Not to be outdone by Crossway’s special LOST outreach Bible, our friend Jeff Fuller over at ReformedEvangelist.com explains how Ligonier Ministries created special paperback edition of the ESV Study Bible for his prison outreach needs (click here). Praise God for Jeff’s prison ministry and for Ligonier’s generosity and creativity!
Props: Chris Larson is the creative director at Lingonier.
Book update
Works of William Perkins (1558-1602)
Joel Beeke and Derek Thomas are hard at work editing the Works of William Perkins (1558-1602). The Reformation Heritage edition will be published in six volumes with the first volume expected (roughly) sometime in February/March of 2008.
If I recall accurately from my travels to Grand Rapids, Beeke’s old edition of Perkins’ Works originates from the personal library of Charles Spurgeon and bear his signature and markings. Ironically, Spurgeon considered Perkins “dull” and “terribly prosy.” (Richard Sibbes and Jonathan Edwards liked Perkins.)
More interesting biographical details about “supralapsarian Perkins” and his works can be found in Meet the Puritans (pp. 469-480).
Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Puritans
No preacher more influenced my early Christian life (which began at 22 years old) than Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981). I have grown ever more thankful for his books over the past eight years. But I have yet to read Iain Murray’s biography. Last Tuesday during the
bookstore tour, Sinclair Ferguson slapped a magic sticker on the cover of the biography and, like lightning, was discounted 65-percent. It was time to buy.
A thorough reading of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years (1899-1939) will have to wait until I’m done with Spurgeon’s autobiography, but last night I did sneak a read of the first 100 pages. I was especially drawn towards Lloyd-Jones’ early comments on the Puritans. Lloyd-Jones is quoted by Murray as saying,
“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. 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. 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 worshipping 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).
This quote is pregnant of content for further meditation. Here are a few thoughts that come to my own mind.
(1) Modern day Puritanism. Lloyd-Jones was convinced that Puritanism was as relevant in his day as the seventeenth century. We should not only read Puritans, he challenges, but we should be Puritans. Lloyd-Jones — and for that matter C.H. Spurgeon — were tutored by the piety, spirituality and preaching of the Puritans. They patterned their spiritual lives after the Puritans sobriety and earnestness. What does modern day Puritanism look like?
(2) The Puritan weakness. The idea today is that Puritan literature is reserved for the really strong Christian but this is not the case. The Puritan is a weak man. Approaching the Puritan literature is to be done out of a deep sense of personal frailty and weakness. Until we are well acquainted with the indwelling sin that remains in our hearts, the pride, the self-righteousness, the tendency towards unbelief and worldliness and laziness, Puritan literature will not be appealing. Entrance into the Puritan spirituality is through a low doorway and readers must bend and bow down in humility to enter. The Puritan’s are not for the strong, they are for those who ‘appreciate’ their own weakness. The Puritan is a weak man and the Puritan works were written for weak men.
(3) The Puritan warfare. Puritanism embodies the spiritual struggle of Paul. Working out salvation, killing the remaining sinfulness, being diligent and spiritually alert and sober are the sure marks of the Puritan. Puritanism is dressing for spiritual battle. The illustration of the bombing raids speaks the uncomfortable restraints of the Christian in this life. Puritan literature will not appeal to readers seeking to preserve these comforts.
There are other principles here in this quote by Lloyd-Jones, but this short excerpt answers the question: Who would read the Puritans today? Puritan literature will never appeal to a reader until he has seen the wickedness of his own heart and his post-conversion, continued gullibility to sinfulness. Likewise, the Puritan literature will seem insignificant until we approach dressed in our battle uniforms, prepared for lifelong (and uncomfortable) disciplined spiritual warfare. It was in this humble self-knowledge and this declaration of war against what beclouds the beauty of God to the spiritual eye that prepared Lloyd-Jones for Puritan literature.
2007 Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference (US)
Final Conference Reflections
This year I’ve had the honor of attending two new conferences (new to me, anyway). One of these was the 2007 Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference in Grantham, PA. The Banner of Truth conference is different than other conferences in that it’s a publisher’s conference with a smaller audience and a traditional atmosphere (like singing from the Psalter and Hymnal to a piano). But there was also a sober reverence towards God in the atmosphere. One of the delights of a conference like this one, or in attending a traditional Reformed church, is a deep sense of affection and reverence towards God. This was certainly communicated throughout the music, prayers and teaching at the conference.
Here are some other reflections from the conference in no particular order.
… There was a large contingent of younger pastors and first-time attendees. The dorm housing in Grantham was nice and the cafeteria buffet was more reminiscent of a restaurant than a college mess hall. It’s a beautiful campus to hold retreats and conferences of this size.
… With all of the great foreign accents from the speakers and attendees I felt like I was in another country. It was great, especially the first time someone 
commented on the uniqueness of the American accent. Americans don’t have accents, right? (ethnocentric humor)
… I’m now aware that attempting to liveblog Sinclair Ferguson and Derek Thomas (pictured) was simply a bad idea. I should have known better. The amount of content was almost impossible to keep up with and trying to get the message notes edited and posted at the conference was an overwhelming goal (I’ve never claimed to be Tim Challies). So I’ve decided to take my handwritten notes and type them and publish them on this blog next week beginning on Monday. This will give me more time to chase down some Hebrew nouns, scripture citations, and biblical allusions in the messages. In the wealth of content, we see the seriousness of preparation each speakers took in the crafting of their messages. It will be a joy to share these messages with you next week.
