8 Responses to God’s Grace

1. Pastor Bruce
   April 13th, 2007 at 9:09 pm | Permalink

   Jessica,
   To your statement of “Even if I had the tongue of Charles Spurgeon and the mind of Jonathan Edwards,” we should add – as well as the ‘eloquence of Thomas Watson’ – we “still could not adequately express thankfulness for the amazing, marvelous, saving grace of our loving Lord.”

   It is refreshing to see young adults, such as yourself, embracing the truth about God’s marvelous grace. So adequately expressed by the hymnist, Julia H. Johnson, (1849-1919).

   “Grace Greater than Our Sin”

   Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
   Grace that exceeds our sins and our guilt,
   Yonder on Calvary’s mount out poured,
   There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

   Grace, grace, God’s grace,
   Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
   Grace, grace, God’s grace,
   Grace that is greater than all our sin.

   In His Service
   Pastor Bruce
   Psalm 124:8

2. Jessica
   April 13th, 2007 at 9:49 pm | Permalink

   Hi Pastor Bruce,

   Thank you so much for visiting by and for leaving a comment! I was so greatly encouraged by your notes and the poem by Julia Johnson. Thank you for sharing the poem! You’re right, we should definitely add “the eloquence of Thomas Watson”. He is one of my favorite Puritan writers and, in fact, one of the very first Puritans I’ve ever read!

3. Pastor Bruce
   April 13th, 2007 at 10:44 pm | Permalink

   Jessica,
   Though I have known the Lord for several years now – I too can recall that my love affair with the Puritans began with one of the first books recommended to me. This was, “A Body of Divinity” by Thomas Watson. Needless to say I devoured the book within just a few days and it has been a close companion ever since. Pilgrim’s Progress by Bunyan is a classic and should be read by all Christians. I think that Spurgeon read it at least once a year. By naming your blog after Buyan’s book is an excellent choice on your part.

   Some other Puritan writers that you may wish to look into (that is if you have not already done so) are:

   1) Joseph Alleine – “A Sure Guide to Heaven” – published by Puritan Paperbacks.
   2) Richard Baxter – “The Reformed Pastor” – published by Puritan Paperbacks (although written to pastors – it is still one of the most challenging books to the Christian ever written.
   3) John Angel James – “An Earnest Minstry: The
   Want of the Times” by Banner of Truth.
   4) Mark Dever – “Richard Sibbs: Puritanism and Calvinism in Late Elizabethan and Early Stuart England” by Mercer University Press.
   5) Arthur W. Pink – “The Sovereignty of God” by Baker Book House – (Baker Book has all the chapters in the original printing of 1930 copy by I C Henderson), (Baker Book first published this copy in 1976.) A.W. Pink was a type of modern day Puritan writer out of his time). If you have not read any of his writings, I think you will throughly enjoy them.

   Enjoy your good reading!

   In His Service
   Pastor Bruce
   Psalm 124:8

4. Jessica
   April 14th, 2007 at 2:28 pm | Permalink

   Hi pastor Bruce,

   I’m glad you like the title of my blog. Soon I’ll be moving my blog address to pilgrimsprogress.net so it’ll match the title. Thanks so much for your book recommendations! I’ll look into them. The one about Richard Sibbes by Mark Dever sounds very interesting. I’ve heard of James Angell James before and was interested in his book Female Piety also. And yes, I do own a copy of A.W. Pink’s The Attributes of God and The Sovereignty of God. They’re great books.

   Speaking of book suggestions, if you’d also ever like to recommend me any books on history (whether it be related to secular/church history that would aid me in my faith & understanding), I’d be very glad to hear your suggestions, too. Please let me know. Currently I’m on the lookout for some titles. Thank you so much! It was very nice to hear from you again.

5. Pastor Bruce
   April 14th, 2007 at 6:14 pm | Permalink

   Hey Jessica,
   History books to consider: [1] “The Story of Christianity vol. 1 and 2″ – by Justo L Gonzalez, Harper Collins is the publisher. I think the the 2 volume set is in a one volume edtion now. It is not that expensive. The book can be found on Amazon and Christian Book Distributors. [2] “Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism 1750-1858″ by Iain Murray (he is a good historian on Christianty). [3] “History of the Christian Church” – an 8 volume set by Philip Schaff (runs from 0-1600 – just past the Reformation). [4] “History of the Christian Church” – a 5 volume set by Henry C. Sheldon (beginning of Christianty to more modern times – at least in his lifetime. Both of these sets can usually be found on sale off/on at times by CBD. [5] *** A must have *** “By His Grace and For His Glory: A Historical, Theological, and Practical Study of the Doctrines of Grace in Baptist Life” by Dr. Thomas J. Nettles (an updated version is now available on the Founders Journal site — http://www.founders.org. The cost is about $35.00 plus postage. I would urge you to save your money and purchase this book – it is well worth every penny invested. Dr. Nettles is one of the foremost Christian (especially Baptist) historians of the day. Enjoy your reading.

   Lord Bless. Later …
   Psalm 124:8

6. Jessica
   April 15th, 2007 at 4:30 pm | Permalink

   Pastor Bruce,

   Thank you so much! Wow, I’d like to check out those titles soon. Just seeing the authors, I’m glad you listed some specific titles by Iain Murray, Philip Schaff, and Dr. Nettles because I’ve heard of their names before (I just didn’t know they wrote those titles). Thank you again!

7. Pastor Bruce
   April 21st, 2007 at 4:16 pm | Permalink

   Jessica,

   The Story of Christianity – one vol. edition on sale with Christian Book Distributors at $12.99 reg. $55.00. Cat. # 252014 to the end of June. This is one of the books that I listed for you to check-out. Blessings!

8. Jessica
   April 24th, 2007 at 6:25 pm | Permalink

   Pastor Bruce,

   Wow, thank you for letting me know! What a great deal! I really appreciate your kind note!

   I’ve also edited “the eloquence of Thomas Watson”.

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