Fire Up Your Soul

For those of you who are interested, I’d like to offer an opportunity for paid subscribers to join a monthly Zoom book club with me. To begin, I’d like us to read through and then discuss Puritan John Owen’s “Overcoming Sin and Temptation.” This isn’t an easy read—it’s standard Puritan fare that takes a certain kind of commitment. But Owen addresses issues (such as mortification) that moderns have either forgotten or just completely ignored. And this kind of book is best understood by reading it with others.  

I’m envisioning a monthly Zoom call where we can gather and discuss portions of the book. The following post is my appeal to why I believe regularly reading the Christian classics is so helpful for contemporary believers.

If you’re interested in joining the Zoom call, please suggest a preferred time in the comments section (day of the week and hour—in mountain time, please). We’ll figure out if there’s a consensus and then post the Zoom link on the paid side.

By the way, if you choose to participate in this, I highly recommend that you get this edition of Owen’s book (Click HERE). These two editors do a great job of offering helpful footnotes (definitions of dated words, explanations, clarifications, etc.

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Several engineers who met weekly for a barbecue entered into a frenzied rivalry over who could light the charcoal briquettes faster than anyone else. By “lighting the coals,” I don’t mean just getting them started; the black stones had to be white hot and ready for cooking.

After several creative attempts, one engineer blew away the competition by having the coals ready in three seconds.

How did he do it? I’ll tell you if you promise not to try this at home: a ten-foot pole, an ignition device, and carefully applied liquid oxygen.

For me, reading the great Christian classics—devotional books written over the past two thousand years—are “liquid oxygen” to my soul. I don’t want to sound cynical or critical, but when I look left and right, I’m not always inspired by what I see.  Many Christians take their faith for granted; others feel downright discouraged.  Relatively few seem to walk with a sense of joy, purpose, and passion.