I wonder to myself as a Pastor how much Christian literature any disciple of Jesus might read each year. I think if I knew I would probably cringe. Some people believe that just by going to Church that they can grow enough to get them by. Maybe someone else thinks that they are in a small group so they put more effort into the Christian life than most people and do not need to educate themselves. Every person who is a follower of Jesus needs to be educating themselves every week of their lives. The more educated you are the stronger your faith will be.When I was a young Christian I would bother my first 2 Pastor's with question after question. I would go to their house and knock on their door if I had too. I realized one day that if I was to grow like I wanted to in this new lifestyle I was going to have to do 2 things. I would have to get through the entire bible and keep going through it and I would have to study secondary Christian literature so that I could understand this life that I was called into. At the time I was only a nominal reader and since I knew nothing of Christianity I had to choke down my first five books. I began to read about prayer, the Holy Spirit, and anything by Philip Yancey. I noticed after the first year that I began to grow in big ways and I began to be more focused in the Christian life. At Church people would say "how do you know this stuff?" My response was always the same; "I have been studying!"
At the time of my conversion I was a delivery driver and covered between 150-250 miles a day. Because of my occupation I had the privilege of listening to 4 sermons a day. I would listen to Hayford, Swindoll, and Tony Evans. So my Christian education was ongoing. I was making a choice to grow in the Lord. Today the technology is much greater than when I was saved. You can go online and listen to sermons or download them to your ipod like one guy I know does. The point is, you have every tool at your disposal to grow in the Lord. I would not recommend every book from any Christian bookstore to you, but I will leave you with a few that I would. If you want to educate yourself and grow in the Faith in greater ways then you must begin to read. Ask someone from your congregation who understands Christian literature for some recommendations. Beware of the fluff books that promise everything will be ok. Here are a few I would recommend.1. The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard.
2. The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.
3. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala.
3 comments:
I think you can't get enough of the education. We are such a driven and busy people that if we are not filling our lives with some form of education we are filling it with other things.
Example: I started downloading mp3 of the way of the master radio show. I listen to it everyday in the car instead of the regular radio stuff and I can see a big differnce in my spiritual perspective. That is simply b/c I am putting more things of the Lord in and less trash.
sharingtimeagain,
Your are correct! I like what you said about filling our lives. Everyone talks about how busy their lives are, but everyone I know has enough time each week to grow more as a disciple.
I watch the Way of the Master program on TV about once a week and think that they do an outstanding job. Thanks for mentioning them.
Jeff,
I am glad you agree about Way of the Master. I have found them to be a breathe of fresh air. We are in such a "love them," and buddy Jesus world in America. They have helped me get back to the real issue of sin and death outside of Jesus.
I will admit sometimes they push it to a point that to me seems too far but all and all I love listening. The added good thing about the radio is its not just a show on the Law and Evangalism. They talk about the issues of the day and from a very Godly viewpoint. That is good to hear instead of listening to the world tell you or some politically slanted show talk about issues.
I highly recommend the show. You can get the podcasts off Way of the Master's website. Its a two hour show daily.
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