Author philipmcduffie

The Implications of a Judgment According to Works for the Christian

philipmcduffie Leave a comment

Getting Justification Right 

A sinner is saved by the grace of God alone through faith alone in Christ alone. This is the clear teaching of Scripture. There will not be one individual that will be declared righteous through his obedience. Rather, individuals will only be declared righteous through faith in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. So, those who are in Christ through faith are justified, and those who are apart from Christ are condemned.

That is why there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you are a Christian, you will never hear the just judge of all the earth declare you to be guilty of sin and deserving of eternal punishment. That will not happen. Rather, you hear a silent declaration of “Justified!” from the judge of the earth now, and you will one day hear a public declaration of “Justified!” on judgment day. This is our hope and it is incredibly comforting! We are righteous in Christ Jesus. Praise God for this! We are rescued from the wrath of God in Christ Jesus. Glory be to God alone! We are adopted into the family of God in Christ Jesus. Honor be to the name of Jesus!

Justification Does Not Eradicate Evaluation

With that said, there also must be an understanding that those who have been justified (judicially declared righteous) through faith in Christ will be judged according to their works. This is thoroughly biblical. Just because we will not face condemnation on judgment day does not mean that we will escape evaluation. We will most certainly be evaluated. All of our actions, motives, thoughts, and words will be evaluated on judgment day. So, our works will be judged. And, according to Scripture, this doctrine is incredibly important for how we live life now. So, let’s look at some applications that arise from a judgment according to works.

Application of This Doctrine

A judgment according to works can be applied in many ways. Therefore, it will be helpful to see how this understanding of the role of works in the judgment of the righteous can be applied personally and within Christian ministry.

Personal Holiness

The first application that arises from a knowledge of a judgment according to works is personal holiness. All throughout the New Testament, the biblical writers refer to the day of judgment and then issue appeals for lives of holiness. For example, Peter, in speaking about the importance of being holy because God the Father is holy, says, “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile” (1 Pet. 1:17). Paul, in a similar line of thought, said that all Christians will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, “so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10). It is for this reason that Paul says that Christians are to make it their aim to please the Lord (2 Cor. 5:9).

So, one day, we as individuals, will stand before Christ’s great tribunal and receive what is our due for both the good and the evil that we have done in our earthly bodies. There will be no partiality in Christ’s judgment. Christ will look into the inner recesses of our hearts and expose every motive, secret, intention, careless word, and action in accordance with his infinite wisdom. For the evil that we have done, Christ will withhold his commendation. For the good that we have done, Christ will give his commendation (1 Cor. 4:5). For the evil that we have done, we will not receive a reward. For the good that we have done, we will receive rewards.

This is, without a doubt, a major incentive to live a life of holiness for the Lord. Regarding this Phanton says, “No wise disciple can afford to neglect so great a mass of Scripture, or throw away so mighty an incentive to holiness. Our discovery of this truth at the Judgment Seat will be too late.” Phanton is right in his assertion. We, if we want to live lives of holiness for the Lord, will find all the incentive we need in a thorough contemplation of standing before the judgment seat of Christ on that Great Day.

This also must be applied in the ministry context that God has entrusted with us. Right now I do college ministry on college campuses throughout the triangle area. I am able to interact with numerous students throughout the week. Each of them will have to stand before Christ’s tribunal to give an account of their lives. I ought to labor with relentless zeal in order to do everything that I can so that they will stand holy and blameless before the Lord on that Great Day. It should be my aim to prepare them for judgment day. Thus, I should do everything I can to help them pursue personal holiness.

