newhall, California, a prolific author of more than two dozen books, and the speaker on the worldwide radio broadcast, Grace to You, heard over 700 times daily–every half hour, day and night, somewhere around the world. 

The primary emphasis of MacArthur’s ministry has always been the expository preaching and teaching of God’s Word through a verse-by-verse exposition of the Scripture. His studies pay particular attention to the historical and grammatical aspects of each biblical passage. MacArthur’s recently published book, How to Get the Most from God’s Word, released in conjunction with The MacArthur Study Bible, is designed to fill what he sees as “an increased hunger for the meat of the Word.” He assures the reader that the Bible is trustworthy and that an understanding of Scripture is available to everyone. He then provides guidance on how to study the Bible and how to discern the meaning of Scripture for oneself. Dr. MacArthur explains that the book and the Study Bible have been “in the works for 30 years…the product of 32 hours a week, 52 weeks a year…dedicated to the study of God’s Word.” He asserts that “God’s Word is the only thing that satisfies my appetite, but it also arouses an even deeper hunger for more.”

Among MacArthur’s other books are The MacArthur New Testament Commentary series, The Gospel According to Jesus, The Master’s Plan for the Church, Saved Without a Doubt, The Glory of Heaven, Lord Teach Me to Pray, Unleashing God’s Word in Your Life, Safe in the Arms of God, The Second Coming, Why One Way?, and Truth for Today, and Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ. His books have been translated into Chinese, Czechoslovakian, French, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Spanish, and several Indian languages. Though occasionally viewed by some groups as a controversial figure for strong critiques of freudian psychology, trends in the modern charismatic movement as well as the self-esteem movement, John MacArthur is seen by many as a champion of correcting many of the ills of evangelical Christianity. He is also a champion of helping believers grow stronger in their relationship with God through the committed study of the Word and personal commitment to the local church.
MacArthur spent his first two years of college at Bob Jones University, completed his undergraduate work at Los Angeles Pacific College, and studied for the ministry at Talbot Theological Seminary. John and his wife, Patricia, live in Southern California. They have four grown children — Matt, Marcy, Mark, and Melinda–and eight grandchildren.

11 Hints For A Happy Friendship

The following tips are from Life’s Little Handbook of Wisdom written by Bruce & Cheryl Bickel and Stan and Karin Jantz. DayMaker, 2010.

(1) Make friends even if you don’t think you need them.

(2) Seek out quiet people. They have a lot to say, if you say something first.

(3) Don’t establish a friendship based on mutual dislikes.

(4) Call if you’re running late.

(5) Look people in the eye when you talk to them.

(6) Be one who says positive things about others.

(7) Learn to tell a good story.

(8) Ask other people about themselves.

(9) Be happy for others in their good fortune.

(10) Make sure your caring includes doing.

(11) Know when to say goodbye.

Your Destiny: 5 Things To Keep an Eye On

“Destiny” is from Frank Outlaw as cited in “The Best of Bits and Pieces” by Robert Gilbert.

 

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

 

Watch your words; they become actions.

 

Watch your actions; they become habits.

 

Watch your habits; they become character.

 

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

May 7th in Christian History – Dr. James M. Boice and Elisha A. Hoffman

Series: On This Day In Christian History

 Dr. James Montgomery Boice: “He Realized His Boyhood Dream”

As a boy, James Montgomery Boice attended Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia with his family. He loved his pastor, Donald Grey Barnhouse, and he was an avid listener to Barnhouse’s radio program, The Bible Study Hour. At the age of twelve Boice decided he wanted to become a minister. Little did he know how closely he would follow in his beloved minister’s footsteps (Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia pictured left).

Boice attended Harvard, where he received a degree in English literature. There he met his future wife, Linda Ann McNamara, at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She received a master of arts from Harvard, and they shared a dream of creating a Christian college preparatory school for needy inner-city youth.

After Harvard, Boice went to seminary top prepare himself for becoming a minister. He then married Linda, and they moved to Switzerland so Jim could study at the University of Basel. After he received his doctorate, they settled in Washington, D.C., where he worked for the magazine Christianity Today.

In 1968 Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, the church of his youth, called him to be their pastor. In 1969 he also became the speaker for The Bible Study Hour. Boice continued Barnhouse’s legacy of providing clear, intellectual, heartfelt expository preaching to the Tenth Presbyterian congregation. Under Boice’s leadership the church grew in numbers, budget, and outreach programs. The church became ethnically diverse and intensely missions focused. Many of its ministries grew out of inner-city location: ministries to internationals, HIV positive individuals, inner-city youth, women with crisis pregnancies, and the homeless. Jim and Linda achieved their dream of a Christian college preparatory school for needy inner-city youth with the creation of City Center Academy, which was started and run by Tenth Presbyterian. Despite the lack of parking in its downtown location , the church has well over a thousand members.

In the 1970’s Boice started the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, which spawned many similar conferences in cities throughout the country. In 1977 he founded the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, a topic on which he frequently wrote. In all he wrote or contributed to more than sixty books. Under Boice’s leadership Tenth Presbyterian left the Presbyterian USA in 1981 and joined the Presbyterian Church in America, a denomination that conformed more closely to the church’s Reformed theological beliefs.

On Good Friday 2000, two hours before he was to preach, Dr. Boice learned that he had an aggressive form of liver cancer. His prognosis was not good.

Jim Boice (pictured on left) mounted the pulpit of Tenth Presbyterian for the last time on Sunday, May 7, 2000. He announced to his stunned congregation that he was rapidly dying of cancer. He said to them: “Should you pray for a miracle? Well, you’re free to do that, of course. My general impression is that the God who is able to perform miracles—and he certainly can—is also able to keep you from getting the problem in the first place…Above all, I would say pray for the glory of God. If you thin of God glorifying himself in history and you say, “Where in all of history has God most glorified himself?’ the answer is that he did it at the cross of Jesus Christ, and it wasn’t by delivering Jesus from the cross, though he could have…And yet that’s where God is most glorified.”

