Reading List

A discussion grew in the comment section of my last post, ending in a request for a couple reading suggestions about giving up on the flesh. Here it is.

Let's start with The Gospel of Our Salvation by H. F. Witherby. You can find order it from Bible Truth Publishers, or read it online at STEM Publishing. It's an excellent book: easy to read and laid out very clearly. I gave away all my copies, so apparently I need to order more.

Probably the most concise book on the Christian life is The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee. I used to caution people about this book because of the chapter on the sealing with the Holy Spirit, but now I recommend it with joyous abandon. You can order it on Amazon, or read it online.

I certainly don't recommend all of Watchman Nee's books, but The Normal Christian Life is excellent.

The most complete single volume on the Christian life that I have read is From New Birth to New Creation by R. A. Huebner. This one went out of print in the last couple years, but word is they're planning to reprint it. You used to be able to order it from Bible Truth Publishers and Present Truth Publishers. If it ever comes back in print, I intend to order at least five copies. It is available for free download as a PDF. If you're OK with reading PDF, here's an excellent resource.

I reviewed From New Birth to New Creation last year. It's an excellent read. I like it more this year than I did last year... give it a little more time and it'll be my favourite book.

OK, I've listed three books, I was asked for "2 or 3". Here are some bonus offerings...

Let's start with Francis Schaeffer's True Spirituality. Definitely worth reading, although it doesn't attain to the first three (which is a very 2 Samuel thing to say, isn't it?). One thing I really like about this book is the constant focus on the "real world". Schaeffer was really burdened about the danger of putting faith into another realm from the real world of time and space where we actually live. I wouldn't make this the only book in my library, but it's definitely an important one.

There are two essential papers written by J. N. Darby on the whole subject of Deliverance, and they should really be read together:

1. "On Sealing with the Holy Ghost" (Collected Writings of J. N. Darby, Volume 31, pp. 254 – 280)
2. "Deliverance from the Law of Sin" (Collected Writings of J. N. Darby, Volume 32, pp. 323 – 332)

I will freely confess I read both of these papers many times before actually understanding what they were saying. It was frustrating to see there was something there I couldn't quite grasp. So don't give up! These two papers really address the entire issue of Deliverance in a very complete sense. But be warned: nothing Darby writes is easy to read.

Another helpful article is "Deliverance" (Collected Writings of J. N. Darby, Volume 31, pp. 153 – 160).

Frankly, you could do worse than going to Google and searching for: deliverance site:www.stempublishing.com.

Finally I have several audio recordings of messages on the topic of Deliverance by several brethren. One brother named Robert Thomson has given some really excellent talks. Not all of his audio recordings are easily available online, but there are a few on Voices for Christ. One worth listening to is "A New Dispensation". I confess I have several MP3 files of Mr. Thomson's messages that are probably "contraband". Since I've no right to share them, I'll just say he gave a talk at a conference in Winnipeg called "Nothing", and it is worth listening to that MP3. I've listened to it at least a dozen times, and it has been very helpful. If I can find a source for that recording, I'll share it.