Listening to the Giants

Throughout this month, this blog will examine certain “snapshots” of George Müller, which I hope will bring a deeper appreciation for this servant and a greater love for the God whom he gave his life to. Why should you care about the life and ministry of George Müller?     1.    He lived a raunchy, drunken and immoral life before his conversion to                     Christianity.     2. His conversion to Christ was a process, with occasional setbacks.     3. He committed himself (and his wife) to voluntary poverty at 25 years old.     4. He endured a lifetime of bodily struggles and ailments.     5. He built five orphanages and brought into his family over 10,000 orphans.     6. He never told anyone of the needs of the orphanages or the orphans themselves          expect asking G...

There is nothing new under the sun (Ecc. 1:9). This applies to the unfortunate conflict and subsequently separation of two “redwoods of the Christian faith”, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and J.I. Packer. The issue that ignited the separation was important; this was NOT two Christians arguing about the “color of the carpet”. Yet the question I want to ask and answer in this blog post is: “Was this conflict avoidable?” The excerpt below will set the historical context and the issue of contention. “Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones had become increasingly concerned over the theological liberalism of the World Council of Churches. By 1965, he was convinced that it was impossible for an evangelical to belong to a denomination which was affiliated to the WCC. Evangelicals who were members of such churches would be contaminated by others within the denominations who openly denied or challenged key tenets of the Christian faith. Evangelicals who remained within doctrinally mixed churches—such as th...

Packer was a man of the times. He seemed to always have his thumb on the issues of the day. This is one of the reasons why he was profoundly influential in the 20 th century. This quote gives the reader some insight into Packer’s “thumbprint”. “Packer’s views on predestination and election were strongly Reformed, stressing the sovereignty of God in creation and redemption. Not all students at Tyndale Hall were entirely sympathetic to Packer’s views in this area, particularly in relation to predestination. One issue which emerged as particularly important in the late 1950’s concerned a tension between the sovereignty of God and the need to evangelize. If God was sovereign, why bother to evangelize? It was an issue which had emerged as important at several points in church history. For example, when the Baptist missionary William Carey announced his intention to found a Mission Society, he met with the following response from one of those whose advice he asked, ‘When God is pleased ...

In 1950, J.I. Packer, O. Raymond Johnston and the legendary D. M. Lloyd-Jones began what would be known as the Puritan Conferences. These conferences lasted for roughly 20 years and are undoubtedly the reason for the resurgence of puritan theology and puritan reprints. Here is an excerpt from the mouth of Packer himself: “The interests of the Conference are practical and constructive, not merely academic. We look on the Puritans as our fellow-Christians, now enabled to share with us, through the medium of their books, the good things which God gave them three centuries ago…And the question which we ask is not simply the historical one; what did they do and teach? (though, of course, that is where we start); our questions are rather these: how far is their exposition of the Scriptures a right one? And what biblical principles does it yield for the guiding of our faith and life today? The second half of each session of the Conference is devoted to discussing the contents of the paper ...

Bullying is a serious thing. Nowadays, kids are able to bully other kids verbally, physically and now virtually. For James Innell Packer, bullying changed his life forever. “He was always being bullied. Another boy chased him out of school grounds on to the busy London Road outside. A passing bread van could not avoid hitting him. He was thrown to the ground with a major head injury. The young boy was taken to the Gloucester Royal Infirmary and rushed into the operating room. He was discovered to have a depressed compound fracture of the frontal bone on the right side of his forehead, with injury to the frontal lobe of the brain. After surgery, the boy was left with a small hole in his right forehead, about two centimeters in diameter. The injury would remain clearly visible for the rest of his life.” (p. 1) So what can we learn from this unfortunate circumstance? Packer’s injury was used by God to mold him and stretch him. How did it mold him? As a boy, Packer was qu...

Throughout the next few weeks, this blog will examine certain “snapshots” of J.I. Packer, which I hope will bring a deeper appreciation for this servant and a greater love for the God whom he gave his life to. Why should you care about the life and ministry of J.I. Packer? 1.   His book Knowing God is a Christian classic. 2.   His book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God is a Christian classic.  3.   His love for the Puritans helped ignite a resurgence of 20 th century interest in Puritanism.   4.   His disagreement with D. M. Lloyd-Jones is a good example of a bad example.   5.   His balance of Calvinism and ecumenicalism is unique and refreshing. 6.   His facial deformity did not limit his usefulness in Christian ministry.   J.I. Packer (1926—present), J ames Innell Packer (born in Gloucester, England) is a British-born Canadian Christian theologian in the Calvinistic Anglican tradition. He currently serve...

