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Hold Thou me up, nor let me swerve from Love’s excelling way. —R.C. Chapman Affectionately known as the Apostle of Love, preacher and evangelist R.C. Chapman, who lived to the ripe old age of ninety-nine, devoted his long life to living Christ and loving others. Those familiar with Chapman’s life and his expositions of the Scriptures will find in his letters a deeper insight into the heart of the man whose chief interests were always his Lord and his neighbor. Chapman’s first-person account of his missionary travels to Ireland and continental Europe reveals a world shrouded in the darkness of Roman Catholicism, a state which Chapman and his companions prayed and worked to change. His letters of counsel to parishioners and friends display “a tender interest in the things of others, a heart in which abode the words of Christ” (Henry Hake, from the introduction). In them, readers can find advice and comfort for a wide variety of life’s troubles. “For though ye may have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet ye shall not have many fathers.” 1 Cor. 4:15 “Robert Cleaver Chapman tried his best to be forgotten, but God intervened on our behalf.” –Jon Bloom, Desiring God -
“It is a matter for the mercy seat.” – R.C. Chapman Known affectionately as the Apostle of Love, evangelist and preacher R.C. Chapman was a good friend of missionary Hudson Taylor, the mentor of that famous man of faith George Müller, and the person Charles Spurgeon called “the saintliest man I ever knew.” Reminiscent of Samuel Rutherford’s The Loveliness of Christ, Chapman’s collection of brief meditations instructs and encourages readers through the simple truths of Scripture. More than a century has passed since Robert Cleaver Chapman went to glory, but his Christ-centered messages remain challenging, consoling, and spiritually enriching to anyone looking for a closer walk with their Lord. Excerpts from the text: “Faith never expects to learn deep lessons without deep difficulties; therefore she is not surprised by strange and dark providences.” “Let us not be discouraged by any humiliating discoveries we may make of the evils of our hearts. God knows them all, and has provided the blood of Jesus Christ His Son to cleanse us from all sin.” “Be content, for He hath said, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’ … Let me lay up this promise in my heart, and I am a rich man. How can I please God today? He will take care of tomorrow.” “The best answers to prayer are those we have to wait and trust for.” -
Join J.C. Ryle as he explains the benefits of reading (and rereading) the Bible, and find inspiration for your daily devotions in this classic work. Do you read the Bible? “I’m not a Christian, so what’s the point?” “I read it once – why do I need to read it again?” Why should you read the Bible? For eighteen centuries it has been studied and prayed over by millions of Christians and explained and preached by thousands of ministers. It meets the hearts and minds and consciences of Christians in the twenty-first century as fully as it did when it was first completed. It is still the first book which fits children’s minds when they begin to learn religion, and the last to which the old man clings as he leaves the world. It is the book for every heart, because God who alone knows all hearts dictated it. The Bible alone explains the state of things that we see in the world around us. There are many things on earth which a natural man cannot explain. The amazing inequality of conditions, the poverty and distress, the oppression and persecution, the failures of politicians and legislators, the constant existence of uncured evils and abuses—all these things are often puzzling. We see it, but do not understand. But the Bible makes it all clear. Do you read the Bible? Come and read the book whose teaching “turned the world upside down.” Come read the Bible. -
The Christian faith has repeatedly been called a “religion of the book.” Along with the incarnate Word and the oral word of preaching, God has chosen the medium of books to proclaim His goodness to us. The Bible is the book per se, and it sets the standard for the Christian faith. The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century saw the dramatic power of the printed word to bring light out of darkness as literature changed the thought and life of nations. The Reformers used pamphlets and tracts extensively to bring about spiritual revolution—the printing press turned out to be the lever with which the enemy was lifted from his saddle. In A Religion of Books, Bockmuehl traces the role books played in the Reformation and through various movements of the Spirit in the following centuries. He also addresses how the written word shapes political movements and how Christians can continue to use literature to point people to Christ. -
Africa was their home. Could they ever go back? Physical weakness coupled with civil unrest in the Ivory Coast had extended a six-month furlough to several years and threatened to derail the Leidenfrosts’ plans to return to their beloved Africa and continue mission work with the Bakwé people. But now they were finally going home to their village…or so they thought. “On top of all this, a subtle grief over the loss of Africa continued to grip my heart. In my dismal state, I felt the clouds part and God’s presence come down to touch His child. God saw the pain, the loneliness, the need, and was telling me that I was not forgotten. It was too easy to focus on my troubles. I needed to remember that His love is stronger, more real, than the pain I was suffering at that moment. Was I going to focus on His love, or on the pain?” Join Lisa Leidenfrost as she walks through trial after trial and learns to keep her eyes on God, whom she finds by her side through it all. This book is especially recommended for anyone experiencing a long-term health challenge or other hardship with an uncertain outcome. -
