Dwell On These Things

There is much talk today about meditation.  Bookstore shelves are filled to capacity with books on how to channel the mind in an empty promise to attain peace and tranquility through meditation.  Seeking the inner-self, finding ones-self, lifting our conscience to a higher plain; these are all used in today’s language in regard to meditation.

Dr. Albert Mohler has written an interesting article on the subject of medication entitled, “The Empty Promise of Meditation.” He writes of David:

In Psalm 119, David writes, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.” [Psalm 119:97] David’s meditation did not revolve around David, nor did it involve David trying to empty his mind into silence. He desperately wanted to hear from God, and he knew he would hear directly from God in the law. He studied the Scriptures in order to cleanse his mind of wrong thoughts and have them replaced with right thoughts and patterns of thinking.

Just as David had a deep desire to hear from God, it is imperative for Christians to meditate, but not in some sub-spiritual exercise that includes folded legs, candles lit, and soft humming but with a sincere desire to hear from God.  Christians are commanded to meditate on God’s Word.  In my reading this morning a verse from the

Filed under: Albert Mohler, Devotional, God, Holiness, The Christian Life

How Should I Spend My Time?

John Piper has an excellent answer to an age-old question:

How should I spend my time?

The way I do it-and it’s the only biblical way I know, though I’m not as good at it as I’d like to be-is to experience what Romans 12:2 says: “Do not be conformed”-today, this afternoon, in your priorities and choices-”to this age, but be transformed in the renewing of your mind, so that you can prove what is the will of God.”

So as I face all the decisions of today, how will I have a spiritual taste bud so that I can taste what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect? And the answer that the Bible gives is, “Get a transformed mind.”

So we labor in the word and in prayer not just to figure out lists of deeds that are more or less acceptable, but we labor to get a mind that thinks and feels about things the way Christ does. So that when a phone call comes in, or an opportunity to go somewhere arises, or we have to chose this or that, there is something about our minds that discerns where Christ would be magnified, where faith would be built, and where people would be loved.

What’s remarkable is that there are people who have very little capacity to articulate formal theology who have really good taste buds when it comes to holiness and love. They seem to be able to discern in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, what word would be most helpful and what action would be most edifying. And if you were to ask them, “Now why did you do that?” they wouldn’t be able to give you an articulate long explanation. They intuited it, only it’s a spiritual intuition, not just a consulting of a list.

And that’s what we want. We want to get up in the morning, go to the word, go to prayer, and advance the transformation of our minds.

Filed under: Devotional, John Piper, Prayer, The Christian Life

Westminster Wednesday – J.I. Packer

At Pastor and People we not only recommend wonderful Christian literature but also feature wonderful Christian authors and scholars.  J.I. Packer is just one of those authors who writes wonderful literature for Christian growth and maturity. James Innell Packer, born July 22, 1926 in Gloucester, England, is a conservative evangelical Anglican, author, and theologian in the Calvinist tradition. He currently serves as the Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is considered to be one of the most important evangelical theologians of the late 20th century.

Everyone knows Packer’s classics, Knowing God and Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God but what about more recent works. Today at Westminster Wednesday, as we feature books from the online Westminster Bookstore, I want to highlight some of Dr. Packer’s more recent publications. Enjoy!

18 Words: The Most important Words you will ever know
Publisher: Christian Focus
Author: Packer, J. I.
ISBN-10: 1845503279 | ISBN-13: 9781845503277
List Price: $12.99
Westminster Bookstore: $9.74 – 25% Off

If the modern world can be characterized by one thing it is probably the enormous increase in the number of words around – but that increase has also been accompanied by a seemingly corresponding decrease in understanding. It is the irony of the information age that instead of bringing clarity it has raised uninformed opinion to the same level as truth.

The church has also not been faultless. Rather than discuss ideas in order to come to some settled agreement, the church has been characterized as trying to make words mean different things in order to accommodate differences. But the church should be a beacon of light to the world. The church has the words of eternal life.

J. I. Packer is a master wordsmith. He is also gifted with the ability of showing where truth lies in complicated reasoning. These skills combine to make Words from God a fascinating read and a life-changing one. The 18 words are Death, Devil, Election, Faith, Fellowship, Grace, Holiness, Justification, Lord, Mediator, Mortification, Reconciliation, Regeneration, Revelation, Sanctification, Scripture, Sin & World.

