Stirring You Up, Volume III, Issue 11
“Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up…” II Peter 1:13
“Give Attendance to Reading”
Henry Ward Beecher said, “It is a man’s duty to have books. A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.” While the busyness of a large family and an active ministry doesn’t leave as much time for books as the Bachman family might want, we would still be considered somewhat avid readers. My wife and I probably read, on average, one hundred or more books a year and several of our children read that many or more. My office is a miniature library, as is my wife’s sewing room, our living room, our bedroom, and the kids’ bedrooms. Rarely does a week go by that I don’t purchase a book or two. In fact, I own nearly 100 books on the subject of homiletics alone. There are several ways I would like to “stir up” modern-day fundamentalists, but one way would be to stir them to begin a life-time habit of reading.
Bro. Hyles observed that God has often used unlearned men to shake the world, but it is those with educated minds that He uses to shape the world. While we must be careful (as discussed in a previous Stirring You Up article) to maintain a proper balance between reading and leading and to guard against reading becoming a time-consuming obsession, most people I have met are in little danger of falling into this extreme. All too many adults waste their “downtime” being amused with mind-numbing entertainment when they could be musing on mind-stimulating literature. So remember as friends and relatives ask what you want for Christmas this year that few gifts would be more life-changing than a good book. For those who might be wondering what books would be worth requesting, I thought I would recommend 100 or so of my personal favorites:
Allison, Mike Preaching Standards Right or Wrong; Bachman, Jack Teens in Transition; Bachman, James Tract Club Training Program; Bachman, Mark Dare to Look Inward, Preaching the Word, and Winning Muslims to Christ; Bamford, Mary The Bible Makes us Baptists; Bane, Corey And They Follow; Beller, James America in Crimson Red; Bennett, William The De-Valuing of America; Binney, Jim Living Purely in an Impure World, and The Ministry of Marriage; Black, Jim When Nations Die; Bork, Robert Slouching Towards Gomorrah; Branson, Roy Church Split, Dear Preacher Please Quit, and The End of the World Vol. I & II; Broadus, John On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, 2nd Edition; Bubeck, Mark The Adversary, and Overcoming the Adversary; Burns, Cathy Billy Graham and His Friends; Caviness, Clint When Risque is Okay; anything by Paul Chappell (especially) Order in the Church; Corle, Dennis The Chemistry of Separation, and Why Our Children are in Crisis; anything by Pete & Frieda Cowling (especially) Rearing Kids with Character, and Understanding Your Husband/ Understanding Your Wife; Cox, Bill Victory over Demonic Oppression; Entzminger, Louis The J. Frank Norris I Have Known; anything by Johnny Esposito (especially) Public Education Crisis or Conspiracy; anything by Wendell Evans (especially) Some Thoughts on American History; Finney, Charles The Memoirs of Charles Finney; Fugate, Jeff How to be Close to Your Children, and What the Bible Says about Child Training; anything by Eddie Galyean (especially) Biblical Modesty, Exploring Wisdom, and The Straight Gate and the Narrow Way; Goetsch, John Homiletics from the Heart; Grady, William Final Authority, and What Hath God Wrought; anything by Bob Gray (especially) Just a Thought; Gray, Robert Hebrews; anything by Bob & JoBeth Hooker (especially) Romance in Marriage; most anything by Dave Hunt (especially) Global Peace, and In Defense of the Faith; Huse, Scott The Collapse of Evolution; Hyles, David The Other Shore, and Successful Church Youth Work; anything by Jack Hyles (especially) The Church, Exploring Prayer, How to Rear Infants, How to Rear Children, How to Rear Teenagers, The Hyles Church Manual, Jack Hyles on Justice, Meet the Holy Spirit, Please Pardon my Poetry, Principles of Leadership, The Science of the Christian Life Vol. 1 & 2, Teaching on Preaching, and Teaching on Teaching; Keen, Charles He is Worthy, and Thinking Outside the Box; Keyes, Alan Our Character Our Future; Lubenow, Marvin Bones of Contention; Martin, Rick Starting a Church on the Mission Field; Moore, David Five Lies of the Century; anything by R. B. Oullette (especially) A More Sure Word, and Living in an Imperfect World; Pearl, Michael & Debi To Train Up a Child; Popov, Haralan Tortured for his Faith; Pyle, Hugh What Every Preacher Should Know; Ravenhill, Leonard Why Revival Tarries; Ray, Mike Christian Dating, and Soulwinning the Heart of God; Reno, Paul Daniel Nash Prevailing Prince of Prayer; anything by John R. Rice (especially) Dr. Rice Here Is my Question, Dr. Rice Here Are More Questions, The Home Courtship Marriage and Children, and Prayer Asking and Receiving; Riley, W. B. The Preacher and His Preaching; Riplinger, G. A. New Age Bible Versions; Ross, Jerry The Teenage Years of Jesus Christ; Ruckman, Peter Problem Texts, and The Scholarship Only Controversy; Ruggiero, Vincent Becoming a Critical Thinker; anything by Cindy Schaap (especially) From the Coal Mine to the Gold Mine, The Fundamental Man, and Training Kings and Queens; anything by Jack Schaap (especially) A Fresh Anointing, Marriage –God’s Original Intent, Marriage the Divine Intimacy, Preparing for Marriage, Walking with God, What to Expect in the Pursuit of God, and When Everything isn’t Black & White; Simons, Geoffrey What Darwin didn’t Know; anything by Charles Spurgeon (especially) Holy Spirit Power, Lectures to My Students, The Soul Winner, and Spurgeon’s Sermons on Soulwinning; Stedman, Bill Time and Chance; Stewart, James Invasion of Wales by the Spirit; Stringer, Phil The Faithful Baptist Witness, and The Transformation; Thomas, Cal The Things that Matter Most; Torrey, R. A. How to Obtain Fullness of Power; Tossell, Mark How to Pray; Wurmbrand, Richard Tortured for Christ; Young, Ray The Miracle of the Bus Ministry
There are, of course, hundreds of excellent books not on this list. It would, in fact, be interesting for me to hear from several of you. Maybe you could share with me five or ten titles of books that have influenced your life for good. After all, I’m still making out my own wish list for Christmas and could use some help!
P.S. Please pray for the safety of my parents and niece who will be flying to Germany for Thanksgiving.
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