“I had never read anything like this in the religious books of the Hindus.” After years of searching for something more than the hopeless existence her religion offered to those not born into a high caste, Pandita had at last discovered someone who could uplift the downtrodden women of India—and every land. “To me, who but a few moments ago ‘sat in the region and shadow of death, light had sprung up’ (Matthew 4:16).” In An Honorable Heritage, Pandita Ramabai tells her story of being born into the privileged Brahman caste and leaving tradition behind for something far better—the light and hope she found in Christ. -
“Revolutionary love” sounds like an oxymoron. Revolution is usually a negative, violent, and destructive change, while love is positive, peaceful, and contented. But true love always changes people. And Christ’s love brings the most revolutionary change of all. Festo Kivengere (1919–88) experienced both kinds of revolution. He escaped Uganda when the brutal regime of Idi Amin seized power. But he could not escape the pursuit of Jesus, who came into his life with radically transformative grace. In Revolutionary Love, Kivengere tells his story of learning to freely receive Christ’s love and freely share it with others. Have an Audible subscription? You can also get this title on Audible here. -
During his time at Oxford, a friend asked Paget Wilkes one day, “I say, Paget, do you tackle everyone who comes into your rooms about his soul?” “Yes,’ answered Paget, “if he comes in alone.” Wilkes was convinced that even the humblest Christian is responsible for bringing men to Christ. “If we have been forgiven and know it, if we have been made new creatures in Christ Jesus, then we…are commissioned to minister this same salvation unto men and to witness of all these things which Jesus our Savior has revealed to us. Hallelujah!” The primary need of the mission field today, as it was in Wilkes’ time, “is not for a highly educated and cultured pastorate, but for red-hot evangelists, filled with the Spirit and with the Word.” Join Wilkes as he expounds the living Christ from Scripture and reveals the power of the Holy Spirit to uphold and enable converts and evangelists alike. -
“The unity of the Body is one of the most forceful apologetics for the divinity of Christ. Conversely, disunity is Satan’s most successful tool.” – Otto HelwegGod’s glory in us is the basic provision for Christian unity. “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:20-23).
The primary assumption in this book is the authority and inspiration of the Scriptures. There are promises, prayers, and commands in the New Testament concerning the church’s unity in Christ. The Christian church is made up of individual members of the body of Christ. This book is written to those individuals. The church as a whole cannot obey God. Only the parts can.
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The Holy Spirit is in business these days. Christ is healing wounds that no one else can heal. People all over the world are experiencing the love of God in a new way. The Spirit is blowing our fences down, reconciling us to God and each other. Sin remains just talk about ethics, until the Holy Spirit comes, and we find ourselves caught red-handed in His revealing light. But the blessed Holy Spirit is not a policeman. He is the Friend of the guilty. He convicts in order to liberate. See what happens when a person comes afresh to Him. -
Put on your armor—it’s time to fight. We are in a spiritual war, William Gurnall reminds us, and “the Christian’s safety lies in resisting. All the armour provided is to defend the Christian fighting, none to secure him flying; stand, and the day is ours; fly or yield, and all is lost.” This hard-hitting volume is packed with biblical wisdom for day-to-day Christian living, as helpful today as it was when first published nearly four hundred years ago. Although history left us little knowledge of William Gurnall’s life, it preserved this book—a legacy that has encouraged many generations of saints to fight sin, love Christ, and live holy and faithful lives as Christians who have clothed themselves in the complete armor of God. “Amongst all the Puritan writings that have come down to us, none…are more practical than this one.” – Hamilton Smith Have an Audible subscription? You can also get this title on Audible here. -
Jim Wilson prayed his first real prayer at a Youth for Christ meeting on the night of October 18, 1947. He was introduced to the Father through Jesus Christ, and his life was changed. He describes his prayer life since as sometimes strong, sometimes wavering, “but always to the God who is always faithful.” The quality of our spiritual life depends on the closeness of our walk with God. A major component of that walk is prayer. 1 Thess. 5:17 tells us to “pray constantly.” We are in a spiritual war, and God is our source of spiritual nourishment, protection, and direction. Via prayer we make our needs known, ask help for others, praise Him for victories, confess our defeats, and, most importantly, have fellowship with Him. In Answered Prayer: The Faithfulness of God Made Manifest, you will learn what the Bible teaches about prayer, study its examples of answered prayer, and read Jim’s personal stories from seven decades of walking with the Lord. “My prayer is that this book will help you get into the habit of praying. You may be surprised at the results. As I look back at my own history and all the answers God has provided, I wonder that I am not praying every minute of the day.” – Jim Wilson Have an Audible subscription? This title is also available on Audible here.