A Story About an Orphan & A Castle in Dover

 When I was young, I used to read a book called Crispin's Castle by Kathleen M. Duncan.  Since we still have it, I read it again even though it is supposed to be for kids.  I still found it to be very interesting. 

It's about a boy who was an orphan who was being sent to boarding schools by a lady who didn't spend a lot of time with him.  "Crispin" goes to stay with some relatives of the lady for a time, and that family has just moved to Dover (Kent, England, U.K.).  There is a castle nearby that "Crispin" admires.  So, I looked up a castle in Dover and found a video where you can not only watch the video about the castle which tells some of its history, but you can also scroll around for different angles to viewing it and its surroundings.  It seems to fit the description of the castle in the book.  The boy has one thing that was found on him when he was discovered that had some letters/initials on it, and so those initials along with an interesting new elderly neighbor lead to a discovery about his identity.

American Puritans & Psalm 30 to Music

American Beginnings 

I was able to get a free download (sorry, I doubt you can find it free now) of The American Puritans book (Nate Pickowicz/ Dustin Benge), and I started chapter 2 this week about John Winthrop. 

I'm really enjoying it so far. I sit there trying to do the math in my poor brain about some of the facts (figuring out ages of death or how much older one person is than another). The poor guy's first two wives died, and he's on his third one at the point that I stopped reading today. It looks like the third one lived longer...maybe 56 years?

The first chapter was about William Bradford, and it was also very informative of how people immigrated to more than one place, and how there were successes and failures in their trips and people left behind.  I found myself discussing something of what I learned from the book in a conversation online.  

I have an interest in my own ancestry, but so far, I've not found a connection with one of these groups of people...though there were some people from a different group of immigrants that I wasn't thrilled about due to some errant beliefs.  Reading this may keep me digging to see if I find any who were connected to some of these groups of immigrants mentioned in the book.

I realize I have not given a complete book review, but it should whet your appetite if you like biographies or history!

Psalm 30 to Music

Recently, I shared a song based on Psalm 2 which I really enjoyed the tune of.  

I was introduced yesterday to music with Psalm lyrics by someone else.  

Of the ones I tried by this person, this one was my favorite.

I enjoy sharing music by people that are not well-known, and all the better that this has lyrics from the Bible!

Apparently, the music was borne out of the loss of a friend, and I read how a family member of that friend read this Psalm around the homegoing of that loved one. 

(You can see his description on the site with the video.)

From Death To Life - A Book Review - Part 3

Today I'm continuing my chapter by chapter review (or summary) of Allen Nelson IV's book, From Death To Life: How Salvation Works.
I'm not giving away everything that is in the book.
This book would be good for a group of people new to a church, for professing believers not yet grounded in Biblical doctrine, or as a reminder for Christians who need to get back to foundational teaching.
Part 1
Part 2

Chapter 6 -  This was a solid chapter on justification.  Justification is by faith alone.  Christians are accepted by God in Christ and clothed in His righteousness.

"The worst that I am isn't beyond the blood of Jesus.  The best that I am isn't beyond the blood of Jesus."  - Allen Nelson IV

Chapter 7 - This chapter dealt with sanctification.   True Christians will grow.  They will desire Christ.  There will be spiritual fruit, and we should see a pattern of repentance.  Those who have no fruit should not be assured they are saved, but those who are believers will endure to the end.

Chapter 8  - This chapter talks about how God opens the eyes of the blind and they are awakened from a  bed of "counterfeit comfort".

"Little do sinners realize that their slumber is not a place of solace but a cell in which they are imprisoned." - Allen Nelson IV

Sinners do not desire Christ on their own.

This chapter also discusses that deeds are a fruit of salvation and not the root.

"When repentance is real, reformation follows: Reformation in thought, reformation in desires, and reformation in life."  - Allen Nelson IV

From Death To Life - A Book Review - Part 1

Allen Nelson IV is a pastor at Perryville Second Baptist in Arkansas.
He recently had a book published entitled
From Death to Life; How Salvation Works.
Though not mentioned specifically in the book, my nephew Josh was one of the people who critiqued the book before it was complete.
I have been gifted a version of the book, but the review (which I plan to do in parts since I'm generally not a fast reader) is my own.

I'm going to try to give my thoughts as I read the book.