On June 15, 2000, at the age of sixty-one, James Montgomery Boice died peacefully in his sleep, just eight weeks after his diagnosis.

Reflection:

How do you think you would react if you were given news of your impending death?

Dr. Boice’s inclination was not to pray for a miracle but rather to pray that Christ be glorified in his death.

What is your reaction to what Dr. Boice told his congregation?

“While we live, we live to please the Lord. And when we die, we go to be with the Lord. So in life and in death, we belong to the Lord.” – Romans 14:8

Author’s of the Article Above: Mike and Sharon Rusten are not only marriage and business partners; they also share a love for history. Mike studied at Princeton (B.A.), the University of Minnesota (M.A.), Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Th.M.), and New York University (Ph.D.). Sharon studied at Beaver College, Lake Forest College, and the University of Minnesota (B.A.), and together with Mike has attended the American Institute of Holy Land Studies (now Jerusalem University College). Mike and Sharon have two grown children and live in Minnetonka, Minnesota. This article was adapted from the May 7th entry in their wonderful book The One Year Book of Christian History, Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2003.

Elisha A Hofman: “I Must Tell of Jesus”

Many New Testament promises have corresponding verses in the Old Testament that reinforce their power. When Peter, for example, said, “God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him” (1 Peter 5:7), he was but restating David’s words in Psalm 55:22: “Our Lord, we belong to you. We tell you what worries us, and you won’t let us fall.”

Elisha A. Hoffman loved those verses. He was born May 7, 1839 in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. His father was a minister, and Elisha followed Christ at a young age. He attended Philadelphia public schools, studied science, and then pursued the classics at Union Seminary of the Evangelical Association. He worked for 11 years with the association’s publishing house in Cleveland, Ohio. Then, following the death of his young wife, he returned to Pennsylvania and devoted 33 years to pastoring Benton Harbor Presbyterian Church.

Hoffman’s pastime was writing hymns, many of which were inspired by pastoral incidents. One day, for example, while calling on the destitute of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, he met a woman whose depression seemed beyond cure. She opened her heart and poured on him her pent-up sorrows. Wringing her hands, she cried, “What shall I do? Oh, what shall I do?” Hoffman knew what she should do; for he had himself learned the deeper lessons of God’s comfort. He said to the woman, “You cannot do better than to take all your sorrows to Jesus. You must tell Jesus.”

Suddenly the lady’s face lighted up. “Yes!” she cried, “That’s it! I must tell Jesus.” Her words echoed in Hoffman’s ears, and he mulled them over as he returned home. He drew out his pen and started writing, I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus! / I cannot bear my burdens alone; / I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus! / Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.

Hoffman lived to be 90, telling Jesus his burdens and giving the church such hymns as What A Wonderful Savior, Down at the Cross, Are You Washed in the Blood?, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, and a thousand more.

The Scriptures say, “God opposes proud people, but he helps everyone who is humble.” Be humble in the presence of God’s mighty power, and he will honor you when the time comes. God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him. 1 Peter 5:5b-7

About the Author: Robert J. Morgan, is the pastor of Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee and the author of the best-selling Then Sings My Soul, From This Verse, Red Sea Rules, and On This Day – this article was adapted from the May 7th entry in this excellent book. He conducts Bible conferences, parenting and marriage retreats, and leadership seminars across the country.

 Significant Events on This Day:

1274: The Council of Lyons II met. The council was supposed to promote plans to reunite the Eastern and Western Churches, but nothing came of it.

1794: French revolutionaries proclaimed the worship of a “supreme being,” a Deist god.

1823: A group of Russian Orthodox missionaries left Irkust to evangelize the Aleutian Islands and Alaska.

1844: Protestants burned dozens of Irish Catholic homes and the St. Augustine Church in Kensington, a suburb of Philadelphia. The action was in retaliation for the killing of one of their own by a Catholic the day before during an ill0advised rally in the Irish streets. Protestants were outraged that Catholics would not participate in school Bible reading (the Catholics believed that Church leaders, not individuals, should interpret Scripture). In defense of their property, Catholics killed several more Protestants as the riot progressed.

1859: Guido Verbeck and his bride, Maria, destined for Shanghai, sailed from New York aboard the Surprise. With them were Rev. and Mrs. Brown and the medical missionary Duane B. Simmons and his wife. Verbeck was so notable a missionary that the Japanese honored him highly.

A. Kenneth Curtis and Daniel Graves edited This Day In Christian History. Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications Inc., 2005. The events above were adapted from the entry for May 7th.

3 Secrets To Success By Sally Ride, USA Astronaut

3 Keys To Sally Ride’s Success As an Astronaut

 

(1) Be willing to learn new things.

 

(2) Be able to assimilate new information quickly.

 

(3) Be able to get along with and work with other people.

 

About: Sally Ride

 

PERSONAL DATA: Born May 26, 1951, in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Joyce Ride, resides in Pasadena, California. Her father, Dale B. Ride, is deceased. She enjoys tennis (having been an instructor and having achieved national ranking as a junior), running, volleyball, softball & stamp collecting.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Westlake High School, Los Angeles, California, in 1968; received from Stanford University a bachelor of science in Physics and a bachelor of arts in English in 1973, and master of science and doctorate degrees in Physics in 1975 and 1978, respectively.

EXPERIENCE: Dr. Ride was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. In August 1979, she completed a 1-year training and evaluation period, making her eligible for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. She subsequently performed as an on-orbit capsule communicator (CAPCOM) on the STS-2 and STS-3 missions.

