Posts by Jim Elliff (Page 33)
Review of Fire in the Thatch by Eifon Evans
Evans, Eifon, Fire in the Thatch. Bryntirion, Bridgend, Wales: Evangelical Press of Wales, 1996. 234 pp. Eifon Evans is well established in the field of revival literature. He is particularly known for his emphasis on revival in his native country, Wales. Previous publications include the following: The Welsh Revival of 1904, Revival Comes to Wales, and The Great Evanglical Awakening in Wales, and articles on revival in several periodicals. Evans has collected several articles which have been published previously, adding…
Review of God Sent Revival by John Thornbury
Thornbury, J. F., God Sent Revival, The Story of Asahel Nettleton and the Second Great Awakening, Welwyn, Herts, England: Evangelical Press, 1977, 238 pp. ($15.00) John Thornbury was a pastor of a thriving church called Winfield Baptist in Winfield, Pennsylvania, but is now retired. He studied in Kentucky at the Lexington Baptist College with further studies at the University of Kentucky. He has authored several books, the latest of which is an excellent biography on David Brainerd. Thornbury was a…
Review of Great Preachers of Wales by Owen Jones
Jones, Owen, M.A., Great Preachers of Wales, Clonmel, Ireland: Tentmaker Publications, 1885, reprint 1995, 540 pp. (c/o Bethel Christian Bookshop, New Hall St., Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 5HQ, Staffs. England.) I found this reprint by Tentmaker Publications on a recent trip to Wales, along with several other reprints of good quality from this ministry. I contacted the director of the ministry and found out that several more items can be expected in the future. Other reprints by Tentmaker include the six…
Review of Scotland Saw His Glory edited by Richard Owen Roberts
Roberts, Richard Owen, editor, Scotland Saw His Glory. Wheaton, Illinois: International Awakening Press, 1995. 351 pages. Richard Owen Roberts, President of International Awakening Ministries, has taken out-of-print sources to compile this book. One source was issued in a limited edition of only thirteen copies; the earliest source is dated 1743. No information is given on the lives of the authors. He claims no originality; the works he uses are fully incorporated, with almost no quoting. He mixes and complements the…
Review of The Life and Labours of Asahel Nettleton
Book by Bennet Tyler and Andrew Bonar Tyler, Bennet, and Bonar, Andrew, The Life and Labours of Asahel Nettleton, Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, reprint 1975, 454 pp. ($18.00) The author, Bennet Tyler, was a pastor for many years at South Britain, Connecticut, where he knew Nettleton intimately. He eventually became the president of Dartmouth College. He is famous for his polemics against the liberal Nathaniel Taylor and the New Haven theology, a view which countered the Edwardsian…
The Care and Feeding of Flies
I just received this news about a Warren, Arkansas event, which took place 84 years ago. I’m sure that I’m the very latest one to receive this intelligence. Here it is: Mar. 3, 1914: Warren, Mar 2 – Yesterday closed the fly contest that has been carried on in Warren for the last month. The Democrat-News offered $10 to the boy who caught the greatest number of flies and the Warren Commercial Club $5 to the one who caught the…
Serious Preaching
I have been considering for some time the desperate condition of preaching in the West. I have even toyed with the idea of writing a booklet entitled Serious Preaching. Such preaching is out of vogue, but I still believe in it. Please know that I’m not talking about serious sweating. It used to be said that if a man didn’t fill his hanky with sweat, make himself hoarse with screaming and wind up walking on about two inches of his…
The New Gospel: Appealing But not Revealing
It cannot be overstated that the most pressing issue in the American church at present is the prevalence of unregenerate church members within our ranks. When the current surveys of American life place those who call themselves believers in Christ about the seventieth percentile and climbing, conservative Christians ought to finally awaken to the immensity of the problem. Deception is pandemic. It is as if a modern Constantine christianized the masses while we were asleep. Spurgeon said, “Everyone has a…
Dull Preachers
“Dull preachers make the best martyrs,” said Spurgeon. “They are so dry they burn well.” Well said. My contention is that dullness in preaching is not so much in a scarcity of speaking ability of the preacher as it is in they dry-as-dust heart of the same. Ross Perot was not heard because he could speak like Charlton Heston, but because you at least knew that he believed and was exercised by what he believed enough to unload the burden.…
An Argument for Learning
One of the immense edifices on the skyline of Christian history over the last hundred years was the eminent leader, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981). He is noteworthy not only because he was a great preacher and the pastor of Westminster Chapel of London, but also because of his zest for learning. Having begun as a physician of exceptional quality, he carried over into his Christianity and ministry this unceasing hunger to know more. From a delightful little book entitled…