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Lloyd-Jones on Driscollian Pastoral Deportment At the end of the First World War there was in England a famous clergyman who was known as 'Woodbine Willie'. Why was he called 'Woodbine Willie'? The explanation is that he had been a chaplain in the army and had been a very great success in that capacity. His success he attributed to the fact - and many agreed with him in this - that he mixed with the men in the trenches in a familiar manner. He smoked with them, and in particular he smoked their cheap brand of cigarette known as 'Wild Woodbine' commonly called 'Woodbines'. In pre-1914 days you could buy five such cigarettes for a penny. Now this cheap type of cigarette was not the brand of cigarette that an officer generally smoked, but the ordinary soldier did. So this man, whose name was Studdert-Kennedy, in order to put the men at ease, and in order to facilitate his work as chaplain smoked 'Woodbines', hence the name 'Woodbine Willie

Click to buy from Amazon Whitefield has taken over Spurgeon as my favorite historical figure to read. "He who walks with wise men will be wise" (Proverbs 13:20). We all would be wiser if we walked with Whitefield for at least one biography. I read Dallimore's one volume summary of Whitefield's life and had to read the two volume account. I just finished the first volume and am now going through the second volume. Dallimore does a wonderful job painting Whitfield's life as well as the times and figures surrounding the great awakening. In first volume, in addition to telling the story of Whitefield, Dallimore gives short bio sketches of the Wesleys, Howell Harris, John Cennick, and many others in shorter sketches. He also details the rise of the Wesleys on the achievements/ministry of Whitefield and the disagreements between them (which is a fascinating side story). I'll give an extremely brief summary of the first volume and then highlight a couple character tr

I like Benjamin Franklin's description of Whitefield's appeal for money to build an orphanage in Georgia . . . Whitefield waited many months before he took the first offering in the states for an orphanage even though it was for the orphans within the states. "Mr. Whitefield . . . preached up this charity . . . I refused to contribute [because of a disagreement on the location] . . . I happened, soon after, to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of that, and determined me to give the silver; and he finished so admirably that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all." George Whitefield, by Arnold Dallimor

"Charlie and Tommy are good little boys; When they're asleep, they don't make any noise." From Spurgeon's Autobiography Vol 2 Chapter 16

William Grimshaw of Haworth by Faith Cook; Banner of Truth Trust William Grimshaw was greatly used of the Lord in the 1700's. His ministry was similar though not as broad in scope as men like Wesley and Whitfield. In fact, at one point Grimshaw was to be the administrative leader of the Methodist movement if John and Charles died before Grimshaw . . . But they both outlived him. He was a devoted servant of Christ who's life verse was played out throughout his ministry-"for me to live is Christ; and to die is gain." I grew to love Grimshaw. The two character traits about this man that I enjoyed the most were his humility and his work ethic. Humility: Grimshaw was down to earth. He was a humble servant and although greatly used of the Lord he considered himself and repeatedly referred to himself as an “unprofitable servant.” Once, when visiting a friend, upon realizing there were many visitors he retired for the night ahead of everyone and took the hay loft, r

This will warm your heart in the Gospel: Sermon by Washer

Danny Anderson was feeding his horses with his son in Prosser, Washington when he spied a rattle snake too close for comfort. They pinned the snake to the grounds with an irrigation pipe and cut its head off with a shovel. Dead. As Danny reached down to throw the snake’s head aside the fangs bit in to his hand with enough force to latch tight. Danny shook the snake from his hand but the venom was already seeping into his bloodstream. By the time he reached the emergency room his tongue was swollen and the poison had begun to spread through the rest of his body ( MSNBC AP Article ). A dead snake can do much harm. In the same way Satan’s head is severed – he has been dealt the death blow at the cross. Although the Son’s heel was bruised at the cross, the serpent’s head was crushed. Dead. The last two thousand years are the last ditch efforts of Satan; he's spewing his poison into the world. His fangs are still latching on wherever possible and he longs to infect you. He is

By Eric Metaxas ( For Amazon click Link ) Bonhoeffer is definitely a challenging life to read and I enjoyed Metaxas' writing style and presentation. Below I’ll give a brief overview (very brief), two cautions, and then several positive lessons I learned from Bonhoeffer or the book in general. Overview: Metaxas does a great job of painting the life and times of WWII in Germany. He describes how quickly Hitler came to prominence and how the German nation was so easily deceived – they were grasping at any leadership and got the worst. In contrast, It was a beam of light to have Bonhoeffer and some of his comrades see clearly from the very beginning the ugly atrocity that would become the Third Reich. The story is fascinating. A German boy raised with an excellent education – from one of the prominent families in German culture chooses to study theology instead of some more prestigious field like his brother and father. And yet, in his late 20’s and early 30’s the Lord uses this young

"The first thing I ask that people should not make use of my name, and should not call themselves Lutherans but Christians. What is Luther? The teaching is not mine. nor was I crucified for anyone . . . How did I, poor stinking bag of maggots that I am, come to the point where people call the Children of Christ by my evil name?" Theology of the Reformers, Timothy George, pg. 53.

Bonhoeffer stood alone apposing the 'German Christian' church for a while . . . Hitler was just beginning to show his true colors but patriotic church leaders still wanted to think the best. When Hitler's church representative would not allow Jewish men in the pastoral ministry Bonhoeffer came to the conclusion that it was no longer part of the church. Keeping unity with such heresy was not an option for him - it was a Gospel issue. I like his quote to illustrate the foolishness of staying in a group that teaches against the Gospel in order to win the group over to the Gospel: "He was far ahead of the curve, as usual. Some wondered whether he was just kicking against the goads, but when someone asked Bonhoeffer whether he shouldn't join the German Christians in order to work against them from within, he answered that he couldn't. 'If you board the wrong train,' he said, 'it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction.'&qu

Charles Simeon was a Pastor near Cambridge in the late 1700s. He had many traits that are commendable for anyone to follow: "Simeon arose every morning even in the winter season, at four o’clock; and, after lighting his fire, he devoted the first four hours of the day to private prayer and the devotional study of the Scriptures. Here was the secret of his great grace and spiritual strength. . . The early rising did not come easily to him; it was a habit resolutely fought for and acquired. Finding himself too fond of his bed, he had resolved to pay a fine for every offence, giving half-a-crown to his servant. One morning, as he lay warm and comfortable, he caught himself reasoning that the good woman was poor and that the half-crown would be very useful to her. But that practical fallacy was not to be tolerated; if he rose late again, he would walk down to the Cam and throw a guinea into the water. And so he did, though not without a great struggle, for guineas were not abundant in