Labor For The Lord

Secondly, a judgment according to works should lead us to increasingly labor for the Lord. When we do something in faith, to the glory of God, and out of love for neighbor, it is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58). Rather than being in vain, it will lead to commendation and reward from my blessed Savior. This is a major incentive to gospel labor. It most certainly was for Paul, this truth led him to tell Christians in Corinth, “to be abounding in the works of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

And this idea of rewards should not make us feel uneasy. The Scriptures clearly use this truth to compel Christians to labor. Jesus, in Matthew 6, uses both rewards and loss of rewards, to compel his disciples to give to the needy, pray, and fast in a way that is honoring to the Lord (Mt. 6:1-18). He then goes on to tell his disciples to intentionally lay-up treasure in heaven with how they use their money (Mt. 6:19-24). Also, the parable of the talents teaches that those who are faithful in how they steward their God given gifts will receive rewards when Christ Jesus returns (Mt. 24:14-30).

So, the idea of heavenly rewards compelling us to holy zeal and fervor in going about the work of the Lord is seen in the Scripture. This leads Wayne Grudem to say, “It would be morally and spiritually beneficial for us to have a greater consciousness of this clear New Testament teaching on degrees of heavenly reward.” Grudem is right. We would do well to contemplate eternal rewards often. This will lead us to zealously labor for Christ’s sake. We should be willing to spend and be spent for Christ’s kingdom knowing that nothing we do is in vain.

Also, this idea of rewards should impact the ministry we have been given. It should impact me personally as I labor on college campuses. Each of these students that I am shepherding has the opportunity to labor for the Lord, thus, storing up treasures in heaven. I ought to do everything in my power to keep them from wasting their lives by compelling them to lay up treasures in heaven by doing bold acts of service for Christ’s sake. So, I should be helping them and encouraging them to store up heavenly rewards from a most benevolent God who is eager to bestow them.

Increasing Humility

Thirdly, a judgment according to works should also lead us to have ever increasing humility. Often times, we have haughty views of ourselves. We simply seem to regard ourselves, as well as our ministry, with greater significance than we ought to. The reality of judgment day should keep us from this.

I say this because this was Paul’s mentality. Paul knew that he was gifted by God to be a steward of the mysteries of the gospel for the sake of the church. However, when it came to examining his faithfulness as a steward, he was not concerned with the judgment of men. He says, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by any human court” (1 Cor. 4:3). Paul then goes even further saying that he does not even trust his own judgment of his ministry, even though, as far as he could tell, he had not been unfaithful (1 Cor. 4:3-4).

The reason for this is because he knew judgment day was coming. Therefore, rather than leaning on his own judgment or the judgment of men, he says, “Therefore, I do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each will receive his commendation from God.” (1 Cor. 4:5).

Thus, judgment day led Paul to refrain from judging his own faithfulness. Rather, he humbly labored for the Lord waiting for judgment day to shed light on his ministry. The same truth mentioned above also led George Whitefield, after laboring for the Lord in an incomprehensibly glorious way, to leave his tomb stone with the words, “Here lies G.W. What sort of man he was the great day will discover.” So, the understanding of judgment day should keep us personally humble in our gospel labor as we patiently wait for that great day to reveal the genuineness of our work.

No Sinful Judging

Fourthly, a judgment according to works should keep us from sinfully casting judgment on weaker Christians. It should also keep us from causing a weaker brother in Christ to sin in how we use our Christian freedom (Rom. 14:5-23). Each Christian is going to have to give an account of their lives to Christ. Therefore, the last thing we should want is to have to give an account to Christ for how we caused a weaker Christian, for whom He died, to sin against him by how we used our Christian freedom (Rom. 14:15).

This Should Permeate Our Teachings

Lastly, a judgment according to work should be within our teachings, our discipleship relationships, and in how we raise our kids. We should not just teach justification, and we should not just teach a judgment according to works. Rather, they should both be taught. Justification by faith alone in Christ alone and a judgment according to works are both clearly in the Bible. Therefore, both of them ought to be taught. To emphasize justification by faith alone in Christ alone to the detriment of judgment according to works produces lawlessness. People will simply live however they want to live all the while claiming Christ as Savior. We see this all throughout the Bible Belt! Also, to emphasize judgment according to works to the detriment of justification by faith alone in Christ alone produces legalism. This also is seen all throughout the Bible Belt! So, we must emphasize both. To emphasize both will produce an affectionate reverence to Christ whereby we yield ourselves in obedience to the will of God. Therefore, this teaching ought to permeate our thoughts, teachings, sermons, discipleship relationships, child rearing, etc.