Dr. Ride was a mission specialist on STS-7, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 18, 1983. She was accompanied by Captain Robert L. Crippen (spacecraft commander), Captain Frederick H. Hauck (pilot), and fellow mission specialists Colonel John M. Fabian and Dr. Norman E. Thagard. This was the second flight for the Orbiter Challenger and the first mission with a 5-person crew. During the mission, the STS-7 crew deployed satellites for Canada (ANIK C-2) and Indonesia (PALAPA B-1); operated the Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to perform the first deployment and retrieval exercise with the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS-01); conducted the first formation flying of the orbiter with a free-flying satellite (SPAS-01); carried and operated the first U.S./German cooperative materials science payload (OSTA-2); and operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) and the Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR) experiments, in addition to activating seven Getaway Specials. Mission duration was 147 hours before landing on a lakebed runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 24, 1983.

Dr. Ride served as a mission specialist on STS 41-G, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 5, 1984. This was the largest crew to fly to date and included Captain Robert L. Crippen (spacecraft commander), Captain Jon A. McBride (pilot), fellow mission specialists, Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan and Commander David C. Leestma, as well as two payloads specialists, Commander Marc Garneau and Mr. Paul Scully-Power. Their 8-day mission deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, conducted scientific observations of the earth with the OSTS-3 pallet and Large Format Camera, as well as demonstrating potential satellite refueling with an EVA and associated hydrazine transfer. Mission duration was 197 hours and concluded with a landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 13, 1984.

In June 1985 Dr. Ride was assigned to the crew of STS 61-M. Mission training was terminated in January 1986 following the Space Shuttle Challenger accident. Dr. Ride served as a member of the Presidential Commission investigating the accident. Upon completion of the investigation she was assigned to NASA Headquarters as Special Assistant to the Administrator for long range and strategic planning.

In 1989, Dr. Ride joined the faculty at UCSD as a Professor of Physics and Director of the University of California’s California Space Institute. In 2001 she founded her own company, Sally Ride Science [http://www.sallyridescience.com] to pursue her long-time passion of motivating girls and young women to pursue careers in science, math and technology. The company creates entertaining science programs and publications for upper elementary and middle school students and their parents and teachers.

Long an advocate for improved science education, Dr. Ride has written five science books for children: To Space and Back; Voyager; The Third Planet; The Mystery of Mars; and Exploring Our Solar System. She has also initiated and directed education projects designed to fuel middle school students’ fascination with science.

Dr. Ride has been a member of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and the National Research Council’s Space Studies Board, and has served on the Boards of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and the NCAA Foundation. Dr. Ride is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, and currently serves on the Boards of the Aerospace Corporation and the California Institute of Technology. She is the only person to have served on the Commissions investigating both the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia accidents.

Dr. Ride has received numerous honors and awards. She has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Astronaut Hall of Fame, and has received the Jefferson Award for Public Service, the von Braun Award, the Lindbergh Eagle, and the NCAA’s Theodore Roosevelt Award. She has also twice been awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal.

Book Review: God’s Names By Sally Michael

The Real Hero of the Story

The influence of John Piper in the late 20th and early 21st century has been incalculable for the good of the resurgence of the centrality of Christ and the glory of God – in a culture and church that has been centered on humanity.

Finally, the co-founder of Children Desiring God – Sally Michael – is making her curriculum available in book-form for parents and young people. Sally is the Minister for Program Development and Resources in the Family Discipleship Department at Bethlehem Baptist Church (Where John Piper has pastored for the past 30 years), in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Traditionally (in the past 100 years) curriculum and books for children have focused on mankind being the hero’s of the biblical stories – “Dare to be a Daniel,” or “Be a Ruth in your generation.” What Children Desiring God resources have done is make theology – the Triune God – in the Person of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the rightful heroes of each story in the Bible. The Bible is a book about God, not us. It’s about our need for Him, not His need for us. It’s a book that shows that History is His-story, not ours.

This book honing in on God’s character and nature revealed through His names is relational, interactive, understandable, theological, applicational, and encourages prayer, Bible study and worship in each lesson. There are 26 short lessons that are packed with God at the center of it all.

If you want your children to be God-focused, and others oriented, then look no further than this book. I hope that more books from Children Desiring God are coming soon. In a man-centered culture and church, it is absolutely essential that we get back to the core teaching of the Bible – the centrality of Christ, the Gospel, and God at the center of all things.

May 6th in Christian History – The Beginning of Princeton University and Rome Sacked Again

Series: On This Day In Christian History

 “From Log Cabin to University”

William Tennent was born in 1673, educated at the University of Edinburgh (pictured left), where he received a Master of Arts degree, and eventually was ordained in the Anglican Church in Ireland. He had an independent streak and tended not to conform to the Anglican Church. Instead of leading his own parish as a typical clergyman, he served as a chaplain to an Irish nobleman.

In 1718 he and his family emigrated from Ireland to Philadelphia. Shortly after his arrival he petitioned the Presbyterian synod to allow him to become a Presbyterian minister. He renounced the Anglican Church because of disagreements over church government and the Arminian tendencies of its doctrines. His petition was accepted, and he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister without having to undergo further education.

He first took pastorates in New York and then in 1726 went to Neshaminy, Pennsylvania, to lead a church. He remained there for the rest of his life. Shortly after his arrival, he began informally tutoring his sons and some other young men who were preparing to enter the Presbyterian ministry. By 1735 he formalized his efforts by building a simple log building on his property to serve as his school. It came to be known at “Log College.” His motivation for building the college was to increase the supply of Presbyterian ministers in America. Until this point candidates for the ministry had had to go to New England or abroad for training. Tennent was known for his excellent teaching skills, deep faith, and godly lifestyle.

Tennent’s three younger sons, William, John, and Charles, were trained at Log College and went on to become Presbyterian ministers and leaders of the Great Awakening.

The college was not without its detractors. In fact, the name “Log College” was itself a derogatory and derisive reference. Many within the Presbyterian Church were skeptical of the college’s ability to provide adequate training because of its humble and remote surroundings. Additional tension came from the fact that those who were supporters of the college also tended to be more aggressively evangelistic. They embraced the great evangelist George Whitefield and his methods, which were controversial at the time.

