"How Christ Came to Church" is an anthology of many of Adoniram Judson Gordon's (1836-1895) works. This new edition is edited by Ralph I. Tilley.A. J. Gordon is mostly known in contemporary Evangelical circles by two Christian institutions bearing his name: Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Both schools are located in Massachusetts. However, long before these schools were launched, Dr. Gordon became widely known as the pastor of Clarendon Street Baptist Church, Boston. It was in the early years of his ministry at the church, when Gordon experienced both a remarkable dream and special anointing of the Holy Spirit. These events precipitated a change in his life and ministry, that would eventually impact thousands around the world.Through the Holy Spirit’s personal dealings with him, Gordon became convinced that most ministers and Christians were living beneath their gospel privileges. In reviewing his own walk with Christ and ministerial labors, he came to realize that so much of what he had been engaged in as a minister was done through human effort instead of in the strength and wisdom of the Spirit. He longed for a greater sense of reality in his walk with Christ; he craved a holy heart and a crucified ego; he wanted to be a truly fruitful branch on the Vine.Gordon learned, that when Christ is truly welcomed into the lives of individual Christians and churches, his unhindered presence makes all the difference.

How Christ Came to Church: An Anthology of the Works of A. J. Gordon

Gordon, A.J.

Tilley, Dr. Ralph I.

History

Life in the Spirit Ministries, Incorporated

A praying person is an awful weapon in the hands of God. Prayer—believing, Spirit-directed, truth-based prayer—glorifies God, exalts the Lord Jesus Christ, honors the blessed Holy Spirit, and builds the church up the way Christ intends it to be built. True praying is as necessary to the growth of the Christian and the church as breathing is to the life and health of the human body. Because this is so, Scottish Moravian hymn writer, James Montgomery (1771-1854), wrote, Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, the Christian’s native air . . . God’s authentic people have always been praying people, following the supreme example of the Lord Jesus. Great works of God have been built through the intercessions of God’s servants. God’s work always moves forward most effectively when the people of God are on their knees as much as they are in business meetings. The church’s wise men have always known the importance of prayer: “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16 NASB). Most of the following chapters originally appeared in Life in the Spirit Journal. They are written by a variety of authors, including this editor. How I thank God that the Lord Jesus has shown us the way of prayer, as well as many noble saints who have walked in his footsteps.

The Christian's Vital Breath: An Anthology on Prayer

Religion & Spirituality

Riverby Memorial Church was both imposing and important, with a liberal sprinkling of lawyers, doctors, retailers and politicians. Its pastor was highly educated, an excellent speaker, and surpassed every area minister in the art of pleasing all the church members. Everyone spoke well of their pastor. Memorial Church was a peaceful place to be—but it was the peace of a cemetery! All that changed when Stephen Lynn came to town. Lynn was not a pastor, but he was a Christian through and through. He took Christ and his words seriously. He not only talked the talk; he walked the walk. Through Lynn’s influence, the pastor was renewed as well as several others. The “old guard” resisted this fresh move of the Spirit. The devout soon discovered that the way of Christ was a way of “not peace but a sword.” This refreshing fictional account of revival coming to a local church, should whet the spiritual appetite of every believer who thirsts for reality—in their own life and the life of the church.

Not Peace But a Sword

Christian Books & Bibles

Ralph I. Tilley

Literature & Fiction

The Bow in the Cloud

“And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud” (Gen. 9:14). John R. MacDuff uses God’s promise to Noah—and to all humankind—as a metaphor for His suffering saints. There will be clouds (trials) in every life; but God promises to provide with the clouds a rainbow (His reassuring presence and promises).The author continually encourages the Christian to look to the sovereign God, who desires to use our severe trials to bring glory to himself, deepen our faith, and to produce a greater maturity in our understanding and walk with him. MacDuff demonstrates godly wisdom as he comes alongside the suffering believer, pointing him and her always to the unchanging and compassionate Father of mercies. He was clear about who his target audience was in writing these thirty-one devotionals: “This little book is intended to be seen by no eyes but weeping ones. It addresses no hearts but broken ones. It is to speak of sorrows with which a stranger cannot intermeddle.” Read this book and be encouraged in the Lord!

