Free Audiobook for October: A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards (guest blogger: Pastor B)

My good pal turned partner-in-ministry, Pastor Brett, is a guest blogger for me today. He recently finished reading a larger biography of Jonathan Edwards so I thought you might fancy his introducing a shorter (and FREE!) biography of Jonathan Edwards...
 

A guest post by Pastor Brett...

I was recently telling somebody that if I could start university over again, instead of studying engineering, I would be strongly tempted to study history.  I love learning how seemingly small people and events can massively shape the direction of nations and future generations (in part because this encourages me that God can use my small acts of obedience to do things I can’t predict and may never know). 

Jonathan Edwards is an underrated titan of British and American history, well-known during his own lifetime but often overlooked today in part because he died tragically several years before the American Revolution (which – let’s be honest – is the point at which most Americans start caring about our own history).  He was a prolific writer, faithful pastor, courageous missionary, and tender family man (together with his wife Sarah he raised 11 children!), and more than 250 years after his death he is still widely regarded as the most important Christian thinker born in America, as well as one of its greatest geniuses. 

George Marsden, an Edwards expert, has written an excellent little introductory biography (less than 200 pages) called A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards, and this month you can get it for free here, courtesy of christianaudio.com.  Allow me to suggest just a few reasons it’s worth your time to get acquainted with Jonathan Edwards:

Edwards was dazzled by God – The man’s life was built around the glory of God.  In his preaching, in his writing, in his evangelism, he was always trying to help others see what he saw when he read his Bible and looked at the world: a beautiful God full of love and joy, who created the universe and humanity to spread his love and joy to others, and who is constantly beckoning us to turn from sin and idols, receive his mercy through Jesus, and spend eternity (starting now!) praising and enjoying his majesty.  Edwards helps us see the invisible beauties of God and the world as it really is.

Edwards was a wrestler – Not the kind of wrestler who wears a singlet; that would never have gone with his powdered wig.  No, Edwards wrestled with the difficult questions of life and wasn’t content with pat answers.  He wanted to hear from God: How can I be sure I’m a Christian?  How can I know whether the Holy Spirit is really at work in someone’ life?  How can a good God plan a world with such suffering and evil?  How can God be all-powerful and still hold me responsible for what I do?  We can learn from Edwards’ answers, and we can learn from his all-out pursuit of understanding God’s ways.

Edwards knew how to suffer – Though he experienced significant success in his life (hundreds trusting Christ through his preaching, best-selling books, wide influence leading to his appointment as president of Princeton University), he also endured plentiful difficulties – a bitter and painful dismissal from his church after more than 20 years of ministry, the death of a teenage daughter, regular physical danger from hostile Native American tribes, and his own slow death of complications from a smallpox inoculation.  Through it all, Edwards found that he could trust totally in a wise, good, and sovereign God.  Our lives would be so changed if we learned to trust the way Edwards did!