In his book, The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter gives some very valuable insight on how many people tend to view the reformation of the Church. Although these words were written over 300 years ago, they still speak volumes of truth to our present-day situation:
“Reformation is to many of us, as the Messiah was to the Jews. Before he came, they looked and longed for him, and boasted of him, and rejoiced in hope of him; but when he came they could not abide him, but hated him, and would not believe that he was indeed the person, and therefore persecuted and put him to death, to the curse and confusion of the main body of their nation…
…And the reason was, because it was another manner of Christ that the Jews expected; it was one who would bring them riches and liberty, and to this day they profess that they will never believe in any but such. So it is with too many about reformation. They hoped for a reformation, that would bring them more wealth and honour with the people, and power to force men to do what they would have them: and now they see a reformation, that must put them to more condescension and pains than they were ever at before. They thought of having the opposers of godliness under their feet, but now they see they must go to them with humble entreaties…O how many carnal expectations are here crossed!”
Over at the Desiring God blog, Josh Sowin has written a great post on the importance of reading in the life of the believer. I completely agree with Josh when he says, “Our culture has become aliterate. We have the ability to read but not the desire.” He goes on to write:
Reading is one of the best ways to develop our minds. It can help us to know God and ourselves, gain vicarious experience, increase our perception and imagination, train our minds to think critically and logically, and teach us self-discipline.
I encourage you to read this post, and apply the principles presented to your everyday life. At the end of the post, Josh provides some great links to list of books that would be great for any believer to read. Reading isn’t just for pastors and theologians, I see it as an excerise for every believer so that we may better “love the Lord with all our…mind.” Check out the full post here.
Well, my posts have been very few and far between this summer. This is due to the fact that I’ve been in Gatlinburg, TN for the majority of the summer. I’m here through Campus Crusade for Christ with around 2o other students. We had a few staff members with us until last week when they each left to go the National Staff Conference in Colorado. Now that they have left, we (the students) each have our own role now. Here’s a slideshow I put together reviewing the first half of our stay here in the Smokies:
If you are a pastor, teacher, or ministry student then head on over to the Pastor Bookshelf Blog because they are giving a way a free book each Friday…if you get lucky that is. You can checkout the post here. Here’s the announcement from the blog:
Thanks to those of you who participated in our first Free Book Friday book giveaway, and congratulations to SBTS seminarian Matthew Wireman.
Posted by Cameron Potts 
Posted by Cameron Potts 
Posted by Cameron Potts 