 

Exhortations for Christian Upperclassmen

philipmcduffie Leave a comment
With move in day approaching and another long school year in front of us, it is important to be thinking about the ways you intend on serving Christ at the beginning of the semester. This is what every Christian ought to generally be thinking through, but it is particularly helpful for college students to think through as they prepare to get back on campus where there are literally thousands of people that they will be rubbing shoulders with. With that said, I want to challenge Christian upperclassmen in the following ways:

Be committed to helping your campus ministry engage students the first 6-8 weeks of school.

The first 6-8 weeks of the fall semester are incredibly important in the life of a college ministry. It is non-stop grueling work that is filled with both encouragement and discouragement. We meet tons of people, we get many contacts, we establish many meetings, we get rejected a ton, and we see some students interested in hearing about Christ, studying the Bible, discipleship, attending church, etc. Therefore, college ministries need a ton of help, and college students that are a part of the ministry are the most helpful! Therefore, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and dedicate the first weeks of the semester to laboring alongside of the campus ministry that you are a part of.
  • Help with move in day.
  • Help with certain campus events dedicated to promoting the ministry.
  • Help with contacting and meeting up with certain new people.
  • Help give rides to church.
  • Reach out to the new people that attend church to make them feel comfortable.

Be committed to befriending incoming freshmen for the sake of winning them to Christ and the local church.

As an upperclassman, you will inevitably have influence on freshmen students. Freshmen will come in and they will be looking for friends to hang out with and they will be looking for leaders to follow. Therefore, leverage your influence on particular freshmen in order to win them to Christ and also to the local church. Therefore, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and dedicate the first weeks of the semester to befriending freshmen in order to establish a relationship where relational evangelism and discipleship will flourish.
  • Ask a freshmen to make a cookout run with you.
  • Ask them if you can show them your favorite coffee shop
  • Ask them if they want to go running or work out with you.
  • Just intentionally become friends with freshmen.

Be committed to evangelizing people of campus. . . .especially freshmen.

College is one of the most fruitful fields of harvest for evangelistic endeavors. Students are open to exploring many different things, including Christianity. Therefore, deny yourself, pick up your cross, look at the many lost people walking on campus, and intentionally dedicate time to evangelizing people on your college campus.
  • Think about how you could do this before or after class.
  • Think about how you could do this at the gym
  • Think about how you could do this in intramurals.
  • Think about how you could do this in your dorm, suite, or apartment.
  • Think about how you could do this in the quad.
  • Think about how you could do this in the cafeteria or student union.

Be committed to establishing a discipleship relationship with a friend that you met last year from the ministry.

Christ commanded his followers to make disciples. This is something that college students are not exempt from. Rather, if you are a college student that is in Christ, Christ commands you to make disciples. Therefore, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and establish a discipleship relationship with another Christian (particularly one that goes to the same local church as you).
  • Ask them if they want to meet weekly or biweekly in order to pray and read the Bible with you.
  • Ask them if they would want to meet up to pray and read a good Christian book with you.
  • Ask them if they would want to meet up weekly in order to pray and go over the sermon from the previous Sunday.

Be committed to inviting people to the campus ministry’s annual fall retreat.

The annual fall retreat is a big deal in the college ministry because it presents an opportunity at the beginning of the semester for students to spend a weekend together doing many things like hiking, recreation, eating, riding in a car, and, most importantly, listening to teachings from the Bible that are gospel focused. Most students, after going on the fall retreat, end up faithfully attending church and the campus specific Bible studies. Therefore, deny yourself, take up your cross, and invite some of the people that you meet to go on the annual fall retreat with you.
  • Ask them if they would want to attend this. If they express any interest, then continue to follow up with them.
  • If the financial aspect is keeping them from going, then be willing to, if you are able, pay for them to go. 

And, after these first weeks on campus, reevaluate how you intend on glorifying God by making much of Christ throughout the rest of the school year!