… The bookstore at the conference was well stocked with excellent books at excellent prices (40- to 65- percent off). The Sinclair Ferguson trip around the bookstore after the conference session Tuesday night brings fond memories (and chuckles). Sinclair began the tour of the bookstore with memories of his
seminary days. He said the good Evangelical books in print that helped him would fit easily on two short bookshelves. In other words, it was not too long ago when good and helpful books were not readily accessible. Thankfulness for God’s abundant blessing upon the publishing world was the context for the rest of the evening. … He warned that a library of only Banner of Truth volumes is a bad choice. Building a library without a significant amount of Banner titles is equally bad. … I now regret not brining my audio recorder to capture the event.
… Of all the highlights and strengths of the Banner conference none compare to the encouragement I recieved. Flying from Cincinnati into Harrisburg I asked myself the question: In a conference on holiness, what expectations and anticipations do I bring? What am I looking for in the teaching? What would make for a successful conference? What came to mind was an expectation and anticipation of a preaching that exalted the Cross in the progress of sanctification. I am growing in my understanding of the depth of application to the Cross and deepening my understanding of what Christ accomplished at the Cross. But I am also sadly aware that in the pursuit of holiness, the Cross often takes second place to the practical pursuit of mortification (killing remaining sin). This is a misunderstanding of sanctification. So for me, my anticipation of the conference included this the hope – that the Cross would take center stage. And this is exactly what happened. All the messages, but especially the messages of Sinclair Ferguson and Derek Thomas, broadened my understanding of the Cross as it applies to sanctification. In the coming days I’ll be digesting electronically the extensive notes I took at the conference. I can tell you the depth of content connecting sanctification, mortification, and the pursuit of holiness to the Cross was breathtaking and you will see for yourself how Ferguson (through Scripture) and Thomas (through Owen, Calvin and Scripture) developed this panorama of Cross-centered holiness. This focus makes a growth in godliness a joy-filled pursuit.
Overall, I come away with from the 2007 Banner of Truth Ministers Conference having been ministered to and encouraged. It was (and always will be) the Cross that truly encourages us towards holiness. The beautiful 21st century Puritanism on display — boasting only in the Cross — made for a wonderful conference!
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Related: For more posts and pictures from the 2007 Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference check out the complete TSS conference index.
Banner of Truth Tour
Carlisle, PA, Wed. PM
One personal highlight from the trip East was a tour of the Banner of Truth warehouse in Carlisle, PA (about 30 minutes from the conference). The tour was pushed back until late Wednesday night. But it was worth the wait.
Steve, who manages the US branch of the Banner of Truth, was gracious enough (at 11:00 PM last night!) to drive me down so I could see the warehouse. It was a great treat.
The Banner of Truth offices and warehouse in Carlisle are sandwiched by condos in what seemed to be a residential area. The Banner building itself is a very long and narrow with two levels of offices in the front and warehouse in the back. The first books you see in the entry are the damaged volumes (most only slightly damaged). These volumes sell at 50-percent off. Also in the entry are a few desks (one of another Banner friend, Beth). Another set of offices is directly upstairs. From the entry you walk back to the packing room. This room holds a handful of copies of each Banner book and a table outfitted for packaging. From this packing room and through an industrial door, you enter in to the large warehouse. The warehouse is mainly a large metal structure where the pallets and bulk stacks of individual volumes are stored. The paperbacks are stored on the second level and the hardcover books on the main level. The warehouse was very tidy. To the far back of the warehouse and along one of the walls were the new arrivals from Edinburgh. Many of these volumes were on crates and simple boxes.
I was greatly surprised at the volume of works warehoused and (by consequence) gratefully surprised at the amount of books the Banner must sell on a regular basis. So having personally seen the impact of authors like John Bunyan in my own life, it was an especially moving experience to see a stack of hundreds of copies of his works. Or to see thousands of copies of Expository Thoughts on John by J.C. Ryle or stacks of boxes of the Works of John Owen or a pile of Spurgeon’s autobiography or to see 10,000 copies of Jonathan Edwards’ Religious Affections. Walking through the Banner warehouse was a powerful experience — not merely as a bibliophile – but as a Christian who has experienced the powerful content of these works in drawing me closer to Christ and His Cross.
What will become of this stack of John Bunyan or Jonathan Edwards? This will be left in the hands of our Sovereign God. But we can be sure there will be new readers who, through the work of the Banner staff, will be introduced to a new world of reading, to new authors and new books. And through this introduction these readers will be eternally changed for the glory of God. My personal experience of these volumes and my expectations for a new generation of readers is what made a tour of the Banner warehouse so special. It was a great experience, even if it was midnight before we returned to Grantham.
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A few choice pictures. Here are some books in the packing room.
Stacks of boxes filled with Spurgeon’s autobiography.
The Works of John Bunyan. Isn’t this beautiful?
Two crates filled with Edwards’ Religious Affections (perhaps 10,000 copies).
The Forgotten Spurgeon by Iain Murray.
Ryle on John (vol. 3).
The warehouse.
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Related: For more posts and pictures from the 2007 Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference check out the complete TSS conference index.
GRANTHAM, PA — Hello again everyone. We have been treated to wonderful messages on holiness by Derek Thomas and Sinclair Ferguson. The overwhelming content in each presentation has made it difficult to get summaries up quickly so they will be coming over time. The photographs from the conference are more speedily available. Here are a few from today.
Sinclair Ferguson
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Related: For more posts and pictures from the 2007 Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference check out the complete TSS conference index.
Tony Reinke 