Scripture

“Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

~Acts 4:19-20, NLT

Quote

Colors fade, shore lines erode, hair thins, temples crumble and empires fall but the word of God will stand forever.

~Source Unknown

Sometimes I get so tired I cannot read and so I turn to YouTube and listen to a sermon or a biography. Lately, I have listened to biographies. I had read some things about John Bunyan and Pilgrims Progress that I wanted to confirm. Pilgrim’s Progress, which Bunyan wrote from his Bedford jail cell is the second most read book in the world, second only to the Bible. It has been translated into more than two hundred languages. Again, second only to the Bible. Now for even more amazing details. Bunyan was poor. His father was a ‘Tinker’, a metal worker who repaired pot and pans. Bunyan took up the same trade. He attended school long enough to learn to read and write but that was the extent of his education. He didn’t receive an extended or classical education like many of his later contemporaries known at Puritans.

Bunyan became a Baptist preacher and had a deep familiarity with the Bible which he studied intensely. Although he never attended a university, nor recieved any theological training; he became a self-taught theologian. His education came from reading the Bible and some of the Puritan writers. Despite his limited education, he wrote “The Pilgrim’s Progress” (1678), which became one of the most influential works of Christian literature ever written. Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory about a man {Christian} traveling to the Celestial City {Heaven}.

Bunyan was arrested for preaching without a license; without the consent of the Anglican Church. He was given the choice: he could stop preaching and return to his family or go to jail. Bunyan choose jail and it was there that he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress.

So while not academically trained, Bunyan is a great example of someone who became a powerful writer and preacher through conviction, study, and experience. My Daddy’s favorite preacher was Joe Anglin. Bro. Joe pastored the now huge Mount Zion church is Monrovia. Even in the 60’s Mount Zion was one of the largest rural churches in Alabama. Bro. Joe had no formal education: like Bunyan, he was self-taught. If you had heard him preach, you would not have known. He was a gifted homiletician and very articulate. The icing on the cake was his humility. Daddy thought the world of him and daddy was not real high on preachers. Every time we killed hogs, daddy gave Bro. Joe a ham. No other preacher rated that high.

Extra

Well, I wanted rain and I am getting rain. You would think my corn would shoot up but it is just sitting there. Everything else looks great. The azaleas look better this year than I can remember. We had two bit the dust during the drought last year but we still have five total and they have been in bloom for almost a month.

Billy Con as Don calls him is not doing well. I have not checked with Keith this morning but as of last night, he was critical. I found out yesterday that he was a good friend and neighbor to Willowdean. It is a small world. Don and James grew up with Billy.

Proverbs 30:7-9 tonight: Agur’s Prayer. Sunday morning message: “Why Christians Do Not Witness.”

Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.