Although many demeaned the simplicity of the Log College, George Whitefield admired it. He wrote in his journal:

The place wherein the young men study now, is in contempt called, the college. It is a log house, about twenty foot long, and near as many broad; and to me it seemed to resemble the school of the old prophets; for their habitations were mean; and that they sought not great things for themselves is plain…All that we can say of most of our universities is, they are glorious without. From this despised place, seven or eight worthy ministers of Jesus have lately been sent forth; more are almost ready to be sent, and the foundation is now laying for the instruction of many others.

The Log College closed as old age and poor health claimed William Tennent. He died on May 6, 1746. That fall supporters of the Log College joined together with Presbyterians disillusioned with Yale’s recent expulsion of David Brainerd to form the College of New Jersey. Four of the initial trustees were graduates of the Log College, including two of Tennent’s sons. Another Log College graduate and initial trustee was Samuel Finley, who later became the fifth president of the college. Today we know the College of New Jersey, the successor of Log College, as Princeton University Princeton University was born in a log cabin (pictured left – a long way from a log cabin)!

Reflection:

William Tennent’s deep faith and his commitment to teaching others created a far-reaching legacy for the kingdom of Christ.

Do you ever think about he legacy you will leave? Will it further God’s kingdom?

“Do not despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” – Zechariah 4:10

Author’s of the Article Above: Mike and Sharon Rusten are not only marriage and business partners; they also share a love for history. Mike studied at Princeton (B.A.), the University of Minnesota (M.A.), Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Th.M.), and New York University (Ph.D.). Sharon studied at Beaver College, Lake Forest College, and the University of Minnesota (B.A.), and together with Mike has attended the American Institute of Holy Land Studies (now Jerusalem University College). The Rustens have two grown children and live in Minnetonka, Minnesota. This article was adapted from the May 6th entry in their wonderful book The One Year Book of Christian History, Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2003.

  

“Rome Sacked Again”

In 1523 Giulio de’ Medici became Pope Clement VII. Martin Luther was causing problems at the time; but portents soon appeared of greater distresses to come. On April 8, 1527, as Clement blessed a crowd of 10,000, a fanatic in leather loincloth mounted a nearby statue, shouting, “Thou bastard of Sodom! For thy sins Rome shall be destroyed. Repent and turn thee!” Not quite a month later, on fog-shrouded May 6, 1527, a vast army of barbarians burst through Rome’s walls and poured into the city. They had been sent—but were no longer controlled—by Emperor Charles V. By the time the troops reached Rome, they were hungry, unpaid, shoeless, reduced to tatters, and rabid (Coliseum of Rome pictured on left).

The defending Roman and Swiss guards were annihilated. The barbarians pillaged, plundered, and burned with abandon. They entered hospitals and orphanages, slaughtering the occupants. Women of every age were attacked; nuns were herded into bordellos; priests were molested. The banks and treasuries were looted, the rich flogged until they turned over their last coin. Fingernails were ripped out one by one. Children were flung from high windows. Tombs were plundered, churches stripped, libraries and archives burned. Priceless manuscripts became bedding for horses. Drunken soldiers strutted around in papal garments, parodying holy rites. Within a week, 2,000 bodies were floating in the Tiber and nearly 10,000 more awaited burials. Multitudes perished. Rats and dogs eviscerated the bloating, fetid corpses that piled up in the city.

Pope Clement had barely made it into the safety of the Castle of St. Angelo, and from its towers he helplessly watched the ravaging of his city. “Why did you take me from the womb?” he wailed. “Would that I had been consumed.”

As news spread over Europe, Protestants interpreted the sack of Rome as divine retribution, and even some Catholics agreed. “We who should have been the salt of the earth decayed until we were good for nothing,” wrote Cardinal Cajetan, Luther’s contestant at Augsburg. “Everyone is convinced that all this has happened as a judgment of God on the great tyranny and disorders of the papal court.”

My eyes are red from crying, my stomach is in knots, and I feel sick all over. My people are being wiped out, and children lie helpless in the streets of the city. Those who pass by shake their heads and sneer as they make fun and shout, “What a lovely city you were, the happiest on earth, but look at you now!” Lamentations 2:11,15

About the Author: Robert J. Morgan, is the pastor of Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee and the author of the best-selling Then Sings My Soul, From This Verse, Red Sea Rules, and On This Day – this article was adapted from the May 6th entry in this excellent book. He conducts Bible conferences, parenting and marriage retreats, and leadership seminars across the country.

Significant Events on This Day:

1312: The Council of Vienne ended. It was called chiefly to suppress the Knights Templar at the insistence of Philip IV of France. Philip made sure he got his way by appearing outside the city with an army.

1527: Charles V’s out-of-hand army entered Rome, killing, looting, raping and torturing. Pope Clement VII barely escaped with his life. The tragedy followed a prophecy by a beggar-preacher that Rome would be destroyed for Clement’s sins.

1746: William Tennent died on this day (See article above). He opened what was called a “log-college,” and his zealous students played a key role in the Great Awakening and in founding the school that became Princeton Theological Seminary.”

1840: Father Demetrius A. Gallitzin, “Apostle of the Alleghenies,” died. He immigrated to the US from Russia, converted to Catholicism, studied at Baltimore Seminary and spent the bulk of his life establishing churches in the Allegheny Mountains. He had been strongly influenced by his zealously religious mother. Amalia, who had brought many to a belief in Catholicism.

1986: The first American Indian Roman Catholic bishop, Donald E. Pelotte, was ordained in Gallup, New Mexico.

A. Kenneth Curtis and Daniel Graves edited This Day In Christian History. Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications Inc., 2005. The events above were adapted from the entry for May 6th.