Keep in Step with the Spirit: Finding Fullness in Our Walk with God
Publisher: Baker Book House
Author: Packer, J. I.
ISBN-10: 0801065585 | ISBN-13: 9780801065583
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $14.99
Westminster Bookstore: $10.49 – 30% Off

The Holy Spirit empowers us, guides us, and enables us to grow and endure in our relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ. Often the most misunderstood member of the Trinity, the Spirit is someone of great focus and attention today amid church revivals and renewals.

In this new edition of his classic Keep in Step with the Spirit, J. I. Packer seeks to help Christians reaffirm the biblical call to holiness and the Spirit’s role in keeping our covenant with God. Packer discusses both the merits and shortcomings of the current charismatic movement and how Christ must always be at the center of true Spirit-led ministry.

Packer encourages believers to implement the Spirit’s directives and discusses how to map the Spirit’s path in your life. If you want to understand and experience more of life in the Spirit, you will cherish this latest offering from one of Christianity’s most respected scholars.

Keeping the Ten Commandments
Publisher: Crossway/Good News Publishers
Author: Packer, J. I.
ISBN-13: 9781581349832
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $9.99
Westminster Bookstore: $7.99 – 20% Off

They are often mistakenly considered God’s ‘rules’-his outdated list of do’s and don’ts that add up to a guilt-ridden, legalistic way of life. But as beloved author and Bible scholar J. I. Packer probes the purpose and true meaning of the Ten Commandments, readers will gladly discover that these precepts can aptly be called God’s design for the best life possible. They contain the wisdom and priorities anyone needs for relational, spiritual, and societal blessing-and it’s all coming from a loving heavenly Father who wants the best for his children.

Not only does Packer deliver these truths in brief, readable segments, but he includes discussion questions and ideas for further study at the end of each chapter. This book will challenge readers to view the commandments with new eyes and help them to understand-perhaps for the first time-the health, the hope, and the heritage we’re offered there.

Praying the Lord’s Prayer
Publisher: Crossway/Good News Publishers
Author: Packer, J. I.
ISBN-13: 9781581349634
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $9.99
Westminster Bookstore: $7.49 – 25% Off

Praying is a problem for many people. Christians often go through the motions of prayer because it is expected of them, but they are often left wondering, “Did God hear me? Does he even care?”

In his book Praying the Lord’s Prayer, an excerpt from Growing in Christ, J. I. Packer presents a powerful truth: prayer is a natural activity between the Heavenly Father and his children. As Packer works through each phrase of Christ’s pattern of prayer, readers will begin to grasp the basic principles and guidelines of prayer. As readers apply the truths of this book to their prayer lives, they will experience intimate communication with God and will strengthen their own conversations with their Father in heaven.

Growing in Christ
Publisher: Crossway/Good News Publishers
Author: Packer, J. I.
ISBN-10: 1581348525 | ISBN-13: 9781581348521
List Price: $16.99
Westminster Bookstore: $11.04 – 35% Off

Growing in Christ explains just that-how to grow in Christ. As this book shows, we mature spiritually by carefully learning and thoughtfully living the essentials of the Christian faith that are too often taken for granted or overlooked in our daily lives.

These essentials-so beautifully summarized in the Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments-provide the heart of the book, which Dr. Packer explores and applies to daily life in a clear and refreshing way. Study questions and Bible passages follow each chapter for further individual or group study. Speaking to Christians of all backgrounds and denominations, the newly converted as well as the lifelong believer, Dr. Packer reminds us that Christianity is not instinctive. Ours is a faith that must be learned, and we must never stop striving to mature.

Filed under: Book Recommendations, Books, Devotional, Doctrine, J.I. Packer, Prayer, The Christian Life, Westminster Books

Westminster Wednesday – Devotional

Wednesday is for books! Each Wednesday Pastor and People highlights books from the Westminster online bookstore. These books are excellent resources for Bible study and Christian growth and are offered to you at wonderful discounted rates. This Wednesday will be featuring books that can be used with enhance your devotional life from the humdrum to the glorious. Have a wonderful week!

Morning and Evening
Publisher: Crossway/Good News Publishers
Author: Spurgeon, Charles Haddon
ISBN-10: 158134466X | ISBN-13: 9781581344660
Binding: Hardcover
List Price: $19.99
Westminster Bookstore: $12.99 – 35% Off

For over one hundred years, Christians have gotten up and gone to bed with Charles Spurgeon’s devotional Morning and Evening as a companion. With a reading to begin and end each day throughout the year, you will come to appreciate Spurgeon’s emphasis on the importance of abiding in Christ and meditating on God’s Word. His wisdom and counsel provide a timeless guide through the trials and triumphs of the year. The richness of his biblical understanding offers readers a look into the heart of one of England’s foremost pastors and enduring Christian authors.

