From the Library of A. W. Tozer

Description

Here in one volume are many of the writings that influenced one of the most influential pastors and evangelical thinkers of the 20th century. Today's readers know Tozer's name and have read his classic Pursuit of God, but now they can read the same authors he read and learned from. This unique collection of readings has been thoroughly researched and culled from the people Tozer read and quoted. The selections are arranged thematically--including worship, the attributes of God, oneness with God, and more--to make the book easy to browse or use as devotional reading. This book belongs in every pastor's and thinking Christian's library.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 février 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441214621
• Langue: English

Extrait

INCLUDING THE WRITINGS of AUGUSTINE THOMAS À KEMPIS MARTIN LUTHER D. L. MOODY
From the Library of A. W. Tozer Copyright 2011 James Stuart Bell
Cover design by John Hamilton Design Cover photography by Veer/Photodisc
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
From the library of A. W. Tozer : selections from writers who influenced his spiritual journey / compiled by James Stuart Bell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-7642-0862-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Christian life. 2. Tozer, A. W. (Aiden Wilson), 1897-1963-Sources. I. Bell, James S.
BV4501.3.F77 2011
248.4-dc22
2010038735
To Brian and Sally Oxley, devoted to Christian classics
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T HIS BOOK IS ALSO DEDICATED to Dave Fessenden, a man passionate about A.W. Tozer. To Sam O Neal for his invaluable assistance, and to Kyle Duncan, David Horton, Julie Smith, Tim Peterson, and Donna Carpenter for their publishing expertise and vision for this series.
CONTENTS

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
F OREWORD
I NTRODUCTION
1. Worship: The Chief End of Man
2. Prayer and Contemplation
3. Exhortations and Prophetic Words
4. Our Counselor: The Holy Spirit
5. Jesus Christ: Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King
6. Practicing the Presence of God
7. On Christian Doctrine
8. On Living the Christian Life
A UTHOR B IOGRAPHIES
E XCERPTS T AKEN F ROM
A BOUT THE A UTHOR
FOREWORD

I T WAS NEARLY THIRTY YEARS AGO that I discovered a small orange-covered book titled The Best of A. W. Tozer. I began reading these excerpts from the collected works of this celebrated Christian evangelist, revivalist, prophet, and pastor and have never stopped. Indeed, I don t think a month has gone by that I have not spent time reading and rereading selections from the works of this author.
When I confessed to a friend my three-decades-long habit of drinking from the well of A.W. Tozer s books, articles, and published sermons, he suggested I might be getting into a Tozer rut. My response to this warning is simple: one cannot get into a Tozer rut. His writings first and foremost point readers to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Scriptures in ways that are refreshing. Second, Aiden W. Tozer points us to the writings of men and women throughout church history who have been personally and intimately acquainted with our glorious God because they have learned to truly praise and worship Him.
Upon reflection, it occurs to me that A.W. Tozer-despite his lack of college and seminary training-has become one of the foremost Christian educators of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Tozer has been and still is a teacher to men and women who long to know God with all their heart and soul. The Holy Spirit has called such people into that noble clan that Tozer dubbed the Society of the Burning Heart. Many of us in that joyous society consider Aiden Wilson Tozer our mentor even though we never met him in person.
James Stuart Bell, a highly respected author, editor, and member of the Society of the Burning Heart, has compiled excerpts from the writings of twenty-eight men and women who mentored Tozer through their writing. What a marvelous collection this is. Thoughtfully organized around eight important themes, this volume promises to become a library designed for students of the deeper life. To Jim Bell, A.W. Tozer, and the Holy Spirit who inspired both of them and these anointed writers, we are in debt.
Lyle W. Dorsett Beeson Divinity School Samford University
INTRODUCTION

