Older believers need to introduce younger believers to the written works of men and women of God
I’m really not that old, honest! I became a Christian around the age of 18/19 and I am now 28. Since coming to Christ I have devoured books, particularly books written by men and women who knew the Lord in a deep way and who were used by God powerfully. Sometimes I stumbled across these heroes of the faith on my own (or was it by divine providence?) other times older Christians in the faith pointed me in the right direction.
Occasionally I chat with younger believers, most of them up and coming leaders and current youth leaders. Most of these folks are in their early twenties, sometimes in conversation I will mention a hero of the faith i.e A.W Tozer to which the young believer will say ‘who’? At this point I usually have to slap myself out of the stunned state of shock and unbelief that the response has put me in!
Its not just the younger generation, many older believers have not been encouraged to read the works of spiritual giants either. The baton has been dropped, however it needs to be picked up again and passed on. I have been greatly encouraged by the writings of men of God, I’ve been devouring books ever since I was saved. Good books have helped me in my walk with God. The sad thing is that many people today do not recognise a good author or a good book, however the benefit for those of us who do is that we can usually pick up good stuff for really low prices on Amazon and other book stores!
Anyway, if you happen to stumble upon this blog and you are looking for some real soul food. If you are sick of spiritual fast food and are looking for some real steak. If you want a banquet instead of a snack, then go and check out some of the following Christians. Thanks to google, you can do so without even leaving the house!
- Charles Spurgeon
- George Whitfield
- Jonathon Edwards
- John Wesley
- R.A. Torrey
- A.W Tozer
- Watchman Nee
- Hugh Black (late Scottish pentecostal minister of Struthers church)
Current day Men of God
There is so much spiritual junk out there today that often people do not know who to go to inorder to receive good teaching. I would endorse the following ministries.
- John Piper
- Mark Driscoll
- Terry Virgo
- Sam Storms
Happy searching!
September 6th, 2008 at 5:50 am
I totally agree. Most of the books that I’ve read with any impact on my life have been those others have told me about. Others have come to me through exchange. I’ve exchanged work for books and teaching tapes before. Sometimes I’ll be ‘google-ing’ someone of interest and come across a book that they’ve written or read. I will say this……books have been like puzzle pieces for me. Meaning that one book leads me to another and to another and so on. I’ve tried countless times to sit down with a book and not be able to read it. Then later on to stumble across it on the book shelf and devour the book in a sitting. Why? I don’t know. I believe in a guidance that comes from God. I call it my ‘back-pack’ theology. Basically…I’ll have what I need when I need it. Let me explain…..
I was saved in January of 2000. I first started reading John Wimber and Rick Joyner. In my (un-churched)mind….the way that I processed information……I saw the gift of the work of the Holy Spirit this way….it was as if God had given me a back-pack and within it is all that I will ever need. I don’t need it all at once….but it’s there. And when I need it….just reach into the bag and pull it out. When I’m done I put it back in the bag. All that I need is there. This is spiritually speaking. I’m not trying to be weird here…..this is just how I saw things. It helped me to understand what God had put inside of me.