EQUIP!
  • Home
  • About
  • Ministries
    • Equipping Seminarians @ BBSI
    • Equipping TCKs @ Faith Academy
    • Equipping God's People at EBC >
      • Men's League at EBC
      • Ladies' League at EBC
      • Basketball Clinic Outreach
    • Equipping Preachers & Evangelists >
      • Preachers' Coalition
      • Expository Enrichment Groups
      • Apologetic Aptitude Groups
    • Sufficiency of Scripture Group
    • Equipping Via Seminars & Workshops >
      • Sufficient of Scripture Seminar
      • Approved Workmen Training
      • Common Church Issues Workshop
      • Peacemakers Training
      • Truth-Bearers Project
    • Other Equipping & Outreaches >
      • The Panata Zone
      • Translation Ministry
  • Manila E-quipper
  • Give
  • Pray
  • Blogs
    • EXALTING CHRIST! Blog
    • The Literarian
  • Sermons & Messages
  • Contact
  • FAQ

Exalting  christ!

A Mini-Excursion with a Mighty Puritan

1/14/2018

1 Comment

 
​About 15+ years ago a bit of a change in my mindset took place when it came to development as a missionary pastor.  We were still serving in Brno, Czechia (formerly known as the Czech Republic) in our first church plant and I came to the realization that I needed to be more intentional with my reading list...about what I read and how frequent as well.  

From then on I always had an article or book that I was reading or readily available.  Whether it was devotional, theological, or practical-ministry oriented, I had one either in-hand or at-hand for those times when I was on working or on a trip for work.  I found I was frequently traveling by train/bus ride to and from Brno to Prague or to Ostrava.  There were times of waiting at a doctor's office or picking up kids from school, or even waiting for a mentoring meeting having arrived early to get a table or staying late to meet with another of the men I was mentoring, etc.)  

Whatever the situation, I was going to boost my reading efforst and touch on numerous authors, some of whom I had been instructed, by influential men in my life, to stay away from and never read.  So, I was reading, Sproul, MacArthur, Lloyd-Jones and Boice for really the first time.  I was also reading Puritan and Reformed authors such as John Bunyan, John Owen, Richard Baxter, Martin Luther and John Calvin.  

It was a very growing time for me even while serving on a crucial church planting work.  At one time too the Lord had us working in Brno with both an established church AND on our church plant.  Now that was a loaded year of ministry and overwhelming at times.  I do believe, however, the Lord's obvious fruit for all of that was bolstered by the fact that he had us spending good amounts of time in His Word and reading from solid new sources for our walk of faith and ministry.  

I still take mini-excursions of reading the Puritan authors and I have just started a new one this last week.  His name was Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680) and his collected "Works" has been edited by Joel R. Beeke and Mark Jones into the small, but powerful book, "A Habitual Sight of Him:  The Christ-Centered Piety of Thomas Goodwin".  Goodwin was one of those pastor-preacher-theologians who, according to Dr. Beeke, was obscured a bit due to the events of the mid 1600s in England when Puritans or Non-conformists were exiled from the Church and from higher learning.  

Dr. Beeke further states that Goodwin is known as "the Atlas of Independency" and rivaled the great Puritan John Owen in his abilities with exegesis and preaching.  His "Works" influenced many great men such as Edwards, Whitefield, Cotton, Gill and Whyte.  Alexander Whyte called Goodwin "the greatest pulpit exegete (read expository preacher) of Paul that has ever lived" and said that Goodwin's sermon "Christ Dwelling in Our Hearts by Faith", is one of the "two very greatest sermons in the English Language".  

If you desire a good read for a mini-excursion or as our good friends in Australia might call it, a "mini-walkabout", then find a copy of this small but impactful book.  I received it from the Shepherds’ Conference on our last furlough.
 
 Goodwin wrote this in his "Works"...
"The Indwelling of Christ by faith...is to have Jesus Christ continually in one's eye, a habitual sight of Him.  I call it so because a man actually does not always think of Christ; but as a man does not look up to the sun continually, yet he sees the light of it...So you should carry along and bear along in your eye the sight and knowledge of Christ, so that at least a presence of Him accompanies you, which faith makes."  