10 Hindrances to Prayer By Dr. David P. Craig

Just as we have a hard time communicating with someone we have hurt, or who has hurt us, oftentimes we sense that our prayers our bouncing off the ceiling and God is far away. When God seems distant and we are out of fellowship with Him it appears that our prayers are being hindered – because they are! The problem in this case is NEVER with God – it’s ALWAYS with us. God is perfect, transcendent and immanent [near, operating within] in His presence and activity. Therefore, when we feel that God is distant – it’s very important that we evaluate every possible hindrance to our prayers. Here are several passages of Scripture that elucidate hindrances to our effective communication and fellowship with our Heavenly Father. Take the time to prayerfully consider and evaluate your walk with Him. Remember that God is quick to forgive and wants to draw near to you as you draw near to Him.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” – James 4:8a

(1) Carnal motives – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:3).

(2) Cherishing Sin – “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18).

(3) Concealing Sin – “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

(4) Domestic Disputing – “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7).

(5) Hypocrisy – “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward” (Matthew 6:5).

(6) Ignoring God’s Law – “If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Proverbs 28:9).

(7) Pride  – “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:10-14)

(8) Robbing God – “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need” (Malachi 3:8-10).

(9) Unbelief – “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:5-6).

(10) Withholding Forgiveness – “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:12-15).

May 5th in Christian History – Alexander Maclaren, Justinian, and George Whitefield

Series: On This Day In Christian History

 Significant Events on This Day:

321: Emperor Constantine, unable to subdue the Donatists, gave them grudging tolerance. The Donatists, a North African sect, split from the Catholic Church because they insisted that those who had betrayed Christ and the Scripture could not lightly be readmitted to the Church. Bishops consecrated by former traitors were not in the apostolic succession, they said, and so they set up their own succession.

553: The Council of Constantinople II began. Under Emperor Justinian, who was manipulated by his wife, Theodora, it issued a ruling favorable to the Monophysite heresy (Constantinople image on right; See article on Justinian below).

1525: Frederick the Wise, benefactor of Martin Luther and Reformation, died.

1910: Alexander Maclaren, a Baptist preacher with a worldwide reputation for his sermons and writings, died on this day. He refused to write out his sermons so that the Holy Spirit would have free play when he spoke. During singing, he sat with the congregation, observing that he wanted to “join the praise, not lead it.” (See article on Alexander Maclaren below)

A. Kenneth Curtis and Daniel Graves edited This Day In Christian History. Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications Inc., 2005. The events above were adapted from the entry for May 5th.

 “Alexander Maclaren: The Prince of Expositors”

 Alexander Maclaren, born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1826 was one of the greatest preachers of the nineteenth century.

“A man who reads one of Alexander Maclaren’s sermons,” said Sir Robertson Nicoll, “must either take his outline—or take another text.” How did he do it? The answer is simple: Through hard work, disciplined study, and concentration on the one important thing—preaching the Word. He turned down most speaking and social invitations. He stayed home, did his work, and built a great church.

“I began my ministry,” he told a group of young preachers, “with the determination of concentrating all my available strength on the work, the proper work of the Christian ministry, the pulpit … I have tried to make my ministry a ministry of exposition of Scripture.”

To Alexander Maclaren, preparing messages was hard work. He often said he could never prepare sermons while wearing slippers; he always wore his outdoor boots. He was known to devote sixty hours to the preparation of a single sermon.

In 1845 Maclaren was sent to preach at a run-down church in Southampton, where the people were so impressed they called him to be their pastor. The Portland Chapel had suffered greatly under an incompetent pastor who had plunged them into debt and given the church a bad reputation.

“If the worst comes to the worst,” Maclaren wrote home, “I shall at all events not have to reflect that at the funeral of a withered one.” The work at Portland Chapel prospered.

Two years later, he was invited to preach at Union Chapel, Manchester. He accepted their call, and began an amazing forty-five-year term that gave him the name, “Maclaren of Manchester.”

History repeated itself: the church grew and had to move into a new edifice that seated nearly two thousand people. Maclaren had changed his location, but not his disciplines. He refused most invitations, and concentrated on studying the Word and feeding his people. He was not a visiting pastor and he repeatedly challenged the adage that “a home-going pastor makes a church-going people.” He reminded ministerial students that the adage was true only if, when the people came to church, they received something worth coming to hear.

Dr. Alexander Maclaren was one of the clearest Bible Expositors of the age. How he became such a Bible scholar is worthy of note. One who in his early ministry was an assistant to the great Baptist preacher, once asked him what had contributed most of all to his success.

Dr. Maclaren, after deprecating the idea that he had attained “success,” said that he owed all that was in himself and his ministry to the habit, never broken, of spending one hour a day “alone with the Eternal.” The hour, which he took, was from nine to ten in the morning. His assistant says that he was sometimes allowed to be in the room with the pastor, but no word was allowed. In his well-worn armchair he sat, with his big Bible on his knees, sometimes reading its pages, more frequently his hand over his face.

During that hour he did not allow himself to read even the Bible for texts, or as a student. It was read as a child would read a letter from an absent father; as a loving heart would drink in again the message from a loved one far away. Maclaren died on May 5th, 1910.

 “Justinian and Jesus”

The fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries rumbled with prolonged controversy about the nature of Christ, and numerous councils convened to grapple with this issue. The Council of Nicaea in 325 said that Christ was fully divine. Fifty years later, the Council of Constantinople proclaimed Christ fully human. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 formulated the famous creed that Christ is “truly God and truly man … two natures without confusion, without change, without division, or without separation. … ”

On this day in Christian history, May 5, 553, another council was convoked, this one by Emperor Justinian in Constantinople. Justinian, brilliant and tireless, longed to be religious. He spent many nights in prayer and fasting, and endless days in theological study. He built the fabulous cathedral of Hagia Sophia and spoke longingly of a unified church.

But Justinian was also vain, ambitious, ostentatious, and easily influenced. His beautiful wife Theodora, daughter of a bear trainer, was ruthless, and she played him like a marionette. Unable to understand the two natures of Christ, she held the Monophysite view—that Jesus had no human nature but possessed only a divine nature, clothed somehow in human flesh. At the Council of Constantinople, Justinian, manipulated by his wife, issued a decree favorable to the Monophysites.

