Free Audio Book - The Pursuit of Holiness

I know I have not written much lately, but I did notice this today and thought I would highlight it for those few who still stop by or have my feed on some service.

In the past, I have highlighted a number of Free Audio Books that have been made available from Christianaudio.com.

The free featured book this month is a book that is worth downloading if you do not already have it. The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges is a book that I have read a couple of times with great profit. It will challenge your complacency and encourage you to move forward for Christ.

Of course, as with all books, the usual caveats apply - read it with discernment and recommendation of the book does not imply I agree with everything Jerry Bridges has said or done - or even that I agree with everything contained in the book.

Anyway, here is the link at Christianaudio.com for the free audio book - http://christianaudio.com/free/. I hope you find it useful.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Free Audio Books

ChristianAudio.com is offering two free Audio Book downloads this month. In the past, I have found the materials from Christian Audio to be very well done with high-quality recordings.

Since my current second job as a Route Sales Representative for Peet's Coffee and Tea requires that I spend a large amount of time in the car each week, I have been encouraged with the availability of materials like this to listen to while I am on the road. (I may make another post soon with a lot of other similar resources - we'll see.)

This months free books are Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die by John Piper and The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoffer.

I have never read either one of these books, but I thought they might be interesting - and you can't beat the price. Theopedia's entry on Bonhoeffer may provide some insight that will prove useful and reading/hearing his work - here.

As always, please understand that my link to these materials is not meant to be a blanket endorsement of the materials (which I still have not read or listened to) or of the authors - or of other materials on the site. (In fact, I have found that the site is pretty broad in the works it includes - merging good conservative materials with materials that are from guys like McLaren and Wright.)

The code for the Bonhoeffer book is MAR2010 and for the Piper book is MAR2010B.

Anyway and as always, when reading or listening to stuff like this, treat it like watermelon - eat the good stuff and spit out the seeds. (Unfortunately, sometimes the watermelon is so full of seeds that it may not be worth it to try to dig around the seed to get to the good stuff in the watermelon - since I have not read these before, I do not know if that is the case with these books.)

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Free* Copy of John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine & Doxology

John Calvin is a name that stirs up great emotion from his admirers as well as his detractors. Out of all the leaders of the Reformation, Calvin was the most prolific writer and his works have long survived him, including his famous Institutes of the Chrsitian Religion and his numerous commentaries on different books of the Bible. Even if you are not a fan of John Calvin, you would be hard-pressed to deny

This year, 2009, marks the 500th anniversary of his birth. In connection with that fact, there are a number of projects designed to celebrate this anniversary. One of those projects is the book, John Calvin: A Heart for Deveotion, Doctrine & Doxology, which explores the life and legacy of John Calvin.

For a page that links to more details about the book, including a sample chapter, you can follow this link.

Ligionier Ministries is offering a free copy of this book to Pastors. The offer is only good while supplies last or until 6/12/09. The offer also requires that you pay a $5.00 shipping and handling charge. The offer is also only for Pastors and church leaders. The link for the book is http://calvinforpastors.ligonier.org.

Surely, Calvinist and non-Calvinist can agree that this could be a valuable resource into the life of an interesting man.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Foxe's Book of Martyrs is now available

Christianaudio.com is a site that has a wide variety of Christian books (both classics and modern) in audio format. As with a regular Christian bookstore, discernment is needed, but if you are the type of person who spends a lot of time on the road or in other settings where listening to a book (rather than reading a book) is a legitimate possibility, you can find much on the site that is helpful.

One of the nice features of this site is that every month they feature a "Free Audiobook of the Month." Many of which, over the time that I have been aware of the site, are classics that they have turned into audiobooks. In previous posts, I have alerted readers to their Free editions of Richard Baxter's Reformed Pastor, Jonathon Edwards' Religious Affections, and John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

There selection for this month is a book that once had great influence and is one of those books with which every believer should be familiar.

Foxe's Book of Martyrs by John Foxe (also Fox) is a classic that traces the history of Christian martyrdom from the days of Stephen in the book of Acts through the days of "Bloody Mary". It is a read that is tough at times, but also a read that will challenge you and inspire you to stand strong when testing comes.

James Miller Dodds commented in English Prose that, "After the Bible itself, no book so profoundly influenced early Protestant sentiment as the Book of Martyrs. Even in our time it is still a living force. It is more than a record of persecution. It is an arsenal of controversy, a storehouse of romance, as well as a source of edification."

If you want to get it before the month is out, head on over to Christianaudio.com and download it. You will need to use the code MAY2009 (which you apply at checkout) to get it for free. Here is the link directly to the Foxe's Book of Martyrs page.

BTW, if you want to read it online, the Christian Classics Ethereal Library has it available here.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Pickering Books Available for Free Downloadng

Dr. Ernest Pickering was one of the outstanding spokesmen for Fundamentalism in former days. He was instrumental in helping many have a better understanding of the doctrine of separation and had such a knowledge of Scripture and love for the ministry, that even after he became blind, he continued to preach at churches and conferences.