His lasting message is even more accessible with Alistair Begg’s careful modernizing of Spurgeon’s English. Begg, who has a deep love for Spurgeon’s preaching and especially for this work, has maintained Spurgeon’s clear passion and commitment to Christ. Using the English Standard Version as the scriptural text provides an accurate, understandable accompaniment to Spurgeon’s lessons. This updated version of a devotional classic is a timely and much-needed encouragement for today’s Christian. This is a wonderful classic that I personally use daily in my devotions.

Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Author: Bennett, Arthur G.
ISBN-10: 0851512283 | ISBN-13: 9780851512280
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $16.00
Westminster Bookstore: $10.56 – 34% Off

The strength of Puritan character and life lay in prayer and meditation. In this practice the spirit of prayer was regarded as of first importance and the best form of prayer, for living prayer is the characteristic of genuine spirituality. Yet prayer is also vocal and may therefore on occasions be written. Consequently in the Puritan tradition there are many written prayers and meditations which constitute an important corpus of inspiring devotional literature.

Too often ex tempore prayer lacks variety, order and definiteness. The reason for this lies partly in a neglect of due preparation. It is here that the care and scriptural thoroughness which others found necessary in their approach to God may be of help. This book has not been prepared to supply prayers but to prompt and encourage the Christian as he treads the path on which others have gone before.

Ancient Christian Devotional: A Year of Weekly Readings
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Author: Oden, Thomas C.
ISBN-13: 9780830834310
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $17.00
Westminster Bookstore: $11.22 – 34% Off

By helping us to read holy writings with ancient eyes, the church fathers help us drink deeply from the only water that can give us true life. This guide to prayer and reflection combines excerpts from the writings of the church fathers as found in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture with a simple structure for daily or weekly reading and prayer.

There are fifty-two weeks of readings following the weekly lectionary cycle A. You can read through them in order or by thematic interest. Each day you will also find a simple opening and closing prayer drawn from the prayers and hymns of the ancient church. Come and find the deep nourishment God offers through the insights of this “cloud of witnesses”-the ancient church fathers.

For the Love of God, Vol 1: Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word

Publisher: Crossway/Good News Publishers
Author: Carson, D. A.
ISBN-10: 1581348150 | ISBN-13: 9781581348156
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $19.99
Westminster Bookstore: $12.99 – 35% Off

In a world that views absolute truth, right and wrong, and salvation as being subject to individual interpretation, the Bible’s unwavering proclamations and miraculous stories seem obsolete in modern times. But it is not God’s Word that has changed. Indeed, its relevancy and its power to transform lives are intact. What has changed is the number of people who consult it. Now more than ever the need to read the Bible, to understand the big picture of its storyline, and to grasp the relevance this has for your life, is critical.

As with its companion volume, For the Love of God, this devotional contains a systematic 365-day plan, based on the M’Cheyne Bible-reading schedule, that will in the course of a year guide you through the New Testament and Psalms twice, and the rest of the Old Testament once. In so doing, D. A. Carson completes the work he began in the first book.

In an effort to help preserve biblical thinking and living, he has also written though-provoking comments and reflections regarding each day’s scriptural passages. And, most uniquely, he offers perspective that places each reading into the larger framework of history and God’s eternal plan to deepen your understanding of His sovereignty–and the unity and power of His Word.

For the Love of God, Vol. 2: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word

Publisher: Crossway/Good News Publishers
Author: Carson, D. A.
ISBN-10: 1581348169 | ISBN-13: 9781581348163
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $19.99
Westminster Bookstore: $13.19 – 34% Off

More than a devotional guide, For the Love of God, Volume 2 will open the Bible to anyone who wants to:

- Understand Scripture in its context and the larger framework of God’s kingdom
- Know the God of the Bible
- Discover how He works in the world and in the lives of those who love Him

These daily insights will help you view the Bible for all that it is–both the inspired history of redemption, and the revelation of God and His character. In addition, this book’s through-the-Bible-in-a-year reading plan will renew your urgency not only to delve deeply into God’s Word, but to study it daily so that your mind will be shaped and informed by what God Himself says.

Filed under: Book Recommendations, Books, Charles Spurgeon, Church History, Devotional, The Christian Life, Westminster Books