Pope Vigilius had refused to attend the council due to fear for his safety and because of the preponderance of Eastern bishops. In Rome he received news of the council’s actions with disdain but eventually accepted its decisions as unimportant. Monophysite views, however, continue to this day in Abyssinia, Syria, and in the Coptic church of Egypt.

And Justinian? He eventually became a full-fledged heretic, preaching that the body of Christ, being incorruptible, could not have experienced suffering and death. He died in 565, unrepentant, at age 83, his later years darkened by perpetual disasters.

Healthy Christianity demands both a correct theological knowledge of Christ and a personal knowledge of the Savior through faith and obedience. Justinian grappled with the former, never arrived at the latter, and makes us wonder what the Lord thinks of his title in history—Justinian the Great.

In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word. – John 1:1-3a

About the Author: Robert J. Morgan, is the pastor of Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee and the author of the best-selling Then Sings My Soul, From This Verse, Red Sea Rules, and On This Day – this article was adapted from the May 5th entry in this excellent book. He conducts Bible conferences, parenting and marriage retreats, and leadership seminars across the country.

 

“Charles Wesley, George Whitefield and the Holy Club”

Charles Wesley and two friends began a small Christian group at Oxford in 1728. John Wesley, who had already graduated from Oxford, returned the following year as a tutor and assumed its leadership. Oxford students made fun of the group, referring to it as the “Holy Club” or “Methodists.” By the time George Whitefield joined the group in 1733, there were eight or nine dedicated members.

The focus of the Holy Club was on religious self-discipline. They woke up early for lengthy devotions, took Communion each Sunday, fasted every Wednesday and Friday, and observed Saturday as the Sabbath in preparation for the Lord’s Day. Exhorting each other to live piously and do good works, they were motivated by the belief that they were working for the salvation of their souls. Yet their self-discipline brought them neither happiness nor salvation (Oxford University Campus pictured on left).

The lifestyle of the Holy Club had a catastrophic effect on the life of William Morgan, one of the founders. He lost his mind and eventually his life in his struggle to achieve self-disciplined perfection.

Whitefield was the first Holy Club member to question their practices. He read a book where, in his words,

God showed me that I must be born again, or be damned! I learned that a man may go to church, say his prayers, receive the sacrament, and yet not be a Christian. Shall I burn this book? Shall I throw it down? Or shall I search it? I did search it; and, holding the book in my hand, thus addressed the God of heaven and earth: “Lord, if I am not a Christian, or if I am not a real one, for Jesus Christ’s sake, show me what Christianity is that I may not be damned at last!” God soon showed me in reading a few lines further that “true religion is a union of the soul with God, and Christ formed within us,” a ray of Divine light was instantaneously darted in upon my soul, and from that moment, but not till then, did I know that I must become a new creature.

His solution, however, was to try to become a new creature through further extremes of self-denial. During Lent in 1735 he only ate a little coarse bread with tea. By Holy Week he was so weak that he could not study or even walk up a flight of stairs. His grades began to suffer and his tutor wondered if he was going mad. His physician put him in bed, where he remained for seven weeks.

Having hit bottom in his efforts to earn his salvation. Whitefiled described what happened next:

God was pleased to remove the heavy load, to enable me to lay hold f his dear Son by a living faith, and by giving me the Spirit of adoption, to seal me, even to the day of everlasting redemption.

O! With what joy—joy unspeakable—even joy that was full of and big with glory, was my soul filled when the weight of sin went off and an abiding sense of the love of God broke in upon my disconsolate soul! Surely it was a day to be had in everlasting remembrance. My joys were like a spring tide and overflowed the banks.

Later he declared, “I knew the place: it may be superstitious, perhaps, but whenever I go to Oxford I cannot help running to the place where Jesus Christ first revealed himself to me, and gave me the new birth”

On May 5, 1735, Whitefield wrote a letter to John Wesley, attempting to share what had happened to him. He wrote, “Into his all gracious arms, I blindly throw myself.” It would be three more years before the Wesley’s found his gracious arms.

Reflection:

 Have you ever found yourself trying to earn your salvation?

Salvation is a gift to be received from God, and there is nothing we can do to earn it. Good works do not lead us to Christ—it is out of our relationship with Christ that good works flow.

God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you cannot take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. – Ephesians 2:8-9

Author’s of the Article Above: Mike and Sharon Rusten are not only marriage and business partners; they also share a love for history. Mike studied at Princeton (B.A.), the University of Minnesota (M.A.), Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Th.M.), and New York University (Ph.D.). Sharon studied at Beaver College, Lake Forest College, and the University of Minnesota (B.A.), and together with Mike has attended the American Institute of Holy Land Studies (now Jerusalem University College). The Rustens have two grown children and live in Minnetonka, Minnesota. This article was adapted from the May 5th entry in their wonderful book The One Year Book of Christian History, Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2003.

 

From Mecca to Calvary: The Testimony of Thabiti Anyabwile

Interview with Thabiti Anyabwile – on his book “The Gospel for Muslims”

 By Matt Svoboda

From the Bible belt, to Islam, to following Jesus, to going into the ministry, and now he has a nationwide stage. Thabiti Anyabwile is a gospel-centered pastor who has preached at the last several Together for the Gospel conferences.  He served under Mark Dever at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC before becoming the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church in Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands.  I can’t forget to mention that he doesn’t even like the beach!  He has written a few other books, all of which I have read, and I have been greatly blessed by his preaching and writing ministry.

Thabiti Anyabwile has written a book that I have not read, but have ordered it and am very much looking forward to reading. The Gospel for Muslims appears to be a great book for helping Christians to share Christ with confidence to Muslims. I am grateful that Thabiti agreed to do this interview.  Admittedly, I have not really studied Islam or how to share the gospel with Muslims.  This interview and book will be as beneficial for me as anyone. Enjoy the interview below and you can buy the book at the link above:

1) Could you summarize your testimony of how you converted from Islam to Christianity? What were a couple of “milestones” in your process of conversion?

