Spiritual Biographies

Many years ago, Elsworth Kalas spoke on the importance of reading biographies and biographical preaching. I think he is right; biographies, particularly of ministers, have been hugely important in my growth. Biographies show us how people in the past thought and acted, for good and bad. I suspect that if there is a biography about someone, he or she was interesting, courageous, or visionary in ways that are worth learning and thinking about.

In the past two years, I have read biographies of Asbury, John Newton, John Hus, William Tyndale, and the one I am reading now is Martyn Lloyd-Jones. My all-time favorite, though, is John Nelson, an early Methodist preacher. John Wesley's Journal, while not a biography, has truly been a school and guide to me.

In the Lloyd-Jones biography, I am marking up pages right and left. One thing I just read sticks out. Immediately after WWII, he spoke on ecumenical unity: "if we united all denominations and added all the powers which each has together, even that would not create spiritual life. The burial of many bodies in the same cemetery does not lead to ressurrection."

Not long after, he spoke on the causes of church decline: " the churches lost their significance and power because the authority of the Bible had been undermined and...[churches] had become too politically minded... we had stressed the social aspect for the past fifty years and men had turned their backs on us"
Interestingly, when I asked Elsworth Kalas why he thought Methodism was in such decline, he said pretty much the same thing. Speaking of a biography, one on Elsworth Kalas would be a great idea!!

Evangelism, etc

It has been an interesting few weeks. The highlights:

I mope a lot when people you work with leave the church. I should be happy--and I am-- but I think what if the 30 or so names I pray for in the front of my Bible were all in one place? What a dream team! Or is it that since they are in a whole bunch of places, there is a much greater expansion of the Kingdom than if we all stayed together?

Two evangelists moved away in the past year. But a new guy stepped up...who will be leaving in December...

There is nothing better than working a neighborhood on a crisp Fall day with another guy who loves going door to door. It is great to talk about Jesus to people and to pray with them for their needs. A close friend, whenever I complain, will ask, "have you told anyone about Jesus today?" Because when I tell about what He has done for me, I am blessed to remember and I forget my troubles, or they are put in their proper perspective.

I think it is time to get the band back together with so many people who have gone door to door with me... and to really blitz this town!!

Our worship service Sunday was...hit by the Holy Spirit. When you say that, we often think of something very boisterous or highly charged. The worship music was sublime. We were ready. I was preaching on the power of the Word, using William Tyndale as an example of how we should not take having a bible to read for granted. I went a direction I did not intend, confessing to not heeding the Bible as much as I needed to, not amending my life as I ought, not trusting its promises over my fears and worries. I called people to commit to hearing and doing... and the altar was packed.

I came across something in Neil Cole's excellent book, "Cultivating a Life For God," about Life Transformation Groups, which we use in our church. He says that the accountability questions need to have one "that holds the group members accountable to openly sharing a testimony of Christ's goodness with others. It should be something that goes beyond living as an example but also includes a verbal witness" (66). This leapt out at me because so often church members default to "letting my example speak" rather than imitating Jesus in verbal proclamation and invitation to discipleship.

Jesus has been good to me.