Recommendations for Some Good Christian Reading (2006?)

The point: Use daily devotional books like 'Morning Thoughts' for understanding scriptures and their application to life.

Martin shares how he and his wife Dorothy have used Winslow's 'Morning Thoughts' almost since the beginning of their marriage, finding the meditations consistently suited to their needs, as if chosen by the Lord, despite reading them sequentially.

And some of you who have teenage children, you could do well, say, to take the one on the book of Judges and use that in family worship, two or three pages a day, working your way through. And I think your teenage kids would find themselves gripped by the way in which this man opens up the Word of God. So I recommend very highly the Let's Study series from Banner of Truth, and then these by Dale Ralph Davis. And then, for those of you that like to use a daily devotional book, Dorothy and I have used almost since the beginning of our marriage, Morning Thoughts by Octavius Winslow, a number of y...

5:09 - 6:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Have a copy of J.I. Packer's 'Concise Theology' for family reference on major Christian truths.

Martin quotes J.I. Packer's phrase, 'When we are glorified, we will have sinless spirits inhabiting deathless bodies,' explaining how it deeply impacted him and became a recurring theme in his own preaching.

I believe every family ought to have a copy of this for reference. And then as your children get older at some point, I would greatly urge you to work through it at your family worship in terms of grounding your own family in the major doctrines of the Christian faith. It was in that book that I first got that phrase. When we are glorified, we will have sinless spirits inhabiting deathless bodies.

8:21 - 8:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Read John Owen's 'The Mortification of Sin' in conjunction with your devotions, praying for help to apply its directives.

Martin recounts Fred Malone's journey from being a Baptist, becoming a paedo-baptist pastor after seminary, and then returning to believer's baptism as the 'string of pearls' holding paedo-baptist arguments together became 'unstrung' for him, illustrating the book's title.

He went to a paedo-baptist seminary, became a paedo-baptist, became a paedo-baptist pastor. But the more he wrestled with the issue, the string of pearls that held together the argumentation for paedo-baptists began to become unstrung. And that's the significance of his title. And here in this lovely little booklet with, again, a gracious spirit to his paedo-baptist brethren because he was one of them, sincere and earnest, he lays out a very compelling case for our understanding and practice of confessor's baptism.

10:40 - 11:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Read John Owen's 'The Mortification of Sin' in conjunction with your devotions, praying for help to apply its directives.

Martin challenges the common misconception of John Owen as an 'ugly man' who 'said boo at everybody,' clarifying that Owen is a profound and profitable author, despite his dense writing style.

And then a man by the name of Law, a contemporary, has done great service to the Church of Christ in taking the stuff of the great Dr. John Owen, the Puritan of the 17th century, and brought it down into more readable English, simplified not the substance, not the substance, but the manner in which it's laid out before us. And I would like to recommend, if you've not read John Owen, because so often poor John Owen gets bad press as though he was this ugly man, who came trudging down the street and said boo at everybody and tried to scare them. It's not that at all.

11:44 - 12:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Read 'God Knows My Size' for heartwarming, God-glorifying encouragement, especially as Sunday afternoon reading with children.

Martin shares a teasing incident from the biography 'God Knows My Size,' where a little girl in communist Romania prayed for God to reveal himself, and a care package arrived with a coat and shoes exactly her size, becoming a turning point in her faith and a recurring theme of God's singular tokens of presence throughout her life.

I might end up cheating a little bit, with your permission. Now we come into category number three, and that is biography. Now, in years past, probably maybe two years ago, I highly recommended this book that I want to recommend again, God Knows My Size. This is one of the most heartwarming, God-glorifying biographies that I have read in years.

14:53 - 15:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Read 'God Knows My Size' for heartwarming, God-glorifying encouragement, especially as Sunday afternoon reading with children.

Martin humorously mentions receiving a 400-500 page biography of Jonathan Edwards as a gift, which he only got through by being sick in bed for five days, contrasting it with the shorter, more accessible biographies he recommends.

If we don't, we will highly recommend this. Again, we're not laying before you a 400-page book or a 500-page biography such as someone gave me for a special present and God had to put me on my back sick for five days and I got through it, the latest biography of Jonathan Edwards. But I don't wish being put on my back sick for five days at a stretch to read the biggies. These are the kind.

17:48 - 18:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Read 'God Knows My Size' for heartwarming, God-glorifying encouragement, especially as Sunday afternoon reading with children.

Martin highlights the biographical sketch of John Newton, the author of 'Amazing Grace,' as an example of God's marvelous transformation of a former sailor and slave trader into a mighty man of God, demonstrating the truth of the Word in a life.

You can pick it up and in a few hours work through each of the mini-biographies. Highly recommend this to you. Well then, there's also a little booklet on the table downstairs with just the big words, Newton. And it's a lovely, distilled, biographical sketch of the man whose song we love to sing, Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound, and is a good little vignette of John Newton's life and his labors, his conversion, and the marvelous transformation that God wrought in the heart of this former sailor and slave trader and changed him into a mighty man of God. See, one of the great benefits of biog...

18:15 - 19:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Read Jeff Pollard's 'Christian Modesty' with an open mind and heart, praying for God to search your heart regarding immodesty.

Martin challenges listeners who might fear reading Jeff Pollard's book on modesty because it would challenge what they plan to wear to the pool or shore, using it as an example of resistance to biblical truth.

He's got references to first-hand sources from secular people. That the fact that people who still have their sanity will appear in semi-nakedness in public without shame is the fruit of a calculated effort on the part of those who have wanted to see our nation become a nation of immodesty. I know some people have not dared to read this for fear it would challenge what's in their drawer that they're going to put on when they go to the pool or go to the shore. I challenge you, child of God.

