Are You Ready for a Christian Challenge?

Prayerfully consider hearing the audiobook Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer.

It is on Youtube for free at several locations.

Here is the place I heard it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znyZvjwh0jU&t=4541s

Let me attempt to describe what hearing this was like for me.

It feels like Tozer took essential concentrations of sermons, devotions, stories, Bible lessons, prayers, and exhortations. He mixed them up in a huge bowl and then made several large and tasty pizzas, one pizza for each chapter.

Many years ago I attempted to read this book. But I could not get very far. The depth and width of the insights sent my mind off along rabbit trails. I could not hold my attention to the flow of the chapter.

Yet the great advantage of hearing an audiobook is that the professional reader keeps on going without any awareness of where my mind might have strayed. So when I catch my thinking wandering then I just tune back into what is being said.

The beauty is that there are lots of lovely messages strung together in an orderly way. I do not need to get ready to take a test on the content of the book like a person in school. I do not need to prepare a critical review for a publication. I can just relax while I let God minister to me on sentence at a time.

There are also the text version of this book online at many web locations. Here is one example http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/tozer/5f00.0888/5f00.0888.c.htm  You are invited to put the text online while hearing a professional reader. That might be useful to pause and ponder the parts that especially touch your heart.

Let me take this opportunity to beat the drum for such preachers, teachers, and writers that are often neglected these days. There is normally a tendency to seek after what his new, trending, and popular. In my opinion too often such materials are fluffy or stuffy.

During my four decades on the Christian pilgrimage there have been times that I wanted material that was challenging. I desired the meat of the Word of God. I did not need my ears to be tickled yet again.

Fortunately such spiritual food is easily available online for free these days. When I came to faith in Christ it was only in books that cost money and needed to be located.

I will not list the names of those people here. But I will say that if you ever want to go deeper and wider in your learning then just pray earnestly for God to guide you to the right sources online. Persist in your prayers for 30 days. And before the last day you will be guided to amazing blessings.

Warning: if you choose to go down this path it will not be easy at first. Those who preached, taught, and wrote long ago used words that are not common these days. Very long ago their patterns of language would seem like the King James Bible. That was the only translation for centuries. It was the version they had been immersed in and was familiar to the audience they addressed at that time.

If God leads you to a theologian then there may be big words and complex sentences.

Please do not be afraid. Just take your time as you pray and receive the light of Christ from those old sources.

Just maybe God will guide you to messages with content that is rarely mentioned these days. You may hear passionate sermons about the cross of Christ. You may hear about the horrors of Hell. You may hear about the sinful nature that is in every human. Some messengers will emphasize the call to personal holiness, humility and repentance.

The issue is not if the messages are modern or not. The issue is not if they make you feel good or not. The issue is if the messenger had correctly presented the Word of God.

You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. John 8:31,32.

Shalom

John