Throughout the next few weeks, this blog will examine certain “snapshots” of D.L. Moody, which I hope will bring a deeper appreciation for this servant and a greater love for the God whom he gave his life to. Below is an interaction between Dr. William Plumer, professor at Columbia Theological Seminary and D.L. Moody, which gives the reader some insight into his “child-like thirst”: Mr. Moody: “ Is any given amount of distress necessary to genuine conversion?” Dr. Plumer: “Lydia had no distress—we read of none. God opened her heart, and she attended to the things spoken of by Paul. But the jailer of Philippi would not have accepted Christ without some alarm.” Mr. Moody: “Well, Doctor, what is conversion?” Dr. Plumer: “Glory be to God there is such a thing as conversion. To be converted is to turn from self, self-will, self-righteousness, all self-confidence, and from sin itself, and to be turned to Christ.” Mr. Moody: “Can a man be saved here tonight, before twelv...

Throughout the next few weeks, this blog will examine certain “snapshots” of D.L. Moody, which I hope will bring a deeper appreciation for this servant and a greater love for the God whom he gave his life to. “It was foreign to the disposition of Edwin Moody (D.L. Moody’s father) to give much thought to the future, and so it is not strange that he made little or no provision for the contingency of his sudden death. When, therefore, he was stricken down without a moment’s warning at the early age of forty-one, the widow was left with practically no means of support.” It is unclear the age of Moody when his father died, but one can assume that it was heartbreaking for the family. Yet death is part of the human existence and the biography that I read (the one written by Moody’s son) focuses more on the burden carried by Moody’s mother, rather than the loss of their beloved husband and father. The question I have is this: What impact (if any) did Moody’s loss play in his personal d...

Throughout the next few weeks, this blog will examine certain “snapshots"  of D.L. Moody, which I hope will bring a deeper appreciation for this servant and a greater love for the God whom he gave his life to. In May, 1855, young Moody presented himself for membership in the Mount Vernon Church, from the records of which the following minute is taken: “No. 1079. Dwight L. Moody. Boards, 43 Court Street. Has been baptized. First awakened on the 16 th of May. Became anxious about himself. Saw himself a sinner, and sin now seems hateful and holiness desirable. Thinks he has repented; has purposed to give up sin; feels dependent upon Christ for forgiveness. Loves the Scriptures. Prays. Desires to be useful. Religiously educated. Been in the city a year. Is not ashamed to be a Christian. 18 years old.” As a pastor and a Christian, I am as much amazed at the confession of Moody as I am his rejection by the leaders of the church. Moody seemed to understand all the elements o...

Throughout the next few weeks, this blog will examine certain “snapshots” of D.L. Moody, which I hope will bring a deeper appreciation for this servant and a greater love for the God whom he gave his life to. This is a letter Moody wrote to his children regarding the death of their son and his only grandson (who had his namesake): "I know Dwight is having a good time, and we should rejoice with him. What would mansions be without children? He was the last to come into our circle, and he is the first to go up there! So safe, so free from all the sorrow that we are passing through! I do thank God for such a life. It was nearly all smiles and sunshine, and what a glorified body he will have, and with what joy he will await your coming! God does not give us such strong love for each other for a few days or years, but it is going to last forever, and you will have the dear little man with you for ages and ages, and love will keep increasing. The Master has need of him, or He ...

Throughout the next few weeks, this blog will examine certain “snapshots” of D.L. Moody, which I hope will bring a deeper appreciation for this servant and a greater love for the God whom he gave his life to. Many of us know the story of how D.L. Moody came to know and follow Jesus Christ, but many do not. Here is the testimony of Moody’s Sunday school teacher, Mr. Edward Kimball: “I determined to speak to him about Christ and about his soul, and started down to Holton’s shoe store (the place of Moody’s employment). When I was nearly there I began to wonder whether I ought to go in during business hours. But I pushed on finding Moody in the back part of the building wrapping up shoes. I went up to him at once, and putting my hand on his shoulder, I made what I afterwards felt was a very weak plea for Christ. I simply told him of Christ’s love for him and the love Christ wanted in return. That was all there was. It seemed the young man was just ready for the light that...