Links to three recent items of interest for me. Maybe they'll be of interest to you.
- Book recommendation: Puritan Evangelism by Joel R. Beeke. A short but interesting look at the evangelistic efforts of the Puritans. These are not strategies, nor will this book give you a "pattern" for evangelism. Instead, Beeke offers several examples of the biblically-saturated, doctrinally-informed, application-oriented approaches of the Puritan preachers as they tried to reach those who were lost through prayer, plain preaching, and catechizing.
- This year I'm aiming to memorize Philippians. So far, I'm through most of chapter 1. One of the reasons I haven't given much thought to memorization, prior to this year, was because I didn't like the idea of memorizing verses in isolation from each other. In this post, James Pothen describes the value of memorizing chunks of the Bible instead of verses--context matters.
- A temptation for some pastors, preachers and ministers is to look with envy at the larger, more successful programs of churches around them. This article, referencing the Puritan preacher Richard Baxter, is a reminder that all effective pastoral ministry is based on clear preaching, evangelistic appeal, and pastoral care of members.
