One of my most favorite library and ministry mentor- friends is Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones. I highly recommend all of his books and sermons. I listen to a selection of his sermons regularly. If you would like to hear for yourself, check out:Martyn Lloyd Jones sermonsHis words on the bombing raids by the Germans on London speak to our contemporary setting. This color footage from the blitz and it rewinds me to 9-11-2001:German blitz on London
“The Puritan is not the strong man. He is a very weak man who has been given strength to realize that he is weak. I would say of all men and women that we are all weak, very weak, the difference being that the sinners do not appreciate the fact that they are weak, whereas the Christians do.
"During the air raids many of us, indeed most of us, objected to the restrictions that were imposed upon us by the army commanders.
"We objected to dark blinds and shaded lights. We objected because we did not realize the danger, we did not realize that we were at the mercy of those powers that were in the air or might be there at any moment. But the army commanders knew and carried out the preparations on our behalf."
Our high school and college-aged groups from Faith Baptist Church are preparing for July missions trips to Fort Macleod, Alberta and Costa Rica. I am planning on going with Pastor Aaron Bauer the high schoolers so these words on spiritual warfare really speak to me.
"We objected to dark blinds and shaded lights. We objected because we did not realize the danger, we did not realize that we were at the mercy of those powers that were in the air or might be there at any moment. But the army commanders knew and carried out the preparations on our behalf." |
| PA |
“The Puritan is not the strong man. He is a very weak man who has been given strength to realize that he is weak. I would say of all men and women that we are all weak, very weak, the difference being that the sinners do not appreciate the fact that they are weak, whereas the Christians do.
"I have mentioned Baxter, Bunyan and Fox, but if you wish to have the best description of all of what Puritanism means, read the epistles of St. Paul.
"Sin is ignorance, and we object to the restrictions and the vigor of the Puritan regime, but let me remind you that the Puritans are, and were, the commanders-in-chief of God’s garrison upon earth."Is it surprising that, to the Puritan, life is a serious matter, demanding the whole of his time and attention? If you have once seen the face of God, there is nothing else worth seeing as far as you are concerned. All these other things merely obscure the vision, therefore they must be swept away …
"If anything interferes with the worshiping of God it must be destroyed. … It is because of these feelings that the Puritan is always a crusader. To him, Christianity is a fight, a noble crusade, not merely a defensive action against the principalities and powers, but also a challenge to and an assault upon their fortress. …
"Oh! how far have we wandered from this! ‘Plain living and high thinking’ are no more! The church is no longer distinct from the world, for instead of the church going out into the world we have allowed the world to capture the church from the inside. We nearly all recognize the position. When will we return to Puritanism? Let us be up and clear the brushwood and the thorns that have overgrown the face of our spiritual world!” (1:99-100).
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