I grew up in small town North Carolina, smack in the middle of the Bible belt.  My family was nominally Christian, attending church at Easter, Christmas, and few times during the year.  The first turning point came for me when I was arrested after my sophomore year in high school.  I’d never been in trouble before; so I did what my big brothers sometimes did when they got in trouble—I went to church.  But sadly, I didn’t have ears to hear the gospel, and I don’t think the gospel was always preached clearly.

So, I went off to college an angry young man.  There, I began friendships with a number of Muslim men.  By my sophomore year in college, I became a practicing Muslim, zealous for Islam.  I practiced Islam through the rest of undergraduate school and a short time after.  The next turning point came near the end of undergraduate school.  During Ramadan, the Muslim month of prayer and fasting, while reading the Qur’an, I was suddenly aware that the Qur’an admitted too much about Jesus on the one hand (virgin birth, miracles, prophet, gospels are signs from God, etc.) but denied too much on the other hand (not the Son of God, not crucified, etc.).  After a year of trying to find satisfactory answers, I finally concluded that the inconsistencies couldn’t be explained.  Islam was false.

About the same time, a casual conversation with co-workers exposed a nagging problem I’d had all along.  We were discussing various people from world history who we respected.  And a co-worker look at the group and said she couldn’t think of anyone more righteous than me.  After my protests, she continued to insist and to list off the reasons why she thought that.  In that conversation I could see that the righteousness she described was all external behaviors.  But inside, I knew my heart was corrupt and sinful, full of unrighteousness.  I knew I didn’t have the kind of righteousness that would satisfy a holy God.

Rather than turn to Christ, I went further in despair.  Around that time, my wife and I found out we were pregnant with what would have been our first child.  We lost the child three months into the pregnancy.  The Lord dealt us a kind blow.  He humbled us.  And in that period of humbling, we heard the preaching of the gospel with faith for the first time.  The preacher, expounding Exodus 32, explained the sinfulness of sin, and I was deeply convicted.  And the preacher held out Jesus Christ, the only Savior, who not only took God’s wrath against sin but also supplied the perfect righteousness we need to satisfy a holy God.  In God’s amazing kindness, my wife and I both came to faith in the Lord that morning.

2) What is the main reason that you wanted to write this book “The Gospel for Muslims?”

I’m often asked by people who know my testimony, “How can we share the gospel with Muslims?”  When they ask this, they’re really asking, “Is there any special knowledge I need or technique that will be effective in evangelizing Muslims?”  But when you think about it, that’s the wrong question.  The question suggests that we lack confidence in the gospel itself to change the hardest hearts or to save our Muslim neighbors.  So, I wrote the book to remind Christians that “the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first but also to the Gentile,” including the Muslim.  What we need is fresh confidence in Christ and the news of His salvation through His death, burial, resurrection, and coming.  If we know the gospel, we know everything we need to know to see our Muslim friends, coworkers, and neighbors saved from the coming wrath of God, and saved to love and enjoy the Savior forever.

3) What are some common misconceptions that Christians have about Muslims?

There are many.  We sometimes think that every Muslim is a terrorist.  Television images and our own fear have a lot to do with that.  But the chances are overwhelming that our Muslim friend or neighbor is not a terrorist.  They’re people with the same concerns, ambitions, and needs as our non-Muslim neighbors.

Also, many people tend to think that every Muslim has memorized the Qur’an by three years old and is able to give extended and sophisticated explanations of their faith.  But in reality, most Muslims don’t know the Qur’an very well at all.  And Islam itself is not one thing all over the world.  Arab Islam differs significantly from Islam in Indonesia (the largest Muslim country in the world) and North Africa and North America.  You’re more likely to meet a nominal Muslim, much like my nominal Christian family back in NC, than you are to meet a Muslim with the entire Qur’an committed to memory.

But perhaps the biggest myth is that Muslims do not convert.  That simply is not true.  Many, many Muslims are saved by God’s sovereign grace through faith in Christ all the time!  They pay significant costs—losing family, friends and sometimes jobs.  But this is exactly what Jesus tells His followers to expect, and it’s worth it.  As those who already believe, we should expect that the same gospel that saved us will save our Muslim friends.  And we should be ready to help them pay the costs of following our Lord.

4) What are the key passages in Scripture that you use when sharing the gospel with Muslims?  Is there a certain “method” that you use?

I don’t use a certain method in evangelism.  Rather, I concentrate on explaining the gospel clearly, making distinctions in terms so that things like “repentance” and “faith” are seen to be distinct from those things in Islam.  Also, I want to make sure that distinctively Christian realities—like the Trinity, the crucifixion and resurrection, the necessity of turning from sin, abandoning our righteousness, and trusting Jesus alone to save us—are driven home.  I want to make sure my Muslim friend knows that these are personal issues, not just abstract theological issues.  His sin is real.  He has personally offended the holy God of all creation.  His rejection of Jesus means He is abiding in His sin and in God’s wrath.  And unless he repents and trusts Christ, he will suffer eternal judgment.

In my experience, most Muslims are eager to either hear what we think about Jesus, or to try and disprove the gospel.  To do that, they often turn to the gospels themselves.  That puts us on home turf, familiar ground.  Normally, I start where they start and I make sure to read the five verses before and after the verse they usually misquote.  It’s amazing how often the gospel is right there in the context!  So, simply modeling good Bible reading and explaining what’s there tends to “work” as an evangelistic approach.  The Spirit blesses the word.

5) Along with reading your book, how can Christians get trained in order to better share the gospel with Muslims?

There are many good books out there on evangelism.  Continue to read books that encourage in a biblical approach to evangelism.  I’d recommend Mark Dever’s The Gospel and Personal Evangelism and Mack Stiles’ Marks of the Messenger and Speaking of Jesus (which has a video training resource as well).  Those would be wonderful works to study.  Also, reading good books on the gospel itself, including: Greg Gilbert’s What is the Gospel?, and John Murray’s Redemption Accomplished and Applied.