20:22 - 21:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Read Jeff Pollard's 'Christian Modesty' with an open mind and heart, praying for God to search your heart regarding immodesty.

Martin uses a humorous analogy of a young man's progression from 'yuck' to 'meep' to 'mm' (or 'yum') when discussing girls, to illustrate the stages where dating becomes an issue for teenagers.

You've heard me express it before. The three stages in the development of a young man are when he's a little boy and you say, girls, he goes, yuck. He gets a little older and you say, girls, and he goes, meep. He gets a little older and you say, girls, and he goes, mm.

21:56 - 22:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not dismiss the serious matters of dating and courtship; engage with them thoughtfully.

Martin quotes a Star-Ledger article from April 11th, stating that antidepressants are the most widely prescribed drugs in America, with 232.7 million prescriptions in the past year, to highlight the epidemic of depression treatment.

The most widely, this is Star-Ledger, Friday, April 11th. This is not coming out of World Magazine. This is Star-Ledger. I quote, The most widely prescribed drugs in America are not for pain or cholesterol management, heartburn or hypertension.

26:01 - 26:21 Read in full sermon

The point: If you are on an antidepressant, please get and read 'Will Medicine Stop the Pain?' for a balanced, scriptural perspective.

Martin quotes Charles Barber, author of 'Comfortably Numb,' who states that while antidepressants are effective for severe mental illness, heavy marketing and a quest for a quick fix have led to their use as 'an instant cure for all emotional difficulties.'

The next one, painkillers, 186 million, etc. Epidemic treatment of quote, depression. Charles Barber, not a Christian, author of a new book, quote, Comfortably numb, how psychiatry is medicating a nation end quote. That's the name of his book.

26:42 - 27:08 Read in full sermon

The point: If you are on an antidepressant, please get and read 'Will Medicine Stop the Pain?' for a balanced, scriptural perspective.

Martin shares his personal experience of being told the 'mantra' about low serotonin levels and the need for serotonin uptake inhibitors, indicating he's speaking from a place of personal understanding regarding depression medication.

She's a medical doctor who once practiced psychiatry as I recall in terms of her bio. And in this particular book she sets out what is a most helpful case to reconsider whether or not the first time we have a week marked by a blue period emotionally, we run to a doctor who gives us the mantra, you know, well your serotonin level is low and we've got to give you a serotonin uptake inhibitor and when we do then when your serotonin level comes up then you're going to feel that the sky is bright and sunny again. I had that mantra spoken to me. Alright? So I'm not talking as someone on the outside.

29:03 - 30:02 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not treat obesity with indifference, as our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and should glorify God.

Martin cites childhood obesity as the biggest medical problem in the public school system, emphasizing the widespread nature of the issue and its relevance to God's people.

More than 30% of the American population is now classically described as grossly overweight. We're not talking 10, 15 pounds. Childhood obesity is the biggest medical problem being dealt with in the public school system. And dear people, as God's people, we must not treat this with indifference.

32:50 - 33:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Think biblically about what goes into your mouth and engage in proper exercise, recognizing the formula of caloric intake and expenditure.

Martin presents a simple, inescapable formula for weight gain: 'What goes in minus what goes out minus what's burned up stays on,' to explain the reality of physical stewardship.

What goes in minus what goes out minus what's burned up stays on. You got it? You got the formula? There it is.

36:39 - 36:56 Read in full sermon

The point: Think biblically about what goes into your mouth and engage in proper exercise, recognizing the formula of caloric intake and expenditure.

Martin addresses the common excuse that medication causes excessive weight gain, clarifying that while medicine might make one more vulnerable by slowing metabolism, the actual weight gain comes from food, not the medicine itself.

What goes in minus what goes out minus what's burned up the rate of my metabolism the measure of physical activity I do or do not do the amount of exercise I get what goes in minus what goes out minus what's burned up stays on. And we all operate with that formula. Oh, yes, but my medication. Your bottle of medicine weighs one-fifth of an ounce.

37:07 - 37:45 Read in full sermon

The point: Read Martha Peace's 'The Excellent Wife' to understand and fulfill the primary ministry of ministering to your husband.

Martin mentions that his wife Dorothy's personal copy of 'The Excellent Wife' was falling apart and mended with Elmer's glue, marked with questions and comments, illustrating its profound impact and usefulness in her life.

And then two more books, doing well time-wise. I didn't know how well I would do time-wise, and we're all on track here. Some of you know that, as an outgrowth of Pastor McDiarmid's preaching from Titus 2 last year, where Paul directs the older women to train the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, to be chaste keepers at home, that the word of God be not blasphemed, that there's been a heightened concern that the older women in the church do that very thing. And one of the ways that's finding an expression right now is in a book study, and we're thank...

45:59 - 47:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Read Martha Peace's 'The Excellent Wife' to understand and fulfill the primary ministry of ministering to your husband.

Martin uses the vivid image of 'eels go in' to describe the visceral, negative reaction some women might have to the idea that their primary ministry is to their husband, predicting they would avoid Martha Peace's book if they hold such a view.

And if you sit there and when you hear me say, your primary ministry is ministering to your husband, and your eels go in and say, no way, Pastor, you're not going to read this. I can make a prophecy. You're not going to read this book because it's going to nail you where you're thinking wrongly. Well, isn't that the mark of a true Christian?

48:30 - 48:50 Read in full sermon