Tuesday, August 08, 2006

A word from Piper...

I decided to swing by desiringgod.org today and read a fantastic quote by Piper.

Piper Quote of the Day
"The day you hear that you have cancer, or that your child is blind, or that a mob is coming, you turn away from light books to the weighty ones that were written on the precipice of eternity where the fragrance of heaven and the stench of hell are both in the air."(The Hidden Smile of God, pg. 61-62)


In a day and age where the light books are so easily found in Christian bookstores and the weighty ones are found as easily as a needle in a haystack, the quote rings so true. It is such a reflection of our Lackadaisical christianity. Things are fanciful and pleasant, and so are our books.

So what is an appropriate response? Read a weighty book "that (was) written on the precipice of eternity where the fragrance of heaven and the stench of hell are both in the air."

3 comments:

Nick said...

Jamie,

Thanks for sharing that. Yes, I recently realized that I only have so much time on earth, so I want to make sure that I read certain key weighty books and know the Scriptures. Here are some key books, I think:

The Life and Diary of David Brainerd edited by Jonathan Edwards, "The End for Which God Created the World" by Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards, The Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne by Andrew Bonar, The Soul Winner by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, Holiness by J.C. Ryle, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, Confessions by St. Augustine, Cur Deus Homo by Anselm, the Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter, Spiritual Depression by D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther, The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock, Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen, The Beatitudes by Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity by Thomas Watson, Indwelling Sin in Believers by John Owen, The Mortification of Sin by John Owen, Of Communion with God by John Owen, On the Holy Spirit by John Owen, The Doctrine of Justification by John Owen, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ by John Owen, A Pastor's Sketches by Ichabod Spencer, and The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture by B.B. Warfield.

Nick said...

You also might be interested in joining "The Dead Theologian's Society." Currently, we are reading "The Life and Diary of David Brainerd" edited by Jonathan Edwards. See this post for more information: http://an-old-kind-of-christian.
blogspot.com/2006/05/dead-theologians-
society-nadi-tadros.html.

Terra said...

james
found the blog for the 'swearing' pastor and thought you might enjoy...

www.theresurgance.com