Don’t Neglect the Church as the Spring Semester Gets Hectic!

philipmcduffie Leave a comment

I have not been in college ministry a very long time (almost 3 years), but I have been in it long enough to know that church attendance begins to dissipate as students begin to inch closer and closer towards the end of the spring semester. (Just as a side note….I do not think this is a problem just for college students. We, by nature, start strong and finish poorly).

My desire in this blog post is to convince you of five reasons why you should maintain faithfully attending church as you see summer on the horizon.

To Behold the Glory of Christ

Christ says, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14). Now, it is apparent that Christ is speaking about his crucifixion within this verse. However, what is important to understand is that he is not merely talking about the actual event of his crucifixion. Not many people were looking at Christ’s actual crucifixion and receiving eternal life. Thus, Christ’s statement must go beyond that! It must go beyond the event of his actual crucifixion to something that is happening even today, for today, people are still looking to Christ crucified and receiving eternal life.  

And I would argue that Christ is speaking about the ministry of the word of God. It is the preaching and teaching ministry of the word that is revealing Christ crucified. Paul tells the Galatians, who did not see the actual crucifixion of Christ, “Oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your very eyes that Jesus was publicly portrayed as crucified” (Galatians 3:1). Also, he tells Titus that the eternal life that is in Christ Jesus was manifested through the preaching of the word (Titus 1:2-3).

There is a revealing of Christ crucified through the faithful teaching and preaching of the word. This is one reason why faithfully and consistently sitting under the word of God is so important. Week in and week out, you are beholding Christ. This serves to strengthen your faith. And, if you want to prove this through a litmus test, simply go ask somebody that has neglected attending church for a while how their faith is holding up. And if they say it is good, then stay around them long enough to see the falsity of their statement be manifested.

To Hear the Word of the Lord

Preaching, if it is done faithfully and in accordance with the biblical text, carries great authority. As the preacher draws out the meaning of the text, he is drawing out the very word of God (1 Thess. 2:13). Thus, to sit under faithful preaching is to sit under the word of the Lord. This is something that every Christian needs to consistently hear. This is the Christian’s food and drink. This is what is going to nourish and strengthen them in their walk with Christ. So, to consistently attend church presents you with the opportunity to consistently hear what the God of heaven and earth has said and is saying through His written Word. However, to neglect church is to willingly separate yourself from hearing the word of the Lord. 

To Bear Other’s Burdens

Much of the Christian life is lived out glorifying God by sacrificially bearing the burdens of others. We do this out of love for God and love for neighbor. This is how we actually fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). We are to be a people that see other brothers and sisters in Christ bearing burdens that are so heavy that they cannot bear themselves-such as financial burdens, health burdens, burdens brought about by other’s sins, burdens brought about by our own sin-and then gladly die to ourselves, and place some of their burdens upon our own shoulders for the glory of God and the sake of Christ. This type of burden bearing is nearly impossible when you forsake the local church.

Satan’s Assault is Continuous

Satan is a thief that comes to steal, kill, deceive, accuse, and destroy. He is relentless in his opposition to both God and man. As soon as Adam and Eve were in the garden, Satan is on the scene with his wicked weapons in hand. As soon as Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain, he rears his ugly head. As soon as Israel began to multiply in Egypt, he was present in the wicked Pharaoh. As soon as Christ Jesus was born of a virgin, he was there as a dragon ready to devour Him! He is driven by pride, greed, envy, jealousy, selfish ambition, and hatred. His desire is to utterly destroy you. He wants your physical life and your spiritual life, and he will not rest until he has them!

Church is like an embassy in a foreign land for a citizen of the kingdom of God. When we are faithfully engaging in the life of the church, we are safe from the ancient enemy of our souls! To put it in a little perspective, when Paul tells the Corinthians to exercise church discipline on a brother who has lapsed into heinous sin, he tells them to expel the brother from the church, and to hand him over to Satan! So, to be separated from the local church is to be handed over to Satan. Thus, when you willfully neglect church, you are, in a since, allowing yourself to roam in Satan’s evil lair. Why in the world would anybody want to do that?