Dr. Beeke writes in this book's beginning that "the watchword at the time of the Reformation" and for a century later "was ad fontes – ‘back to the sources’ – so it is now: the way forward is backward".  He goes on to state, "We need to go back to the spiritual heritage of Reformed Evangelicalism to find the pathway foreward.  We cannot live in the past; to attempt to do so would be antiquarianism.  But our Reformed fore-bearers in the faith can teach us much about Christianity, its doctrines, its passions, and its fruit. 
 
I pray the Lord will richly bless you as you read His Word and perhaps by reading men of God who have learned and written before us about the important subjects that move us towards a deeper understanding of God's sovereignty in all things.  It truly is as we keep our eye habitually on Jesus, that we will find a greater degree of growth and faith as we serve Him.  This is the way forward as we live “coram Deo”…”Before the face of God”!  

PS - click on the book below to go to Amazon.com and read more, perhaps purchase for yourself.  
Picture
Picture
1 Comment
SPN Bitch No More link
10/23/2023 01:41:23 am

Thannks for posting this

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Robert Thomas Clark, M.Div.

     ​This is the ministry blog of Robert Thomas Clark, It is designed to be a repository of inspiring, impactful & influential posts on biblical truth, themes and concepts, which brings insights and initiates inquisitiveness!. 

    I believe as the guys on "One-Minute Apologist" that we should be ready to provide "credible answers to curious questions".  

    ​I also believe in the inerrancy of God's Word as it is trustworthy and verifiable and tied to God's character of truthful.  Baucham has stated, "
    I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses.  They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and they claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin​"

    I desire nothing more than to exalt Christ and to lead and equip others for ministry in exegetical method and expository preaching and following hard after Christ, even as I serve alongside many of them!.

     Life Verse:  
    “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”  
    ​ --- Colossians 3:17


    Inspirational Quotes:
    ​“There is no aspect of life but that the gospel has something to say about it.  The whole of life must come under its influence because it is all-inclusive; the gospel is meant to govern and control everything in our lives… We must realize the greatness of the gospel, its vast eternal span. We must dwell more on the riches, and in the riches, of these great doctrinal absolutes.”
    -- Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

    "The Bible.
    Know it in your head.
    Stow it in your heart. 
    Show it your life. 
    Sow it in the world."

    -- Dr. J. Vernon McGee


    ​I am a:
    ~ 
    Follower of Christ
    ​~ Missionary to Manila, PH
    ~ Called to Equip the next generation of pastors, preachers and Bible teachers!

    ~ Husband to Kim since '83!
    ~ Father of 6!
    ​~ "Paa!" to 8 Grandsons! &  Now 1 Granddaughter!

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    January 2020
    September 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017

    Categories

    All
    Apologetic Aptitude
    Biblical Shepherding!
    Expository Enrichment!
    Knowing The Times!
    On Giants Of The Faith
    Pastor One Anothers!
    Pastor One-Anothers!
    Sufficiency Of Scripture
    Theology Lab!
    The Penny Pulpit

    Picture
    I Love The Philippine Eagles! Awesome Birds of Prey!

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    2m wingspan, 1m tall!
 "Everywhere we look in the Philippines the same conclusion is easily recognizable...
MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES STILL ABOUND!" 
 
~  Robert T. Clark, ABWE Missionary & Director of Equip!
​

About

Organization
History
​Contact Us

Ministries

@ The Seminary
@ The MK School
@ EBC

Get Involved

Financial Partners
Prayer Partners
​FAQ
Terms of Use
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About
  • Ministries
    • Equipping Seminarians @ BBSI
    • Equipping TCKs @ Faith Academy
    • Equipping God's People at EBC >
      • Men's League at EBC
      • Ladies' League at EBC
      • Basketball Clinic Outreach
    • Equipping Preachers & Evangelists >
      • Preachers' Coalition
      • Expository Enrichment Groups
      • Apologetic Aptitude Groups
    • Sufficiency of Scripture Group
    • Equipping Via Seminars & Workshops >
      • Sufficient of Scripture Seminar
      • Approved Workmen Training
      • Common Church Issues Workshop
      • Peacemakers Training
      • Truth-Bearers Project
    • Other Equipping & Outreaches >
      • The Panata Zone
      • Translation Ministry
  • Manila E-quipper
  • Give
  • Pray
  • Blogs
    • EXALTING CHRIST! Blog
    • The Literarian
  • Sermons & Messages
  • Contact
  • FAQ