But there’s really no training like actually sharing your faith.  Don’t worry about “having all the answers.”  In the process of sharing and being questioned, God gives us grace and teaches us things we won’t likely learn any other way.  Consider Philemon 6: “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.”  Isn’t it awesome of God to tie our evangelism together with granting us “a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ”?  The Lord simultaneously reaches the sinner and rewards the evangelist!

6) Are there any “pitfalls” that Christians often fall into when sharing the gospel with Muslims?

There are several, most of them connected with the misconceptions we have of Muslims.  We sometimes give in to the fear of man.  We sometimes find ourselves playing Bible “ping pong,” lobbing verses back and forth in an effort to win an argument.  Sometimes we try to make unpleasant aspects of the gospel more appealing by leaving them out or softening them.  Or, we’re lured into accepting the claims and premises of Islam as though they were true.  All of these can be pitfalls.

7) What are some “things to avoid” when sharing the gospel with Muslims?

I don’t think it’s helpful to get into discussions of politics, to attack the Qur’an or Prophet Muhammad, or to be disrespectful.  When we’re fearful, feeling under-prepared, and lose sight of the fact that we’re trying to win people to the truth that is in Christ, our flesh exerts enormous control and we tend to do things we’d probably be better off avoiding.

Also, it’s important to avoid serving pork products (or having them in your home) if you’re inviting a Muslim friend or neighbor over.  Avoid immodest clothing and cross-gender conversations.  Many Muslims associate Christianity with the decadence and moral decay of the West.  We want to avoid those associations.

Try your best to avoid assumptions, like: they’d never be interested in attending my church.  Actually, your Muslim neighbor or friend may find themselves with freedoms and interests that they couldn’t pursue in other countries.  Don’t assume they’re not interested in the faith and the church.

8) What are some good ways Christians can lovingly engage Muslims in their community?

Love Muslims the way you’d love anyone.  They’re people made in God’s image, and they experience the same burdens, needs, ambitions, and cares as everyone else.  So, in general, simply move toward them in intentional love.  As we pay attention to them, opportunities for specific acts of kindness and love will emerge.

But some general things also come to mind.  Volunteer in an English-as-Second-Language class or group.  Invite them to your home for a meal or to watch a game.  Most internationals will live in the United States without ever entering an American home.  Practice hospitality.  Also, if you both have children, ask them how they and the kids are adjusting to the culture and ways of the U.S.  Invite your Muslim neighbor and their children to participate in a ball game or some other activity you share with your children.  Be something of a cultural broker, empathizing with their struggles and helping them negotiate life in your community.

9) Any final thoughts or advice that you would like to share with Christians who would like to better engage Muslims with the gospel?

Let the gospel do the work!  Be confident in the power of God encased in the gospel.  Get out there are share the good news and trust the Spirit to use you for the glory of Christ!

More About Thabiti Anyabwile: He is the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman in the Grand Cayman Islands and a Council member with The Gospel Coalition. In his own words, “I love the Lord because He first loved me. I love His people because He has given me a new heart. I have received God’s favor in the form of my wife, Kristie. And together we know His blessing through three children. I was once a Muslim, and by God’s grace I have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ. By God’s unfathomable grace I am a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in which I hope to serve Him until He returns or calls me home!”

He earned his B. A. and M. S. degrees in psychology from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Before moving to minister in the Caribbean, he served with Dr. Mark Dever at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. He is married to Kristie and they have three children: Afiya, Eden, and Titus. As a native of Lexington, North Carolina, he has an affinity for Western-NC-BBQ. Thabiti writes regularly at Pure Church as part of The Gospel Coalition blog crew. He has also authored several books, The Gospel for Muslims: An Encouragement to Share Christ with Confidence (Thabiti converted to Christianity from Islam); Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons; Ephesians: God’s Big Plan for Christ’s New People; May We Meet in the Heavenly World: The Piety of Lemuel Haynes; What Is A Healthy Church Member?; The Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity; The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African American Pastors. He has also contributing chapters to the following books: For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper; Holy, Holy, Holy: Proclaiming the Perfections of God; Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Theology; Glory Road: The Journeys of 10 African-Americans into Reformed Christianity; and John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine & Doxology.

The Interview above took place on About the Author: Thabiti Anyabwile is the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman in the Grand Cayman Islands and a Council member with The Gospel Coalition. In his own words, “I love the Lord because He first loved me. I love His people because He has given me a new heart. I have received God’s favor in the form of my wife, Kristie. And together we know His blessing through three children. I was once a Muslim, and by God’s grace I have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ. By God’s unfathomable grace I am a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in which I hope to serve Him until He returns or calls me home!”

He earned his B. A. and M. S. degrees in psychology from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Before moving to minister in the Caribbean, he served with Dr. Mark Dever at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. He is married to Kristie and they have three children: Afiya, Eden, and Titus. As a native of Lexington, North Carolina, he has an affinity for Western-NC-BBQ. Thabiti writes regularly at Pure Church as part of The Gospel Coalition blog crew. He has also authored several books, The Gospel for Muslims: An Encouragement to Share Christ with Confidence (Thabiti converted to Christianity from Islam); Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons; Ephesians: God’s Big Plan for Christ’s New People; May We Meet in the Heavenly World: The Piety of Lemuel Haynes; What Is A Healthy Church Member?; The Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity; The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African American Pastors. He has also contributing chapters to the following books: For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper; Holy, Holy, Holy: Proclaiming the Perfections of God; Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Theology; Glory Road: The Journeys of 10 African-Americans into Reformed Christianity; and John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine & Doxology.

The interview above took place on May 7, 2010 and can be found on SBC Voices: http://sbcvoices.com/interview-thabiti-anyabwile-the-gospel-for-muslims/