You Reap What You Sow

The Bible consistently teaches that you will reap what you sow. So, in an agricultural since, if you sow wheat then you will reap wheat. But the Scripture takes this beyond the simple agricultural meaning to a spiritual meaning. Paul says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8). Proverbs says, “Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity” (Proverbs 22:8). This is a general principle that rears its head constantly throughout the Bible and we can be certain that it rears its head today as well. 

To sow to the Spirit will lead to eternal life, but to sow to the flesh will lead to eternal death. To sow to the Spirit will lead to a harvest of righteousness, but to sow to the flesh will lead to a harvest of unrighteousness. When you willfully forsake assembling with other Christians due to idleness, sluggishness, laziness, unrepentant sin, etc., then you are sowing to the flesh. And before long, if the general principle proves true, you will reap unrighteousness and ungodliness. 

To Conclude

So those are five brief reasons why you should persevere in attending church as your spring semester begins to get hectic, you see summer on the horizon, and you are absolutely worn out. With that said, persevere!

Imitating George Whitefield

philipmcduffie Leave a comment

A Brief Introduction

George Whitefield’s natural birth was on December 16, 1714, in Gloucester, England. His parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Whitefield. 

Nineteen years later, he was born again from above while he was a student at Oxford. Thus, the most effective evangelist since the days of the Apostle Paul was just converted.

His Life’s Labor

J.C. Ryle, the famous Anglican pastor of the 1800s, said this regarding Whitefield, “He was one of the most powerful and effective preachers that ever lived.” That is high praise, but it is not an exaggeration. Whitefield truly was, and remains, one of the most powerful and effective preachers that has ever lived. Steven Lawson said, “Since the time of the Apostles, the annals of church history record no other individual who possessed such gospel ambition and relentless determination.” Whitefield was resilient. As one flips through the many pages that have been written by Whitefield or about Whitefield, they stand in absolute amazement at the amount of labor Whitefield did day in and day out in his thirty-four years of ministry.

Early on in his preaching ministry, he confined himself to pulpits. He preached the gospel as often as he could wherever he could as long as there was a pulpit for him to preach from. As he was waiting on a ship to take him to the colonies for the first time, he was preaching in London. He was twenty-two years old at this time. At the age of twenty-two Whitefield said, “I now preached generally nine times a week.” It’s important to keep in mind that he had just preached his first sermon at the age of twenty-one. This is remarkable labor for the Lord. However, he left London and went to the colony of Georgia. Later he returned to England and began laboring in Bristol. 

It is in Bristol that he left the pulpit and began preaching in the open fields (which was unheard of at this point in history). This was not something that Whitefield chose to do on his own. This was something that was forced upon him by the Church of England. Regarding this, Whitefield said:

Let not the adversaries say, I have thrust myself out of their synagogues. No; they have thrust me out. And since the self-righteous men of this generation count themselves unworthy, I go out into the highways and hedges, and compel harlots, publicans, and sinners to come in, that my Master’s house may be filled.

So Whitefield saw an incredible opportunity when he was no longer confined to the Church of England’s pulpits. He realized that this would allow him to preach far more often than he was originally preaching. That means he is preaching over nine times a week now. He is only twenty-four years old at this time. He was a laborer. He never took his eyes off the gospel. When he began preaching in the open fields, it opened a door for him to proclaim the gospel to myriads of people on two continents.

To put his labor in perspective, eighty percent of the colonies had listened to Whitefield preach (keep in mind that there were no radios, televisions, computers, etc.)! When he entered a town, it was not uncommon for the multitudes that were listening to him to outnumber the actual population of the town. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean thirteen times in order to preach the gospel to as many people as he possibly could (this voyage would take 8-12 weeks…..that means he spent over 3 years of his life on a ship). He is estimated to have preached over eighteen thousand times in his ministry. Some even say that he may have preached over thirty thousand times if you count exhortations in homes and other private areas. His constant refrain was, “We are immortal until our work is done.” Whitefield was indeed immortal until the Lord was finished with him. With the amount of labor he did day after day, he should have died long before he did. However, it was not until the age of fifty-five that Whitefield breathed his last breath from an asthma attack. 

