Saturday ramble

I really enjoyed watching Influencers and have been wondering who they are for me. Probably all the stuff I stick on the blog. It's interesting that Jay-Z came up as a key influencer. I am sure all those trend-setting types probably read it here.

Unlikely.

I am excited about Romans and the hunger is happily spreading to others due to Romans: An introduction. I am reading Douglas Moo and it is so helpful. Also listened to a couple of these in the car which pack quite a punch. The first one (of 224......) tells of the influence Romans has on Piper. Epic stuff.

I am enjoying the Radical Disciple and will share some thoughts on this incredibly important book. If you are a follower of Jesus you would do well to make time to read this from a true 'influencer'. He may however never be likely to star in a film such as one cited at the start :( This book is written by a single, celibate,  birdwatching, elderly authority on Romans (among other things) who now lives in a retirement home slightly south of London.  This commentary on Romans 5-8 changed the course of Piper's life as he vividly tells it in this talk:

"I went to college thinking that maybe I would be a doctor or a veterinarian. Then in the summer of 1966, between my sophomore and junior years, my whole life-direction changed, in the painful and precious providence of God. He called me to the ministry of the Word. That fall I had signed up to live with three friends in a dormitory suite. But midway through the year I knew I needed more solitude to study and pray the way I felt driven to study. For the next year and a half I lived alone in the single room of another dorm. And there I remember - I can see it and almost smell it - reading John Stott's little yellow book on Romans 5-8 called Men Made New. The effect on me was to seal the calling to be a faithful minister of God's Word. So Romans confirmed my conversion, and Romans confirmed my call to the ministry of the Word."

Did I mention Stott has sold nearly a million books, but then again if you are not a Christian his name would mean nothing to you. But, as Malcolm Muggeridge so aptly put it, 'only dead fish swim with the current.' [p.28]. Praise God for John Stott's life and his on-going influence on so many of us.