Resources by Charlie Wingard
Genevan pastor Simon Goulart (1543-1628) offers this advice to a friend: 1. Live with other people as if God were watching. Speak with God as if others were listening. 2. Endure with greatest patience what you are not able to change and walk with God (by whose authority all things occur) without complaining. Evil and wretched is the person who follows after the commander of Hell. 3. In times of activity as much as in periods of rest, all dimensions of life ought to be beautiful. 4. Commit your way to God. Hope in him and he will do it. Goulart adds: “[Only] eternal things endure.” – from Scott M. Manetsch, Calvin’s Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging…
Read MoreLynne and I hosted last night’s dinner for the RTS Jackson Summer Institute for Biblical Languages (SIBL). We had the privilege of sharing a meal with students and their families before intensive studies in Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and Latin begin. SIBL provides thorough, intensive introductions to the biblical languages and Latin during an eight week course of study. (Photos courtesy of Adam Parker.)
Read MoreLast night I finished reading David Robertson’s Awakening: The Life & Ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne, a fine account of the life of the godly and often quoted 19th century Scottish minister. I am personally indebted to McCheyne. For most of my adult life I’ve used and recommended his Bible Reading Calendar. I suppose there are other good plans for reading scripture, but McCheyne’s has served me well.
Read MoreMemorial Day weekend is a fitting time to finish reading The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945, the final volume of Rick Atkinson’s deservedly praised Liberation Trilogy. The author makes extensive use of servicemen’s letters home. None are more heartwrenching than those that proved to be last words to beloved mothers and fathers, wives, girlfriends, and children. One of many such stories: With less than six weeks remaining in the war, an American B-24 was shot down near Wesel, Germany. “The eight dead crewmen included First Lieutenant Earle C. Cheek of Missouri, the navigator, a ‘genial friend a good companion and a lovable comrade,’ according to the unit chaplain. Cheek had survived many harrowing sorties…
Read MoreJohn Stott reflects on the life of Charles Simeon, one of my heroes of Christian ministry. In 1985 I ran across Simeon’s name for the first time while reading Stott’s Between Two Worlds. He referenced Simeon several times, so I bought Hugh Evan Hopkins Charles Simeon of Cambridge to learn more. Later I read the fine biographies of Moule and Carus, and many of Simeon’s sermons. During his 54 years at Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge (1782-1836) some 1100 future ministers sat under his ministry. Distinguished historian Thomas Macauley observed that his influence was greater than any English bishop or archbishop. Any student preparing for ministry will benefit by studying the life of this remarkable pastor and preacher.
Read MoreAt RTS I’m preparing to teach again on Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, and am finding Derek Thomas’s lectures immensely enjoyable and edifying. Years ago I was introduced to Alexander Whyte’s magnificent Bunyan Characters in The Pilgrim’s Progress. Any reader wanting faithful guides as he journeys through Bunyan need not look further than Thomas and Whyte.
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