What is remarkable is that hours before his death from an asthma attack, he preached a two-hour sermon to a crowd of thousands in an open field! So at the age of fifty-five, he went from laboring for the Lord, to an eternal rest with the Lord. This was just the way he wanted it. Just moments before he preached Whitefield preached last sermon, a man told him, “Sir, you are more fit to go to bed than to preach.” To which Whitefield responded, “True sir.” Then he uttered a prayer saying, “Lord Jesus, I am weary in thy work, but not of thy work. If I have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for thee once more in the fields, seal thy truth, and come home and die.” Thus, the greatest evangelist since the days of the apostles breathed his last breath after urgently pleading with people to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Imitating Whitefield

Jonathon Edwards made a list of resolutions that he sought to uphold to the glory of God. One resolution of his that has made a profound impact on my life is this, “Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it praiseworthy in me, resolved to endeavor to imitate it.” So, he is saying, “If I am listening to some people praising a certain individual for a certain thing, then I resolve to imitate that which is praiseworthy.” This is a helpful mindset to have, and we are going to seek to do it with Whitefield. So, we have gone through a brief introduction about his pulpit ministry, now we are going to seek to look at three praiseworthy aspects of Whitefield’s life that we can imitate.

The first praiseworthy aspect of Whitefield’s life that we can seek to imitate is his discipline of studying the Bible. He was, by all accounts, a student of the Word. He studied the Scriptures diligently. Early in Whitefield’s life, he said, “I began to read the Holy Scriptures upon my knees, laying aside all other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and word.” This incredible discipline of reading the Word helped to make him the remarkable preacher/evangelist that he was. This is something that we ought to imitate. We need to seek to be acquainted with the Word of God. We need to read it diligently seeking to learn all that we can from it. We need to read through it in its entirety to learn all that God has to say.

The second praiseworthy aspect of Whitefield’s life that we can seek to imitate is his discipline of prayer. He was a man of prayer. He was always speaking with God. Regarding this, Steven Lawson said, “From the moment Christ dawned in his heart, Whitefield was absorbed in intimate prayer.” And this life of prayer was not dreadful to Whitefield. It was sheer delightful. He saw each and every time he prayed as an intimate encounter with Almighty God. We can learn from this. We need to be a people that are always speaking with God. And this prayer life that we need to cultivate does not need to be dreadful to us. We need to delight in it. We get to speak to our heavenly Father.

The last praiseworthy aspect of Whitefield’s life that we need to seek to imitate is his zeal to do good works. The Apostle Paul says that, “We are his (God’s) workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Also, Paul says in his letter to Titus that we that we are to be, “Zealous for good works” (Titus 3:14). Whitefield was most certainly zealous to walk in good works to the glory of God. On one occasion he said, “I am never better than when I am on the full stretch for God.” On another occasion he said, “God forbid that I should travel with anybody a quarter of an hour without speaking Christ to them.” He was all about the Lord’s work! And as Whitefield progressively got older, people kept telling him that he was going to wear himself out if he continued to work as hard as he was working. To this, Whitefield responded, “I would rather wear out than rust out.” This man was immovable in his resolve to labor for the Lord Jesus Christ. This is something that we can imitate! 

A Word of Caution

However, as I mention these three praiseworthy aspects of Whitefield’s life that we can imitate, you must not misunderstand me. I am not saying we need to do the same works as Whitefield. Nor am I saying that we need to work to the same extent as Whitefield. For example, I am not saying that you need to get on your knees and read the Bible for hours! And I am not saying that you need to cross the Atlantic thirteen times in order to preach thirty-thousand times in thirty-four years. Rather, I am simply saying that you would be wise to strive to imitate Whitefield’s love for the Bible, his delight in prayer, and his zeal to do good works for the glory of God.