Dr. Pickering wrote a number of books and it has been great that Regular Baptist Press has been active in putting many of these books back into print recently. I picked up an updated copy of Charismatic Confusion at the National Leadership Conference in Lansdale, Pennsylvania earlier this year, and I am especially looking forward to holding in my hands one of the new, updated copies of Pickering's classic - Biblical Separation: The Struggle for a Pure Church which has been updated recently by Dr. Myron Houghton of Faith Baptist Theological Seminary.

I noticed today (HT: SI) that Regular Baptist Press is providing a couple of Pickering's booklets as Free .pdf downloads from their site - here.

The first of these books is The Fruit of Compromise: The New and Young Evangelicals. (link to .pdf). This book was written by Dr. Pickering in 1980 and it should be an interesting read. I don't think I have ever read it, so it will be interesting to read it in light of the current state of evangelicalism.

Looking over the table of contents, I notice that the last section of this short, 44 page book gives "Direction for Fundamental Christians" and gives some great sub-headings that I will hopefully read soon for the meat - "Courageous Leadership is Needed", "Proper, Balanced Instruction Must Be Given", "Enlightening Information Must Be Made Available", and "Decisive Action Must Be Taken".

The second of the books is The Theology of Evangelism (link to .pdf).
Regular Baptist Press describes this book by saying that this 68 page booklet:

"describes the theological framework of New Testament evangelism with an emphasis on a balance between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. They author also address practical matters such as evangelistic methodology and compares current issues to the methods used in the early church."

I hope these comments whet you appetite and that you download and read these two booklets.

Also, for further reading on Biblical Separation, see Kevin's article The Making of Biblical Separation.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Free Audiobook of Pilgrim's Progress

The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That which is to come is probably the mostly read and best-loved book in the world after the Bible. Having been translated into over 200 languages and in print continuously since its first introduction in 1678, persecuted Baptist Pastor John Bunyan has supplied the world with a masterful allegory of the Christian's life and journey that has stood the test of time and cultures.

This month, Christianaudio.com is providing a FREE DOWNLOAD of Pilgrim's Progress. I have not had the time to listen to this production, but the other books that I have downloaded from Christianaudio.com have all been of very good quality. Unless you already have an audio copy, may I recommend you follow this link and get the copy from Christianaudio.com - the price is right.

Also, if you don't have a hard copy, the Christian Classics Ethereal Library has FREE versions of this book in a number of formats here (.pdf, Microsoft Word, Plain Text, etc.). (Of course, I would recommend that you go out and by a regular hard copy to read, instead - much better than reading off of a screen.)

Just my thoughts,

Frank

(HT: Jason Button)

Free Download of Richard Baxter's The Reformed Pastor

I have long wanted to do a book discussion here at A Thinking Man's Thoughts (similar to what Chris has done with the Ryle's Holiness - but actually completing the book :) ) and one of the two books that I have thought about starting with is Richard Baxter's classic book on ministry entitled The Reformed Pastor. I hope to start this discussion after I finish reading and reviewing the two books I am currently reviewing for SharperIron (This Little Church Stayed Home and Ryken's book on The Lord's Prayer).

A lot of you may already have the book and have already read it (I will admit that I have read a decent chunk of it, but not finished it). However, it is currently available for a free download from www.christianaudio.com. Here is the link - Free Download of Richard Baxter's The Reformed Pastor (Note, the list price is $22.98 and you need to enter this coupon code at check-out to receive the free download - May2007.) You do need to register for the site to qualify (e.g. give them your email address and other information), but this is a good deal for a good book.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

HT: Ken Fields

Free Books

EISENBRAUNS, which specializes on ancient Near East and Biblical studies, has been offering a free book to the first 25 people who responded by sending an email to their marketing department.

I read about this over at Jason Button's blog (Theosource), but thought I was probably too late by the time I saw it. However, I visited the site and decided to give it a try - and I received my book in yesterday's mail.

You have no control over the book that you will receive and the material is not always conservative, but I received a book that I am looking forward to reading entitled, The Uttermost Part of the Earth: A Guide to Places in the Bible by Richard R. Losch.

The book came quickly and as advertised and even the shipping was free.


The note that Jason posted that alerted me to this said,

Yes, this is real, not a late April Fools joke. To win your free book, be one of the first 25 to send an e-mail to marketing at eisenbrauns.com with your name and address. These are new, recently published books, we choose from over 25 titles and we pay the freight!"

I looked for the quote on the site and could not find it except in an RSS feed, but when I sent an email, I got a positive response and now I have a free book.

So, stop over at www.eisenbrauns.com and look around and see if you can get a free book.

Just my thoughts,

Frank