From Death to Life is corrective of a wrong understanding that many people have of salvation.  The wrong view is a decision based view that doesn't produce a transformation.
The author uses a bit of imagination of a Biblical event in Chapter 1 (which I tend to be very nervous about), but he rightfully puts an emphasis on Scriptural authority in the rest of the chapter.

As I read chapter 2, he points out how churches attempt to get people into the church by something other than the Gospel.  I've seen some of the kinds of things he's talking about firsthand.
I love some of the colorful choice of words he uses.

"The beautiful diamond of the gospel has been wrapped in toilet paper in the ridiculous attempt to make it more enticing." - Allen Nelson IV

He further continues on in chapter 2 about people being lulled into false assurance and professions.
Yes, I've made it through 2 chapters today.

I hope to continue the book and add more parts to my review, but I may do other posts between segments.
You can find the book and see other reviews HERE.

Reviving New England Book Review • Part 3 • Conclusion

I've finally finished the book Reviving New England by Pastor Nate Pickowicz.

It is an excellent book well worth reading.
My disclaimer is that at least a couple of the people quoted I personally wouldn't recommend (though the quotes themselves are okay).
I'm not really familiar with some of the others quoted, but some of them I do consider solid.

So, I recommend the book as a whole, and I believe it would be a great book to give to those interested in ministry, seminary students, pastors, church leaders, evangelists, and all Christians in general (who can read English).

It is good to be reminded of what faithful Christians and churches
should be doing, and it is also good to be reminded not to neglect praying for workers and the mission field even in America (as well as for revival in the churches).
It is convicting and motivational, as well as it gives Biblical instruction.

Reviving New England • Book Review • Part 2

God can use a few good men to set the world on fire for Him!

First of all, people need the right Gospel, and the church both individually and corporately needs to be purified.

I have been continuing to read Reviving New England  a little bit both yesterday and today, although dizziness issues have been plaguing me.
Chapter 3 has a clear presentation of the Gospel.
I didn't notice the virgin birth being mentioned, but other great truths of the Gospel were clearly emphasized.

Fighting sin, pursuing holiness,  true repentance, and sanctification were delved into quite a bit.
I really found the chapter helpful for me personally as a reinforced encouragement in my battle against sin.

 I even underlined a little bit in pencil.

One thing I underlined was this:

"Our warfare is that of aggression against the impulses of our hearts that rebel against God and hijack our efforts to live for Him ...."  - Nate Pickowicz

There were a couple of aspects that I would have liked to have had clarified personally:

1. I believe that while in general confession to God of individual sins is good, there can be a problem of rehashing individual thoughts.
In such cases, I believe that a more generalized confession may be a better option.

2. I would like clarification on the corporate confession of social injustice quote.   In this day and age, many people make general accusations of social injustice.  This is not always a fair accusation, and I believe it would be good to define what is truly social injustice.
I do see in my reading of Scripture that our light should expose darkness (so pointing out that things are sins against God as John the Baptist did I can see), but I also believe that our primary goal should be evangelistic with those outside the church.
I'm wondering what exactly we need to confess about those outside the church except maybe our own apathy and lack of evangelism?

Within the church I see this:
If someone is letting rich people (or it could be people of certain shade of skin) have preference in the church, then yes, that would be not only a social injustice...it would be disobedience to God.
Giving care to one group of individuals over another would be personal favoritism, which I find as clearly against Scripture.
On the other hand, I see some people (even Christians) undermining the whole justice system to fit their own sense of justice.
It can bring people to disrespect and endanger authority that God has placed over us.
Even Nero was to be submitted to in what didn't clearly direct disobedience to Christ.
I hope this won't be considered as an attack....just the sharing of my own thoughts and questions about what I've read.


That being said, Chapter 3 was still excellent.
 At this point, I am thinking a study guide might be helpful for people like me.
I would like to see all of the key words with their definitions that I could review easily, and I would like to see all the practical application in study guide form to fill out and review.

Is anybody else with me?

I've started reading Chapter 4 already, so there may possibly be more to come!

Thanks again Pastor Nate for sharing this book.

People can get the book on Amazon or by going HERE.

Reviving New England - Book Review • Part 1

A Pastor friend of mine by the name of Nate Pickowicz (who previously wrote THIS Article for me)  has recently had a book published, and naturally I was interested to see what he had to say.
He was kind enough to include me to receive a copy of the new book.
Although it was never said to be required of me, I had it in my mind to do a book review.
I saw some glowing praise for the book before it arrived, so my excitement mounted.