My Top 10 Books of 2017

philipmcduffie Leave a comment
The end of 2017 is quickly approaching. This means that many of my favorite people within the Christian community are posting their top books of 2017. Some of these lists specifically focus on Christian books that were published in 2017. I always love looking at these lists to get an idea of some books that I would like to read in the coming year! Here they are:

Desiring God
Christianity Today
The Gospel Coalition

And some of these lists specifically focus on people’s favorite books out of all the books they read in 2017. I enjoy these lists because they focus on both old and new books, they give you insight into what some of your favorite theologians have been studying this year, and they often let you peer into their interests (Russell Moore read a book on Johnny Cash, Jimmy Buffet, and a live action comic on batman)! Here they are:

Russell Moore
Kevin DeYoung
Trevin Wax

My Top 10

And here are my favorite books that I have read throughout 2017:

The Sermon on the Mount by Martyn Lloyd Jones
Wise Counsel by John Newton
John G. Patton: Missionary to the New Hebrides by John G. Patton
Through Gates of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliot
12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke
The Life of God in the Soul of Man by Henry Scougal
Steal Away Home by Matt Carter
Tactics by Gregory Koukl
Habits of Grace by David Mathis
Revitalize by Andrew Davis

Wise Words From John Stott 


John Stott, when he was 88 years old, wrote this in the post script of The Radical Disciple:

For there is something unique about books. Our favorite books become very precious to us and we even develop with them an almost living and affectionate relationship. Is it an altogether fanciful fact that we handle, stroke and even smell them as tokens of our esteem and affection? I am not referring only to an author’s feeling for what he has written, but to all readers and their library. I have made it a rule not to quote from any book unless I have first handled it. So let me urge you to keep reading, and encourage your relatives and friends to do the same. For this is a much neglected means of grace.


He went on to be with the Lord years ago, but this was what he ended with in the last book that he authored. I find that fascinating. So with this in mind, make a reading list for 2018, order some books, begin reading, and find nourishment for your soul.

2 Brief Thoughts Regarding Evangelism

philipmcduffie 1 Comment

Here lately I have been thinking about evangelism a great deal. This has led me to speak about it often, to read books on it, and to walk through books with other people regarding it. Also, to my surprise, an older individual in the church that I worship at informed me just last week that he has consistently been praying for me concerning evangelism.

And honestly, I am not entirely sure why this has been so prevalent in my thinking, but I do hope that it continues to be. With all that being said, I just want to lay out two thoughts that have been on my mind in hopes that it will help you out.

Evangelism on the Mind

The more I reflect on this topic, the more confident I am that one of the main reasons that people do not evangelize is simply because they are not mindful of it. You see, we talk about what we are interested in and have been thinking about. During football season, we talk about football. During baseball season, we talk about baseball. When we have our first kid, we talk about parenting. Every four years we talk about the presidential election. This is simply how we function as people. We talk about what we are interested in at that particular moment. Thus, when we are not thinking about evangelism we do not evangelize. Therefore, one of the quickest ways to become a faithful evangelist is to be mindful of evangelism. We must cultivate an interest in evangelism that is so incredibly pertinent to us that we view every conversation we have as a possible opportunity to speak about our Lord.

Consistently Conversational

Another reason I believe people to not evangelize often is because we have become wrapped up in the individualistic culture of our day. With this being the case, we keep to ourselves. We walk into a coffee shop and do not seek to begin a conversation with people. We check out our groceries and do not seek to establish a conversation with anybody. And if we do happen to have a conversation with somebody, it tends to be rather shallow and superficial. I am convinced that this type of mentality really does keep us from evangelizing. If we would simply seek to establish conversations, as well as remain in conversations, then we would have more and more opportunities to speak about our Savior.

Hopefully Helpful

Obviously, nothing that I said is breathtaking. None of this is groundbreaking at all. However, I am confident that if we, as Christians, were mindful of evangelism all the while initiating and maintaining conversations with people then we would be better stewards of the gospel of Jesus Christ.