MacDuff, John R.

This book is about holiness. I realize the topic is offensive to many professing Christians in the contemporary church--as has always been the case in every generation. Just the same, while the subject has been fraught with many controversies, theories, and caricatures of its reality, the call remains: "but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" God has raised up men and women in every generation of the Church to herald his call to holiness. These heralds of holiness have faithfully raised their voices and used their pens to sound forth God's biblical call to a holy life. Faithful servants have always been in the Master's Minority, rejected by popular Christianity. No matter--they have followed their Shepherd and listened to his voice.In an age when the average church member wants to hear from the pulpit and writer what is pleasant and soothing, amusing and entertaining, the Christ of the Candlesticks is walking among the churches seeking those who will surrender to him wholly, walking with him in garments made white by the blood of Lamb. This volume has been compiled for all who seek to know God more fully, know him more intimately, and follow him more closely.

Called to Be Saints: An Anthology on Holiness

MANY YEARS AGO, I purchased a copy of In the Footprints of the Lamb by George Steinberger. I figured if both Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) and Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994) recommended this book, it was worth reading—and it was. Since my first reading, I have reread it often.Hallesby wrote in the Foreword of the first edition of this book in 1915: “I know of no devotional book that I have reread so many times. It is to an unusual degree filled with words of eternal life. Through many years of bitter suffering, its author learned to see the Savior as the Lamb of God and himself to walk the pathway ‘in the footprints of the Lamb.” George Steinberger (1865-1904) lived a relatively brief life, and during those years he suffered much, as the reader will clearly discover. However, God’s grace taught and sustained this thirsty-hearted follower of the Lamb in the midst of many difficulties. Suffering can either make us or break us; Steinberger chose to take the former route. He lived by the truth of 1 Peter 5:10: “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” Steinberger helps us to see that to follow the Lamb of God is more than a sentiment; it involves the obedience of faith, a missing note in our own generation. Jesus called people to follow him, not simply to admire him.A note about this edition. There is available at least one other printed edition of this title, and one can find on the Internet uploaded versions of the book as well; however, I wished to add a biographical sketch of the author, as well as offer the book to the reading public at a modest price. I have edited the first English publication of the book and modernized some of the language. Also, I have used the New King James Version in the Scripture references. Furthermore, for years I have attempted to locate biographical information about Steinberger, which I recently discovered in the German language. I used a computer program to translate it into English, which I edited.I pray the reader will be as blessed in the reading of this book, as many thousands have since it was first published. George Steinberger did not live long, but “he being dead yet speaks” to the hearts of those who desire to follow in the footprints of the Lamb of God.Ralph I. Tilley, EditorSoli Deo Gloria

In the Footprints of the Lamb

Steinberger, George

Biblically speaking, a “saint” is a true believer in and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, there have been those men and women sprinkled throughout the Church’s history whose lives have been more radiant and their works more abundant than the average Christian—these were saints who lived saintly lives.As our fallen culture forms their heroes from a world that will soon pass away, let the people of God hold before themselves those worthies who lived in this world but were not of this world. May we be possessed and controlled by the same Spirit who abode in and shaped these former Evangelical Saints.The author of this volume, Ernest Gordon (1867-1956), selected a variety of individuals who were renowned for their Christian character. Whatever their sectarian distinctions, each possessed a vibrant love and loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ. Each one was a child of the truth, as it is found in Jesus Christ. Each one cultivated a warm affection for their brothers and sisters in Christ. Each one sought—like their Lord when on earth—to seek and to save the lost. Each one believed in the soon return of the Lord Jesus. They believed what they did, and lived the way they did, because each had undergone a genuine personal conversion.These forty-seven biographical sketches should stimulate each reader to know Christ more clearly, to love Him more dearly, and to follow Him more nearly.

Evangelical Saints: 47 Biographical Sketches

Gordon, Ernest

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Life in the Spirit Ministries, Incorporated publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Life in the Spirit Ministries, Incorporated