Robert Murray McCheyne

I just finished reading Awakening: The Life and Ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne. I read it for 2 reasons: (1) I was longing to read a biography and be challenged by the example of some great man of God and (2) I wanted to be better prepared to listen to John Piper's biographical message at his upcoming Pastor's Conference.

Awakening is not the best biography I've read, but its a helpful look at a man who accomplished so much in so little time. It left me hungry to see my life count for the glory of God. I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about McCheyne.

Read Biographies!

In the sermon this morning, I encouraged my church to read Christian biographies. Lisa has posted a list of her favorites (very good list).

I'd be interested to hear some of your most-influencial biographies.

Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ

Piper's newest book in the Swans are not Silent series is fantastic: Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ: The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton. Piper shows how suffering is not just inevitable in the Christian life but actually central to God's mission. He says, "Suffering is part of God's strategy for making known to the world who Christ is, how he loves, and how much he is worth."

I love this series because Piper helps us see biography through theology.

The lives of Tyndale, Judson, and Paton are incredibly encouraging and the theology of suffering is incredibly hope-giving.

"God has appointed our pain to be part of his powerful display of the glory of Christ."

A Few Recommended Biographies

If possible, every Christian should have a biography section in their personal library. The workings of God in the lives of others are meant to be encouraging and challenging to us. Here are some of my top biography recommendations:

-John G. Paton: An Autobiography
-Through Gates of Splendor and The Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot (about Jim Elliot)
-The Autobiography of George Muller
-Spurgeon by Arnold Dallimore
-George Whitfield by Arnold Dallimore
-The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
-Here I Stand by Roland Bainton (about Martin Luther)
-Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography by Ian Murray
-All of John Piper’s “The Swans Are Not Silent” series.
-Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan
-Augustine’s Confessions