John Piper, every year, does a biography message on a saint from the past. In the biography of Edwards he talked about a seminary professor who encouraged the students to find one great and godly man from history and make him your lifelong companion. Piper has done that with Edwards. At this point in my life, that is a bit much.

But I have been thinking about making someone my companion this year, following the model of Piper with his biography messages. It seems like a good idea to walk along the path with a godly saint and see what I can learn. I have kicked this idea around a bit in the past, but have never done it. This year I am going to try.

So, who should it be? This year I want to grow in faithfulness to the word of God, proclaiming that word boldly. I also want to increase my zeal or passion for God. There are many saints from the past I could choose, simply based on those issues, but I am going to focus on David Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

I have always liked his writing, which is really just his sermons transcribed and edited. This year (April until next April) I want to read the two volume biography by Iain Murray (here and here) as well as many of his books.  There is one place you can get mp3s of him teaching, so I will try to listen to as many sermons as I can afford. My hope is that I will understand the man behind all of these messages and learn the lessons I need to from his life.

Pray for me and join me if you wish. It should be an interesting ride. I will post some of the things I am learning here on the blog and on the ministry facebook page. I have already started the reading. If you know of a book or series I must read during this time, let me know in the comments. Thanks and check back throughout the year.

Tags: Biography, D. M. Lloyd-Jones