The following were some of the early comments I saw:

No joke, this book is amazing! I can't say enough in 140 characters. #RevivingNE #RevivingNewEngland @NatePickowicz https://t.co/d8kGKV8tXt

— Rob Stiles (@robstiles1) October 16, 2016

@NatePickowicz @KTinHills @robstiles1 It is a "Top shelf" kind of book. I enjoyed every bit.

— Faith Stiles (@StilesFaith) October 16, 2016

Move this one to the top of your reading pile..... 😊 https://t.co/lFgDbBnnnu … #RevivingNE #YouAreWelcome pic.twitter.com/lHiJjYXdW5

— Jill Cox (@crazyjmom) October 13, 2016

So, I've now begun to read the book for myself.
I'm not nearly as fast of a reader as my online friends, but I've read two chapters so far.
Here are my first thoughts and summaries of what I've read:

Much of the first chapter is a historical account which talks about revival, the need for revival, the Great Awakenings, and the spiritual slide that has happened in the northeastern area of America,
Clearly, Pastor Nate Pickowicz has a heart and passion for his native New England.

He not only traces the history of Christianity in New England and its influence on the nation and the world, he makes it clear that he longs to see this happen again.
He is laying out a strategy in this book based on the Bible and history.
Certainly, the book's emphasis is especially on the preaching from the pulpit..which is great!

The major spiritual decline is lamented, and the percentage of actual Christian believers left is extremely low.
This is sad but not surprising to me, as I see the northeastern U.S. as very liberal - which manifests itself politically, as well as morally (though they are not alone), and spiritually.
I digress.

Anyway, near the end of the chapter, it begins to be more encouraging with more optimistic hope instilled.
I found myself leaping in my mind beyond even the necessity for Biblical preaching from the pulpits, but it also reminded me of the need for evangelism there in New England (as I'm aware that some are involved in that by things like street preaching and tract distribution - and one on one conversations - on college campuses and at abortion clinics).


On to Chapter 2.
After tracing the history of revivals from the Bible onward, Pastor Nate begins to describe what preaching should and shouldn't be like.
As I read the descriptions of what preaching should not be like, I knew that I had heard some of these methods.
I wish that many pastors would read and pay attention to what he's saying on this.
If you want to know fully what I'm talking about, you'll just have to read it for yourself.

I've definitely heard the "Springboard" preaching method where a pastor takes a text, and then they spend half or more of their sermon completely off topic or putting their own theme into the text (which might be mixing in the hobby horse method or just plain inserting some other topic into the mix).
This 2nd chapter in Reviving New England reminds me of how I felt when reading the book Pulpit Crimes by James White, and my mind assents a big Amen to what Nate is saying.

Self-centered pastors think the church revolves around them, but Bible-centered pastors believe that all of life revolves around God. -  Nate Pickowicz

Again,  as to his describing what preaching should be like....Amen!
And again, you'll have to read the book to know what he says it should be like!

Pastor Nate includes a lot of quotes from other sources, so this is a helpful compilation all in one place (although I can't vouch for every source...though some I do know are good).
I've enjoyed a bit of the review of history and how it all is fitting together.

It's not only New England that needs revival.  It's needed all over.   Revival comes through the Spirit convicting and working in the hearts of individuals, and while faithful pastors - as in the faithful prophets of old - are not able to manufacture change in the hearts of individual people, God definitely uses the faithful and passionate preaching and reading of the Word for His purposes and glory.

I would love to have a pastor like Nate Pickowicz down here where I live, so that our family wouldn't have to "settle" for some compromise in doctrine & practice - or to be stuck at home with live-streaming trying to figure out what to do next (though my physical issues can make me feel not up to going places at times anyway).
Christians, please pray for a church plant to be started where I live where we could actually even become members.
We love the plus of excellent live-streaming (and I would hope to continue), but we want a church home.
I'm thankful for some fellowship at times where we've been, and that not all of the teaching has been unbiblical.

Also, please pray for New England, and for the Word of God to be preached faithfully and accurately by men who love and live out the truth of Scripture!

You can find Reviving New England on Amazon directly or by going through the Entreating Favor webpage HERE.

J.C. Ryle - Prepared To Stand Alone • Book Review, Chapters 1-7

Since I had mentioned that I planned to read the book Iain Murray did, I've decided to do a review on the parts I have read up to this point.   I probably have only read about halfway through at this point.
Book Title:
J.C. Ryle
Prepared To Stand Alone
Book by Iain Murray

My personal summary of the first few chapters:

J.C. Ryle went from being a son of a well-to-do banker to a struggling minister, reportedly paying off money his father owed after one of his father's banks failed under mismanagement by someone else.

