The Expulsive Power Of A New Affection

Thomas Chalmers was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who served most of his life at St. John's parish in Glasgow—a congregation that was both the largest and the poorest congregation in the city. Known for his extensive charitable work in caring for the poor and downtrodden, Chalmers was also an astute theologian. One of his most notable works is The Expulsive Power of a New Affection, in which Chalmers inspires his readers to remove the tangles of sin through the expulsive power of a new affection—desiring God. As a result of the fall, human feelings of love are often misplaced on the creation rather than the Creator. This classic work of the faith reorients our affections toward him.

"Rosaria, by the standards of many, was living a very good life. She had a tenured position at a large university in a field for which she cared deeply. She owned two homes with her partner, in which they provided hospitality to students and activists that were looking to make a difference in the world. In the community, Rosaria was involved in volunteer work. At the university, she was a respected advisor of students and her department's curriculum. And then, in her late 30s, Rosaria encountered something that turned her world upside down -- the idea that Christianity, a religion that she had regarded as problematic and sometimes downright damaging, might be right about who God was. That idea seemed to fly in the face of the people and causes that she most loved. What follows is a story of what she describes as a train wreck at the hand of the supernatural. These are her secret thoughts about those events, written as only a reflective English professor could."--Back cover.

Their paths to God’s purpose led them together. Many know the heroic story of Jim Elliot’s violent death in 1956, killed along with four other missionaries by a primitive Ecuadorian tribe they were seeking to reach. Many also know the prolific legacy of Elisabeth Elliot, whose inspiring influence on generations of believers through print, broadcast, and personal testimony continues to resonate, even after her own death in 2015. What many don’t know is the remarkable story of how these two stalwart personalities—single-mindedly devoted to pursuing God’s will for their young lives, certain their future callings would require them to sacrifice forever the blessings of marriage—found their hearts intertwined. Their paths to God’s purpose led them together. Now, for the first time, their only child—daughter Valerie Elliot Shepard—unseals never-before-published letters and private journals that capture in first-person intimacy the attraction, struggle, drama, and devotion that became a most unlikely love story. Riveting for old and young alike, this moving account of their personal lives shines as a gold mine of lived-out truth, hard-fought purity, and an insider’s view on two beloved Christian figures.

Advent devotional on 1 Corinthians 13, reflecting on the source of authentic, divine, transforming love. Advent devotional on 1 Corinthians 13, reflecting on the source of authentic, divine, transforming love. Everyone seems to say that Christmas is about love. It’s in the songs we hear as we shop for presents and in the adverts we see on TV. It’s in the cards we send and on the gift tags we write. And Christians can agree. Christmas really is about love, because love came down at Christmas in the person of Jesus Christ. This Advent devotional contains 24 daily readings from 1 Corinthians 13. Sinclair B Ferguson brings the rich theology of the incarnation to life with his trademark warmth and clarity. We'll see what “love” looked like in the life of Christ and be challenged to love like him. Each day's reading finishes with a question for reflection and a prayer. However you're feeling, your heart will be refreshed as you wonder again at the truth that love came down at Christmas.

Of the many good gifts the Lord has given his church on earth, none exceeds that of his love. The things of this earth are temporary, but "love never ends" (1 Cor. 13:8)—it is a present taste of future glory, made available through communion with the Holy Spirit. In this classic work, Heaven Is a World of Love, New England pastor Jonathan Edwards encourages Christians struggling through the imperfect life here on earth to experience the perfect love of God through an exposition of the biblical foundations for the cause of God's love, the objects of God's love, the enjoyment of God's love, and the fruits of God's love. Each page of pastoral insight will leave readers hungry to experience more of God.

The Puritan John Dod wrote that this book is 'so full of heavenly treasure, and such lively expressions of the invaluable riches of the love of Christ' that it kindles 'in the heart all heavenly affections unto Jesus Christ'. Indeed it does! And that was very much what Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) was about in all his ministry. The Love of Christ is a series of sermons preached on Song of Solomon 4:16-6:3. For Sibbes, this Bible book 'is nothing else but a plain demonstration and setting forth of the love of Christ to his church, and of the love of the church to Christ'. The Song of Solomon does not simply mouth a doctrine: its sensuous imagery sings its message. It is as if this love story is played on violins. The reader is thus brought, not simply to understand, but to taste and share the delights of the lovers. This is precisely what Christ's people need, as Sibbes knew: it is not enough to be aware of Christ's love; we must sense, grasp and enjoy it. Only then will we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts. That is one reason why so many avoid books like this one: they want information, and they want it fast. But Sibbes intends to affect you, to hold your eyes on Jesus that you might develop a stronger appetite for him. Such work cannot be fast work, but it is profoundly transforming.

For those who are struggling in their daily walk with God, or living in the dark of night waiting for the light of day, there is hope. Encouragement for the Depressed, by esteemed 19th-century pastor Charles Spurgeon, is a gracious reminder that little faith is still saving faith. Spurgeon himself was not unfamiliar with depression, having dealt with it for most of his life. With personal experience and pastoral care, Spurgeon encourages both the new believer struggling to grasp the tenets of the faith and the experienced Christian struggling to enjoy the truths they once cherished to hold fast, for God is faithful.