T HERE IS A PHENOMENON in nature known as the perfect storm. It occurs when a rare combination of weather patterns converge and join forces against a vulnerable region of the globe-warm air from a low-pressure system in one direction, for example, meeting cool and dry air from a high-pressure system in another, then both streams being melded and inflamed by a burst of tropical moisture. The resulting storm is said to be perfect in its power, perfect in its force and duration, perfect in its capacity for impact.
This phenomenon is not limited to the weather, however. There are times in the world of human beings when a confluence of inherent abilities, spiritual gifts, and sheer force of will transform an individual into the perfect woman for an appointed task, the perfect man to speak to his generation. These men and women never pass quietly from birth to death as a faceless member of the crowd. Rather, they stand out. They become seared in our memory. They make an impact and, if God is with them, they leave the world a better place than when they found it.
Aiden Wilson Tozer was such a man.
Tozer was gifted with all the physical tools necessary for a modern-day prophet: a commanding voice and demeanor, a precise diction, and an inherent ability to express himself clearly and powerfully. More important, those natural tools were joined by many blessings from the Holy Spirit, including a keen insight into biblical truth and an unflinching perception of the world around him. Most important, Tozer s inclinations and abilities were honed and sharpened into the pursuit of two all-important goals: to bring glory to God through a passionate pursuit of His holy presence, and to facilitate spiritual transformation in a weak and lethargic church.
As he successfully fulfilled those goals year after year, he greatly blessed the people around him, and the church he served so long and so well has never been the same.
A S HORT B IOGRAPHY
Born April 21, 1897, in the mountains of western Pennsylvania, Tozer (as he liked to be called) passed an unremarkable early life in various towns throughout the Midwest. Things changed just before his seventeenth birthday, though, when he encountered a street preacher in Akron, Ohio.
Tozer was walking home from his job at a rubber factory when he heard about having a relationship with God. If you don t know how to be saved, just call on God, the preacher said. He invited his listeners to pray, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. Tozer didn t stop and pray on the corner of that street, but the simple message that it was possible to know God stuck with him as he continued home. Upon arriving, Tozer went upstairs to his attic sanctuary in order to wrestle with the idea. When he emerged several hours later, he was a new creature-a new man. He had found the relationship that would define every day of his life from that moment on.
Tozer was mentored by the woman who later became his mother-in-law. She encouraged him to study the Bible and pray regularly-habits that eventually matured into major pillars of his spiritual life. She also encouraged him to read good books, and this, too, became a lifelong pursuit.
Five years after his conversion, Tozer received a call to pastor a small church in a small town with the charming name of Nutter Fort, West Virginia. Other pastorates followed, including flocks in Ohio and Indianapolis, which eventually led Tozer to accept an invitation to serve as pastor of the Southside Alliance Church in Chicago in 1928.
It was at Southside, where he served more than thirty years, that Tozer s influence grew across the nation, and then around the world. Attendance at Southside sharply increased after his arrival, moving from eighty members to eight hundred over the course of his pastorate, compelling the church to construct larger facilities in 1941. In 1950, Tozer was chosen as editor of the Alliance Weekly magazine (now called Alliance Life ). In 1951, he began hosting a popular radio program on the Moody radio station WMBI.
It was also at Southside that Tozer wrote the material for most of his books. He published fewer than ten during the course of his life, including two that have since become spiritual classics: The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy . After his death, material from his sermons, editorials, and other sources was compiled into dozens of posthumous publications, so that he is now recognized as the author of more than forty books.
Tozer s influence was about more than his writing and speaking, however. He was a leader during a time when the church was in desperate need of guidance and correction. As biographer James L. Snyder put it, Tozer saw through the fog of modern Christianity, pointing out the rocks on which it might flounder if it continued its course. He has been described as a modern-day prophet-a description that was accurate during the course of his life and one that remains accurate as his words and deeds continue to guide followers of Jesus today.
Along with his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, Tozer spent the final years of his life in Toronto, where he served as pastor of Avenue Road Church. Tozer passed away on May 12, 1963. The simple epitaph on his grave can still be read today: A. W. Tozer-A Man of God.
W HY Y OU S HOULD R EAD T HIS B OOK
A.W. Tozer was famous for his reputation as a voracious reader. He applied himself regularly to mining the written word in search of powerful ideas, stories, and spiritual truths-and then meditating on the nuggets he uncovered. In addition to a deep study of the Bible, his reading list spanned several centuries of church history-from the early church fathers, to the mystics of the middle centuries, to the noted pastors and preachers of the generation that preceded him.
Throughout the pages of this book, you will find nearly two hundred excerpted readings fr