Before the bank failure, J.C. went to university, and he did very well, though perhaps he did not try as hard as he could have for a part of the time.

J.C. eventually became a Christian, and it seems that God used various people and His Word to draw Ryle to Himself.
When Ryle became a Christian, his family and friends were not happy with him.
He worked a bit in the bank, I think, and then he was working toward going into law, but eventually he was called to be a minister.
Since the money was needed after the bank failure, it seemed to be a good choice to accept the call.

Ryle visited people and cared for the flock, and he read and taught, though it's not like many pastors of today who went through seminary training first (though not all do today either).
Yet, it seems J.C. did actually learn some positive things at university or college that were helpful, though some at the school were going astray into left field around or after that time.

J.C. seemed to have some recurring health issues, which had some effect on his life and ministry.
He ended up going to a new church where he would receive more income, and he was able to meet a lady who must have seemed spiritual enough to be of interest, and he married her.  
I'm sure that the extra money was helpful both for paying his father's debt and to be able to afford a wife and family as well.

Sadly, his young wife died of ill health, but they did have a baby daughter before she passed on.
He married again later, and his second wife struggled with her health, and after a number of children, and disabling health for a number of years, she also died.
This was a very hard time for J.C.

Ryle was able to write a lot of tracts or booklets during the time he was at this second church, and he had some servants and relatives (not sure if they were his or his wife's relatives) living at the house, which I imagine helped him some in his taking care of the children (that is my thought anyway).

Now, as to my thoughts of the book at the point where I am currently:

Today I finished Chapter 7 of the book on J.C. Ryle.
Actually, a lot of the book is what Ryle wrote himself.
The book is not only biographical, but it goes over the history of some of the theological controversies and adversity that went on in Ryle's time.
The last part of Chapter 7 talks about Ryle's reading of and defense of the Puritans.
Certainly this book gets me more interested in looking at even more of what Ryle wrote in addition to what I have already read, and also, to be curious about some of the Puritans he read.

I would love it if one of my friends would do a blog post  for me that would be a very short biography or summary of the teachings of some of these Puritans.  Thomas Manton, or any of the others you really like.... Hint. Hint.

So, for all my bookworm friends (who did not already read it), you might just want to read this book about J.C. Ryle to find out all that I have left out!

The World-Tilting Gospel - A Quick Book Review

I was reading parts of a book called The World-Tilting Gospel by Dan Phillips last week...skipping ahead a long ways to check more of it out after reading chapter 1 and starting Chapter 2.
I really wanted to see what it was like, as I was hoping to give it away.
The author is someone I follow on Twitter.

Sometimes I follow people, and then I forget who they are and why I followed them.
Probably that's because a lot of people I follow back after they've followed me first, but that isn't always the case.
I saw that the author, Dan Phillips, was asking what to write next...a workbook for the book I've mentioned here or a systematic Theology book or something.   I wasn't familiar with his books at all to begin with, so I had no clue how to vote.

Well, I looked up The World-Tilting Gospel and saw who wrote reviews on the book (MacArthur, Phil Johnson,, etc)., and I found out the author has written for Pyromaniacs.  Oh!  So, that's why I'm following him...maybe?

Well, it is a book that kept me reading quite a bit of pages at a time.  That is not extremely common for me unless it's fiction.  I don't even read fiction nearly as much as I used to.

I didn't read the whole book, but I did read some chunks of it that were helpful to differentiate good and bad approaches on how we view our relationship with Christ, sin, grace, obedience, and the Spirit's work.

If you like to read non-fiction besides the Bible and blog articles, I recommend it.
Let me know what you think!

Bible Summary, Marriage Book Review, Gospel Languages App

The following are some links that I found worth sharing. 

• The Message of the Bible in 221 Words quote by D.A. Carson - Of course, only the whole Bible gives the entire message, but I thought it was a good overview!

• What Did You Expect Book Review  by David Forsyth - I thought this was a good review of something that married people would find helpful especially.  David Forsyth was a former pastor of mine before moving to TN.

• Lets the Whole World Hear  - this app looks very interesting if you have an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad.  It actually has the Gospel in a number of different languages.  I think it would be great if they had even more languages included.