Enjoying the Journey

5 Books To Read On Powerful Preachers

This is hard for me. The lives of so many faithful ministers have ministered to me through the years! Yet as I look at my shelves and consider the ones that have had the greatest impact on my life there are a few that stand out. Hudson Taylor and Maria by J.C. Pollock (We all know the story of the pioneer missionary Hudson Taylor, but do you know the story of his wife? Maria’s partnership with her husband allowed the China Inland Mission to reach China with the gospel. Read this book.) A Passion for Souls by Lyle W. Dorsett (There are hundreds of books written on the life and ministry of D.L. Moody but this volume has been one…

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5 Books To Read For Fun

Reading is not just for information! It can be a healthy habit and constructive distraction for busy people. While I spend much of my reading time in research and study I have learned that keeping some “light” reading nearby is good for me. My favorite books for pleasure reading are usually biographies or something on Presidential history. Here are a few books that I have been reading just for fun during my down times… Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly (I have always enjoyed reading about Lincoln and that era of American history. This book is extremely interesting and I think the best of O’Reilly’s series.) Unbroken by Laura Hildebrand (This is a powerful book! Hildebrand records the dramatic story of…

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5 Books To Read On Great Christians

Every Christian should read biography. Through the years God has used the story of believers in history to both instruct and inspire me. First, let me say that not every biography I read is Christian. There are lessons to be learned from military leaders, businesspeople, athletes, and government figures. Sometimes we learn what to do and sometimes we learn what not to do! However, there are men and women who have faithfully followed the Lord and their lives can lead us to do the same. We follow in the footsteps of those who have gone ahead. It is for this reason that I think we should continue to study the examples who have blazed the trail before us. I have…

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Seeing Through The Eyes Of The Blind

It has been my privilege to have several blind friends. As a college student I met a blind young man who had read several times through the Scriptures using his braille Bible. One of my greatest encouragers now is a blind missionary. Indeed, in the words of Fanny Crosby, “I sometimes think that blind people see more than their friends who have the power of vision.” As I flew home from a meeting just a few days ago I had the pleasure of reading the autobiography of Fanny Crosby. Fanny’s hymns have found their way into great hymn books and, more importantly into the hearts of those who know and love Christ. Blinded as a young girl, she glimpsed with…

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5 Must-Read Biographies

W. Robertson Nicoll, a famous author in his own right, once said, “I have for years read every biography I could lay my hands on, and not one has failed to teach me something.”  When he died there were more than 5,000 biographies found in his personal library!  Perhaps we have too quickly assumed that the reading of biography was simply reading for hobby, when in fact it is reading for help.  The lives of great men become our classroom; their successes and failures our teachers. It is understandable that one man’s “favorite” is not always another man’s favorite.  The timing of the reading of a book is often most important.  At many junctures in my life God has used…

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My Favorite Biography

Many years ago I learned that reading biographies of great men and women was a good way to keep my own heart hungry for more of God’s blessing.  Well written biographies both instruct and inspire.  I have in my library many books that have been a tremendous blessing to me through the seasons of life.  One of those books is Borden of Yale. When I was just a teenager, a summer intern who worked with our youth group gave me my first copy of the life of William Borden.  It was an old, hardback edition with very few pictures.  Perhaps that kept me from fully appreciating it at first.  Little did I realize the impact it would make on me…

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It Must Be Personal – The Story of a Young Skeptic

Adoniram Judson was born August 9, 1788.  I first met him as a freshman in college through the pages of his life story.  Growing up in church I had heard the name of Adoniram Judson.  To me, he was a pioneer missionary to Burma.  Judson and his wife Ann were some of the first Baptist missionaries to be sent out of North America.  (Actually, they did not leave as Baptists but they arrived that way!)  Yet Judson was not always a missionary. Adoniram Judson learned to read at the age of three.  He had a brilliant mind and a personality that attracted others to him.  By the time he was a young man many considered him a free thinker. He…

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