Which Writer(s), Whether Past or Present, has/have Impacted Your Ministry the most?

AW Tozer

John MacArthur

John Piper

Charles Swindoll

Jonathan Edwards

Charles Spurgeon

Mark Dever

Kent Hughes

 

Off The Top Of My Head

I am not a preacher , but I still hope to give my favorites . And , despite the long list I think I probably will leave off a few that I had intended to include but just forgot . These are not necessarily in order of importance or alphabetically .

CHS , JCR , AWP , AWT , RCS , Dr.L-J , James Boice , Walter Chantry , John MacArthur , John Piper , James White , David Wells , Sinclair Ferguson , Michael Horton , Matthew Henry , John Gill , John Bunyan , John Owen , Robert Reymond , Robert Culver , Joseph Irons , John Calvin , Herman Hoeksema , J.I. Packer , Mark Minnick , Michael Barrett , Carl Henry , Gordon Clark , David Carson , Leon Morris , Loraine Boettner , BB Warfield , Timothy George , Roger Nicole , Tom Nettles ,Henrietta Mears , Elizabeth Elliot etc.

Some authors which I have not read , but hope to before my mortal coil fades away : Mark Dever and S. Lewis Johnson etc.

 

Of course Dr. Ruckman,

recently Sir Robert Anderson

I have not began on A.W. Tozer or Andrew Murray, but have heard good things about them.

James R. Beller

And then, as many in the minitry can attest to, countless tidbits and snippets from various authors over the years including John R. Rice, Horatio Bonar, Clarence Larkin, D.L. Moody (really enjoy his humor and wit) etc. etc.

Also, as a song leader, there are the choice few authors that I prefer as well: Fanny Crosby, Charles Wesley, and PP Bliss. (although the situation is the same here as with the book authors, there are many influences here and there).

 

AW Tozer, BB Warfield, Chuck Swindoll, Thom Rainer, Max Lucado, Bill Hybels, Avery T Willis, Henry Blackaby...may have more later when it's not so late.

 

Alistar Begg, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spurgeon, Grudem, Dever, Jerry Vines, Jay Adams, Thom Rainer, John Piper, Kent Hughes, Iain Murray, John Drescher.

 

Rainer and Blackaby should be on my list, I forgot them.

 

John R. Rice must be first on my list, of course. I read Prayer, Asking and Receiving and The Power of Pentecost or The Fullness of the Spirit over and over again. Our God-Breathed Book the Bible also had a huge influence on me. (I'm corresponding with a seminary prof who said the same.)

Add to him Francis Schaeffer (for getting me to think deeply), Watchman Nee (for getting me to think outside the box), R. A. Torrey, A. T. Robertson and many others.

 

Warren Weirsbe, Chuck Swindoll, John Rice, Max Lucado, Jim Cymbala, Rick Warren and alot of biographies of missionaries

 

Amen! What are your favorite missionary biographies? The Life of Adoniram Judson by his son is top on my list. Then you have Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, C. T. Studd by Norman Grubb, etc.

 

John,
My favorite is Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, But I also liked the bio of Adoniram judsno, Savid livingstone, CT Studd. "The life and Diary of david Brainerd" convicted me about so many issues.God used "Through Gates of Splendor" to get over some forgiveness issues. "The Autobiography of George Mueller" made me re-evaluate the role of faith and giving.

I'm really not sure there is a bad missionary bio, except maybe the last retelling of "end of the spear" :tear:

 

Amen! You suppose these young whippersnappers know C. T. Studd? He was a fascinating man to me. And he had those great pithy sayings. I used to have a book of his sayings, but I can't find it now.

 

Top of my list would be Dr. John R. Rice. I have (let me go do a quick count...) 19 or so of his books on my shelves. My favorites are the 'Dr. Rice, here is my question' books, I have used them time and time again.

A close second would be Wiersbe.

Swindoll, Moody, Spurgeon; and like Tom Bryant- a host of missionary biographies.

 

I had acknowledged in my post that I probably would leave some out . I have a faulty memory . Some notables that I missed to my chagrin , were Horatio Bonar , Iain Murray , Robert Haldane ( how could I have forgotten him ?! ) , and William Cunningham ( what an oversight ! ) .

 

Reply, my favorite writers...

For what it's worth I'm a huge Spurgeon fan. I admire his poetic writing style yet appreciate his common sense philosophies... I'd love to have been one of his students back in the day!

Also enjoy reading some of Johnathan Edwards' sermons... "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" still gives me goose bumps!


Not trying to sound "Super Spiritual" or anything but I suppose that if I had to choose a writer that has impacted my life the most, both Spurgeon and Edwards would have to take a back seat to the Apostle Paul... As a young preacher I feel Paul was writing directly to me when he penned 1st & 2nd Timothy... Tremendously helpful writings. I suppose that it would suffice to say there has never been any quite like the Apostle Paul!!!

 

Early in my career: A.W. Pink, J.I. Packer, Louis Berkhof, Philip Schaff (history of the church), Kenneth Wuest, Spurgeon, Boettner. Haldane and Lloyd-Jones.

These days, I don't ignore the above, but A.T. Robertson, John MacArthur, J.M. Boice, John Piper, and Wayne Grudem (Systematic Theology) are more likely to be found on my desk open or with an index card book mark hanging out of them.

I don't "get" Warren or Lucado--they both read like an SBC Sunday School quarterly.

 

1. Thanks

2. For your Thoughts

3. TC

4. Greek

:wavey: :saint: